How to Start

How important is religion in my research?

It is very important because it tells you where you need to look. E.g. the Catholic Church has its own books just as much as the Serbian Orthodox Church has. Also with Serbian families there are Family Saints which differentiate families that have the same surname.

Religion does not define/determine ethnicity.

How long does it take to do research?

Some time, Serbia's archives are not microfilmed and not availible online due to data protection laws. This means you need to go there in person, write them or have someone for you to do research. As the latter is costly we advice people to join the SGS. The more members join, the stronger the effort becomes and members can help each other as we are all volunteers.

I don't speak Serbian, what should I do?

There are several tools on the internet, one of them is e.g. Google Translate. Although not 100% accurate it can help you on the way.

You can post on the forums asking people for help, or you can become an SGS Member. We do small translations for members and have a letter template e.g. that you can use to contact the archives.