Are you ready to learn more about your family
tree?
If so, you have three options!
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Do nothing. This isn’t very exciting, is it?
Since genealogy isn’t something that anyone must do, it’s
tempting to keep setting it aside. Unfortunately, many people never learn their story
because they simply never decide to actually do something about their
interest.
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Do the research yourself. Doing research yourself
is a very fulfilling experience for millions of people! With the ease of sharing
and accessing information over the internet, genealogy has become the nation’s
number one hobby. You should pursue this option if: |
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You have time to do genealogy the “right”
way. Many well intentioned people think that family tree research means
copying information from other people’s online family trees. The cardinal
rule of genealogy is to never rely on other people’s information! Make sure if you decide to do research yourself that you
verify everything you find. |
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You enjoy the thrill of research as much as the findings themselves.
Many people enjoy the research process as much as the results. If you
enjoy history, have a natural curiosity
and have the time to do genealogy the right away, it would be well
worth your time to start a genealogy hobby. |
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Hire professional genealogists to do the research for you. Less than a third of all people interested in their family tree do research themselves due to
the time and knowledge required. Many of the others don’t realize there
is an easy and exciting alternative. Professional genealogists are highly skilled in finding, deciphering and analyzing historical documents
to develop people’s family trees. You should pursue this option if: |
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You don’t have much free time. Genealogy
takes a lot of time to do correctly. If you only have an hour or two per month,
it could take many years to develop a family tree with the information you want
to know. When you hire a professional genealogist, you can often start learning about your family
tree right away. |
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You are more interested in genealogy for the findings than for the
research process itself. If your primary objective is to learn about
yourself, you may not find the research process very interesting. By hiring a professional,
you can leave the research methodologies up to someone else and simply enjoy the
results. |
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OR |
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You enjoy doing research but have gotten “stuck” on a
problem.
It’s not uncommon to hit a “brick wall” in your research
and feel like you can’t find a particular answer. Hiring an expert to get you over the wall can be a great solution. |
Learn
about professional genealogy! |
