Communicate With Others
After you have posted your message on this site's
queries forum, you'll want to take advantage of additional
avenues off this site. They are the mailing lists and the message boards.
The
quickest way to make progress in genealogical research is to connect with
someone who is further along or is more experienced than you are. Keep in mind
that a large part of the fun of genealogy is the relationships you develop with
people along the way. Be kind, courteous, helpful, slow to take offense, and
quick to forgive, and you will be rewarded.
-
Mailing Lists,
a.k.a. Email Discussion Groups
Being part of a mailing list is like having
your own virtual research community. It's an easy way to network with other
genealogists to share distant ancestors, get answers to questions, request
lookups and swap research stories. Genealogy mailing lists are free, fun and
are often one of the best online possibilities for filling in some of the
blanks in your family tree. These same lists not only help you find
information about your ancestors but many times can connect you with people
who have research interests similar to yours.
- Message Boards
A message board is a
computerized version of the old-fashioned bulletin board. You'll find
message boards related to surnames, localities, and other topics. By posting
a message to the appropriate message board, you create a record through
which other researchers can find you. There are two message boards of
interest to unknown county researchers :
Colorado
at GenForum
Unknown Colorado County
queries at Rootsweb
- Magazines and Societies
Another option is to submit
and look for queries in a genealogy magazine or newsletter.
Everton's Genealogical Helper
is one popular national outlet for this purpose. The magazines of some
national organizations, such as
National Genealogical Society,
allow queries in some of their publications. You might also want to check
for a historical or genealogical society magazine or newsletter that is
published in the area where your ancestors lived — it will often be
published by the genealogical society in that area. If someone is
researching the same family line as you, it is possible that they subscribe
to the newsletter and have already posted a query, or will see a query that
you post.
|