The internet has certainly become an important
tool for family historians, with its ready access to
swathes of information to help build the family
tree. However, many people new to the hobby of genealogy have been
led to believe that everything they need will be there on a web
page, waiting to be found.
The internet, useful as it is, has its limitations.
It is not true that everything is on a web page somewhere. While
the internet can point you to the relevant information, in most
cases you will still need to visit libraries and archives to view
the original documents needed to find and verify your information.
Libraries and archives will be a prime resource
for the source documents you will need to use. However, they generally
will not be able to give you personal assistance in finding your
way through the records; they will assume you know which records
are appropriate for your research.
If you use only the internet,
you will also miss out on perhaps the single most important tool
you can use: personal assistance. When you join a genealogy society,
you will gain access to the accumulated experience of many other
researchers. Experienced researchers can point out the pit falls,
guide you to the records you need and put you in touch with others
with similar interests. On joining a society, you will also find
an abundance of resources covering a wide variety of subjects,
from local, national and international sources. In some cases,
the resources will be not available anywhere else.
