Researching your family history is a complex process, and you might struggle with deciding which step to take first. Our advice is – start with whichever task feels easiest to you. You’ll probably become invested afterwards and everything will start to fall into place. It may not be easy, but it’s always rewarding.

Interview your relatives

There are two reasons why this step is crucial. Firstly, this is how you get information: ideally, you’ll find out the full names of your ancestors, when and where they were born, where they studied and worked, etc. All this will help you continue research in archives and databases. Secondly, while documents will provide you with facts, memories and small details can be shared only through communication.

Everyone is different, and this task is not an easy one. For various reasons, some of your family members might be reluctant to share what they know. Take it slow and try to figure out how to approach them. You can try explaining why it’s important to you, showing them some findings you’ve already made to inspire them, or asking questions as part of a casual conversation. Consider recording their stories, too, to preserve all the information. 

Browse the family archive

This is another source of invaluable information. Documents such as old passports, birth and marriage certificates, student cards, etc. can help find out new information and verify your relatives’ memories. Some of them might also come in handy if you need to prove that you’re related to someone in order to access information about them at an archive or another institution. Photographs are also a great genealogical source – we’ve talked about how to work with them here.

Choose a helpful tool

It’s easy to get lost in all your findings – they will come from different sources and in various formats. To avoid a mix-up, organize your data from the very start. There are lots of tools created specifically for family history research, such as international MyHeritage and Russian Familio, but any text editor and a cloud storage service will work just fine, too.

Learn the basics

The good news is, you’re not alone on your journey. There are lots of family history enthusiasts online who share tutorials, organize data, and give tips to beginners. You can learn about the basics of genealogy through blogs, forums, and YouTube videos, and then look for resources that can be used in your specific research – for example, a topic on a forum dedicated to a region where your ancestors lived. That’s how you can learn how to dig deeper by browsing databases and contacting archives.

ITMO students also have a chance to join an optional course dedicated to family history research (in Russian). Meanwhile, you can learn about local history through ITMO.NEWS articles, such as our recent one on mansions around St. Petersburg.