3 April 2002 By Lydia Carrico Messenger-Inquirer Glenda Willis has traced her family tree back to 16th-century England and found along the way an ancestor of Irish decent who was granted 3,000 acres in Virginia. That same lineage rode on horseback and traveled on foot through the mountains of North and South Carolina, pushing two-wheel carts, until they landed in Kentucky in the early 1800s. The only person she needs now to complete her family history is the name of her great, great, great grandmother's father. "It's like a puzzle," she said Tuesday while researching at the Kentucky Room in the Daviess County Public Library. "These are your people; because of them, you are." The library has many records, microfilms and books to get people started on researching their family trees and will have one more tool at the end of April. That's when it will receive from the U.S. Census Bureau the complete 1930 census released Monday. The census count, taken April 1, 1930, contains personal information such as "class of worker" and whether the family owned a farm or a radio. The Census Bureau has required since 1952 that personal information be kept confidential for 72 years. Shelia Heflin, information services manager in the Kentucky Room, said the census information, which will be available on microfilm, will be a great addition to the existing resources, one more "piece of the puzzle." "As soon as it comes in, we'll get it processed and put in the cabinet," she said Tuesday amid the shelves stacked with books on genealogy. Willis is anxiously awaiting the arrival as well and said she will use it to research her cousins in Kansas. Genealogy like an "addiction" Once a person starts researching family history, it can become an "addiction," said Heflin, who has worked in the Kentucky Room for 23 years. An explosion of researching began shortly after the epic "Roots" was aired in 1977, a story that followed the capture of an African slave and his ancestry in modern America. Since then, hardly a day goes by that someone isn't searching for an ancestor. "Once you get into it, that's it; you're hooked, just like a detective," said Willis, who teaches computer classes to sixth-graders in Grayson County. To get started, Heflin suggests a person begin with what he or she knows -- immediate family, grandparents and great-grandparents. A family chart is available in the Kentucky Room for the novice to begin to record family members. More in-depth information can be found in bibles, at churches, schools and court houses and in cemeteries. Good sources include wills, deeds, marriage licenses, death and birth certificates and newspaper clippings, many of which are available in the Kentucky Room. "You just really have to let your mind go wild for places you can look," Heflin said. Staff can't do the research, but they can help direct a person to sources. And many families' lineage already has been recorded and is available in bound book form in the Kentucky Room. --- For more information on researching genealogy, contact the Kentucky Room at the Daviess County Public Library at 684-0211, extension 5. Here are some on-line Web sites that information services manager Shelia Heflin recommends for genealogy research: Here are some on-line Web sites that information services manager Shelia Heflin recommends for genealogy research: -- http://www.cyndislist.com (a compilation of genealogy sites) --http:// www.familyresearch.org ( records of the Mormon Church) -- http://www.rootsweb.com (lists Kentucky deaths from 1911 to 2000 -- http://www.usgenweb.com (has state and county information) -- http://www.ancestry.com (the library subscribes to this site) -- http://genealogy.umi.com (the library subscribes to this site) -- http://genealogy.umi.com (the library subscribes to this site)