1<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "https://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> 2<html xmlns="https://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"><!-- #BeginTemplate "/Templates/template-5-en.dwt" --><!-- DW6 --> 3<head> 4<!-- #BeginEditable "doctitle" --> 5<title>Getting Started</title> 6<!-- #EndEditable --> 7<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
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100 interested in helping <span class= 101 "underline">you</span>. It facilitates interchange 102 of data with others in your family that may also be 103 doing genealogical research. It makes it easy to 104 determine relationships between family members. It 105 identifies gaps of information and inconsistencies. </p> 106 <p> A genealogical computer program is, however, merely 107 a tool for organizing your data. It will not do the 108 research for you. </p> 109 <p> Genealogical computer programs are continually being 110 improved and new versions are frequently issued. 111 Rather than recommending any particular ones, we 112 have compiled some of the factors that you should 113 consider in our section on <a href= 114 "progs.htm">Choosing a Genealogical Computer 115 Program</a>. </p> 116 <p> </p> 117 <h2> 2. Start With What You Know </h2> 118 <p> Begin with yourself and your immediate family. Enter 119 your own family group, father, mother, wife, sons 120 and daughters, in your computer program. This will 121 familiarize you with the program's features and 122 will allow you to explore the different printouts 123 that can be produced. </p> 124 <p> After entering your immediate family group, enter 125 your grandparents, aunts and uncles, their children 126 and so on. Always begin with someone you have 127 already entered and make connections outwards from 128 what you know already. </p> 129 <p> As you do the data entry, gather information from 130 your close family. Search for any documents, such as 131 birth certificates, marriage licenses, passports, 132 newspaper clippings, obituaries, scrap books, albums 133 and family memoirs that your family may have stored 134 away somewhere. Make Xerox or photocopies of the 135 documents and return the originals as soon as 136 possible. Do not keep or handle the original 137 documents unnecessarily to avoid loss or accidental 138 damage from mishaps such as spilling coffee on them. </p> 139 <p> When you examine these documents, take advantage of 140 the fact that Cuban civil and church records are 141 patterned on the Spanish model and often will 142 mention not only the parents, but the grandparents 143 as well. Often these records include information as 144 to where each of the ancestors was born, whether and 145 where they were living at the time of the event, and 146 sometimes even their occupation. </p> 147 <h2> </h2> 148 <h2> 3. Interview Your Family Members </h2> 149 <p> The best sources of information are your older 150 relatives. Also the children and close friends of 151 deceased relatives. Grab a notebook (or a small tape 152 recorder) and ask them about their childhood and 153 relatives. Do it as soon as possible, don't 154 leave it for tomorrow. Accidents and illnesses 155 happen unexpectedly and the information you want may 156 be suddenly lost forever. </p> 157 <h3 align="center"> Interview them again and again! </h3> 158 <p> Don't give up after one interview - older people 159 frequently will remember one day something they 160 didn't remember the week before. Many times a 161 question you asked will trigger memories that will 162 surface hours or days later. Learn to listen for 163 possible clues to family connections. Often, 164 mentioning these tidbits to other relatives may gain 165 you additional information. It also pays to engage 166 your older relatives in conversation about humorous 167 events ("family legends") they may have 168 witnessed or taken part in which they are bound to 169 remember with pleasure. Above all try to make it fun 170 for everyone, including yourself. </p> 171 <p> Often you cannot interview relatives in person and
172 you must use the telephone or mail. When writing 173 distant or little known family members, mention 174 where you learned about them and if possible mention 175 someone known to them that can vouch for you. I find 176 it essential to start any such correspondence by 177 giving them a printout of the information you know 178 about their branch of the family to excite their 179 interest as well to demonstrate that you are serious 180 about exchanging information about the family and 181 that your letter is not just another junk mail 182 solicitation. Giving them a descendant chart or a 4 183 generation pedigree chart, greatly increases the 184 likelihood that they will reply to your inquiries. 185 Often they will point out that you missed someone in 186 your chart and that may open the path for another 187 entire branch in your family tree. Don't forget 188 to follow up by sending them updated versions of the 189 charts as you progress in your research. </p> 190 <h2> </h2> 191 <h2> 4. Record Your Sources as You do Your Research </h2> 192 <p> As you collect information, <span class= 193 "underline">always</span> record where and when you 194 obtained it (whether from a written document or an 195 interview) at the time you enter the information . 196 At the beginning, this may seem like unnecessary 197 work, and that such sources will be easy to 198 remember, but when you have gathered several 199 hundreds or thousands of facts, believe me you 200 won't be able to remember exactly the source of 201 each one. Many times a particular event, such as a 202 marriage, may have several, sometimes conflicting, 203 sources. Regard your genealogy work as a legacy that 204 you will leave for future generations to admire. You 205 want to document each of the facts that you record 206 so someone in the future can check your sources and 207 evaluate the veracity of the information </p> 208 <p> Genealogists divide sources into two basic 209 categories, Primary and Secondary sources. Primary 210 sources are those which were generated in close 211 proximity to the event, for example a baptism entry 212 in a parish register or a birth certificate. 213 Secondary sources are those which were compiled by 214 someone from primary or other sources, for example a 215 family history or even the date and place of birth 216 listed on a person's death certificate, which 217 might be based on the recollection of someone 218 present at the latter event. Secondary sources are 219 more likely to suffer from transcription or research 220 errors. None are immune, however. My own birth 221 certificate incorrectly shows as the location of my 222 birth the home of my parents, rather than 223 grandfather's home where I was actually born. In 224 a case of discrepancies like this, it is even more 225 important to document the sources, such as eye 226 witnesses, of the facts that you are recording. </p> 227 <h2> </h2> 228 <h2> 5. Identify Promising Leads </h2> 229 <p> During the course of your initial gathering of 230 information be alert for leads to other potential 231 sources. If a relative has served in the military, 232 been a member of a union or professional 233 organization, applied for a trade or professional 234 license, received an academic degree, there is 235 likely to be a paper trail that may have significant 236 genealogical information such as date and place of 237 birth, where he or she was a resident at a 238 particular date, etc. Be alert to the value of such 239 information and make notes to follow up later. </p> 240 <h2> </h2> 241 <h2> 6. Search national and LDS data bases to fill gaps 242 and extend your body of knowledge </h2> 243 <p> Only after you have collected all the information 244 available from your living relatives and family 245 documents is it time to start researching other open 246 sources of information. If you are new to genealogy 247 you may not be aware of all many the sources 248 available on your Cuban (or other ethnic) heritage. 249 I have compiled a list of sources <a href= 250 "sources.htm">where to find information</a> relevant 251 to Cuban genealogy. </p> 252 <p> Reading a book on the subject may help you focus 253 your research and avoid false starts. I have tried 254 to compile a list of the most relevant <a href= 255 "refs/index.htm">Published References on Cuban 256 Genealogy</a> to help you get started. Also be sure 257 to check on our on-line <a href="jaruco.htm">Index 258 to <b><i>Historias de Familias Cubanas</i></b></a> to see if the history of your family has been 259 compiled in this work. </p> 260 <p> </p> 261 <h2> 7. Contact Others Doing Similar Research </h2> 262 <p> Since the publication of the book and TV program 263 "Roots", genealogy has become a very 264 popular hobby in the United States. It is very 265 probable that one or more genealogical societies
266 exist in your local area. In it you will find other 267 members who will range in experience from the raw 268 beginner to the professional genealogist. They are 269 generally always glad to help out beginners in the 270 field. Such organizations are of great help in 271 identifying and guiding you to local sources of 272 genealogical information. </p> 273 <p> In addition to local genealogical societies, most of 274 the larger on-line services such as CompuServe, AOL 275 and Prodigy have active sections where members get 276 together in "virtual communities" and 277 exchange tips and information. Be aware that the 278 more narrow and specific your question the more 279 likely it is to receive an answer. Don't expect 280 others to do your research for you and always be 281 courteous. </p> 282 <p> On the Internet, there are several newsgroups and 283 many web sites dedicated to genealogy. Check out our 284 list of <a href="links.htm">On-line Sources</a> related to Cuban Genealogy and related topics. </p> 285 <p><a href="https://www.aarpsegundajuventud.org/english/issues/2006-AS/06AS_gene.html">Solving Family Mysteries</a> will take you to an interesting article by Roger Hernandez, published in AARP <em>Segunda Juventud </em>magazine, describing the search for his ancestors.</p> 286 <h2 align="center"> <i>Good Luck!</i> </h2> 287 <p> </p> 288 <!-- #EndEditable --></td> 289 </tr> 290 <tr> 291 <td colspan="2"><p align="center" class="bottom-bar">| <a href="/index.htm" class="bottom-bar">CubaGenWeb 292 Home</a> | <a href="/start.htm" class="bottom-bar">Getting Started</a> | <a href="/lookup.htm" class="bottom-bar">Lookup</a> | <a href="/bbs.htm" class="bottom-bar">Queries</a> | <a href="/sources.htm" class="bottom-bar">Sources</a> | <a href="/refs/index.htm" class="bottom-bar">References</a> | <a href="/links.htm" class="bottom-bar">Links</a> | <a href="/shop.htm" class="bottom-bar">Shop</a> |</p> 293 <hr width="75%" size="5" align="center" noshade="noshade" /> 294 <!-- #BeginEditable "rev" --> 295 <div align="center" class="small-note">Getting Started - Updated 296 <!-- #BeginDate format:En2 -->10-Jul-2007<!-- #EndDate --> 297 </div> 298 <!-- #EndEditable --> 299 <p align="center" class="small-note">Copyright © 2007-2013 - Ed Elizondo 300
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