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Tracing one's roots often stirs painful memories. Before 1943, six decades of restrictions barred Chinese immigrants from entering the U.S. The few allowed in were interrogated at length, and their detailed case files offer invaluable though sometimes heartbreaking information. Says San Francisco's Albert Cheng, who is president of the Chinese Culture Foundation: "The exclusion acts devastated our families, but they provide the only record here." Miraculously, Cheng, 49, has located five of his family's 32-volume genealogy books, the traditional records kept by village elders, and has used them to reconstruct 3,000 years of familial past.

The best resources may be where you live or near your ancestral home. Check the local public or university library and the nearby genealogical or historical society. A sample of some other treasure troves:

Family History Library in Salt Lake City contains more than 2 billion names on a variety of records. Besides Salt Lake City, there are 3,100 Family History Centers around the world. 800-346-6044 for the one nearest you or 801-240-2331 for Salt Lake City; www.lds.org

National Archives and Records Administration has in its Washington office and its 13 regional branches censuses, land contracts, naturalization documents, passenger and immigration lists, passport applications and military records. 202-501-5400; www.nara.gov

New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston offers material for the U.S., Canada and Europe, including 1 million manuscripts. 617-536-5740; www.nehgs.org