Genealogy research is a fun venture to get into, especially if you’re interested in getting a deeper look into your ancestry. Learning how to research family genealogy is simple. To get started, you just have to begin with yourself, then work outwards towards the different branches of your family tree.
You can start tracing the lines with your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc., then venture into names they might not even know. You’ll be absorbed in a black hole of fascinating details about your lineage in no time, and you might even discover some tidbits you would never have dreamed about!
All that said, genealogy research is a lot of hard work, particularly if you’re hoping to make sense of all the data you’ve gathered to make accurate connections between the different generations of your family. If you need access to more resources, want more in-depth analysis, or are in a time crunch, then you may want to consider hiring a freelance genealogy researcher from Guru.
Getting Started on Genealogy Research
Set a Goal
Before you begin researching your genealogy, it’s good to think about why you’re doing it. Determine your goals, pinpointing key questions you want answered or specifying what you want to uncover in your project. Then, make a plan (with a timeline, if necessary) so that you can take the necessary steps to achieve them.
Organize Existing Data
You might be tempted to go straight to the books for your research, but the first part is way simpler than you’d think–you just have to start with yourself. Trace lines starting with your branch in the family tree, going back to your parents and beyond, and making connections between relatives you already know. You can get information straight from the people who already exist in your lineage, which makes for great first-hand insight!
Gather Resources
Once you’ve exhausted your contacts, you can then consult different resources. You can look into federal, state, and county records, and find birth, marriage, and death certificates. You can also find information from churches, libraries, societies, and archives. For some of these, you may need to pay a fee or subscription or become a member. If it seems like too much work, you may want to get help from a freelance genealogy researcher who already has access to the resources you’re targeting.
Research and Analyze
When you have access to the relevant data, it’s time to gather what you can about your family tree, then analyze the information that you find out. Sometimes, this can be as easy as taking note of names and relationships, but often, you’ll have to deal with more complex twists that will need a bit of unraveling. This is where a genealogy researcher is a great help!
Record Your Findings
Be sure to record everything that you discover, taking extra care to keep copies of important documents and recordings of key conversations.
Hiring a Genealogy Researcher
Genealogy research is a lot of work, and it can take a significant amount of time, effort, and resources to arrive at the goal of your project. You might also find yourself dealing with a couple of hiccups along the way, especially if you can’t access certain records or are unable to link information. If you need to do genealogy research but don’t have the time, bandwidth, or skill to do it properly, it’s best to leave the job to the experts.
You can hire a genealogy researcher who can do all the leg work and help you uncover some truths about your ancestry. They have the resources to do in-depth research, and they have the expertise to make accurate conclusions and derive insightful discoveries. You’ll just have to pay a fee for their services, which comes out at an average of about $60 an hour (or starting at $3,500 for a well-detailed project scope), but it’s totally worth it!
Find and Hire a Genealogy Researcher on Guru
A great place to look for a professional genealogist is Guru, one of the best online freelance marketplaces. We have hundreds of genealogy researchers ready to help you learn more about your family tree–you can find the right fit for your project in just a few clicks!
