By Schelly Talalay Dardashti

Are you one of those people who want to begin researching their family, but just don’t know how or where?

Beginning your unique journey – every family is different – down discovery road will be easier if you understand why you want to take that first step.

Some are interested in their medical histories, others want to find “lost” branches around the world or prove family stories. One person may wish to write a book; another to visit an ancestral town and make a documentary. Have you inherited family information and want to understand it, build on it, preserve it and transmit it to future generations?

There are a million reasons for looking into your family!

Here are 10 steps to help you get started.

1. What do you know about you?

Family history begins at the beginning – with you, your spouse or partner, children, siblings. Take a few steps back to your parents and grandparents, adding in aunts, uncles and cousins.

Look for birth, marriage, death certificates to determine dates and places, cemetery records; women’s maiden names; places of residence; ports of immigration and passenger manifests; citizenship records; graduation records, yearbooks; photographs; military records and old letters. Don’t forget middle names, nicknames and more.

Determine ancestral towns and countries, understanding that European borders changed frequently, and town names changed over history.

2. Spelling 101

Everyone’s name has variations, even the simplest of phonetic names. Learn common variations for surnames of interest. Access immigrant passenger manifests to learn variants. Understand that many immigrants changed their surnames (and given names), for a variety of reasons, soon after landing in the US.

However, the story that your immigrant ancestor’s name was changed at Ellis Island is simply not true. Not one documented case of a name change has ever been found. That is the Number One Myth of Genealogy. But your ancestor may have changed the surname as soon as they passed through immigration. Many made several changes over the years. Sometimes the name was merely translated into English. Spelling was simplified for names that were hard to spell or say. An early immigrant relative may have already changed the name and the new arrival adopted it.

3. Talk to everyone

Make sure to first interview senior members of your family. Time is of the essence, if you have older cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents. Record the interviews (video, audio) or take detailed notes. Read up on interviewing techniques. Ask questions that cannot be answered by yes or no; but require real answers.

Ask to see what documents or information relatives may have, including old family photos. Try to get copies of photos (and label them!). Ask about old family stories. No matter how outlandish the stories may be, there is usually a kernel of truth and you must find it, or at least get started on the investigation. You may discover that another relative has recorded information; speak to him or her. Share information, work together to find more.

Nearly every family has a skeleton in the closet or a “secret” that is never spoken about. It might be a first marriage or an adoption. Many times, what was considered a terrible scandal way back when, is common enough today. But older family members may still be reluctant to speak about it.

4. How should I organize my data?

You can start with a low-tech notebook in which names, dates and places are recorded. Be aware that you will very soon outgrow that notebook. Many websites offer free variations of printable pedigree sheets to record family information.

There are numerous genealogy software programs to help you organize data, build indexes, extract family facts, store photos and documents. MyHeritage.com’s Family Tree Builder 6.0 is free, safe and secure. Download it, use it on your computer to record information, upload data to a MyHeritage free family site where you can share information with your family, or go directly to the site and build your tree online.

5. Search for family online

Even after thoroughly interviewing relatives, there may be missing pieces, conflicting dates and places. More and more information is now online, such as that here at World Vital Records. MyHeritage.com offers a super search engine that looks at some 1,500 genealogy sites. Investigate FamilySearch.org and every online site as new records are posted frequently. Have a somewhat unusual surname or spelling variant? Search on Facebook and Twitter for others with the same name.

6. Census records

From 1850, the US Federal census records are essential to find and trace your ancestors through time. Find census records online at various sites. The 1940 census will be released April 2, 2012, and genealogists are gearing up to learn how to access relevant information.

7. More help is available

Join your local genealogical society, attend programs, ask experts, use resources. Visit your local Family History Library. The main FHL is in Salt Lake City, Utah, but there are thousands of branches in other countries. Although the information was collected by the LDS church, data has been microfilmed worldwide with important records for those of all ethnicities and religions. The libraries are free to all and volunteers are available to guide researchers.

Don’t forget about the newest tool – genetic genealogy. FamilyTreeDNA.com was the first genetic genealogy company; its DNA database is several times larger than all the other companies in the industry combined. Testing there increases the probability of finding genetic matches.

8. Cite your sources

One of the most important things is to record – from day one – where you found information. Beginners often think, in their enthusiasm, that they will remember where they found every bit of data. The day will come when you won’t be able to remember. I highly recommend that you record the source for each fact and document, as they are located. If you don’t, there may come a time when you’ll have to backtrack to the very beginning and duplicate research to find the sources. I’ve had to do that, it isn’t fun and takes hours out of your life.

9. Photographs and documents

Store historic photos and documents in archival-quality folders. Make photocopies or – better yet – scan and digitize them. Work from the copies; keep originals stored properly and safely in the dark. When you go on research trips, take the copies. Remember to back up research to prevent loss of work due to computer problems or natural disasters, such as fire and flood.

10. Stay focused

Stay organized. Keep searching. Don’t become discouraged. If you don’t find what you need today, search again tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. New records become available all the time.

Good luck on your unique journey to find ancestors and previously unknown relatives. Learn about ancestral towns, connect with living relatives and share your research.

Schelly Talalay Dardashti is the US Genealogy Advisor for MyHeritage.com, contributes to and edits the MyHeritage Blog. She specializes in Jewish genealogy as journalist, blogger, instructor and international speaker. For more than 20 years, she has tracked her families across Spain, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland and Iran.

Start today:  Work on your to-do list

A genealogy friend recently told me that – for several weeks – he has been busily scanning a pile of family photos. Collectively, his family has more than 10,000 images to be scanned and saved.

I just read an article indicating that it is not uncommon around the world for homes to burn down, and the surviving family reminisces about the lost quilts, mementos and, most importantly, family photos.

In another story yesterday, Kodak continues to revamp from the inside out as rolls of film and 35mm cameras have all but disappeared, forcing the company to rethink and rebuild to meet the current times.

As my wife and I worked this weekend to clean the house for my mother-in-law’s visit, I ran across a few rolls of old 35mm film. I was transported back to when I was a kid, waiting for my birthday gift – a camera.  Then I needed film – and had to pay for developing it – to record my friends, campouts, school events and more.

It’s amazing that we now have high-powered digital cameras built into our Smartphone.  I can take a photo and immediately post it to this blog.  I can record a video and do the same.  I can chat with friends around the world via Google Hangouts and Skype with my Smartphone.  The world has become smaller and our technology much smarter.

However, before we get too caught up in our Smartphones and today’s other gadgets, perhaps we need to take time to find our old rolls of film, and stacks of photos and scan and save them, before we regret not having done so.  Once we save all of them, we need to save those somewhere safe. Better yet, save them in the cloud.

We never know what each day will bring, or how much time we have left to scan, research or just spend time with family. So start today.

I am now working on adding photos to my tree – it takes time to find and scan them but its well worth it once I see them in my tree.  I have a lot of work to do!

Family Tree

I’ve read many good New Year’s goals touching on genealogy research, teaching, learning, sharing and more.

Certainly this is a great time to get going with family history and genealogy.

Before I become too involved in “genealogy speak,” I’d like to welcome all readers with an interest in genealogy, but simply don’t know where to start.  Welcome!

Jumping into genealogy can be overwhelming, particularly as you read blogs written by experts from around the world.  You may find that – as you start to explore the world of online genealogy – that you discover some rather intense sites providing specific genealogy niche topics. While those sites are exciting to find once you are ready to investigate them, the following goal may help prevent you from going in over your head.

Newcomers to this field should set as a first goal to be honest with yourself and others you meet. Say that you are a new researcher, that you need to learn.  Starting from the beginning is the best place to begin and will help guide you to specialty topics relevant for your own journey.

For the beginning genealogist, the LDS church has a very good set of introductory videos to help you get started.  Those with more knowledge – and who are even thinking of becoming an accredited professional researcher – can see more videos at ICappGeen as well as resources at the Association of Professional Genealogists and the National Genealogical Society.  For those interested in specific topics, try JewishGen.org, the Polish Genealogical Society of America or those sites relevant to specific ethnicities or religions.

An Internet search will produce many more resources. The goal should be to spend a few hours a week watching the videos.  Don’t become frustrated. As long as you’re taking some time to move forward, you’re going in the right direction. Once you have a basic genealogy knowledge base, you’ll be able to begin your research.

Last week, I spent several hours searching for information about my recently deceased great-grandparents and – although I quickly found the necessary data – it took longer to find the photos of their gravestones.

I requested – and soon had the photos – from a volunteer site.  Genealogy encourages sharing and cooperation.  As you learn and research, you’ll develop a network of genealogy friends who will be happy to offer their expertise.  Learn from their hints and tips, but don’t ask them to do all the hard work for you. Your gen friends will help you learn how to research but they have their own work to do.

Each research project is unique. Regardless of how expert you may become, each investigation may require different knowledge sources.

The key is to spend time learning so that you know how to adapt what you know to each project.

I have a goal that may be unique to my own large family. While my research is already well on its way, as I’ve spent many recent hours working on adding specific sources to an already large file, and trying to fill big gaps in required sources to adequately support the names in my tree.

What’s missing is much of my living family.

New Tree for my living family

MyHeritage App

With several hundred descendants, when my grandparents were alive, they were constantly trying to keep up with how many of us there were – and there are more now.

I plan to create a new MyHeritage family tree and share this with all my living relatives.  I want to see a massive living tree showing my entire family – my children, my cousins and their children. I’d love to add another generation as my own parents will become great-grandparents for the first time this summer – and I will be a great-uncle!

I’m very excited to have a living tree displaying all my cousins, their spouses and children. There are so many of them that I can barely keep them straight. This will be an immense project that I’ll try to keep going throughout 2012 and it includes many active users all contributing information to keep our social tree

up-to-the-minute current.  Using the new smartphone app from MyHeritage my hundreds of relatives and I will be able to share photos not just in a social network but in our family tree – a place to save them for many years to come!

At the same time, I’ll continue searching for photos, dates, events, places and more information for my ancestors, who are also an important part of this tree.

A very Happy New Year to our readers.  We wish you the best of luck in your genealogy adventures.

MyHeritage is having great Holiday Competition – Join in the fun by following the details found HERE on the MyHeritage Blog.

Family Tree Builder Version 6.0

Today, MyHeritage.com - the parent company of WorldVitalRecords.com - released version 6.0 of its popular free family software, Family Tree Builder. There have been more than 28 million downloads of FTB.

WorldVitalRecords is excited to be included in this release as our data is now searchable from within the software. Users can search for matches in our database of more than 4 billion records.

CEO Gilad Japhet said about FTB6:  “Packed with exciting new features, Family Tree Builder adds color and depth to family history research for professionals and beginners alike. We’re proud to have developed the industry’s most comprehensive and feature-rich software, and, true to our mission of bringing family history to the masses, we’ll continue to keep it free for all to use.”

What’s New in Version 6.0?  (Highlights – read full details here)

Profile Pages

• Automatic Historical Record Matches: Family Tree Builder 6.0 automatically searches for relevant historical records in World Vital Records – a huge database added to the MyHeritage family last month as part of its acquisition of FamilyLink.com. For more details click here.  With billions of birth, marriage, death and census records, plus newspapers, yearbooks and additional historical content – exciting discoveries are awaiting almost everyone.

• Better Family Site Integration: The integration with your family site on MyHeritage.com is now seamless and more convenient than before.

• Family Statistics: MyHeritage.com analyzes your family tree and produces 45 enlightening statistics – many unique to MyHeritage – such as average lifespan and most common first names in your family. For example, the average age difference of spouses in your family tree, the top families where the gap between the age of husband and wife is highest, the average age difference between the youngest and oldest child in all families, and many more. It’s all free!

What a great day it is!

It’s never been easier to capture history in the making and preserve it for future generations.

I downloaded the just-released MyHeritage Mobile App (for iPad, iPhone and Android devices) to my smartphone. Within minutes, I was browsing my family tree data, as well as uploading and sharing photos.

I understood how awesome family history will be from now on.

When my family and relatives say – “Mark, you’re the genealogist. Where was Grandma born?” –  I’ll whip out my smartphone as if it were a six-shooter. I’ll tap the MyHeritage app, scroll over to Grandma and fill the family in on the rich details of a great woman’s life and legacy.

Merry Christmas

I’ll pull up the photos of Grandma’s funeral of a few years ago, when we gathered to remember her life. Then, I’ll invite everyone to share their photos, dates and other family history moments.

A few days ago, I saw my 9-year-old daughter doing some pretty cute stuff and took some pictures. Today, I can immediately upload those moments to my family site and share them with my family, immediate and extended. In time, she’ll log in herself to show her own children these photos and videos – and add more of her own.

This year – as you gather for the holidays – make sure you have downloaded the MyHeritage App to your iPad, iPhone or Android device, so that you are not just taking pictures – but also sharing and preserving them for the future through your MyHeritage family site.

Read more about the new app on the MyHeritage Blog

Download the app

MyHeritage Mobile App

Finding, recording Christmas traditions and stories

I heard a story recently about a Christmas tree decorated with real candles.  In years’ past that’s how they did it – real trees and real candles – possibly a combustible combination.  It was a great story and one that will be handed down through the family for years to come.

In our home, the tree goes up on or near Thanksgiving and comes down soon after Christmas. We think it looks boring after the gifts are gone.  My wife insists that we begin placing gifts under the tree as soon as possible instead of waiting until Christmas Eve.  Growing up, we waited to place the presents because we kids just had to peek.

Our tree ornaments in my childhood home were re-used each year.  Little clay figures made at school, paper chains, popcorn strands – it was very much a kid’s tree.  As we got older, the decorations became more decorative than historic.  Now, at home, we have no historical ornaments – just those that look nice.  It’s a big decorative tree which puts us all in the holiday mood.

As we pass our stories down through the generations, our story will be of putting up our not-so natural  tree – making sure it won’t fall over ( with wires screwed to the wall studs)  as we inherited a very large tree which needs extra help.  It can be used as a seven-foot tree or – when we lived in a home with a higher ceiling – I would add a pipe to the bottom along with spare branches to make it 10-feet tall. Two or three additional support wires were required to keep it upright.

Our current tree is fake – just green, not flocked.  My personal favorite would be a flocked real tree – a blue spruce in a perfect large Christmas tree shape.  Okay, I’m not so sure about the flocked part. I do love it, but also hate the mess it makes.  A favorite winter sight is a perfect pine tree covered with snow. Take that into the house and I think it would be just great.

When we were growing up, our trees were real every year until I was about 13. Then, my mother decided to go with a huge flocked fake tree. It was beautiful the first year. The second year we needed to respray it with a few cans of white flocking as the original had turned yellow.  No one wants a yellow flocked tree.

Baby Thomas Christmas 2011

Holiday memories can be so vivid. Trees, ornaments, gifts, parties and more are all part of our family history.  Whether or not we record each celebration, these occasions are still part of us.

The picture here is of my nephew little Thomas, four months old.  No doubt in 20, 40, 80 years this picture will speak a thousand words for him, his wife and kids – and grandkids.  A picture like this can remind you of many memories – but to have all those details written down in a journal, a personal history or a photobook can mean as much if not more than the thousand unspoken works that a picture may inspire.

This year – as you gather round your tree, make sure to listen, take pictures and most importantly record the stories about Christmas past as told by your parents, grandparents and other loved ones.

Happy Holidays!

I just revisited my childhood home – even though it no longer exists.

As I walked Canyon Oaks Drive (Irving, Texas), I approached the cul-de-sac where I biked in summer, wished for snow in winter and raced for the finish line in my teens. (Don’t tell my parents, but we could hit 60 mph and more before we reached the corner. I wondered if the skid marks were still there.)

Thirteen years ago, during a very hot summer, my parents moved. I had moved out long before, but I went home to help them. We packed up many years of memories and cleaned the clutter left from raising 12 children.

My dad stopped by the house during a trip to Dallas last fall. He found a condemnation notice and a “No Trespassing” sign. I was shocked. It was my house. They couldn’t just tear it down.

I called the City of Irving. Yes, they were gutting the house and would demolish it. No, there was nothing wrong with it. The problem was the old bridge in front of the house. When it rained, the culvert – officially named Delaware Creek — often overflowed into nearby yards and homes. So they were removing the bridge and house, and building a park.

I think they should call it Olsen Park.

Today, several months after my dad’s visit, both structures are gone and the park is open.

Yet there I stood, in the middle of the street, looking all around the neighborhood, and at my house. I saw the tree I hit on my bike, splitting my lip. I stood in the very spot where I was knocked unconscious while delivering newspapers. The paper bag got caught in my bike chain and flipped me.

I inspected the pesky corner that took out the side of our van a few times, as inexperienced drivers turned too quickly onto the bridge. I saw the oak trees and the poison oak which occasionally tried to kill me, when I was hanging Halloween ghosts or Christmas lights.

It wasn’t magic or an exceptionally vivid memory that allowed me to be where I wasn’t and see what’s not there any longer. It was Google Street View, which conveniently (for me) hasn’t been updated since they tore down my house.

One afternoon, I wanted to see the new park, and simply Googled my old address. “Olsen Park” wasn’t on Google yet, but my old house was. I found myself reliving my youth. I virtually walked up and down the street, looking at my neighbors’ homes, and I walked to my elementary school of 30 years ago.

As we work through our own family history and memories, we can go back in time to the very streets where we were raised, assuming they are still there – or were, when the Google car last passed by. I can visit my first apartment and my college home-away-from-home. I don’t have to buy a plane ticket or take long drives. I can revisit my history from the comfort of my home in Utah.

I work with genealogy data every day at FamilyLink, but this is still amazing. I’ve taken screen shots of my childhood home. I’ve taken my own children on a virtual tour of my old neighborhood, one click at a time.

Over the coming holidays, I’ll share this wonder with childhood friends and with my family. I might even persuade Grandma to walk with me through her hometown and visit her childhood home. A photo of Grandma’s face when she sees it, or maybe even a video she’s narrated, would be a good thing to post at my family tree site at MyHeritage.com.

The Olsens

The perfect heartfelt gift – 20 minutes a day

My baby sister has been driving her siblings nuts this year as she prepares a special gift for our parents.

For the past few months, she’s been “encouraging” us to write down our childhood memories so she can add them to a photo book she’s creating. It’s a great idea – but also hard work. To me, it’s a time-consuming emotional process to go through your memories, put them down nicely on paper and share them with the world, or at least with the family.  But what better present could there be? You on paper for your children, parents and relatives.

I’d like nothing more than to have my siblings, parents, our only surviving grandparent and more of my extended family write their stories and share them. As I delve deeper into our family history I realize what great knowledge we hold in our minds. It all dies when a relative passes and has not recorded his or her memories, or caring relatives had not succeeded in prying out those memories.

Although possibly an arduous process, what a great gift it is to record your personal history. Instead of always looking to your parents and grandparents, perhaps it’s time to understand the importance of recording your own stories as well as those of your family.

In reality, I’m preaching to myself as I realize what a great gift it would be to share the stories in my head with my children. I’m still young, but getting older by the minute. I may as well record my stories now and avoid having my grandchildren insist that I immediately start talking while they stare and record.

As the holidays get ever closer, I’ve come up with a plan of action.  My goal is to sit and write for at least 20 minutes a day – not more – to record my memories and stories. From there, I’ll adapt and adjust it, but what’s important right now is just to begin. Whether or not I give this as a gift this year is yet to be seen, but the real gift is the security of knowing that – no matter when I go – at least my past will remain for my loved ones.

I’d like to invite my readers to join me in this 20-minute goal from now until Christmas Day.  Write what you want – but write something — so that your family will have this special gift when you are gone.