Library of Congress LOC One of the largest collections in the world of printed and recorded materials; outstanding source for free images; resource for all copyrighted materials in America and beyond. LOC maintains collections of nearly all city directories and county histories in the U. Newspaper Directory and Chronicling America; and offers comprehensive historical materials of all kinds. Plus many accessible online digital collections and image galleries; and use of lntraLibrary Loan through ILL and your local library card.
Research Guides for Ship Passenger Lists and Immigration Records Focuses on providing guidance and links to records for passenger lists from about to the early s. It includes suggestions for finding records for ports of arrival and immigration records. One of the largest genealogical library collections in the U. It also helped with immediate and temporary shelter and supplied food and aid to the destitute and suffering.
Access Genealogy Access hundreds of links to genealogical data by state or by topic. Very helpful and handy website. Computing — expert technical support by phone or email. Ancestry says that, worldwide, its members have created million family trees containing more than 13 billion ancestral profiles. A welcome screen confirmed the trial and offered the choice of starting a family tree or buying a DNA kit.
Opting for the former opened a family tree screen, empty but for a box to click to add our own details, including name, sex, date of birth and birthplace.
The Ancestry website then auto-generated placeholders for parents and, once these were completed, grandparents. We found the visual look of Ancestry. Clicking on an ancestor gives the option of a quick edit to add more information, including whether they were living or deceased, and details of their birth and death.
This website was founded in and says it has 49 million family trees from around the world. It then sent us to a payment page, pre-selecting the most expensive package. From this, we could view a more detailed profile, edit the profile including adding photos , research the person or buy a DNA test. We were opted in by default to all the emails including support and marketing, without being given a way to opt out, which we think breaches privacy rules. Once this was done, we were shown a basic family tree — which we found frustrating as we could only view either our maternal or paternal side of the family at a time.
Clicking on an ancestor brought up a profile summary pop-up, allowing us to edit details such as adding dates of birth and death or photos, and also to search. There was also a hint button — although there were no hints available yet they started cropping later. The search button brought up a promising short list of possible birth and marriage records but when we tried to click a record, we were redirected to the subscription selection screen — and this time there was no option for a free trial.
We eventually had to log out and log back in again to find and sign up for the free trial. Here are some features shared by many of the excellent sites - and some questions that you might like to ask:. If your grandfather was a merchant seaman, for example, does this site contain seamen's records for the period during which he served? You shouldn't have to pay to find out whether or not you want to use a website, so it is a great help if there is an explanation of what records are available, what you need to know to identify your ancestor and what more you can hope to learn about them from the records you might find.
From the description accompanying the site, you need to be sure of what you've searched - or eliminated - by using the site. These can be very useful in understanding and interpreting whatever material you find relating to you ancestor.
Of course, sometimes you won't find what you're looking for online; it's the same when you go to an archive. And not all resources are available on the web, so your path may inevitably lead to an archive in the end.
But the web is a good place to get started. Don't forget to search for sites that tap into your area of genealogical interest! There are websites of all descriptions, shapes and sizes that cater for genealogists, from databases to message forums, general information, help and support sites, family tree display tools - the list is endless. But unless you are after some specific information obtained from a historical record, you shouldn't really have to pay for these sites. Some of the most popular features are included on subscription sites anyway.
If you are in need of a piece of advice, or wondering where you can find your next piece of information, have a look at the following free sites:. You can use these sites to make contact with the genealogy community, and see if other researchers recommend the sites that you have to pay for.
She is the co-author of Genealogy Online for Dummies and is a frequent contributor to family history magazines. She has appeared as a genealogist on television, radio and in the national press, and works as a media and private researcher, a writer and a lecturer. Search term:. Read more. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets CSS enabled.
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