Low Cost Genealogy – Next Steps
Do I need a computer? You can search many of the genealogy websites using your phone or a tablet, but a computer with it’s larger screen is advantageous. There is no need to spend big money on a laptop or desktop unless you have other needs besides genealogy. An Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen 3 with 8 GB ram and 64-128 GB storage will do everything you need. (Recently on sale $200-$250 for Black Friday). It is a convenience to have one at home, but not necessary to begin.
Starting out, you can often find a free computer to use at the local library. We offer free desktop computer use at our genealogy library on the 2nd floor of the McLean County Museum of History. Tuesdays are free admission and the hours are 9:00 am to 8:00 pm. Admission at other times is $10 each, but is waived at all times for our members. Single memberships are $20 and Family are $25 and you can visit the museum as often as you like using your membership cards.
Begin your journey on FamilySearch — I always recommend you start with some fun and find your famous relatives at FamilySearch. You can do this from your phone or pad or computer. Begin here: https://www.familysearch.org/en/discovery/ . You will be asked to create an account. Follow the prompts. Once you create an account, you will be offered the opportunity to enter your family tree starting with yourself as the root and branching out to parents, grandparents, etc. By the time you begin entering your great grandparents, FamilySearch will begin suggesting people to you with code number. For Example: Your greatgrandpa is Fred Flintstone from Bedrock and FamilySearch suggests “Fredrick Flintstone from Bedrock with “0456-AX23” file number, click accept. The code number tells you that Fredrick is in the FS World Tree and they have records going back from research already done. Once you have three or more folks in your tree with filing codes, then you can go back to the Discovery page and see your famous relatives. Check again after a week or two and more relatives will be there. Keep in mind all the connections you will be shown are based upon someone else’s research. These connections should be verified by yourself before being relied upon. (Meaning you find evidence to validate such as a census record or a will)
As you begin to build your tree on FamilySearch, you will find they have multiple catalogs, so you need to seek those catalogs out to search each one. There are lots of tricks to doing effective searches and not being overwhelmed with search results. Our website – tmcgs.org offers many short videos on getting the most from FamilySearch. There are a variety of databases and we give you the tips to insure you do search the most efficient ways.
Our library as well as many public libraries offer Ancestry Library Edition (ALE) for free use. This version of Ancestry will allow you to search most of their records, but you cannot save your tree. You can examine public trees of other folks who are subscribers – this is a great tool to save a ton of labor. When you find a record on ALE, they allow you to email it to yourself! I do recommend you purchase a USB “Thumb Drive” so that you can download and save documents to it. Some public computers will not allow public USB drive use as they worry about viruses, but most allow it and scan they machines regularly to control infection.
If you have time to learn, in our Free Programs we link to a genealogy course that will train you. Watch all the tutorial videos by Michele Simmons Lewis. If you get a computer, Michelle recommends you use a third party software to organize your data. She discusses them in her short videos. For Example, Roots Magic is a program that can organize and help you store documents.
We have pages of free links for you to explore in our free section.
If you are local to McLean County, our group has adopted the Normal Public Library Genealogy Meet Up meetings to discuss problems folks are having. We are blessed with one of the attendees being a DNA expert to assist others with their DNA puzzles. But novices are welcome to come and get tips. The meetings are in our Events Calendar. The meetings are the first Tuesday of each month at NPL at 2:00 PM.
Beginning in 2026 our members will be allowed exclusive rights to a series of watch and learn videos complete with downloaded pages of notes put on by noted Genealogist Thomas McEntee. Content will be from beginning to advanced. While we encourage you to join and use our facilities in our library, there are many things for free on the website.
If you desire something else not found, please reach out: webmaster.tmcgs@gmail.com.