The major thing in genealogy study is to ASK THE RELATIVES WHO ARE STILL ALIVE--NOW!!!!!

I didn't really get interested in this addiction until after my mother died a few years back, and boy! do I wish she was around to still ask questions. To make things worse, my oldest brother was the "memory" of the family, and he has also passed away. You may not think you're at all interested in your ancestors, but trust me, someone will be--you, your child, a niece, nephew or grandchild--and they'll thank you for every bit of family lore you record, however you might do it.

My cousin Jack was an invaluable source for a lot of my family information. I would reiterate Liz the Squeak's comments about recording your sources, and double-checking anything you possibly can with primary records. Some of my earlier info is a bit shaky because I didn't do that; I'm now in process of confirming a lot of it.

As John said above, I use Family Tree Legends and back up to at least two different drives as well as to two different machines. My hard drive went tits-up not too long ago, and I was very, very glad to have done so. Liz, losing all your info is a nightmare. It would be next to impossible to recapture all the notes I've entered even though I have hard copy of a lot of it.

Addicting yes. A lot of fun too. And the rush is great when you find a new "cousin." Good luck to Mo, and remember you're doing this for the future kids who want to know--use archival quality paper, inks, and photo paper.

Oh, yeah--about family photos: I was lucky enough to inherit about 10 albums worth from my Mom. I think we've finally gotten them all scanned, labeled, and semi-organized. The originals are stored for safekeeping elsewhere. LOVE that Photoshop Elements!

Gotta go look up some surnames,

Lin