best genealogy websites of 2012 - part 1
DESCRIPTION
Presentation given on March 17, 2012. Presentation rounds up and examines the best genealogy websites of 2012 available for researchers to use. List includes paid and free websites.TRANSCRIPT
Outline
“The Usual Suspects”
Brief Introduction
“By Record Type” – e.g. BMDs
“Crossing the Pond” – eg. English
“Other Noteworthy Research Tools”
Why do you need such a list?
Not all genealogy websites are the sameSome require a paid subscription (per view or
monthly) or are free; some provide only images, an index (points you to the original source), etc.; some are created by libraries/archives/genealogical societies while others are done by volunteers
List of online resources is not meant to replace “traditional” formats like books & microfilm. Rather the list is meant to be used “in addition to”
List features both paid $ and free web resources
CriteriaOffers the most authoritative and trustworthy
websites to use for genealogyHow did I select the best genealogy websites
for you to use? Annual “Best of” featured on the Family
Tree website: http://www.familytreemagazine.com/
Magazines such as Internet Genealogy & Family Chronicle
Various genealogy blogs Tips from other genealogists Personal experience helping patrons
“The Usual Suspects”
These websites consistently top the “Best of the Best” online resources to use: Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com or
http://www.ancestry.ca) - $ (ALE is free through RPL – Central Library only!)
Canadian Genealogy Centre (Library& Archives Canada; http://www.genealogy.gc.ca/) – FREE
FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org) – FREE
Cyndi’s List (http://www.cyndislist.com/) – FREE
Tip # 1 – Canadian Genealogy CentreMicrofilm Digitization Page
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/microform-digitization/index-e.html
Tip #2 – FamilySearch.org
Browse by Location Feature
“By Record Type”
Births, Marriages & Deaths Indexes (BMDs) Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics (https://
novascotiagenealogy.com/) – FREE British Columbia Vital Events Indexes (
http://search.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/sn-5B37DD3/gbsearch/Births,Marriages,Deaths) - FREE
Manitoba Vital Records (http://vitalstats.gov.mb.ca/Query.php) – FREE
Free BMD (UK; http://www.freebmd.org.uk/) – FREE
DeathIndexes (US; http://www.deathindexes.com/) – FREE
“By Record Type” – continued
Census Records Automated Genealogy (Canada; http://
www.automatedgenealogy.com) - FREE
Tip # 3 - “One to Keep An Eye Out For…”
National Archives and Records Administration’s (NARA) 1940 website - will be launching April 2, 2012 (http://1940census.archives.gov/) - FREE
“By Record Type” – continued
Cemetery Records SGS Burial Index (http://
www.saskgenealogy.com/databases/indexes.aspx) - $
Canada’s GenWeb Cemetery Project (http://cemetery.canadagenweb.org/search.html) - FREE
Deceased Online (UK; http://www.deceasedonline.com) – $
Interment.Net (Global; http://www.interment.net/) - FREE
“By Record Type” - continued
Find A Grave (Global; http://www.findagrave.com) - FREE
“By Record Type” – continued
City Directories Peel’s Prairie Provinces (AB, MB & Saskatoon;
http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/henderson.html) - FREE
British Columbia’s City Directories, 1860-1940 (http://www.vpl.ca/bccd/index.php) - FREE
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) (Quebec; http://www.banq.qc.ca/collections/collection_numerique/index.html?categorie=1) - FREE
City Directories - continued
Toronto City Directories 1833-1899 (http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/digital-archive/) - FREE
Distant Cousins (US; http://distantcousin.com/Directories) - FREE
Historical Directories of UK (http://historicaldirectories.org/hd/) – FREE
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) (http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/street_directories.htm) - FREE
“By Record Type” – continuedImmigration & Passenger Lists
Ellis Island (New York, US; http://www.ellisisland.org/) - FREE
Castle Garden (New York, US; http://www.castlegarden.org) - FREE
Bremen Passenger Lists, 1920-1939 (Germany; http://db.genealogy.net/maus/gate/index_en.html) – FREE
Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild (ISTG) (Global; http://www.immigrantships.net/) - FREE
The Ships List (Global; http://www.theshipslist.com/) – FREE
Ship Index (Global; http://www.shipindex.org/) - $
Tip #4 – Really Interesting Database…
Swiss Refugee Database 1942-1945 (Switzerland; http://etat.geneve.ch/dt/archives/a_votre_service-liste_refugies-1700.html) – FREE
“By Record Type” – continued
Local/Family/General Histories Heritage Quest - $ (FREE through RPL –
Central Library only!) Our Roots (Western Canada; http://
ourroots.ca) - FREE Canadiana (http://www.canadiana.ca/en/home
) - FREE Google Books (http://books.google.com/) -
FREE Internet Archives (http://archives.org) - FREE Family Histories Archives (
http://www.lib.byu.edu/fhc) – FREE
“By Record Type” – continued
Maps Canadian County Atlases (Ontario; http://
digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas) - FREE Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
Online (global; http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabularies/tgn) - FREE
Cassini Maps (UK; http://www.cassinimaps.co.uk) - FREE
Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection (global; http://lib.utexas.edu/maps) – FREE
David Rumsey (global; http://www.davidrumsey.com/) – FREE
Tip # 5 – Really Cool Map!!!
Atlas of the German Empire by Ludwig Ravenstein (Europe; http://library.wisc.edu/etext/ravenstein) – FREE
“By Record Type” – continued
Military Records Saskatchewan Virtual War Memorial (
http://www.svwm.ca) – FREE Commonwealth War Graves Commission
(British Commonwealth; http://www.cwgc.org/) - FREE
Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System (US; http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/) - FREE
National Archives & Records Administration: Military Resources (US; http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/military/) - FREE
Tip # 6 – War of 1812 Ancestors
Fold3 (http://www.fold3.com/) - $ except for War of 1812 Pension Files!!!
“By Record Type” – continued
Newspapers Google News (US & Canada;
http://news.google.com) - FREE Chronicling America (US;
http://www.loc.gov/chronicling america/) - FREE British Newspapers, 1800-1900 (
http://newspapers.bl.uk/blcs) - $ International Coalition on Newspapers (ICON)
(global; http://icon.crl.edu/digitization.htm) - FREE Newspaper Abstracts (http://
www.newspaperabstracts.com/) - FREE
“Crossing the Pond”
English Genealogy FindMyPast (http://www.findmypast.co.uk/) - $
(available through SGS) British Origins (http://www.britishorigins.com)
– $ Genuki (http://genuki.org.uk) – FREE London Lives 1690-1900 (
http://www.londonlives.org) - FREE
“Crossing the Pond – continued”
Scottish Genealogy Scotland’s People (
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) - $
“Crossing the Pond – continued”
Irish Genealogy The National Archives of Ireland (
http://nationalarchives.ie) – FREE Ireland Gen Web (http://irelandgenweb.com) –
FREE Irish Family History Foundation (
http://www.irish-roots.ie/) – $
“Crossing the Pond – continued”Scandinavian Genealogy
Digital Archives of Norway (http://arkivverket.no/eng/Digital-Archives) – FREE
Swedish National Archives (http://www.svar.ra.se) – FREE
Arkivdigital (Sweden; http://www.arkivdigital.net) – $
Finnish Family History Association (FFHA) (http://www.sukuhistoria.fi/sshy/index_eng.htm) – FREE
Danish Demographic Database (http://www.ddd.dda.dk) - FREE
“Crossing the Pond – continued”
Eastern European Genealogy HalGal (Western Ukraine & Galicia;
http://www.halgal.com) – FREE EastEuropeGenWeb (
http://www.rootsweb.com/~easeurgw) – FREE Federation of East European Family History
Societies (http://feefhs.org) – FREE PolishRoots (http://www.polishroots.org/) -
FREE
“Crossing the Pond – continued”
Western European Genealogy German Roots (Germany; http://
www.germanroots.com/) – FREE The German Genealogy Network (http://
www.genealogienetz.de/genealogy.html) - FREE
GeneaNet (France; http://www.geneanet.org/) – FREE
Genelias (Holland; http://www.genlias.nl/en/page0.jsp) – $
Italian Heritage and Home Page (Italy; http://www.daddezio.com/) - FREE
“Other Noteworthy Research Tools”
Search Engines Mocavo (http://www.mocavo.com/) - FREE One-Step Web Pages (http://
stevemorse.org/) – FREESoftware & Hardware Reviews
GenSoftReviews (genealogy software; http://www.gensoftreviews.com) – FREE
CNET (software and hardware; http://www.cnet.com/) - FREE
“Other Noteworthy Research Tools”
Tech Tools Google Translate
(http://translate.google.com/) – FREE Google Earth
(http://www.google.com/earth/index.html) - FREE
Evernote (online notes ; http://www.evernote.com) – FREE
XnView (screen capturing & basic photo editing; http://www.xnview.com/) - FREE
“Other Noteworthy Research Tools”
Staying Up-to Date Prairie History Blog (
http://www.reginalibrary.ca/prairiehistoryblog/) - FREE
Dick’s Eastman’s Newsletter (http://blog.eogn.com/) – FREE
Ancestry Insider (http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com/) - FREE
Genealogy Blog Finder (http://blogfinder.genealogue.com/) - FREE
Tip #9 – online genealogy articles
Hobbies and Craft Reference Center (http://www.reginalibrary.ca/databases/db_hobbies.html) – FREE w/ Regina Public Library Card Full text of Family Chronicle (2009-2012) and
Internet Genealogy (2009-2012)
