Genealogy By Nation - Working in Other Countries

Just a bit of diversity...

Every country and culture has its own unique rules and contexts for doing genealogy in.  Even in the United States of America, different cultures are going to present different research issues in general (and specific individuals will present specific research issues within the general framework context), as are different geographical areas.  For example, Native Americans are different from White Americans in culture, meanwhile, you're making a mistake if you assume all White Americans share the same culture, language, views, history or practices.  Similarly with Native Americans.  African Americans aren't all from Africa.  African American is actually a "pop culture" phrase that isn't always accurate because there are many Blacks who are from the Carribean (i.e. Haiti) and even South America who aren't from Africa but are identified as such, similarly, Egyptians are litarally from Africa but may not be considered "African American" here in America.  This is just our modern age, never mind what you're working with going back in time!


The Church has put out a training website on many individual countries with links to lessons for working within those countries. 

Also, Cyndi's List has an alphabetized list of links, training and resources for a lot of countries.  If you're looking to work within Italy, for example, go down and click on "I" on her webpage and see the Italian links.

Remember, not all countries are going to have a lot of work done or going on in them depending on history or current world conditions (e.g. Democratic Republic of Congo), this is why I stick to the "low hanging fuit" and work primarily in the United States of America presently so I can accomplish more in less time with less effort and set aside more difficult stuff for a time when more is readily available.  But if you wish to head back overseas in your family tree?  Know before you go!