Most likely, the names of relatives you do not know or have not heard from for a while, will crop up as these names could have been vital during the growing up years of your parents. Usually, your parents could be able to help you as well as they might have access to and eventually look up legal family records such as certificates of death, birth, records in the military, etc. Check the old boxes in your storage room to see some old pictures of your ancestors, diaries and the like which could help you identify your ancestors. Ask your family and other close relative to help you out. Step two is the phase wherein you will take your family back to the year of 1870. It is an important date to all African Americans who are residing in the United States because it is the year wherein all blacks names were listed. These software programs provide you with the ability to backup all your info in a disk. Document it all Of course, mere documentation is not enough. It is important that you document everything as carefully and as appropriately as possible. First things first, copy the book title, reel number of the microfilm, the number of the page, author, publication year, publisher and whatever detail you could see on the sheet cover. The only drawback is that most of these records only show male ancestors and descendants and only a few female members. The early years of genealogy research In primitive societies, genealogy is often established with a god, a hero or a fantastic animal as the earliest ancestor. Even the great Alexander of Macedonia traced his roots to the gods of Greece. Take note of the color of your eyes, hair and complexion. Can you tell if you are of Irish descent, Chinese or, say, Mexican? If you are more than eager to know where those features came from, a little genealogical search won t hurt. Genealogy is commonly known as the family tree . There are many online search engines that are now available, which could aid someone who would want to delve into family history work. Find the library directions as well as a layout of all the records of the library, and any accommodations of nearby hotels if you plan to go through your own genealogical search. Note the hours of the library s opening and closing. The family history library is open from 730 in the morning up until six in the evening every Monday as well as 730 in the morning to 10 in the evening from Tuesday to Saturday.