The following article written by me appeared in the WorldVitalRecords Newsletter in January. I wanted to also post it here on GenealogyWise so that GenealogyWise members would also have access to it.The WorldVitalRecords Newsletter is a free weekly e-newsletter. You can subscribe to it by going to, http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/newslettersignup.aspx.52 Weeks of Genealogy WebsitesBy Gena Philibert OrtegaA new year means new possibilities for your family history research. Stumped for websites to check out? The following list goes beyond the same old websites you are using, to give you some fresh ones to check out, one for each week of 2010. Although not all of these are "genealogy" websites, I've chosen them because they can help you in some way with your family history research.Kansas State Historical SocietyNow don’t skip over this website just because you don’t have Kansas ancestors. This is one of my favorite websites. The Kansas State Historical Society has a large collection of microfilmed newspapers from throughout the United States and best of all you can order them through interlibrary loan. To see the list of newspapers, from the homepage, click on the link for Genealogists and then Newspapers. Go to the drop down menu and click on the state you are interested in. You can then look through a list of what newspapers they have for that state. 32 states are represented plus a few foreign newspapers including Cuba.Western States Historical Marriages IndexHave an ancestor who married in California, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, Nevada or Arizona? You may want to check out this site to see if you can find their marriage within its index. The website provides a list of counties so you can check to see if the county you are researching is represented.WorldCatLibraries are so important to the research that we do. We need to be able to conduct searches that will provide us with results in libraries around the world. With interlibrary loan, it is irrelevant where the library is located; we simply need to know what is available. (Except in cases of reference books that do not circulate). WorldCat fits the bill here, search for books by title, subject, author or keyword and then it will display the book, what libraries own it and how far away they are from you, as well as how to cite the book and where to buy it if it’s available for purchase. This should be one of your first stops as you research each family line.Poznan Marriage Indexing ProjectHave Polish ancestors? This online database currently houses 450,794 marriage records and is the largest databases of Polish marriages online.The Migration Experience on the WebLooking for some links to passenger lists? This page provides links to passenger lists for Hamburg and Breman, Canadian and United States ports of arrival. I would recommend looking at other parts of this website which includes all kinds of information about German genealogy including websites for German settlements in the United States.National Archives, Access to Archival DatabasesThis is a portal for looking for records in the National Archives. Use the Getting Started Guide located on this website to learn more about searching and finding the documents that you need.Genealogy Pointers ArchivesThis newsletter for the genealogy bookseller Genealogical Publishing may seem like an odd choice for this list. But, their newsletter has great articles written by professional genealogists. I highly recommend subscribing to it, or peruse these archives, for the articles. The newsletter, of course, also spotlights sales on books.Online Historical DirectoriesThis is a great index of all types of directories. “The goal of the site is to have a complete listing of historical alumni, business, city, county, farm, Masonic, rural, social and other types of directories for the United States and Canada…” You can also check out the blog for the site to see what links have been recently added, http://onlinedirectorysite.blogspot.com/.Online Genealogy Records and ResourcesJoe Beine’s websites are fantastic. I use his Online Death Indexes all the time. This site lists websites for death, census, immigration, vital and military records. There are also research guides to help you with finding passenger lists, US ports of arrival, naturalization records and census tips. Once you check out this site and his others you will refer to it again and again.Internet ArchiveThe Internet Archive has several great features including the Wayback Machine which allows you to visit cached pages of websites. One of my favorite features is their digitized books, which include books from the genealogy collection of Allen County Public Library. To see Internet Archive’s genealogy collection go to http://www.archive.org/details/genealogy , where over 11,000 books including family histories and transcribed records are digitized for your use. For a review of the website check out Tami Glatz’s blog Relatively Curious.ScribdScribd is a social publishing website where people post their articles on all sorts of topics. This is a place where you can upload your writings, including genealogy tips and family history narratives to share with others. You can also look for writings that may be beneficial to your genealogy. Thomas Jay Kemp, genealogist for Genealogy Bank has a slide show about genealogy cloud computing posted on the site at http://www.scribd.com/doc/21125904/Genealogy-Cloud-Computing and many others.GenWritersGenWriters is one of my favorite websites because it helps you do something that I believe is vital to your family history research, add social history elements. This is a site to learn more about the food your ancestors ate, their occupations, and their migration routes. No, you will not find your ancestor’s name on this website but you will find something much more powerful, how to bring your ancestor to life through your research and writing.Historic Map WorksHistoric Map Works is a company adding digital maps to their internet. Their website states, “Drawing on the largest physical collection of American property atlases of its type, our aim is to be the single best online destination for map enthusiasts and researchers alike.” The site does not cover the entire United States and you will need to sign up for an account to see maps without a watermark. You can also buy copies of maps.Learning Historical ResearchThis website is not a genealogy website but it’s a great primer for doing historical research and what resources are available. I recommend looking through the links for Research Process and Research Sources. The Research Sources section provides great information about researching manuscripts, periodicals, government documents, photographs, maps and interviews.LinkpendiumLinkpendium is a genealogy links directory similar to Cyndi’s List. With over 8 million links, it is different from Cyndi’s List in how it organizes genealogy links. While Cyndi’s List provide categories for localities and topics, Linkpendium takes its links, categorizes it into localities and then topics. So to begin your perusal of the site, start with the locality you are researching and scan that locality for links organized in categories that might be of use to you in your research. Links are mostly for the United State with some for the UK and Ireland.Repository of Primary Sources“A listing of over 5000 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources for the research scholar.” This website includes repositories from all over the world. Click on the region and then you will see a list of localities and links. Each link will take you to the website for the library or archive you are interested in.Census ToolsForms help us to stay organized and document where we have already researched. Looking for some great forms? Then go to Census Tools where you can find a wealth of forms for census documents, research logs, forms for cemetery research, passenger lists and family group reports. To use these free forms, you will need MS Excel.Online Historical NewspapersThis new website by geneablogger Miriam Robbins Midkiff is similar in scope to her website Online Historical Directories, mentioned above. This is a place to find where on the internet digitized newspapers can be found. Follow the companion blog at http://onlinedirectorysite.blogspot.com/. This is a new website for 2010, so it will take time but it promises to be a gem for researchers.Do HistoryThis site uses a case study of midwife Martha Ballard, from the book A Midiwife’s Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, to explain how to piece together an ancestor’s life. The website features digitized copies of primary documents used in the writing of the book as well as how to articles in their History Toolbox on reading 18th century writing, using primary documents, reading probate records and searching deeds.Index of State LibrariesState libraries and archives are important resources for finding information on your ancestors. These repositories can house everything from state government documents to histories, photographs and manuscript collections. This list of state library links will allow you to find the library you need and then search its website and collection catalog.Genealogy LinksAre you looking for more genealogy websites? Then you might want to consider perusing Genealogy Links for websites the world over. You can find over 50,000 links here. The webmaster states “I have endeavored to add sites that either have online genealogy records through which you can search for your ancestors or sites that provide helpful information to aid in your research…”GendisastersThere’s no doubt our ancestors had rough lives. But this site reminds us of some of the disasters they also lived through. Over 12,000 disaster articles provide information about events such as accidents, weather related accidents, mining explosions, fires, drowning and more. You can browse by disaster or locality. Use the message boards to ask questions about a disaster you are researching or share information about a disaster.Census FinderNeed to research the census but don’t have a subscription to a genealogy database site. Census Finder has over 33,000 links to website with free census records from the United States, Canada the UK and other countries.Bible Records OnlineThere are many genea-angels who purchase familyBibles from online auction sites, yard sales and antique stores and try to unite the Bible with the descendents of the original owner. While this site has not been updated since 2007, it does provide transcriptions of genealogical information from family Bibles.Books We OwnBooks We Own is a website of volunteers who are willing to do look ups for information on your ancestors in books that they own. Books are categorized by region and topics such as Native Americans, Religious Groups, Revolutionary War, Civil War, Mayflower, and Other Historical Events. There are family history books and books covering genealogy and history from around the world. This is a great resource for finding whether a particular book has the information that you need.Historical DirectoriesA searchable digital library, Historical Directories includes local and trade directories from England and Wales dating from 1750 to 1919. You can search by location, date or keyword.British-Genealogy.comThis website includes free resources for those who have British ancestors. Read the Resource Pages to get a sense of what documents are available for your ancestor. Use the Message Forums to get information about researching your British family tree.Research Center German Immigrants to the United StatesUse this website to find information about where to find passenger lists, articles and information about the German emigration experience. One of my favorites on the website is a transcription of a book given to emigrants on how to speak English, http://www.nausa.uni-oldenburg.de/fundfe.htm.Gone but not Forgotten: Demolished or Destroyed New YorkIn some cases you can use a source like Google maps to find old buildings that may have been a part of your ancestor’s life. But in other cases these buildings may have been demolished to make room for improvements. This website is an interesting photo documentary of some of the buildings in New York City that are gone and some history about those buildings.Live Roots Genealogy Search IndexLive Roots, the product of Illya D’Addezio who manages several sites include Genealogy Today, is a way to find genealogical resources on the internet. You can search by a surname, place or keyword. Live Roots matches your search term with genealogy website, both free and subscription based. You can learn more about how Live Roots works by reading http://www.liveroots.com/about/getting-started.html.GenGatewayGenealogy Gateway has free genealogy resources from around the world. This website has some great information for genealogists.Amlwch DataLook here for a list of older occupations found on the UK census.ICON: International Coalition on NewspapersHere you can find links to both United States and International newspaper digitization projects. United States newspapers are grouped by individual states.Library of Congress Prints and Photograph Reading RoomDon’t have a photograph of your ancestor? Consider finding a picture that shows the city they lived in, the battles they fought or events they took part in. This website contains about 1.2 million images, some of which you can download from the website.Mortality SchedulesMortality schedules were done in conjunction with the 1850-1880 U.S. federal censuses at a time when nationwide recording of deaths was haphazard. While these mortality schedules are available on Ancestry, you can use this site to find free transcribed mortality schedules on the Internet. This website is organized by state and then county.One Step Webpages by Stephen P. MorseStephen Morse’s website provides a way to search other websites easier. Use it to easily search immigration records, vital records and the census.GenQueriesThis website is a place to post research queries and to connect with others researching your same family lines. This is a free site developed by Dick Eastman, from Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter.The Encyclopedia of GenealogyAnother one of Dick Eastman’s site, this is a great place to go to learn more about a genealogically related word or concept. You can also contribute information to this online encyclopedia.Dead FredBrowse through thousands of long lost photographs that people have found at thrift stores, antique shops and even around their house. You can search by name, locality and keyword.Google ScholarUse this search engine for researching your ancestor’s locality, religion or occupation. Search this Google site just as you would Google, the search engine. Results include links to Google Books and scholarly articles.Blacksheep AncestorsNot all of our ancestors were angels. And that’s ok, because sometimes the bad ones left more records! Check out this website for links to prisons, courts and insane asylums.Vital Rec.comVitalRec.com is the website to go to find the websites and addresses for where to write for vital records. This website also provides information about when vital records started for each state and how much they cost. There is also a link for International records. I would suggest using this website as a guide and then consulting the state or county website for more information.AncestorsThis website is the companion to the PBS series of the same name. You can download genealogy forms, read about how to research different types of records, and download a teacher’s guide.Cemetery JunctionNeed to find a cemetery? Here you will find links and information to cemeteries in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Some are also linked to online transcriptions.NUCMCManuscript collections provide a wealth of information about our ancestors. Manuscript collections include everything from diaries and journals to store ledgers, ephemera, correspondence and more. The National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections provides a catalog of manuscript collections from around the United States.Free BMDHave UK ancestors? Free BMD is a project that seeks to transcribe birth, marriage and death records form the UK and Wales and provide them for free on the internet.Access GenealogyThis website provides free genealogy resources ranging from links to each state, to the Dawes Rolls and Guion Miller Rolls for researching your Native American ancestors.American Migration PatternsGenealogist Beverly Whitaker webpage has a list that includes information about different migration trails, as well as maps detailing migration routes.Civil War Soldiers and SailorsThis free website allows you to search for your American Civil War soldier of sailor and learn more about who was in his company and the history for his company. The website states, “The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System is a computerized database containing very basic facts about servicemen who served on both sides during the Civil War. The initial focus of the CWSS is the Names Index Project, a project to enter names and other basic information from 6.3 million soldier records in the National Archives. The facts about the soldiers were entered from records that are indexed to many millions of other documents about Union and Confederate Civil War soldiers maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration.Other information includes: histories of regiments in both the Union and Confederate Armies, links to descriptions of 384 significant battles of the war, and other historical information. Additional information about soldiers, sailors, regiments, and battles, as well as prisoner-of-war records and cemetery records, will be added over time.”The UK National Archives: PalaeographyReading our ancestor’s handwriting can be tough. Reading the articles on this website can give you a better understanding of how to decipher those old documents.Tax History ProjectThis website can help you in learning more about taxes in the United States. It also has PDF’s of tax forms from 1913 to 2006.BYU Free Genealogy CoursesThese courses include beginning genealogy lessons that you can view for free on your computer, all that is required is that you supply your email address. But there are also great ethnic and regional classes such as researching French, German, Huguenot and Scandinavian ancestors.Editor’s Note: I would like to thank Lisa Thamm Spegal for her assistance with this article.
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