Use the internet for family history research

Introduction
The Internet is a rich source of family history information. Many Web sites have been created to provide help and information. Without leaving your home, you can find research guides; maps; family histories; birth, marriage, and death records; and many other resources. Valuable information about your ancestors is most likely available on the Internet. So how can you find it? This lesson will introduce you to basic Internet research strategies and some of the best research tools currently available online.

Internet Genealogy Tools and Links
The amount, scope, and availability of genealogical information on the Internet is amazing. On the Internet you may be able to access images of your great-grandfather’s military records, find a family Bible, or connect with distant relatives. The following online genealogy tools and resources will help you sift through the vast amount of information on the Internet and find the information most valuable to you.

Search Engines
Search engines are some of the most powerful genealogical tools available. An Internet search engine is like a catalog or index to the Web sites available on the Internet. To use a search engine, go to the search engine Web site and enter one or more search terms (the words or phrases that best describe the information you want to find) into the search box. In response, the search engine produces a list of Web pages related to the search terms.

Search engines are not designed specifically for genealogy; they search for whatever words you enter into the search box. By entering the right words into a search engine, you may find Web sites that have cemetery records, pictures, Family Bibles, family organizations, and much more that you didn’t know existed. If you do not find what you are searching for, remember that every day people post new information on the Internet. Search again later for the same information.

Which Search Engine Should You Use?
Not all search engines are equally useful. Some index the first few sentences of a Web page only. Others index every word. No search engine indexes everything on the Internet. The following are some of the better search engines for genealogy:


 * www.google.com
 * www.yahoo.com
 * www.msn.com
 * www.ask.com
 * www.altavista.com

What Search Terms Should You Use?
Choosing the right search terms will help you find the information you need. Start with the obvious—if you’re looking for general information on Alexander Welch, type "Alexander Welch” in the search field. If you include quotation marks around your search terms in the search box, the search engine will look only for that exact phrase. If you do not include quotation marks, the search engine will look for Web pages that include both “Alexander” and “Welch,” although not necessarily as part of the same name.

You can use multiple search terms to narrow your search, especially if you are searching for a common name, such as John Williams or David Smith. When searching for a common family name, try adding words or phrases such as “genealogy,” “family history,” or “was born” after the name. Place-names, years, record types, names of other family members, and so on can help narrow your search. For example, you could type “Alexander Welch” and “Jefferson County, Illinois.” Or you could type “Alexander Welch” and “census” or “Alexander Welch” and “Anne Protsman.”

Directory Sites
An Internet directory site is a categorized and cross-referenced index of links to other Web sites. Genealogy directories are a great way to find links to some of the best genealogical research sites and online databases. The directories listed below are a few of the most helpful genealogy directories:


 * Cyndi’s List (www.cyndislist.com) contains links to specific records and Web sites for finding people, places, and dates. You can search the index alphabetically or by topic or by using the site’s search engine.
 * Genealogy.com (www.genealogy.com/links/) contains links to Web sites organized by subject.
 * Genealogylinks.net (www.genealogylinks.net) consists of many free genealogy links for the United States and several other countries. You can browse the list of links by region.

Compiled Information
Many individuals and families have placed genealogical information on the Internet containing the names of deceased ancestors. It is generally a good research strategy to begin your Internet research by seeing if someone else has already compiled information about your ancestor.

Compiled records include family histories, online family trees, and local histories (county, state, and so on). Compiled information is usually based on information found in original records, such as birth, marriage, or death certificates. Because errors can be introduced when information is compiled from original records, the original records are often more reliable than compiled records. For explanation, see Expert Tip on page 3.

Compiled information provides a good starting point for your research and often includes many clues of where to look for new information. Whenever possible, however, you should try to corroborate information you find on the Internet with other records.

Online Family Trees
Online family trees are searchable family databases, often displayed as pedigree charts and family group records. They have been posted on the Internet by individuals and organizations throughout the world and often contain many generations of a lineage and include valuable dates and even cite sources for that information. These are some of the best sites for finding online family trees:


 * FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org) is the official family history Web site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is always free. Here you can find online family trees in the Ancestral File and the Pedigree Resource File.
 * RootsWeb (www.rootsweb.com) is a free genealogy site. Be sure to click the Family Trees link before you begin your search for online family trees.
 * Ancestry (www.ancestry.com) is currently the largest commercial family history site and charges a fee for access to most of its information. Some areas of the site are available for free, however, including the Ancestry World Tree (www.ancestry.com/trees/awt), an online family tree. You can also access some of the fee-based content free at all family history centers. To find a family history center, go to www.familysearch.org and find the shaded area titled Find a Family History Center Near Your Home. Enter the state where you reside in the appropriate field, and click OK.
 * OneGreatFamily (www.onegreatfamily.com) is a fee-based online database. After you enter what you already know about your ancestors, this automated search engine will continually look for additional information and additional ancestors and notify you when additional information is received.
 * MyTrees (www.mytrees.com) (formerly KindredKonnections) is a fee-based online family tree. However, you can also obtain access by performing a service for the company. The Web site has a large online family tree, which contains information submitted by individuals around the world, but a large concentration of contributors is from Utah.

Family Web Sites
Web sites put together by individuals or families can also contain valuable compiled information. You can find many of these pages by entering a family name in a search engine. If you have a common family name, add search terms such as “genealogy” or “family history” to your family name in the search box. The following Web sites are also great resources for finding family Web sites:


 * RootsWeb (www.rootsweb.com) Click Web sites, and then look alphabetically for your family name.
 * FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org) Click Search, and then click Search Family History Web sites to begin your search.
 * Ggenealogy.com Family Finder (www.genealogy.com/ifftop.html) Enter the name of the ancestor you are seeking. In the results, click Family Web sites to take advantage of this index to thousands of Web sites that include family Web pages. The websites are listed under other sources. You must register to use this Web site. Registration is free.

Online Books
Another way to find compiled information is through books that have been scanned and posted online. These books may include family histories, biographies, and local histories. Because full-text searching is often available, you may be able to find a reference to your ancestor in a book that may have been more difficult to find if you were just reading the book. The following sites are great resources for online genealogy books:


 * BYU Family History Archive (www.lib.byu.edu/fhc) contains online images of published family history books from theFamily History Library and BYU.
 * Google book search (books.google.com) contains books scanned by several large research libraries. You can view all the pages of books in the public domain, but if a book is still protected by copyright, only limited access is given.
 * HeritageQuest Online (www.heritagequestonline.com) contains thousands of books and other online collections. These resources are completely searchable.

Original Records
After searching compiled information to see what other researchers may have already discovered about your ancestor, you can verify that information and add to it by using original records or record indexes available online.

Original records contain both primary and secondary information (see the definition for primary and secondary records in the glossary). For example, census records are original records. They are secondary sources of birth and marriage information, but they are primary sources of information regarding where a family or individual lived at the time of the census.

The chart below shows the time period covered by some types of original records. It also lists what information you might glean from those records and gives links to Web sites that allow you to access these records. The availability of certain records varies from state to state. This list is not comprehensive.