Genealogy is an addictive hobby, one that you will enjoy as long as you live, and one that will enable you to leave for your family, children, or grandchildren a gift they will find nowhere else - their family history.

But how do you begin? Since there are few absolutes in genealogy, you need to find the method that works for you and stick with it. Here are a few suggestions and basic rules that most genealogist follow:

1. Begin with yourself and work backward. You, your parents, then your grandparents, etc.
2. Always write surnames in capitals, but not given names. That way you will know that it is Warren GEORGE rather than George WARREN.
3. Always use women's maiden names.
4. Write dates following the 2-3-4- format. Two digits for the day of the month, three letters for the month and four digits for the year. Example: September 12, 1898 would be 12 Sep 1898. May 4, 1979 would be 04 May 1979.
5. Write locations from the smallest to the largest. For example, a person living in the village of Athens in Guernsey County, Ohio would have his location written Athens, Liberty Twp, Guernsey Co., OH. (or Ohio). The village, the township, the county, the state.

What are the basic steps to searching and recording your genealogy? First, you will need to fill in a Pedigree (or Ancestor) chart. This is what you know about your family tree. It begins with you, then branches out to your parents, your four sets of grandparents, and so on. It asks for names, dates and places of birth, marriage and death. Start with a four or five generation chart and complete what you know and don't worry about the blanks at this time.

The next step is to fill in Family Group Sheets. These are forms that list the husband and wife, then each of their children. Again it asks for names and dates and the names of each spouse. Complete one of these for each individual family group.

Pedigree Charts and Family Group Sheets may be found at Forms or at most genealogy libraries. In Wichita you will find them at the Genealogy Room of the Central Library.

You now have your roadmap designed, so it is time to "fill in the blanks."

You will start this step by being a collector and a cleaner!! Go through closets, drawers, old trunks, whatever and gather everything you have in your possession that might give the smallest clue to your family members. Some examples would be old letters, deeds to property (real or personal), certificates, diplomas, old scrapbooks and diaries, postcards, valentines, Christmas letters - the list is endless. Be sure to sort out old photographs, especially those with people even if you don't know who they are. Some day one of them may turn out to be missing Aunt Bertha.

Interview all living relatives. Do it now!!! Most of us wait too long and then all those who hold the memories are gone. Gather as much personal information as you can from those related to you. It helps to take a tape recorder, especially when interviewing older people. People tend to get distracted when they see you writing notes but soon forget they are being recorded.

For missing dates before 1910 most states will have them in the County Clerk's office in the County Court House. After 1910, you will need to write to the Department of Vital Statistics in the State Capitol. This, of course, varies by state. The book Everton's Handybook and The Book of County Courthouses each list the address, phone number and what records are kept in each county in each state. More guidance to these records can often be found on US Genweb.

Start to organize your findings before you go much further. You can begin with a loose leaf binder in which you place all of your groups sheets in family order. That means Joe and Martha and their children, then another sheet for each child and his/her spouse and their children, and so on through the generations. You may choose to use file folders with each family surname in a separate folder. Just avoid what we call the PHD method (piled high and deep) and remember that the floor is NOT the place to store your priceless genealogical records.

After completing as much of the above as possible, it is now time to learn to use the census records. Some of these can be found online through The Wichita Public Library, or you can use the original microfilm (click Census Index to see a list of census microfilm at the library). Whichever way, you will need to learn how to get the most from these records.

From here you should obtain any deed, will, guardenship, immigration and naturalization records, and other county records to complete your research. Click on Resources for some helpful information.