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Many local libraries and history societies have a family history section, files or resources dedicated to Family history and while many of these require membership it is a cost effective way of accessing multiple family history resources, without the cost mounting up.
The amount of information on birth certificates can vary significantly. In more recent years this could mean that there is both a short and long form. So if you can’t find the family history data that you are looking for it’s a good idea to try and find out if a long form certificate exists. Your local family history center or records office may be able to help you with family history and birth certificates advice.Certificates almost always show parents and sometimes other valuable information including where the parents were born, occupation and sometimes their address at the time the certificate was made.
When investigating your family history try wider sources and records such as divorce, medical, immigration adoptions, land title, school attendance, biography from local history books, wills and obituaries
There is a group of printable forms on this website to help you organize your research and keep track of your information sources. This is important; after hours of research, it will be difficult to remember where you have already looked. Always write down the sources you checked, even if you didn't find anything. Keep all of your charts and forms together in a binder along with your collected research material. Fill out the forms using pencil, the information you enter early in your course of inquiry may change considerably as you conduct further research. Initially, put any information that you can on the forms; this will give you an idea of areas you need to explore. Keep track of your questions; it's a good idea to keep scratch paper handy to jot ideas down as they come to you, so you can follow up on them later. As you begin your research, remember the basic rules of genealogy. Start with yourself and work backwards through each generation. Work from the known to the unknown. Write down what you find and where you found it: which institution, collection of records, volume and page number.
