The Genealogy & Family History Social Network
Favorite Resources
I have very few tools I use for my family history research, and maybe someone can point me in the right direction to improve my "toolbox" but I thought I'd share.
- FamilySearch - Absolutely phenomenal collection of records. I realize they are busy, but I do hope that more amateur researchers like me can get access to more records soon, like the family trees and such.
- Legacy software - a free software program for recording your research. I've used this program for about 7 years and I am still learning new tips and tricks for using it.
- Google Books - While I don't find everything, I was very surprised to make a lucky find of my husband great-grandfather in a phone directory in Chicago. It was a great find for me because I had a huge time gap between census records.
Obviously there are lots of great tools out there and I'd love to hear about them. Let me know what you like!
Views: 45
Comment
-
Comment by Mandi on August 2, 2011 at 8:45am
-
One of the issues with my family history is that my family is relatively new to this country (dad's side ca. 1910; mom's side 1949) and records in the home country are hard to find if you don't know where exactly they came from (Germany is a very big place, and we know the spelling of the name was changed). The newer branch is from Ukraine, and they have just recently opened up their records, so I'm hoping my mom & I will be able to get some more detailed information soon.
My husband's family has been here longer, but I'm not able to locate any naturalization records yet. Still digging, but I'm always excited by the little details.
-
Comment by James P. LaLone on August 2, 2011 at 7:22am
-
I look everywhere! Use the library, check bibliographies on topics, etc. What your library does not have you can order in on inter-library loan. Your library and local Family History Center may also subscribe (therefore free for you) to Heritage Quest, another good site for places, persons and topics, PERSI and some of the census records.
Besides google books there is also archive.org . I check out the message & query boards in both Genforum and RootsWeb, meet lots of cousins that way. Join a society, attend genealogy seminars. Read books (there is a group here on that subject). Use google search engine. Read the genealogy publications, they are your "news" of the month to keep you informed.
Another good place to look for leads is "Cyndi's List".
You are just scratching the surface! There are lots of places free online that you can check out but beware of the info, no documentation means it is suspect.
Good luck, Jim.
© 2024 Created by IIGSExecDirector.
Powered by
You need to be a member of Genealogy Wise to add comments!
Join Genealogy Wise