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For the Beginner

FHC:
My first and best suggestion would be to visit a Family History Center. Owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Family History Centers can give you access to millions of records from throughout the world. They also have great resources for the beginner. While they are owned by the church and staffed by church member volunteers, everyone is welcome and non-LDS visitors will not be proseletyzed.

You can find a Family History Center near you at this website:

FamilySearch.org: Find a Family History Center near you

Before you go the the FHC, do a little homework. Talk to living relatives to gather what they know about their ancestry.

Once you arrive at the Family History Center with your Pedigree Chart and your Family Group Records (filled out in pencil), make sure you let them know you're a beginner and don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions. Finally, ask for a Research Outline for the locality you will be searching. It can be a great guide.

FORMS:
To help you keep track of the information you gather, you'll want to print out some genealogy forms. Here you have two choices: easy/ugly or harder/prettier.

Easy/Ugly: I've done Pedigree Chart and Family Group Record forms in html that you can just print from here. They are not particularly lovely but they should do until you can get some real forms at the FHC.

Harder/Prettier: You can download better Pedigree Charts and Family Group Records Rootsweb, but you will need Acrobat Reader to use them. If you don't already have this free program you can download it when you download the forms.

SOFTWARE:
Genealogy software doesn't do research--it helps you with data management--the storing of all those names and families you will be collecting. You can download Personal Ancestral File 5.2 for free at familysearch.org. Just click where it says Order/Download Products.

A COUPLE OF SUGGESTIONS:

If you're doing British Research you really want to know about the GENUKI web site.

You probably know about Cyndi's List, but just in case you don't, here is a link.

If you'll be looking at early English records, I have some English Handwriting Samples - and a few tips.

You can print or download forms, guides, and all kinds of research outlines at this section of the familysearch.org web site.

WEBSITES WITH INDEPTH TRAINING FOR BEGINNERS:

Getting Started in Genealogy & Family History   By GENUKI, it has a British perspective.

Brigham Young University Tutorial.

FamilySearch.org has some links to home-study courses.

Try the Learning Center at Ancestry.com. This is a subscription site, but many features are free. Small word of advice: While the subscription databases at Ancestry.com are extremely valuable, there is so much free help on the internet to help you get started doing family history research that you'll want to think twice before you pay anybody to get you started.

Have Fun and Good Luck!

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