13/07/2021
0307 - 2021
So let's start building your tree!!
My previous posts to date have been associated with getting you to a position where you can now start documenting your ancestors on your own family tree.
Whilst you could handwrite your family tree on a large piece of paper or use a simple application like Word or Excel, I strongly recommend you use the functionality on a genealogy site to document your tree. It will save you a lot of time and will provide a lot more flexibility later on.
As you may not know at this stage how successful your research will be my first big big tip would be to set up a free account with Familysearch.org.
Other sites will typically have a subscription fee of say around $US150. These sites will typically entice you with a free 14 day trial period but will require you to provide your credit card details upfront and then you simply cancel within 14 days (don't fall into that trap as you may forget to cancel).
The fee paying sites may have better functionality provided you use what they have to offer. However to start off , I would recommend a free site and if you are successful you can move over to a subscription site.
I started this way using the following sites
familysearch.org (the free site); and
Myheritage.com (the paid subscription site).
If you wish to explore using Familysearch.org, there are a couple of important points to mention (in case you are wondering).
Firstly, you will see the site was created by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. I am Roman Catholic and I can assure you there is no religious angle or push.
So if you are concerned you will be bombarded with religious information / propaganda, I can verify that in the 18 months I have used the site, there has not been a single instance where I have been sent any religious information.
Secondly, some people have expressed concerns to me about security of information (ie. storing an access of personal details). A few points in relation to this, firstly, you will have a unique user name and password, so its good practice to keep that information secret.
The next point is that if you read the site information about security, you will see that someone cannot search details of people that you have entered if the person is still alive.
So whilst the power of these site is gathered from the collective research of other people that share a common ancestor (eg. a distant relative may be able to search the name of a deceased great great grandparent), they will not be able to search your details.
If you are still concerned about disclosing too much information about a living relative you can always limit the amount of information to record (eg instead of a full date of birth, perhaps just enter the year). Its up to you and no real rules apply.
I'll proceed on the basis you have decided to use Familysearch.org.
When you have created an account you will be able to work out fairly quickly how to set up a starting individual (start with yourself).
See images of the record entry page. I don't tend to insert a title (eg. Mr, Mrs, Dr etc) but up to you. For consistency you should decide what approach you will take with all your naming conventions. For example, I applied a simple rule with recording the name on the birth certificate rather than the name by which person was typically called by family and friends (eg. if someone was born with the name Francesco, but known as Frank, you need to decide which naming convention you will apply).
In addition, whilst it may be common in places outside Italy for the wife to take on the surname of the husband, for consistency and to aid in research, I suggest you always enter the maiden name of the wife.
When entering dates of birth / death / marriages, in order to ensure the data can be stored entered correctly on the database , you need to ensure you record it in standardised format, which I use as date month year (eg. 15 August 1825).
When recording place of the event (eg. birth) again you should work out the convention you wish to use. My suggestion would be ViIlage (or Town), Province, Region or State. So for example someone born in Oratino, could be recorded as Oratino, Campobasso, Molise, Italy. This process is up to you, all I suggest is that you follow the same process for all those individuals you enter.
Once you have entered a person, Family search will allocate a unique ID Number. This unique number is that which allows you to compare what you have found to another contributor who has entered a similar person allowing you to see if there has been a match.
That matching is the true power of these sites. The more people that research and add to the database the bigger and faster you can build your tree
So there is a bit to absorb. The best thing is to give it a go and get started.
If you have any queries between now and my next post, feel free to contact me. In my next post, we will continue with the steps to populate your family tree (using familysearch.org).
