Welcome to the For Beginners section of The Family History Guide! There are several things you can learn about here, to prepare you for your family history journey.
- Know why doing family history is important for you and others.
- If needed, you can review basic computer skills or have someone help you with them.
- Know the basic family history terms and definitions.
1. Why is doing family history so important?
Explore the InspireFamilyHistory.com website, and then read and ponder any of the following articles, to get ideas for inspiration and motivation in your family history journey. If you are already motivated, skip ahead to Item 3 below.
2. Computer Basics
Note : If you are comfortable with your computer skills, skip ahead to Item 3 below.
If you would like to review basic computer skills, or have a friend help you with them, the place to go is the
Computer Basics section
in The Family History Guide. It's for Windows and Mac, with tutorials on everthing thing from understanding your computer to using desktop and web applications. You don't need to cover all the tutorials, just the ones of interest to you.
3. Terms to Know
It's important to understand common family history and genealogy terms as you begin. Click the Basic Terms link below and study the terms and definitions until you feel comfortable with them. To do additional study (optional), click the More Terms link and read as much as you feel you need to. Then proceed to Item 3.
- Basic Terms
(This list is adapted from the FamilySearch Wiki.)
- Ancestors: The people from whom you are a descendant (your direct line excluding their siblings).
- Archives: Stored information and records related to current and past generations; or, the group or organization that holds the records.
- Cemetery Records: Records related to a burial (both office records and tombstone information).
- Census: An official government listing of people within a geographic area. The US Federal census has been taken every 10 years since 1790. US state census records may be taken in the alternate five year periods.
- Christening: Baptism in most churches, often with recorded birth dates, parent information, and possibly relatives' or god-parents' information.
- Citation: A reference that links the information cited to an authoritative source, to prove it is accurate (usually a primary source such as a legal document).
- Descendancy Chart: A listing or display of all the known descendants of a particular ancestor which includes all children, the children's spouses and their children, and so on to the present day.
- Emigrant: A person who has "left one country or region for another area. As opposed to an immigrant who is someone who has "arrived" or settles in a new area.
- Family History Library (FHL): The world's largest collection of genealogical information collected by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
- FamilySearch Centers (FHC): Facilities located in many cities across the world which provide local research assistance and access to the FHL records.
- Immigrant: A person that settles in a new country after leaving (emigrating) from another country. You emigrate from one place but immigrate into another place.
- Migration: As distinguished from Emigrant and Immigrant: Usually refers to movement of people within the same country such as moving from state to state. Can also refer to instances where people move seasonally such as migrant workers.
- Naturalization: The process used to become a citizen of a country.
- Obituary: A published death notice which often contains a brief biography as well as birth and death information and usually the closest relatives.
- Pedigree chart: The display used to show one person's ancestors by listing their parents and the parent's parents, and so on.
- Sources (Primary): Census records, birth, marriage, and death records, medical records, and other published records such as newspapers, court and land records.
- Sources (Secondary): Biographies, dictionaries and encyclopedias (printed or online like Wikipedia), guides or manuals, general histories, etc.
- Surname: The name associated with a group of people such as a family. Formerly it was a descriptive phrase used with a name to depict that person's occupation or some characteristic of the person. Those extra names eventually evolved into one's family name in many instances.
- Vital Records: Civil (legal) records which document the birth, marriage, or death of a person.
