Is GENEOLOGY the correct term for this?

Question:

Is GENEOLOGY the correct term for this?

I want to build a family tree as far back as possible. I want to follow the examples of Mya Angelou, Alex Haley and the "History Detectives" that helped Oprah Whinfrey, but I don't know how they got started. Please help! Any FREE websites or tips to help me find my roots?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: As another said, begin first with your living family. Learn all you can of their parents, grandparents on back, dates and places of their births and deaths.

Another person found genealogy sites that were scams, I've been doing this for well over a decade online and haven't found any so you should be safe. Some quality sites you can count on are familysearch.org, rootsweb.com, and ancestry.com. Those last 2 have message boards for surnames, state/county, and other special interests. Rootsweb also has somewhat matching email lists that reach a different research community. You're gunna like this!

To get as far back as you can you will need access to censuses, both US and States'. One resource will be your nearest LDS Family History Center. To take best advantage of your free time for research, you may want a subscription to at least ancestry.com's census images. (Ancestry does have free resources though if you just sign up a free username and password - some people don't read carefully so don't know that.)

Some good sites for locating burials are interment.net, findagrave.com, and usgenweb.org. The latter will also have many other resources.

This much will get you started.