Hopefully my family story sparked an interest in someone's mind. Genealogy is not a hobby to which many people devote their time or effort. Because of this, some people could be uncovering their roots for the first time in recent history. They will have the difficult task of working from the present backwards, with little to build on besides common family knowledge. Or, as in my case, perhaps someone has a family tree that has not been updated in many years, leaving an opportunity to update and expand the information. Since the expansion of the internet, genealogy has reached an entirely new level, with potentially centuries of history only a few clicks away. Below, I've listed some steps to get someone started once they decide they would like to pursue this venture further.
Sometimes the most valuable tool to a study of family history is the family itself. If you are young enough to have relatives that are generations older than you, ask them for anything they know. Even aunts, uncles, or cousins can help since the family history all meets eventually. If a genealogy book or chart had been made in the past, an older relative would probably know about it and where to get it. At the bare minimum, if the relatives do not know of any such book or report, first ask for ask for as much information on their parents, grandparents, and so on. Even if you only get back a few generations, the internet could possibly plug you into a line going back centuries. However, the human resource is a mortal one, and any knowledge of history passes away with the person, unless it is recorded first.
Someone might think, "If I have the internet, the library is useless for genealogy." This is hardly ever the case. If your family has been in your present town for a long time, chances are that they have made some mark on history that would only be found in that local library or genealogy division. In my personal town, I have traced lines back several generations all from newspaper articles, obituaries, and land deeds that could only be found in my local library. The internet is good, but it only goes so far in terms of specific knowledge on a place throughout history. If you live away from the town that your family is from, many genealogical divisions can be reached by phone or e-mail, and are more than willing to help you find the information you need.
My personal favorite, grave-hunting is a great way to find birth and death dates of ancestors long gone. Most towns keep records of where anyone was buried for at least the last century and a half, so as long as you have the name and the town, finding the cemetery shouldn't be a huge challenge. Oftentimes the obituary will mention the cemetery as well. Although it might take many trips up and down the lines of headstones looking for a name, nothing compares to the thrill of finding that grave that fills in part of your family tree. Take a picture of the grave, as I have, so that you can refer to it later and let others see if they live farther away. If the grave is damaged or hard to read, there are many methods to find out what was said, although some have been banned. I would check the local rules on how to read the graves before attempting something potentially damaging to the stone. Another great thing that graveyards can do is show family relgion through history. Oftentimes a family will stay predominantly in one denomination for generations, and will subsequently be buried in the same cemetery, or cemeteries of the same denomination.
If you only look at your family and not the circumstances around when they lived, you could miss out on some obvious, but valuable, information. For example, if your great-grandfather had three siblings die within two years, just that fact alone seems strange but unexplained. Doing some research, however, you could discover that a disease swept through the region right about the time that those siblings died. Using simple logic could open up doors and explain events better than any search engine or database of names and dates. Also, you could find that your ancestors moved in response to a particular event. Hardly anyone would just get up and decide to move across the country, even a hundred years ago. Most of the time, some circumstance, either political or local, might force a family or group of families to migrate. Knowing this information is key to knowing why you are where you are, and how your family has changed over the years.
Last but not least, the internet should never be ignored when in search of answers. As mentioned before, the internet changed the entire discipline of genealogy. Free websites such as RootsWeb.com are great tools, as well as any message boards you might find. Sometimes people will create sites like this one that you can tie your family line into, even if it is a hundred years back. The only caveat to using this massive tool is that the large amount of data does not always prove accurate. Just by searching the web, you could find several sites that have different information than mine. I have tried to study all sources and tell a correct story, but somtimes people make assumptions because of various reasons. It is important to know where information came from on the web, either by asking the source, or by looking it up yourself. I was lucky enough to have multiple online sources, all documented, as well as the writings of my father and great-great-grandfather to guide me as I uncovered the family story. When doing any type of research, either online or physically, make sure to reference as much as you can, or at least have the information if you are ever asked where you discovered it.