Discovering Your Heritage contains an introduction to family history
research. It is drawn from Chapter 1, The Foundations of Family History
Research, of Ancestry's best-selling reference work, The Source: A
Guidebook of American Genealogy, edited by Sandra Hargreaves Luebking
and Loretto Dennis Szucs.
The goal of every family historian is to discover and preserve the
family's history through a permanent and accurate record. This chapter
is about beginnings: beginning a research journey, beginning to acquire
knowledge about the past, and beginning to record that knowledge for the
future. Your efforts will enable future generations to know your
ancestors—and you.
This chapter is intended to start you "on the path" of family
history research. Thus, only the essential first steps are discussed:
(1) to consider your personal knowledge of the family; (2) to interview
all persons who have information about the family; (3) to identify and
catalogue items often found in the home; (4) to evaluate family traditions
and seek clues from these interviews; and (5) to maintain a written record
of all you discover and to link each discovery to its proper source.
The importance of participating in the genealogical community
through organizations or programs of education is emphasized in this
chapter, as is the importance of geography (especially the use of maps)
and history to your research. Finally, a discussion of the ethical and
legal considerations is included to clarify the current status of public
record access and copyright laws.
It is expected that, before you continue in your research,
you examine one of the how-to guides available. Many titles are available
through local libraries. Read more than one, and read them with a
discriminating eye. The best guides are those that stress good
record-keeping techniques, linkage of information to sources, and an
orderly, systematic approach to family history research.
