There are many places to find out about your ethnic roots. Some are more reliable than others. Before you go off searching in what you think is the "old country," be sure you have documented everything there is to know about your ancestors in this side of the pond. Several ethnic groups have a more difficult time with researching ancestors than others. Native Americans and slave descendants have a harder time than most. (We will cover these in more detail later on) Those of Jewish decent may have a hard time documenting individuals who did not leave Europe prior to 1939 (the onset of WWII). Again, there are ways to find out about this, you just have to know where to look.

So where do you look for your ancestors? A really good starting point is the RootsWeb website. This is a free website dedicated to genealogy. You can search databases, ask for a random act of genealogical kindness, and join many talk lists and discussion boards. You can find all of the information at http://www.rootsweb.com . Look at the forums for your particular surname or country of origin. There will be many people to help you and many areas of interest to explore. This should be one of your starting places. Another place to look is Cyndi's List. You can find this amazing genealogical gem at http://www.cyndislist.com . Here you will find references to all sorts of genealogical information that can be found online.

Another website to search is http://www.familysearch.org . Unlike the two websites mentioned above this website is the produced by the Church of the Latter Day Saint (LDS) also known as the Mormon Church. They have microfilmed more genealogical information than any other entity. The great thing about this website is you can search some of the databases, but you can also search their catalog. What can you expect to find in the LDS holdings? Everything imaginable is available. They have vital records, church records – not only LDS but all denominations and religions, newspaper records, genealogies, histories of towns and cities and more. There have been entire books written just on how to search their holdings and what they contain. The LDS catalog is one of the most comprehensive collections of genealogy material in the world. You can search the catalog using various parameters. When you find something of interest, write down the information and then look up the location of the nearest LDS Family History Center. If you are in the US, chances are there is one in your town or close by. You can go to these centers and rent the microfilm for a nominal charge and view them. You can also print out information and look at many CDs in their collection. In addition, you may be able to find someone experienced with either the surname you are researching or a specific location. If you find your ancestor in the LDS holdings is does not mean that they were Mormon. In order to determine that information, you should consult the IGI or Pedigree Resource Files. Both of these are only found through the LDS. If you see a notation of a temple membership or that these individuals are "sealed", then you will have a pretty good clue that they were Mormon (or at least the person who did the initial research was). You do not have to be a member of the church to use the facilities. They do not recruit in their genealogy libraries. The staff is very helpful and they know the holdings well. It is worth a trip to your local Family History Center. If you are in the Salt Lake City Area, you are in for a treat! This is where their main library is located. They have many volunteers and researchers able and ready to help you.