Q. Genealogy, getting started

Family history or genealogy starts with you and moves backward in time. In order to identify your ancestors, interview family members about their lives. Try to get full names, dates and places where key events happen.

The purpose of this is twofold: first, to learn about your family, and second, to identify the person who is likely to be found as a child or adult on the 1930 census. Once that person is known, set a goal for yourself, learn about genealogy strategies with any basic genealogy book, seek help from your librarian, and begin your search through the records.

Recommended online tutorials can be found at Family Search and Rootsweb. Recommended books include Emily Croom's Unpuzzling Your Past. The library has free access to Ancestry Library Edition from inside any EBRP library. We also have an infoguide that will tell you more about the resources in our genealogy department, now located in the new Main Library.