Tracing your roots online: genealogy research on the Web.
Author/s: Marianne Mccarthy
Issue: March-April, 1999
Genealogy research has historically involved painstaking letter writing and months of waiting for answers. The Web is the new tool for guiding genealogists and generating leads. Historical information and documents on your family can be acquired in much less time. But be aware: If you are not careful, you can consume hours plugged into your computer chasing link after link without coming up with a trace of evidence.
There are oodles of resources available on the Web. I will talk about a few that will help keep your research on track. Try to accomplish something first, such as obtaining a vital record or looking into genealogy societies or special library collections, before you try to take in everything that is available. You will keep your sanity and prevent frustration if you go one step at a time. If you are having trouble staying focused, you might want to jot down a specific objective or two before you even dial your modem.
VitalChek
VitalChek (www.vitalchek.com) is a good place to start, especially if you have yet to collect your ancestors' birth, death, and marriage certificates. VitalChek provides information on how to obtain certificates directly from participating state agencies. By clicking on one of the agencies listed, you receive information on how to order records by fax, e-mail, regular mail, or phone; how much time is required to process your request; what costs are involved; and what is required to obtain each record. Using their online forms, you can order the records by charging them to your credit card or sending a check to the address listed.
Keep in mind, VitalChek can cost more than if you follow standard procedures such as writing and sending a self-addressed stamped envelope. The costs are higher but your requests are processed up to three times faster and this can mean all the difference in moving forward with your research.
Before you buy records from VitalChek, you may want to check the prices directly from the source. Many states and counties have Web pages for the government sources of the documents. Try vitalrec.com for a link to the specific state agency. You may also want to check whether the agencies refund your money if they cannot find the information you have requested. These policies can vary from state to state.
Roots Web
Once you have obtained a few vital records and are ready to dig deeper into your family history, the next logical place to go is Roots Web (www.rootsweb.com) - but tread carefully. There are too many tempting links and it's easy to get trapped into the mailing list and surname section. (These rarely produce any results.) The best reason to visit Roots Web is its state resource pages. These pages contain links to state-specific information such as archives and special collections, local history, maps, photographs, historical and genealogical societies, vital records, things you can buy, and more.
Roots Web can link you to the USGen Web Project (www.usgenweb.org). Provided for free, this site is meant to be a complete online text of the federal census for every state. Sound too good to be true? Well, it is. Unfortunately the project relies on volunteers for the daunting tasks of transcribing and proofing each census page. Even though the project began in 1997, many counties and census dates remain unassigned. It's basically a long-shot that you will find what you are looking for here. However, if you are willing to put in some time while you search for your ancestors, the project is still accepting volunteers. Another good source for state-specific information is Janet's Genealogy Page (www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/2755). In addition to connecting you to state information, this site contains helpful tips for genealogists at various levels of research and experience.
Once you're feeling more comfortable with the Web, try a visit to Cyndi Howell's award-winning page (www.cyndislist.com). The author of a popular book on using the Internet for genealogical research, Howell has amassed an overwhelming number of resources. Her category list will link you to information that can be more challenging to locate, such as resources from Canada, Eastern Europe, Asia, and more, lists of cemeteries and funeral homes, obituaries, prisons, ships and passenger lists. Just about any resource you can imagine is listed in Cyndi's site. It's huge, but very well organized, and a great place to start if your ancestors take you out of the United States.
Don't feel as though you have to follow every link that seems interesting. Try out one or two Web pages and then bookmark the others. You can always come back for a visit another day.
By this point, you have hopefully acquired some information that you would like to organize. Most genealogists keep some kind of database that compiles their results and helps them track leads so they don't end up repeating their research. You can buy genealogy software for this purpose or try downloading some shareware or demo products. Cyndi's List includes a compete ran-down of what's available (www.Cyndislist.com/software.htm#Software).
If you are basically frustrated with the whole process or need some help getting started, Family Tree Makers site (www.familytreemaker.com) has a list of professionals you can contact for help. This maker of genealogy software also provides a genealogy dictionary and how-to section on its Web page.
Cyndi's List also contains copies of forms and forms letters (www.Cyndislist.com/correspd.htm) and tons of sources for how-to advice (www.Cyndislist.com/howto.htm).
Researching our past can be a fascinating but also frustrating process. While the Web can help you facilitate research, it can seduce you into following long-shot links. By making your objectives clear from the onset, you will be more successful online and ultimately more content with your results.
Happy hunting!
COPYRIGHT 1999 Information Today, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group
Surname Databases/Search Engines
Normal search engines are only part of a genealogist's arsenal when hunting for surname information. The internet is now home to large amounts of free and subscription-based surname databases and search engines.
Below is a list of some of the best free and subscription-based surname databases/search engines on the net. Just remember the rule of thumb to follow when dealing with online data is to view it with an element of suspicion until it can be properly verified. Too many people still think "if it's on the internet it must be true".
"Family Finder" is a free service provided by the makers of "Family Tree Maker" that searches hundreds of thousands of genealogy web pages. It returns matches for names found on personal home pages , name association pages, society pages, surname indexes,world family tree pedigrees, passenger records, message boards, virtual cemetaries, and civil war databases.
The following reasons are given on the "Family Finder" site as to why their search engine is better than normal search engines such as Google.com and AltaVista.com.
"Family Finder understands names.
Other search engines do not know about names. If you search for John Smith in another search engine, you will get pages that have John's and Smith's, but it might be John Jones and Mary Smith. Family Finder also handles name variants — for example, if you enter Jim Smith, it will find James Smith as well.
Family Finder knows about genealogy.
Other search engines don't stick to genealogy, they index all kinds of pages. If you search for John Smith in another search engine, you may get the John Smith who runs the insurance office down the street. Family Finder carefully selects only genealogically-relevant pages for indexing, so the relevance of the matches it returns are much higher.
Family Finder collects all the information from a Web site.
Most other search engines only look at a few pages from each Web site, just enough to get the main subject of the site. Family Finder looks at all the genealogically-relevant pages, so a name buried on a list deep in the site will still be found.
Family Finder shows the words around each match.
Other search engines just show you a summary of the top of the page. Family Finder shows you the text around the actual match, which often contains dates, locations, or a relative, and lets you immediately pinpoint which matches are relevant to your genealogy search.
Family Finder looks at other kinds of information besides Web pages.
Other search engines only look at Web pages. Family Finder also looks at GEDCOM files and text files that contain genealogy data, as well as Genealogy.com archives containing millions of historical records, and books stored at Geneology Library. Other search engines will not find information from these sources."
Click Here for instructions on how to use "Family Finder".
The Social Security Death Index
The "Social Security Death Index" is one of the most useful databases on the internet. This database contains the names of over 64 million Americans plus information such as social security numbers, birth and death dates, and last known residence.
Click Here for instructions on how to search the SSDI.
"Kindred Konnections" is a pay-for-service database that also offers a way to access the database for free. In exchange for extracting names and dates from original source documents, you get one hour in the subscription-based area of the web site. During your one free hour you can access millions of marriage, birth, death, and census records. They also have a 56 million name pedigree-linked archive. You are allowed to build up an unlimited amount of free hours which can be used immediately or saved for a future date.
Click Here to obtain an account number and password. You can select whether you want a paid or free subscription at the beginning of the form.
Sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints , "Family Search" is one of the most popular geneology sites on the internet. From this site you can search millions of family records from a variety of sources including the Ancestral File , the International Genealogical Index, the Pedigree Resource File and websites.
The Ancestral File
The Ancestral File is a compilation of genealogies submitted by people worldwide to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This file contains over 35 million names and provides contact information for the person who submitted the information.
International Genealogical Index
The International Genealogical Index (IGI) lists the dates and places of births, christening and marriages for more than 285 million deceased people. Names were extracted from original records from the early 1500s to the early 1900's.
The Pedigree Resource File
A database of compiled pedigrees submitted by users via the online "Family Search" Internet Genealogy Service, or gathered from printed histories and other sources.
"Family Search" is easy to use for beginners. Once you arrive at the site click on "Help" on the top right corner of the site for instructions on how to use the search features.
This is a searchable list or registry of over one million surnames from around the world. Associated with each surname are dates and locations and the contact information of the person who submitted the information. You can search the RSL by surname or look through the monthly update section for new additions.
Once you arrive at the site scroll down until you see the heading "Search the RootsWeb Surname List".
From there simply type your surname into the "Surname" search field and click "Submit".
You will then be presented with a table of results. You will see the headings "From", "To", "Migration", and "Submitter".
The "From" and "To" columns contain dates. These dates tell you that the person researching your surname has information that covers those dates.
The "Migration" column shows a submitters info about the areas the family lived in.
By clicking on the names in the "Submitter" column you can obtain the email address of the person who submitted the information.
Click Here to browse the Rootsweb Helpdesk.
Ancestry.com is a subscription-based geneology site. For a monthly fee you can search a multitude of records including census indexes and marriage records. Ancestry.com also has a free-to-use surname search service called World Tree. The World Tree database contains over 75 million names that are contained in GEDCOMS.
This database includes over 1.7 million records from over three thousand cemeteries worldwide.
Click Here for tips on searching this database.
Surname Web provides a searchable registry from which you can perform a surname search through over three billion genealogy records and over one hundred thousand geneology web sites.
Simply enter your surname into the search field at the top of the page and click "Search".