Once you have gathered copies of city directory pages, obituaries, yearbook entries, international genealogical index listings, and whatever else, you might be feeling overwhelmed.

It is important to remain organized. Use all of the information at your disposal to eliminate as many of the entries as possible, and to highlight certain names. Pay attention to entries or names that keep resurfacing, then make a list in order of priority, starting with the persons that you think are most likely, and ending with the least likely. If you have documents that you received from the agency or court or attorney that are whited out or otherwise censored, see if you can determine the length or... more

With the forces of good luck, hard work, and patience all combined in your search efforts to bring you to the point where you have a name to work with. You might have just a first name, a first initial and a last name, your birth name, or one of your birth parents last names or full names. At this point, your search will take a very different turn and will engage in a search like no other. Seeking clues hidden within sealed records is a difficult task, made harder by the emotions and taboos that surround the whole exercise. Tracing names, however, is something that groups and individuals from genealogists to bill collectors engage in.

When you are researching a name, 'genealogy'... more

1) Organize yourself. Get files and notebooks, keep a sheet accumulating the info you have learned, and a log showing what you did, when, who you talked to and the results. This will help keep you organized, and it will show you where you are and have been which can come in handy down the road.

2) USE STATE REGISTRIES- Adoptees should pay the required fee and see if your birth parents registered with you state Biological Parent Registry if it has one. Birthparents should make sure they register. As an adoptee, I recommend checking the registry on a regular basis Iif your state doesn’t maintain the adoptee information.

3) Register with ISRR- this is the biggest national reunion... more