I started researching my family history in 1978 after my son was born. I had the twin motivations of wanting to pass on this information to him and future generations, and also needing some intellectual stimulation to pass the time. Becoming a full-time stay-at-home mom after having been in the university teaching and research life was culture shock.
Tracking down the clues to compile a family history brought tremendous pleasure, although I prefer the "Colombo" analogy rather than "Sherlock Holmes" to make it a little more contemporary. I began by reading how-to books (of course), writing lots of letters to relatives, and talking to the older members of the family. If I have one piece of advice for those starting out, I think that is the one I would emphasize most. DON'T WAIT to talk to the elders. Once they pass away or become infirm, a tremendous amount of information is lost. Especially the kind that gives flesh to the skeleton of names and dates that genealogy can become without them. 
A second bit of advice is: let everyone in the family know that you are compiling information. They will be glad that you are doing the work for them, and they will bury you with photos and letters so that YOU can store them! Be prepared to put in more shelves or buy more cabinets if you get really serious.
A second bit of advice is: let everyone in the family know that you are compiling information. They will be glad that you are doing the work for them, and they will bury you with photos and letters so that YOU can store them! Be prepared to put in more shelves or buy more cabinets if you get really serious.
The photo to the right is of my Dad and his brother and sister in the late 1920's.
The third piece of advice would be to investigate carefully what software you want to use to manage your data. Entering everything is very time-consuming, and you don't want to have to work twice. "Free" is fine and readily available, but make sure the program has everything you need before you start: ease of entry, standardized formats to encourage sharing with others, flexibility to create charts, ability to incorporate photos and narratives, etc.
When I started my work, home computers weren't around yet. I had lots of notebooks full of photocopies and handwritten datasheets. A retirement project for me will be transferring lots of this original data online. That is a great (and cheap) way to share information with lots of relatives, and to keep it from being lost in the future.
The third piece of advice would be to investigate carefully what software you want to use to manage your data. Entering everything is very time-consuming, and you don't want to have to work twice. "Free" is fine and readily available, but make sure the program has everything you need before you start: ease of entry, standardized formats to encourage sharing with others, flexibility to create charts, ability to incorporate photos and narratives, etc.
When I started my work, home computers weren't around yet. I had lots of notebooks full of photocopies and handwritten datasheets. A retirement project for me will be transferring lots of this original data online. That is a great (and cheap) way to share information with lots of relatives, and to keep it from being lost in the future.
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