Ancestry Academy | St Augustine Gen Soc

Getting Started in Genealogy

Genealogy is a fascinating pastime, but to do it right you need a good foundation. As part of our goal to support family history research, we have collected a number of resources to help members and non-members get started in genealogy. There’s plenty of help to get you started discover ing your family history.

Resource	Description
Ancestry Academy	Ancestry Academy offers a number of video lessons. Search for Your Family History Online: Laying the Foundation for video lessons that teach basic research principles with the focus on using Ancestry.com. The course is free and as is building your family tree at Ancestry. You will need a subscription to access records.
48 Ancestry.com Search Tips – Family Tree University	48 Ancestry.com Search Tips – Family Tree University. This e-book is full of tricks, hints and hacks to unlock new family tree discoveries. It also contains helpful guides to using the genealogy website, including an exclusive excerpt from the Unofficial Guide to Ancestry.com by Nancy Hendrickson.
Ancestry.com’s Free Research Guides	Ancestry.com’s Free Research Guides – Ancestry.com. Topics include Getting Started, Places of Origin, Immigration, Census, Military, Probates and Miscellaneous. The guides are free but there is a charge to access many of the records.
RootsTech	RootsTech is now primarily an online conference with over 1m attendees every year. In 2023 it is extending back to its old roots as an in-person conference in Salt Lake City as well as online. Having been online, it has archived a library of 1,500 presentations from 2021 and 2022 and will add more in 2023.
Family Tree Magazine	Family Tree Magazine has a number of free genealogy resources.
Surnames: Family Search Tips and Surname Origins (PDF – free download) – Family Tree University	This free PDF contains some of Family Tree Magazine’s best genealogy tips relating to family names, including articles on basic surname research strategies, tips for seeking ancestral maiden names, what your surname reveals about your ethnic heritage, how to refining Google surname searches, and what you can learn by understanding surname meanings. Together this collection stands as a comprehensive guide to sorting out the surname snags in your family search.
The Family History Library	The Family History Library offers classes and webinars at no charge. In addition to participating in a live webinar, most of the classes are recorded and available to view when you have time. Bookmark this page so you can quickly check the monthly schedules.
FamilySearch A Guide to Research in their FamilySearch Wiki	FamilySearch offers A Guide to Research in their FamilySearch Wiki.
FamilySearch video courses in the Learning Center	FamilySearch also offers video courses in their Learning Center. These courses cover both basic and advanced research topics with a focus on the FamilySearch family tree and archives.
Family History Library Webinars.	Family History Library Webinars. This page lists the current schedule of webinars plus the archive of previous presentations that have been recorded and archived so you can view them at any time. All are free.
New to Genealogy – Beginners First Steps.	New to Genealogy – Beginners First Steps. FamilySearch has a wealth of education for beginners and experienced genealogists.
How to Begin Tracing Your Family Tree – Kimberly Powell	How to Begin Tracing Your Family Tree – Kimberly Powell
How to Create a Genealogy GEDCOM File From Genealogy Software or Online Tree – Kimberly Powell.	How to Create a Genealogy GEDCOM File From Genealogy Software or Online Tree – Kimberly Powell. GEDCOM files are the standard format used for sharing family tree information between programs, so are often necessary for sharing your family tree file with friends or family members, or for moving your information to a new software or service.
Sample Family History Research Plan – Lisa Alzo	Get your genealogy research on track by using this model to create your own plan of attack. The sample research plan was developed as Lisa researched her own family.
Research Delivered: An Introduction to Newsreaders	This guide is an introduction to newsreader and the Feedly news reading platform. The newsreader is a pleasant and efficient way to keep up with a large number of news sources. This guide shows you how to get started with Feedly and find news sources that can help your research effort.
Lisa Louise Cooke has her Family History: Genealogy Made Easy Podcast series.	Lisa Louise Cooke has her Family History: Genealogy Made Easy Podcast series. Each podcast includes downloadable show notes. You can also subscribe to these lessons in iTunes.
Genealogy/Family History Videos.	Genealogy/Family History Videos. This is a series of short videos from the online genealogy course prepared by the North Carolina State Library. Each video covers a single topic like sources, census and archives.
Genealogy 101: Back to the Basics	Genealogy 101: Back to the Basics This video from Ancestry.com uses Ancestry in its examples, but the information presented covers the basics for all genealogical resources.