Matthew L. Helm

The amount of available family history resources has skyrocketed in the last couple of decades. This is an exciting time for genealogy research because scanned images of key records are coming online at an unprecedented rate. Also, technologies such as DNA testing have been refined and are now invaluable tools that complement evidence from paper records.

There are a few things you need to know about receiving GEDCOM (GEenealogical Data COMmunication) files. Just as you would be careful about trusting information written out in a report or chart, you need to be careful before importing someone else's GEDCOM file into your genealogical database. If they have wrong information about an ancestor you share, you could corrupt your whole database and set you back in your efforts.

Hundreds of genealogy websites help you research family origins and movements; online is the place to be for genealogy research. Among many specialized websites, Helm's Genealogy Toolbox is the oldest comprehensive genealogy and local history index. The links on this site point to other resources available to assist your research.

If you have a paid subscription to Ancestry.com, it gives you an additional feature of the online family tree that is worth mentioning — Member Connect. The Member Connect feature actively looks for other people who are posting information about your ancestor on their online family trees. After finding a potential match, Member Connect lists the member's name on the tab.

Pinterest is both a social networking site (where you can connect with others with similar interests, such as genealogy) and an organizational site of sorts (where you can "pin" links to other web pages, articles, photos, ideas, pretty much anything online to review or reference again at a future date).To use Pinterest, you must set up a free account.

If your relatives are tired of hearing about your genealogy research trips or the information that you found on Great-Uncle Beauford, but you'd like to share your triumphs with someone, you may be ready to join a research group.Research groups consist of any number of people who coordinate their research and share resources to achieve success.

In addition to geographically based genealogy associations, you can find groups tied to names or family groups. Typically, they're referred to as — you've probably already guessed — surname or family associations or research groups.Family associations also frequently sponsor projects that coordinate the efforts of several researchers.

You should interview relatives to gather information about your ancestors both to use as leads in finding records and to enhance your genealogy. Well, what better way to gather information from relatives than by attending a family reunion?Family reunions can add a lot to your research because you find many relatives all in one place, and typically most are eager to visit.

A time may come when you've exhausted all the genealogy research avenues directly available to you and need help that family, friends, and society members can't provide. Maybe all the records you need to get past a research brick wall are in a distant place, or maybe you have too many other obligations and not enough time to research personally.