There really are some exceptional websites for genealogists. George
G. Morgan, an author of MyFamily.com, offers a few suggestions of the very
best in a wide variety of categories.We urge you
to invest a little of your own time in
exploring the contents of these sites, and in bookmarking those that you
feel will be helpful to your own continuing research.
COMPILATIONS -- There are a number of websites that are compilations of a variety of materials. These compendia provide access to information on many topics in a variety of areas.
Ancestry.com
http://www.ancestry.com/
RootsWeb.com
http://www.rootsweb.com/
Cyndi's List
http://www.cyndislist.com/
Genealogy Forum
http://www.genealogyforum.rootsweb.com/
USGenWeb Project
http://www.usgenweb.com/
WorldGenWeb Project
http://www.worldgenweb.org/
"HOW-TO," EDUCATIONAL AND REFERENCE--These
sites offer a wide range of instructional detail that can help you when
you are learning to work with new and different record types, conduct research
in a new
geographical or topical area, or to refresh
your knowledge of what is available where.
Afrigeneas (African Ancestored Genealogy)
http://www.afrigeneas.com/
Ancestry.com
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/start/main.htm
Christine's Genealogy Website (African
American Resources)
http://ccharity.com/
Family Search (LDS)
http://www.familysearch.org/
Genealogy Forum
http://www.genealogyforum.rootsweb.com/
National Genealogical Society
http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/
RootsWeb
http://www.rootsweb.com/
GENEALOGY CHARTS AND FORMS--Are
you looking for charts and forms to help with your transcription and recording
of information? Look no further than Ancestry.com's collection at:
http://www.ancestry.com/save/charts/ancchart.htm
These are simply great. And if you want to locate others, use your Web browser and search for the words, "genealogy forms."
ONLINE DATABASES -- There are many,
many online databases becoming available, but you would be hard pressed
to beat the combinations at Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/
), the LDS FamilySearch
(http://www.familysearch.org/
), and at RootsWeb.com (http://www.rootsweb.com/
).
GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES -- There are two national genealogical societies that lead the pack. These are:
Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS)
http://www.fgs.org/
National Genealogical Society
http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/
Both hold national conferences each year.
In addition, if you are interested in locating state and local societies,
check the Society Hall site at: http://www.familyhistory.com/societyhall/main.asp
Developed by Ancestry.com and the Federation
of Genealogical Societies, and sponsored by MyFamily.com, Society Hall
is the most comprehensive directory of genealogical and historical societies
on the Web.
LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES -- If you want to locate information at libraries and archives of all sorts in the U.S., and some in foreign countries, try some of these sites.
Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/
National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA)
http://www.archives.gov/
Public and academic libraries
http://www.libraryspot.com/librariesonline.htm
In addition, you can always locate more libraries directly by entering the name of the location and the keyword 'library' in your favorite Web browser.
LARGEST SEARCH ENGINES FOR LOCATING PERSONAL WEB PAGES WITH GENEALOGICAL DATA -- You can always use a great Web search engine or directory, and the following are excellent resources.
Google
http://www.google.com/
FAST Search
http://www.alltheweb.com/
Alta Vista
http://www.altavista.com/
Dogpile
http://www.dogpile.com/
Yahoo! (a directory)
http://www.yahoo.com/
In addition, you can find a wealth of information about scores of other search engines.
MESSAGE BOARDS -- A comprehensive site for accessing genealogical message boards is at Ancestry.com at http://boards.ancestry.com
MAILING LISTS -- Mailing lists allow
you to subscribe to e-mail discussion groups and exchange information on
other surnames, locations, groups, and other topics with people who share
an interest in that area. For more information about mailing lists, check
at RootsWeb at http://lists.rootsweb.com, and for some detailed
descriptions about mailing lists and using
them, check the website titled "Genealogy Resources on the Internet: Mailing
Lists" at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~jfuller/gen_mail.html
Provided by: SUMMIT COUNTY CHAPTER, OGS
P O Box 2232
Akron OH 44309-2232
e-mail: SummitOGS@ald.net