I'm juststarting my genealogy trek any free info. and sites to help get me started?

[cjshere2003]

Have no idea where to begin.

[Jessi]

FIRST: talk to any and all living family members. Get full names, dates of birth, places of birth, dates of death, places of burial.
Then check local libraries for books about local people/places (first settlers/founders of the town) if you get dates that are very early.
Join www.rootsweb.com (I think it is still free to sign up) and post questions in the SURNAME message boards. Look at the trees that are on that site as well.
Note that some of the information you will find on there might not be correct. I have found that a tree that says my great grandmother had 4 children, when in fact she only had 2.
Also try www.familysearch.org. It is a great site and I would say 90% correct on the information.
Don't give up when you can't find what you are looking for. I've been tracing my tree for over 10 yrs and have hit many dead ends.

[wendy c]

http://www.cyndislist.com/beginner.htm
Here is a huge list of how to begin tips, not to mention thousands of other places that relate to research, by topic.
In 25 words or less.. you start with you (recent) and ALWAYS work back, USING documentation to prove/ verify your connection.
Pull out your own birth certificate, and find names of your parents. Yes.. people laugh when I say that.. you already know your parents, right? We actually have had posters come on here, who were stunned when they did pull it out, to find another name on there. SOMEWHERE along the line, you WILL find that what you are told, or what grandma remembers, is fallible. It makes or breaks your research to find that grandma thought her mother was born in Florida (and you spend months searching in Florida records).. only to find the mother in a census record, and learn she was born in Georgia, but moved to Florida at age 2. Had you known to use documentation.. you would have looked in Georgia records, and found the family in 10 minutes.
Normally, for recent stuff.. don't expect to find living people online. You may have to pay $15 for the birth certificate (which is restricted), to find someone's names. Oh, by the way.. LOTS of research is free, but not all of it. Please don't go out the door with unrealistic expectations.
You can sit down this morning, and just sketch out what you have knowledge of. Parents, grandparents, etc. For the moment.. don't worry about aunts/uncles/cousins, although they are helpful later. WHAT fact are you missing? where grandpa died? when grandma was born? When you start seeing those gaps, analyse and imagine how you can find that info. Come back and post that specific "I need blah blah blah", and the answers will open the doors. Each step will teach you.
Yeah... I went over my 25 words. *smile* But they are free.