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Find
Family History on Internet
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January 2001
Article by Maureen Taylor, author of
Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family
Photographs (Betterway 2000) and Through
the Eyes of Your Ancestors (Houghton
Mifflin 1999).
 you are at all interested in
family history and genealogy, but
haven’t ventured on to the Internet,
now is the time! There are vast resources
waiting for you to use and the best news
is that most of it is free. From search
engines, to web pages it is easy to find
family data on the Web by following these
four basic steps.
1. Prepare for the search.
Before going online it is important to
create a list of names and information to
search. Write down what you know about
your family such as full names (maiden
names included), dates and places
individuals lived using a plain piece of
paper and a pencil, a standard
genealogical chart or a computer program
like Family Tree Maker. Then show the
family data to relatives. They may be
able to add to your family history,
adding names, dates, and possibly even a
few stories. Use this basic family
information to start searching online.
2. Connecting with Family.
The Internet is a great way to
communicate. You may already be
conversing with family via email but be
unaware of the resources available to
connect with distant relatives involved
in a family history search. For instance,
message boards help you find researchers
working on your family. One board is GenForum. It maintains
message boards on surnames, places and
special topics. Browse the boards to see
if someone else already wrote an
interesting query or post one of your
own. For example, you know your ancestors
surname and the place where they lived,
but lack the details. By posting messages
on this site under both the surname and
place category your request for
information may be answered. Just
remember that to make effective use of a
message board it is best to keep your
query short. Include the basic
information you are seeking, and list
what you already know.
3. Searching.
With the thousands of genealogy-related
sites on the Internet its great to know
there is online research assistance. For
instance, on Genealogy.com, a new improved
Family Finder streamlines the process by
allowing users to conduct a whole family
search with ranked results that allows
for greater accuracy. A new feature
enables users to save their searches for
future research. You can also read
articles written by professional
genealogists on a variety of topics, take
a beginning genealogy class for free or
search for web sites on specific
subjects. Many sites offer a variety of
subscription and free databases. At
Genealogy.com it is possible to create an
online memorial in the Virtual Cemetery,
look at records submitted by researchers
in the World Family Tree, view digitized
documents at GenealogyLibrary.com, search
a digitized 1900 United States census or
find immigration information by
subscribing to International and
Passenger Records.
4. Have fun online!
Genealogical research requires a
combination of patience and persistence.
Searching the Internet for information is
just part of the process. Finding family
may be as easy as inserting a name in an
online search engine, but only by
verifying that data can you be sure you
have the right family. Successful
research is best accomplished by working
backwards one generation at a time,
checking original sources such as vital
records, census documents and other types
of material in addition to Internet
resources. Remember to record where you
found the data so that you can find it
again. Family history is fun and the
Internet makes it so easy to get started.
Maureen A.
Taylor is the
author of several books on
genealogy and photo history
including Uncovering Your
Ancestry Through Family
Photographs (Betterway 2000) and
Through the Eyes of Your
Ancestors (Houghton Mifflin
1999). Her columns appear online
at FamilyTreeMagazine.com,
Genealogy.com and
NewEnglandAncestors.org.  |
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you for visiting Joelton.com!
Email joelton@att.net
Copyright
2006 Mauna Crabtree
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