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No matter what sort of project you are undertaking, you need a good plan in order to be successful and researching your family history is no different. Many people feel that planning is the least enjoyable part of researching their family tree. It’s true, finding your long lost ancestors and learning more about your family is the fun part of researching your roots. However, carefully crafting a research plan can be an invaluable step. Every family history research plan should define who and what you’re looking for and each task should be prioritized. If you take the time to plan your family history research, you will be able to save a lot of time because you will be well organized and focused.

You’ve heard, no doubt, that the Internet puts the world at your fingertips. On a family history website there are literally millions of names waiting to be discovered. However the multitude of online resources can leave you feeling a bit dizzy as you navigate from one site to another for hours at a time. Recording everything that seems even remotely relevant to your family tree is also incredibly tempting, regardless of whether it actually relates to one of your family lines.

Because there is so much information available on the Internet, it’s critical to create a family history research plan. This can save you plenty of frustration and hours of your time by keeping you focused. Tens of thousands of genealogical sites are available on the Internet. If you don’t have a good idea of exactly what you’re looking for to fill in the blanks in your genealogy, you can get lost online. You might be surprised at how easy it is to get lost on the Internet, especially when you start tracking a person just to find out hours later the person wasn’t even part of your family.

To keep this from happening to you, be sure you take the same approach with online research as you would if you were using an archive.  If you follow a research plan and make notes of the sites you’ve visited you’ll be sure you don’t end up duplicating your efforts. Websites often change their appearance and you may not recognize them on a return visit.

If you’re the kind of person who likes detailed organization, you can write your research plan on paper or keep it on your computer. If you’re the kind of person who knows exactly what you want and need at all times, and you have an excellent memory of where you pause during the course of your projects, your research plan can exist solely in your mind. Your research plan can be as informal or as formal as you like, as long as it helps you stay focused and on track.

If you’re looking for a great website to create your family tree online for free then I recommend using Mundia.com. Not only can you easily create your family tree at this site, but you can collaborate with other family members, each of you adding photos, documents, and stories about your ancestors. It’s very easy to get started building your family tree on Mundia and registration is free and easy. One of the nice features about the site is the ability to search other family trees in the database to look for possible matches for your own tree. When you are ready to start researching your family history, this is one resource you simply must use.

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When looking for information about your family history, a goldmine of information is most often a close relative. You might have never considered talking to other family members about their lives and what they may know about earlier generations. Very few people have these discussions, at least not of any real depth.Many times there have been opportunities to ask, but at the time we weren't interested in knowing and now it could be too late. The time has come to make talking with your relatives about their history a priority. Interviewing your relatives is one of the most important steps when doing genealogical research.

While your great-grandmother may have already passed, you probably have parents, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, and cousins that have information about your ancestors. They can provide names, dates, locations, photographs, diaries and gossip. These family members might have suggestions of other people you could interview about your departed relatives. You never know, they might even have documents that could add to your genealogical file. Imagine how much information you could potentially get by interviewing your relatives.

It's best to do this interviews in person whenever possible. There are some people that might find a questionnaire to be rather impersonal. Some information they have to share might be closely guarded because its very personal or even evocative. Undoubtedly, you will learn much more if you conduct these interviews in person and assure your relatives your intentions are good while showing real interest in what they're sharing.

Always remain discreet, and never misuse any information you gather. The material you gather from these interviews relates to living people or people within living memory. In an effort to encourage relatives to talk to you, let them know that you won't broadcast any sensitive information to the entire family. Let them know that you consider the information to be important family history data. Because the information your relatives have is part of their special memories, you have to treat it with profound respect.

Once your relatives feel comfortable with your motives, you may be surprised by all the details they can give you. Your interest may spark more memories or lead to further revelations.  Be sure you schedule ample time for these important interviews. After all who knows how long Aunty Doris will talk for when you get her going?

By the way, another great tool for gathering information from your family members is Mundia.com.  This resource is absolutely free to use and allows you to collaborate with other family members to create your family tree.  I strongly recommend this site for anyone interested in tracing family history.

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