Resource Drawer / Start here
Start here in 30 minutes
One question, four forms, five steps. You do not need a subscription, a computer or a family tree to begin.
View or download all the forms (PDF)First, what do you have?
Pick the one that sounds most like you. It shapes your first question.
Your first question
When and where was my grandparent born?
Start with the person closest to you. Every line of the tree hangs from a firm date and place.
Your thirty minutes
Start with you
Fill in the first generations of the pedigree chart: you, your parents, your grandparents. Leave blanks where you are not sure.
Form RF-01: Pedigree chartPick one question
Choose a single person and a single question. Write it at the top of your research plan.
Form RF-05: Research planLook and ask
Check certificates, letters and the backs of photographs at home, or phone one relative with one question. Write down exactly what they say.
Search once
Try one free index for your question. Whatever you find, fill in a citation sheet straight away.
Form RF-06: Source citation templateLog it and stop
Record the search, even if it found nothing, and write the next step. Then put it away.
Form RF-04: Research logFinished? Pick your next question and go round again. When you want to go deeper, the method page explains how to record where every fact came from.
Read: Cite as you goStay in the loop
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