Barry Ruck has great help http://www.bigwig.net/genealogy/
and http://homepage.ntlworld.com/barry.ruck/
Barry covers IGI, Census, Civil Registration (BMD certificates etc) It is
written for newsgroup users but will help anyone.
Roy Stockdill has Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History:- www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.htm
Covers similar ground but a different viewpoint is excellent - including
Civil registration
When you want to order certificates then consult
Mark Howells has www.oz.net/~markhow/ukbirths.htm
(see the section: Using the Internet to Order Certificates)
Also Starting Research at Genuki covers
a lot of ground and has detail on places in UK and search functions
Births Marriages and Deaths (Ron's quick intro)
Civil registration in England and Wales started in 1837 - prior to then it
is parish registers PRs. Civil registration means a certificate for Birth Death
or Marriage - hence BC DC and MC. Certificates have to be purchased from UK
Government. The GRO is the index to the certificates. The Volumes of this used
to be available at St Catherine's House and many places call the GRO St Cath's.
In Australia the full index including recent years can be found at places like State Libraries and Society of Australian Genealogists. Also at LDS church Family History Centres FHC - check the IGI web site for local addresses.
Parish Registers PRs - many are available on LDS IGI but not all - that is where the real research comes in - learn more from Genuki and join discussion lists for the areas of interest.