Whenever I see a picture of a fine old home, it reminds me of the excellent workmanship of the architects and builders of byegone years. In fact, most people admire fine workmanship in any field. We could compare the building and putting together of an accurate family history with the excellent workmanship in a fine old home.

If you think of yourself as an architect, your genealogy computer program can become a tool for keeping track of what you plan to do and what has been accomplished. Just like a builder needs hammers, saws, and cement mixers to do his job, you need tools as well. Those tools consist of many things. For example one tool you will find yourself using is what we call reference materials such as maps, gazetteers, and other finding aids.