Genealogy Services for a New Generation

Genealogy is a fun and interesting hobby, but if you need help getting the ball rolling, there are genealogy services which are available to help.

This article will recommend the outsourcing of genealogical research tasks. However, you don’t have to let the experts have all the fun. There are a variety of things that you can do to get involved in your genealogy projects without taking all your time and energy to do it.

3 Things You Can Do to Jump Start Your Genealogy Project

1) Organize Your Ancestral Materials

One of the first things a good researcher does is to collect and organize any material that is available to him or her. That is exactly what you can do before handing your project over to an expert. Simply gather photos, letters and any additional documentation that you can gather about your parents, grandparents or whoever else you wish to initially focus on. You don’t have to conduct an advanced search and find out everything about all of your ancestors at once! Start with just one or two. After all, you know your family better than a professional researcher does.

2) Family Heirlooms: Search for Your Ancestors in Your Home

This task is something you may have wanted to do for a while but haven’t been able to find the time for……….or, at least you thought you didn’t have the time for. The truth is that this activity would be a great activity for two or three quiet Sunday afternoons.

Take your chance now, walk around your home and identify items that belonged to your parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents. Gather some or all of the items, wrap them in plastic and store them where they will be conserved. If there are stories that are associated with the items, take another hour or two and write down the stories you can remember. Attach the stories to the plastic, or fold it and place it inside the wrapping. You could also number each plastic covered item and then with a matching set of numbers, complement each respective story with its appropriate item.

Feel free to ask your siblings or other relatives for help when completing the anecdotes. This is definitely a step that a genealogy services company cannot provide unless you invite them into your home—-which isn’t likely.

3) Interview, Interview, Interview

Okay, okay. So maybe interviewing extant relatives won’t help a professional genealogist find out more information about your famous immigrant ancestors but it will be fun for you and will be treasured by generations to come. Ask your parents, grandparents or great grandparents the following questions:

1) Why do you profess the _____________ religion?

2) What do you think your generation has or had that our generation is lacking?

3) What do you think our generation has that your generation is lacking?

4) What are the 3 most valuable lessons you have learned in your life?

5) What was the most rewarding period of time in your life?

6) What was your favorite vacation?

7) What is your favorite joke?

Do you believe in God? Why?

9) What did you want when you were a child? A young adult? An adult? A parent? A grandparent? What do you want now?

10) How do you view your spouse differently than you did when you were first dating?

This step will most likely be more rewarding for you than it would be for a genealogy services researcher. Make sure to take advantage of this “experiment.”

What types of genealogy services are available?

After you finish the first three genealogy steps, consider enlisting a genealogy services company. A genealogy services expert can search genealogy records many times faster than the average genealogy aficionado. They are also more familiar with the analysis and interpretation of resources that a family history library provides. If you want to share your family tree in a big way, look for a genealogy services company that focuses on both research and presentation. Some researchers can also travel extensively and access records that may be available only in another country or countries. A genealogy services expert will keep your genealogy interests in mind.

Whether you decide to do your family history research on your own or with 3^rd party genealogy services, you can glean a wealth of familial information that will keep generation after generation connected to the generations that have come and gone before.

About the Author: Marci Crane is a web content specialist for 10x Marketing in Orem, Utah. For more information about genealogy services or family history research, please feel free to contact a Price & Associates representative.

By 10x Marketing
Published: 12/20/2006