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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.
The Arizona Department of Health Services is a great family history resource it is a free database and includes the original digital verified versions of birth and death certificates that are publicly available in Arizona. The database goes back from 50 years ago for Deaths and 75 years ago for birth, to protect the privacy of individuals.
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.
The great thing about family history is that there is something for all levels. If you have plenty of time so much the better but if you don’t, you can still achieve a lot by being organized and focused in your family history research. One way to progress if you have limited time is to create a family history plan to motivate you. It’s really just your commitment to yourself that you will try and achieve certain things by a certain date.
