As mentioned on the previous page, it is important to set goals when doing family history. These will include both long-term and short-term goals. For example, your long-term goal may be to learn when your Dunbar family emigrated from their ancestral homeland to their present location. That probably happened several generations ago and you will most likely not find success if you immediately start searching for an immigration record. Remember the first premise of genealogy research and start with yourself and work backwards to the immigrant ancestor. Intermediate goals in this example would include:

• tracing your family back to the immigrant family. Use birth, marriage and death records among others to trace your family back, generation by generation.
  
  
• locating records for the immigrant family which may indicate the year of immigration. These will vary by country, but may include census records, passport applications, church records, etc.
  
  
• locate the immigrant family's port of departure or port of arrival. These will also vary by country, but may include census records, naturalization papers, newspapers, published indexes of passenger and immigration lists, a familiarity with ship passage routes, etc. 

Write your short-term goals down on a piece of paper or in a research notebook. Have a specific place where you keep a running list of short-term goals for each family group, and then make sure that you use it to jot things down as you are sitting at home going over your information. It doesn't need to be fancy, just a list of questions that you hope to find answers to - when was Grandpa born and where? what was Great-Grandma's maiden name? where was the family living in 1910?  You will thank yourself the next time you are at the library! 

Preparing for Outside Research

At some point in your research you will probably go to a library, archives or some other location to look for information on your family. We will learn more about possible places for genealogical research in Lesson 3b, but no matter the location your research trip will be much more productive if you do your homework before you go.

1. Call ahead to find out what days and hours they are open. Be sure to ask about: 
   
   
   • directions
   • special requirements such as needing a photo ID for access
   • whether you need to sign up in advance to use computers, microfilm readers, etc.
   • what materials you are allowed to bring with you - some libraries and archives only allow pencils and paper, others will allow cameras, laptops, etc.
   • fees such as usage and photocopying fees
   • parking lot locations and fees
     
     
2. Pack your research bag. Be sure to follow the guidelines of the library or archives on what you are allowed to bring with you on your visit. Include things such as your family group sheets, your list of research questions, extra pencils, blank research forms, a magnifying glass or bar, tissues and a roll of quarters for photocopies. You may also want to bring (if allowed) a laptop and/or a digital camera for taking photos of documents.
   
   
3. Plan your trip for a day when you will have several hours free for research with no distractions. There is nothing more frustrating than finally finding your ancestor in a record which is full of clues for further research and then having to leave! Get to the research location as early as possible and try to keep your research organized. It is so easy when faced with an archives full of records to flit from place to place like a butterfly trying to cram everything in, but you will lose out in the long run.

Next page > What to Look For