Resources

Professional genealogists:

Professional genealogists across the world will find records for you, sometimes even complete your family tree, for a fee. This route can be expensive but professional genealogists can get records that you might never be able to access. This is especially true if the records you seek are in a language that you can't read. They have access to and knowledge of where documents can be found in their specific locale. If you have the money, this is an easier way to get your family tree than searching yourself.

You might want to search yourself and use professional help too. A professional genealogist would be able to help find, ancestors in a foreign land, while you could find their descendants here in America. The fees for service vary. You would have to find out the costs involved. Depending on the area being searched, and how difficult it is to find the particular records you are seeking, the cost might or might not be worthwhile. Professional genealogists are listed in genealogy magazines and on the net. Information about professional genealogists should be available at your local library.

LDS centers

(Morman Church)
The Morman church offers extensive help in searching genealogy. They have a center in Salt Lake City with a massive library and all kinds of records that can help you. Throughout the country, the Church maintains local centers where you can go and search their genealogy records. They have indexes. When you have found a record you want to look at, they will obtain the records for you and there is no charge. At one time, they found, for me, an obscure record of marriages in a very small hamlet in Ireland. I was amazed at all the resources available through them.

The local churches are listed in the telephone book. They have specific times when you can visit their genealogy center or you might have to call and arrange an appointment. Depending on what is available locally, you might have to wait a few days to see the record you want to view.

The Family History Library in Salt Lake City contains millions of records and help with language translations and searching. There might not be another single resource as valuable as this one. There are also excellent books and magazines distributed from Salt Lake City where genealogy is very important. If you can swing it, a trip to Salt Lake City and the Family History Library would be worthwhile.

Computer Programs

Several good computer programs deal with genealogy.

Family Tree Maker is one that I have used. Most recently, I have purchased Family Quest. Both of these programs will allow you to enter information and keeps it in a genealogical format. You can retrieve information from Ancestry.com., merge, store and share data. Both programs have tutorials to help you learn the various options available on the software.
You can edit the information and add to it as more data comes your way. Both programs will produce charts and graphs from your information. Both programs allow photos to be added. The programs allow you to turn your information into calendars, scrapbooks, charts and trees. Family Quest allows you to make a slide show presentation and even to add video clips to your file.

It takes a good amount of time to enter your information but after it is in the program, it will be possible to see all of your family data in a neat, easily understood form. Other genealogical software can be found at some office supply or software centers. I purchased Family Tree Maker as part of the software when I bought one of my computers a few years ago. I purchased Family Quest from their web site.

You don't have to use a ready-made program at all. If your information is limited or you are not sure that you want to do genealogy for the long run, then just enter your information into your binders. You can always purchase the software later. When your information base is quite large, then the software makes it easier to handle.


There are also hundreds of web sites dedicated to genealogy that offer aids such as graphs and charts that you can download and fill in yourself.