How do you help someone get started in researching their family history in Maryland?

Finding information on a person’s family history, or genealogy, can be easy if they’re related to a prominent family whose history goes way back- but that frequently is not the case.  When a customer approaches and asks if you have files on family names, indexes of death notices or obituaries, or census records that should send a clear message to you that they are looking for genealogical information.

You need to determine what the customer needs as they may already have tons of information already and are looking for a specific fact that has eluded them or, they may be just beginning and do not even know where to start.  Likely they are somewhere in-between.

Begin by asking these three questions:

• Where have you already looked?  This is important not only so that you do not duplicate where they have already searched, but it will give you some idea of how far along they are with their work.
  
  
• How far back have you traced your family?  That is, chronologically.  If someone has traced their ancestors back to the Revolutionary War you don’t want to give them something that only goes back to World War II.
  
  
• What part of the state does the family come from?  Really what you are getting at here is what County or area did they live?  Many resources for family history in Maryland are specific to a town or county.  Some counties have tons written about their families (e.g., Frederick), other very little (Cecil).  Frequently local sources will not only have information on the family they are seeking, but can also identify other relatives living nearby.

Need to provide some good Web sites?  The genealogy subject guide on the homepage of the Maryland Department at SLRC can get you started.  There you will find a list of basic genealogy sites like Cyndi’s List and the GenWeb Project that are useful in finding family history information for Marylanders and are great jumping off points.  The Maryland Department’s genealogy page also has a link to a useful how-to guide called Starting Your Own Genealogical Research that describes the resources and access to material in the State Library Resource Center.

If you want to direct a customer to a database, remember everyone with a valid Maryland library card can access HeritageQuest through Sailor.  You may also subscribe to Ancestry Library Edition in your library.  These two databases form a foundation for relevant genealogy information like census records, city directories and passenger arrivals.