• where they grew up; state, county, town.
• birth & death dates of each of their parents and where they were born & grew up.
• marriage dates and location of marriage for your parents and grandparents
• find out where the grandparents, great grandparents, etc. are buried: Names of cemeteries, and where located
• Get similar information about any of your Aunt, Uncles or other relatives & check to see if any of them have previously done any genealogy research.
• Visit as many of your older relatives as you can and talk to them about everything they remember about themselves, their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. record everything immediately. Get any reminiscences about their childhood and early lives you can. It will make your genealogy much more interesting and readable.
• Where possible, get dates & locations of births, deaths, marriage. See if they have documents and pictures you can copy and return. 

2. Search the internet for the surnames that you find associated with your family (don't forget maiden names of all female members).

3. Also check your local libraries for books, microfilm, indexes, CDs that may contain information that will now make sense in light of what you already have and will begin filling in some of the blanks. Look specifically for:

• Census records for the States and counties where your relatives were born and grew up and lived.
• Marriage records for same.
• Cemetery records for same.
• Biographies of possible family members.
• Books about the particular areas by people who lived there or have studies the area. These often name residents and tell you about them
• War records (Also check with government archives)
• Old newspapers are a wonderful source of data and bring 'life' to the people you are researching.

4. Learn what type of information is on the census records and whether the records you find on line are accurate. Click here to learn more: What's in the Census?   About the Census

5. Visit cemeteries where your relatives are buried. Great information is often on tomb stones (birth, death, married to, maiden name, how died). Looking around, you may also find other relatives buried there you did not know about or get leads to others.

6. On the internet, sign up for newsgroups, email groups, & chat groups associated with the States & counties where your relatives lived. Also groups associated with the surnames involved.

7. Send for copies of birth, death, and marriage records for those relatives you know or find.

8. The LDS Church has Family History Centers all over. There is probably one near you. They have many records available that are not found anywhere else and will ship the one's you need to the FHC near you so can search them. Find out more here: Family Search

9. Join the local Genealogy Society and/or Historical Society.

9. Hire a professional genealogist if you have little time or reach an impasse. They often have the knowledge and means to do searches in a few hours that might take you days or weeks to accomplish.

10. Be prepared to spend a lot of time on this. The research may very well take years but will also introduce you to aspects of family and history you will not encounter in any other way.

11. Be sure to save all information in an orderly way. Save anything that looks interesting even if you are initially unsure if it applies. Many times you find out later that it did and then wish you had kept it. Where possible, make copies of the actual documents or pages from the book or microfilm. Always note where each piece of data came from so you can always back up your results with proof. Future generations will appreciate your efforts and it makes your search ultimately easier. Care for your research as replacing a document that has become soiled or damaged can be very difficult if not impossible.

12. Respect the privacy of others and take care to record their views honestly and without judgment. Remember, you are asking them for help.