GETTING STARTED:

I need to know what you know about your family.  If you are starting from yourself [for example] I would ask for:

• Your full name (including maiden name if you are female), date of birth, place of birth.
• Your parents names (including maiden name), dates of birth, places of birth, date/place of marriage(s), date/place of death, etc.
• Aunts/Uncles names, births, marriages, deaths, etc.
• Grandparents names, births, marriages, deaths, etc.
• Great-grandparents (etc., etc.)

Other pieces of information that are useful include where family lived, unusual circumstances/events in their lives, family stories, etc.  Note, however, that many "family stories" are just that.