Once you know your ancestors' county, be sure to join the corresponding family history society. Most of these groups publish journals three or four times a year, carry out indexing projects, transcribe gravestones and maintain lists of the surnames their members are researching. The FFHS and GENUKI <www.genuki.org.uk/Societies> provide links and information about these societies.

RootsWeb <lists.rootsweb.com> maintains dozens of mailing lists dealing with British genealogy. Subscribe to the lists dealing with the places your ancestors lived so you can swap research tips with other genealogists and stay abreast of new resources.

The Family History Library has a terrific collection of British genealogy books and records, but archives and libraries throughout Great Britain have many more useful family history resources. Two huge online catalogs let you identify materials of interest: