Starting your family history can be intimidating and stressful. You may even put it off because you do not know where to start. These are common feelings that I had when I first started my genealogy research. There are essential items that can help alleviate and bury those pesky roadblocks.

Recently, I asked The Genealogy Tribe some of the essential items that they would suggest to a beginning genealogist. Here is a comprised list of their answers and some of mine as well.

Essential Items for a Beginning Genealogist

A Bulletin Board Researching a family line can start to become more complicated and harder to figure out as you go further down your line. Using a Bulletin Board can be helpful in keeping relationships, sources, and dates organized. You can find a bulletin board from Amazon for around $27. You can view this product by clicking HERE. A Voice Recorder Recording your family members sharing their members is an essential part of family history. A good voice recorder is a must-have when interviewing your family members. Most smartphones have a voice recording app that is sufficient for this purpose. Another option is a digital voice recorder which you can get from Amazon at about $30. You can view this product by clicking HERE. USB Drives Saving your photos, documents and sources are extremely important to ensure that your research is safe and secure. A USB drive will help with this issue by allowing you to save these essential items to a portable drive that you can take with you anywhere. You can have one or multiple USB drives for your different family lines. Five color-coded USB drives can be bought for $18 on Amazon. You can view this product by clicking HERE. A Good Friend Finding others that are interested in family history is a great way to explore other ideas and bounce off your ideas off them. If you don’t have anyone in your friend circle that participates in genealogy, then you could join a Facebook group and find others that are willing to help you. Here is one example, that I am apart of called The Genealogy Tribe. Check us out by clicking HERE. Subscription to a Genealogy Site Putting your researching onto a family tree is essential and a genealogy site will help you keep track of who is in your tree, what sources you have for them and their relationship to you. Check out this article I wrote concerning the top four sites to start your family history. You can read the article by clicking HERE. Patience Working on your family history can be a research project you work on for your whole life. You will be faced with brick walls and dead ends. Years may pass before you find your great grandfathers birthday or you find the husband of your 2nd great-grandmother. Patience may not be a physical item, but it is better to learn this attribute when you first begin rather than later on.

With these items, you will be on a much higher ground than someone who started with no guidance. Do you have any other items that are essential? Please share in the comments below.

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