I have been interested in Genealogy since I was a little girl.. It has always intrigued me where our family came from and how far back records were kept. If you were a royal you can trace your ancestors very far back. Recently I have traced back to 1100 A.D. Much research has been done on my behalf and that of my fellow genealogist friends, there is so much out there, as long as someone is digging for it, it will be eventually online and public. I am a member of Ancestry.com and that has become a great source of help, along with several other websites. Ancestry.com has started a program where the average person can enter indexes into their system, they call it the World Archives Project. So many records go left unread, because they were either lost or burned in a fire, or a family hasnt discovered them in Grandma's stash of information. Upon registering with this Project, I didnt realized that not only was I helping others get ahold of information, but I was helping the world piece together their history. I have ancestors from Germany, Great Britian, and Scotland, and finding information on Germany and Scotland, have been hard to come by because there wasn't much of a monarchy and birth, marriage and death records were only kept at local churches and family bibles. That information is priceless to people who are researching their families history. Some families can trace back as far as the living members of their families, while other who can go back centuries. In my entering indexes for the World Archives Project, I am not only helping myself but people like me who are searching for their ancestors. If you have the time, you can download a program and help out. If you need help, there are so many people that want to help get you started... eventually what i have learned so far, is that no matter how far you go, we are all related in this great fabric of life. One great great great great grandparent from the past, could possibly be your great great great great great aunt or uncle, eventually the children of the world, are all created from a family that has many roots.