About this guide
This guide lists and describes resources that can be used for genealogical research.
New arrival at Ellis Island Algerian man (1904-1914) from NYPL
Getting started
Do:
- Start with living relatives - collect stories and documents
- Go back in time generation by generation
- Seek evidence (also known as primary sources--official documents, materials, etc.)
- Be critical of all information sources (including relatives and the Internet)
- Keep good notes and organized files
Don't:
- Start with I'm related to someone famous
- Start with my family immigrated from a specific country
- Believe everything you find on the Internet
Interviewing Living Relatives
A few tips for interviewing your living relatives:
- 12 Tips for Interviewing Relatives from Family History Magazine
- 20 Questions for Interviewing Relatives
- 50 Interview Questions for Family History Interviews
- 150 Questions to Ask Family Members about their Lives
Two African American Women, 1899-1900, from collection of W.E.B. Dubois from Library of Congress' Digital Collections
FAN research
FAN research, "also called cluster research, is researching the people that cluster around your ancestor: friends, associates, and neighbors. If you have been researching for any amount of time, you will have noticed some of the same names popping up in documents, articles, and other sources -- perhaps the pallbearers at a funeral were also the witnesses to a baptism, or the tutor in a succession file was listed in a census on the same page as your ancestor. These people were significant in the life of your ancestor, and fully researching them can reveal clues or facts that you might not otherwise find." (source: Collecting Cousins)