backing up

hello out there, could use some help on some simple ways to do backups of my settings (internet, mail and plus few other things, don't have a lot but just in case, first time doing all this), thinking to attempt a reinstall of os9 (mod,hope i'm in the right place for all this). to start, mac's a 2001 (summer) g3 imac w/ram upgrade, and tiger running (do see os 9 drivers think should be good to go on os9), mac did have os9, jaguar till crash so lost classic in tiger install. for backups, hooked up with a 3rd party burner and been able to make a few copies of some folders and music so that part should not be a problem and got that down. now to backing up, would i just go in and find the app's or folders where all my settings are, make a desktop copy and from there do the burn? or would i be better just doing an archive of the home folder, library and pictures, etc., then do a burn from the archive?, would this option be overkill or poss.? have seen a few other ways yet to look but idk, more often than not have been able to figure things out on the mac but if anyone has anything helpful would appreciate, either way do need to start doing some backups (install or not). thank you for your time