Handy Sites of the Month for October 2007
These sites have been handpicked by us or recommended by readers. We feel that they provide excellent
information and hope that you will feel the same way too. Links to our "Handy Sites" from this and previous
months can be found on our other links page.
Normally with our handy sites of the month we try to bring you some of the lesser known high quality
genealogy sites available on the internet. This month we have decided to explore a couple
of the internets premier free genealogy sites.
While it is quite likely that most of you out there have already heard of, and often used,
these sites, a point was made that some people out there may not know about them.
To that end, we feel that we have a responsibility to discuss them. Next month we'll return to our quest for hidden gems.
This month we're addressing two of the titans of internet genealogy. FamilySearch.org and Cyndi's List.
FamilySearch.org
http://www.familysearch.org
Quite simply one of the internet's premier genealogy sources, FamilySearch.org is maintained by
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS). Mormons are extremely dedicated to genealogy,
and the LDS provides excellent resources. Here are some of the things you will find on this incredible site:
* The ability to search the Ancestral File, Census Information, International Genealogical Index, Pedigree Resource File,
US Social Security Death Index, Vital Records Index, and Family History Web Sites. We recommend using the "advanced search"
feature, a link to which can be found on the start page near the search button.
* A tremendous amount of help and advice. From "get started", to "research guidance", to "forms, maps, and guides",
there is a lot of help here for you to explore.
* Download PAF (Personal Ancestral File). While arguably in the middle of the genealogy software
pack, this program is free. Personal Ancestral File (PAF) is a free genealogy and family history program.
PAF allows you to quickly and easily collect, organize and share your family history and genealogy information.
Registration is free and is required to do some of the things the site offers. It is well worth
the few minutes in takes to register. In addition to the site, the LDS provides a wealth of material
that is not online but may be available on microfilm or book form. Through the site you can find your
local LDS family history center. We highly recommend paying this place a visit if you haven't done so already.
The volunteers there are usually very knowledgeable and may help you alot.
Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet
http://www.cyndislist.com
Started in 1996 by Cyndi Howells, this is the mother of all link directories.
Cyndi, as of the writing of this article, has listed over 260,000 genealogy sites across 180 categories.
If you are looking for an information on a specific category - no matter how obscure - this is a site you should use.
It is ideal for people looking for information on niche categories.
There is a Google Search box on the top right of the main page you can use to speed things up a bit.
Alternatively, you can scroll through the roughly ten pages of categories and begin to narrow your search from there.
Critics of this site argue that providing users with links to over a quarter of a million genealogy sites
is overkill. At some point, they argue, this sort of index becomes redundant. Google, they argue,
provides "links" (through its search) to roughly three million genealogy sites already.
While there is some truth to these arguments, we'd like to point out a few things.
First, Cyndi created her list in 1996. That was a time when search engines were absolutely
inferior (to put it kindly). Most often searches returned pornography instead of good results.
For her pioneering efforts in those early days, she deserves a medal. We'd nominate her for a noble prize
in genealogy if we could.
Second, her list is so popular that if you search for the word "genealogy" her website
is normally ranked 5 or 6 - out of 36 million. This is due to the literally tens of thousands
of backlinks to her site. Cyndi Howells is quite simply the grandmother of internet genealogy.
She has built a brand that is known the world over and a pretty amazing website too. It is well worth
the time to visit and could likely help you alot.
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