Talk About It

The second best source (see the best source here) for finding leads for you family tree is... your family.  Talk to them.  Ask them questions.  They may have information on certain relatives that you don't have.  Do it now.  You are getting older and so are they.

This has been one of the research areas in which I am a poor example.  Until now, I have based most of my current research on what I have found on the Internet and at libraries.  I know that many of my older relatives have information and stories.  I have, until now felt that is was a bit intrusive to ask family questions.  I am getting over that.  I am starting to get into contact with relatives I haven't seen in 15 or 16 years.

When talking with relatives about genealogy it is good to prepare ahead of time a list of questions to ask.  Make sure to record the conversation - either audio or video so you can remember what was talked about.  Don't worry if you get side tracked.  Sometimes those off the subject topics tie into your family history.  Don't try to get answers to all your questions.  Leave something for the next time.

Once you have finished the conversation and are back home you will need to do two things.  Make a transcription so you know what information you have.  Then look for questions you did not get to ask, questions for which you did not get a clear answer, and new questions raised by the conversation.

Make sure you thank the relative and offer a copy of the audio or video and the transcription.  Also, see if you can set up another conversation to talk about your new set of questions.

As an alternate, you could have your conversation either by email or Facebook.  While both are good for a question/answer format and allows time for the person you are talking with to think about the questions, be careful not to overwhelm them with too many questions at once.

Who knows, maybe your conversations will spark something and you will get information about your relatives you didn't know still existed.

Start asking questions now.  Before it is too late.