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Step 5: Go On Location

By this point, you've probably managed to narrow down the search to a particular town or county. Now's the time to head to the source for more detailed information. My first stop is usually the county specific Web sites at USGenWeb, or their counterparts at WorldGenWeb - depending upon your country of interest. There you may find newspaper abstracts, published county histories, biographies, family trees, and other transcribed records, as well as surname queries and other information posted by fellow researchers.

You may have already come across some of these sites in your search for cemetery records, but now that you've learned more about your ancestors, you can dig even deeper.

Step 6: Visit the Library

In the spirit of location, my next step in the family hunt is to visit the Web sites for [http://genealogy.D106/od/libraries/]local libraries and historical and genealogical societies in the area in which my ancestor lived. Often you can find links to these organizations through the locality-specific genealogical sites mentioned in step 5. Once there, look for a link labeled "genealogy" or "family history" to learn about the available resources for genealogical research in the area. You may find online indexes, abstracts, or other published genealogical records. Most libraries will also offer online searching of their library catalog. While most local and family history books aren't available for online reading, many may be borrowed through interlibrary loan.

Step 7: Search Message Boards

Many great nuggets of family history information are exchanged and shared via message boards, groups, and mailing lists.

Searching the archives of the lists and groups which pertain to your surnames and areas of interest may yield obituaries, family histories, and other pieces of the genealogy puzzle. Not all of these archived messages can be found via traditional search engines, however, necessitating manual searching of any lists of interest. RootsWeb's genealogy mailing lists and the Ancestry/RootsWeb mesage boards include searchable archives, as do most genealogy-related organizations using Yahoo Groups or Google Groups. Some may require you to join (free) before searching the archived messages.
Continued > 10 Steps for Finding Your Family Tree Online