What's Online for Genealogists - 2007 Roswell, NM Celebration

What's Online for Genealogists
2007 Wilson-Cobb Seminar, Roswell, New Mexico
All provided web addresses and data current as of September 21, 2007.

Good overall rules of thumb:

	Do research before turning to the web, web is to help, not replace your work.
	ALWAYS have/get proof & NEVER forget to cite your sources (& keep “bulletproof” copies).
	If keeping data on computer, research this is best for you and stick with that program for ease.

The internet should be looked at as a “give and take” resource. If you have information that is digital, share...GEDCOM, HTML, etc. Once you have it in a sharable format, spread the word to other name researchers/geographical, etc. What you put out should return to you magnified. Hopefully it’s not your work distorted, but alternate work or even yours enlarged.

Privacy - Family members that are not dead need to give permission to post their information online (or anywhere else). You can download and use a GEDCOM cleaner program to automatically remove privacy information, rather than doing it all “by hand” if swapping files.

Copyright – Fact can not be copyrighted. Anything previously written, drawn, or photographed, regarding fact or fiction is copyrighted by the original person. This is true, even if it is not marked or the copyright holder is unaware of this. If a Copyright has not been registered, it is called an implied copyright and is still right restricted.

Tools of the trade

1. Basic Browser (i.e. Internet Explorer or Netscape)

i. Address Line - How a URL Is Put Together

http://www.gregathcompany.com/faq.html

http://www.gregathcompany.com/workshop/2007/scrapbook.htm#portfolio

www.gregathcompany.com/workshop/2007/scrappers/registrationform.html

1. HyperText Transfer Protocol (browser always provides)

2. World Wide Web (browser sometimes provides)

3. Base (aol, google, rootsweb, familysearch, etc.)

4. Common Site Extensions (hostname zones) - com, edu, gov, mil, net, int, org, tv

5. Directory (optional and/or repeat)

6. Page with extension (.HyperText Markup Language)

7. Additional variations (can include #name for place on particular page)

ii. Can’t find a page – it’s not always you!

1. Sites and pages move like:

www.neok.com/~ccorner/ubs (old) to
www.carriescorner.com/ubs (current)

www.gregathcompany.com/sb.html (old/bad address) to www.gregathcompany.com/sb - current address

2. Sites and pages disappear (moving with no forwarding address or link rot)

iii. Safety & Housekeeping

1. Viruses

a. Do onto others…

b. Practice safe downloading

c. Run anti-virus and spyware programs

2. Attachments

a. When sending can it be sent inline?

b. Scan for viruses before viewing

iv. General Navigation Mechanics

1. Hyperlinks (almost always underlined)

a. Different color and/or font

b. Cursor turns into a hand when placed on it

2. Search engines

a. Yahoo (Boolean and category index/directory) www.yahoo.com – basic operators don’t work in every engine. Some can be combined, others not.

i. CASE sensitive or not

ii. + - this and (+) that

iii. – (minus) – not including

iv. "" – encloses specific phrase

v. * - everything (*smith – all names ending in smith)

vi. or, and (operators may be case sensitive)

vii. ? – wildcard (?athy – Cathy, Kathy, etc.)

viii. ~ - synonyms

ix. .. – range (1..1000)

x. A word about the use of “stop” (common) words – I, the, and in search

xi. Advanced settings per search engine

b. Natural Language/Question: Ask Jeeves www.ask.com

c. Sorts Answers by Topic: http://www.clusty.com (was http://www.vivisimo.com)

d. text based/standard

i. http://www.excite.com

ii. http://www.google.com (ex. timmy)

1. timmy site:si.edu (search within site)

2. define:timmy

3. allintitle:timmy

4. intitle:timmy

5. allintext:timmy

6. intext:timmy

7. phonebook: timmy Roswell

8. inurl:timmy

9. cache: si.edu timmy (search saved, versus live pages)

e. META/Multi SE

i. http://www.genealogyplace.com/

ii. http://www.dogpile.com - general

f. Genealogy search

i. http://www.kindredkonnections.com/ (mytrees)

ii. http://www.surnameweb.org/

iii. http://www.gencircles.com/

g. One of many SE directories http://www.philb.com/webse.htm

h. Genealogy Links Pages like www.cyndislist.com

2. Email Program

Netiquette (www.albion.com/netiquette/index.html etc.)

a. Always include contact info.

b. Needs Subject, SHOUTING, tone, spell check, no flames - Don't SPAM, even if you want to (don't send to strangers).

c. Query tips

a. surname in CAPS

b. 5 W's – who, what, where, when, why ( and how)

c. don’ assume

d. Emoticons: a glossary - http://www.angelfire.com/hi/hahakiam/emoticon.html

What to do?

1. Email Lists/Newsletters/E-Zines (lurk a bit to get a feel before jumping in) - be a good net citizen

a. http://www.rootsweb.com/~jfuller/gen_mail.html genealogy directory

b. groups.yahoo.com general directory

c. http://blog.eogn.com/ - recommended (see also blogs)

2. Network! Join in online to associations and research groups

a. Federations of Genealogical Societies www.fgs.org

b. National Genealogical Society www.ngsgenealogy.org

c. Association of Professional Genealogists www.apgen.org

3. Specific Sites to Surf

Research/Resource - free

i. www.cyndislist.com – free genealogy directory – no content

ii. http://www.linkpendium.com/ – nearly 2 million links

iii. www.rootsweb.com – free part of ancestry - interwoven

iv. GenWeb – all volunteers - free

1. www.usgenweb.org

2. www.worldgenweb.org

v. http://genealogy.about.com/ - great free general genealogy resource

vi. www.familysearch.org (LDS) Free

vii. US Bureau of Land Management www.glorecords.blm.gov

viii. Other US Government agency links www.firstgov.gov

ix. Great info & links about court research http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jkonvalinka/court.htm

x. http://www.findagrave.com/

xi. Libraries/Archives, etc.

1. USA Library of Congress www.loc.gov

2. USA National Archives www.archives.gov

3. Smithsonian Institution www.si.edu

4. Allen Co. – Ft. Wayne, IN http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/genealogy/index.html

5. NSDAR Library http://www.dar.org/library/default.cfm

Research/Resource – “Premium”

xii. My generations Network (some overlap but rarely same original content)

1. http://www.ancestry.com/ 24,854 record collections/4,000 databases and several different subscription options. Site offers free trial and some free content. (available through the Roswell PL) highlights include:

Biographies, Histories, etc.

Newspapers & periodicals

Photos & maps

US Federal Census

Canadian Collection

Scottish Census

2. http://www.onegreatfamily.com/Home.aspx Site offers free trial.

3. http://heritagequestonline.com/ (available at home with Roswell PL card and PIN) highlights include:

US Federal Censuses

Revolutionary War Info

African-American Records

Online Books

Lexis/Nexis US Serial Set

PERSI

4. http://www.proquest.com/ (subject: Genealogy) highlights include:

Obituaries & Death Notices

Historical Newspapers - Civil War Era, Black, etc. Collections

Biographies

Sanborn Maps

xiii. www.genealogy.com (Family Tree Maker) Site offers free trial and some free content.

xiv. http://www.footnote.com/ Actual photographic images – includes some federal documents. Site offers free trial and some free content.

Your State Resources

xv. http://www.genealogybranches.com/newmexico.html - a directory

xvi. http://www.nmgs.org/

xvii. http://www.hgrc-nm.org/

xviii. rootsweb

1. http://www.rootsweb.com/~nmgenweb/

2. http://www.rootsweb.com/~nmchaves/index.html

3. http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/nm/ State Archive Transcriptions (use links to locate data)

4. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~newmexico/?cj=1&o_xid=0000584978&o_lid=0000584978

Misc. General Resources

xix. Assorted Information http://www.researchbuzz.org/genealogy/

xx. Google Books - http://books.google.com/

xxi. World Catalog - http://www.worldcat.org/

xxii. Online hubs for genealogists:

1. http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Main_Page

2. http://myfamily.com/

3. http://www.geni.com/

xxiii. Family Genealogy and Education Directory http://www.academic-genealogy.com/

xxiv. eBay Want It Now in addition to used book stores http://pages.ebay.com/wantitnow/

3. Software

i. http://www.genhomepage.com/software.html - a directory

ii. http://genealogy-software-review.toptenreviews.com/ - reviews

iii. http://www.familytreemaker.com/ - GEDCOM

iv. http://www.gensmarts.com/ Program looks at your genealogical file and suggest research ideas and why. Site offers free trial.

v. http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/ Site offers free demo.

vi. www.familysearch.org (LDS) Includes free Personal Ancestral File (alternative to GEDCOM format)

vii. http://www.safesite.com/category.php%5Bid%5D131%5BSiteID%5Dsimtel.net genealogy

viii. http://www.download.com/ general (mostly free trials)

ix. http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,1874,23,00.asp general/with reviews (mostly free trials)

4. Newsgroups/Usenet - www.newsrover.com or your own ISP (some gatewayed through mailing lists) or newsgroup through computer hierarchies soc or alt - example soc.genealogy.surnames.usa (usegroup designation – not an address)

5. Chat Rooms - may use additional software

i. http://www.cyndislist.com/chat.htm - genealogy chat & IRC listings

ii. www.true.com - general chat

6. Blogs

i. http://blogfinder.genealogue.com/

ii. www.CafeMom.com – general blogs

7. Podcasts

i. http://genealogyguys.com/ - highly recommended

ii. http://audio.genealogytoday.com/ - schedule listing

iii. http://www.genealogytechpodcast.com/ - for techies

iv. http://genealogy-blogs.org/genealogy-podcasts/ - blogs on podcasts

Page Last Updated August 02, 2011