1. Instructions and "how to" information (pro/am)
2. Guides and finding aids written for specific repositories about the records they have.
3. Experts who provide quick lookups and guidance (pro/am)
4. Society services (answer questions, offer suggestions)
5. Interaction with the staff of libraries, societies, and so forth.

Let’s look at some examples of each these five types of help resources and point out how you can find more.

There are both paid and unpaid sites for research help. For those offering to help for a fee (often small), you have keen.com, exp.com, and several others. Those offering to help for free include askme.com. All in all, there are thousands of people out there willing to help you with your search for your family roots. Lookup volunteers in organizations such as usgenweb.org (check the state and county in which your ancestors lived) are only some of the many volunteer helpers out there. In fact, Lookups & Free Searches by Volunteers is a category on Cyndi's List that offers services to look things up for you at no charge.

Do you need to check something in a county courthouse but you can't arrange to go there? Do you want to check out a reference to a CD-ROM but don't want to spend the money to buy it? Do you want a photograph or video of your ancestor's headstone? Most of these things can be arranged at no charge using a volunteer.

Perhaps there's a volunteer that might help you out. Merely click on the link above (lookups & free searches at www.cyndislist.com/lookups.htm) and you will be transferred to the right category in Cyndi's List. Check out the Genealogy HelpList, Ancestral Findings, the Look-up Exchange, GenSwap, Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness, or one of two dozen more such free services at Cyndi’s List.

The purpose of a Family History Society is to help people with their family history while providing a structure encouraging cooperation, collaboration, and social interaction. Why not give the society the opportunity to do what it was created for by asking for help? Societies may have guides, may answer research questions on the place or topic that is the theme of the society, or may have members who are willing to help other members (please join when requesting assistance—it’s only polite to do so).

The majority of societies are place-based. A society in the place you live may help with social interaction, but you will usually be looking for a society in the place your ancestor lived. Use a categorized comprehensive web (cyndislist.com, genealogy.com/links, or familysearch.org/Eng/Search/WebSites/frameset_websites.asp—see www.alanmann.com/articles/searchwebsites.htm to see how to use these sites) or go to the web page of the umbrella organization for the area of the world where your ancestors lived. Three major umbrella organizations are:

Most record repositories have email. Many have web pages. Through email, you can ask questions and receive guidance from the staff at that repository. My experience with email is that the answers you get are prompt while being in general better or at least more in depth than the answers you would get if you were there in person. Emailing a repository should be a routine part of your research strategies!

To get the email address of a record repository,

There are people out there willing to help, and these sites will help you find the ones that are willing to help YOU.