Interviewing kin and mining home sources -- Genealogy online--gems and junk -- The library--shelves full of family history -- Military service and homestead records -- How to build historical context -- Your ancestors in ship passenger lists -- Your ancestors in naturalization records -- The genealogical proof standard -- Your ancestors in the county courthouse -- Your ancestors in state records -- How to write biography -- Dos and don'ts of writing history -- Seaching in your ancestors' backyards -- Assembling an account of your discoveries -- Extending your family tree overseas.