Acknowledgments xix
Introduction xxi
Part I The Basics
Beginning a Genealogy Project
3(30)
Organize from the Beginning
4(4)
Your System
5(3)
Good Practices
8(14)
Pick a Line
8(2)
References to Have at Hand
10(1)
Analyze and Repeat
11(1)
Know Your Terms
12(2)
Sources and Proof
14(3)
How to Judge
17(3)
Look Far and Wide
20(1)
Standards of Genealogical Research
20(2)
How to Write a Query
22(2)
Documentation
24(1)
Backup
25(2)
Pick at Least One System
26(1)
Free Online Storage Services
26(1)
Publishing Your Findings
27(3)
Caveats
30(1)
Wrapping Up
31(2)
Software You'll Need
33(20)
New Choices
35(2)
Personal Digital Assistants
35(2)
Mobile Phones
37(1)
Software
37(1)
Which Browser Should I Use?
37(1)
Genealogy Programs
38(5)
Brother's Keeper
39(2)
Personal Ancestral File
41(1)
RootsMagic
41(1)
Family Tree Maker
42(1)
The Master Genealogist
42(1)
And So On
43(1)
Additional Programs
43(6)
Database CD-ROMs
43(1)
Clooz
44(1)
Word-Processing Programs
44(1)
Notable: A Journaling Program
44(1)
Maps
45(1)
E-mail
45(1)
RSS Readers
46(2)
Audio Resources
48(1)
Viruses and Worms
49(1)
Publishing on the Internet
50(2)
Turning a GEDCOM into HTML
50(2)
Wrapping Up
52(1)
Genealogy Education
53(24)
Teaching Yourself: Columns, Podcasts, and Blogs
56(6)
Roots Television
56(1)
Dear MYRTLE
57(1)
Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
58(2)
Digital Genealogist
60(1)
Genealogy Gems
60(1)
Other Blogs and Feeds
60(2)
Podcasts and Streaming Audio
62(3)
Online Courses
65(3)
Family History Live Online
65(1)
Genealogy.com
66(1)
Brigham Young University
67(1)
National Institute for Genealogical Studies/University of Toronto
68(1)
Search College Sites for Other Courses
68(1)
Offline
68(7)
Professional Organizations
68(1)
Wholly Genes Genealogy Conference and Cruise
69(1)
NGS
69(2)
BYU
71(1)
University of Washington Genealogy and Family History Certificate
72(1)
Genealogy Events
72(1)
FGS Conferences
72(1)
National Institute on Genealogical Research
73(1)
Institute on Genealogy and Historical Research
73(1)
The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy
73(1)
Regional and Local Workshops and Seminars
74(1)
Wrapping Up
75(2)
Online Communities
77(14)
Civil Discourse
81(8)
Flames
81(1)
The Rules
82(1)
Getting Along
83(3)
Chat Etiquette
86(2)
Don't Pass It On!
88(1)
Wrapping Up
89(2)
Ethics, Privacy, and Law in Genealogy
91(14)
Privacy
93(2)
Copyright
95(3)
Other Matters
98(2)
Give Back
100(2)
Wrapping Up
102(3)
Part II General Genealogy
Revving Up Search Engines
105(20)
Defining Terms
106(2)
Searching with Savoir Faire
108(2)
Using Boolean Terms
110(2)
The Boolean OR
110(1)
The Boolean AND
110(1)
The Boolean NOT
111(1)
Beyond AND/OR/NOT
112(1)
Search Sites
112(7)
Access Genealogy
112(1)
Ancestor Hunt
113(1)
Biography Guide
114(1)
Cyndi's List
114(1)
Genealogy Pages
114(1)
Genealogy Search Help for Google
115(1)
GeneaSearch.com
115(1)
Genealogy Research Resources
115(1)
GenGateway
115(1)
GenServ
116(1)
GenSource
117(1)
NedGen
117(1)
ROOTSWEB Search Thingy
118(1)
Surname Web
118(1)
WorldConnect
118(1)
General Search Sites
119(3)
Obituary Search Pages
121(1)
White Page Directories
122(1)
Wrapping Up
123(2)
Chat
125(10)
Can We Talk?
127(4)
Chatting Up the Internet
128(1)
AOL Instant Messenger
128(1)
MSN Messenger
128(1)
Yahoo! Messenger
129(1)
ICQ
129(2)
Where to Chat
131(3)
About.Genealogy.com
131(1)
Acadian-Cajun Chat Room
131(1)
AfriGeneas Chat
131(1)
Genpals Chat and Community
131(1)
Genealogy.com Chat
132(1)
Genealogy Lookup Chat
132(1)
IIGS Chat Rooms
132(1)
Looking 4 Kin
132(1)
New Brunswick Chat Line
132(2)
Wrapping Up
134(1)
Genealogy Mailing Lists and Forums
135(12)
General Tips
136(6)
Subscribing to Mailing Lists
137(2)
Mailing List Example: ROOTS-L
139(2)
Losing Contact with a Mailing List
141(1)
Forums of Interest to Online Genealogists
142(2)
Finding More Mailing Lists
143(1)
Wrapping Up
144(3)
Part III The Nitty Gritty: Places to Find Names, Dates, and Places
Vital Records and Historical Documents
147(30)
Vital Records
148(4)
Library of Congress
152(5)
Using the Library of Congress
156(1)
The Library Today
156(1)
Research Tools
156(1)
National Archives and Records Administration
157(6)
Freedman's Bureau
158(1)
Other NARA Areas to Explore
159(4)
Some Helpful Experience
163(1)
Government Land Office
163(3)
Land Patent Searches
164(2)
Census Records
166(7)
The U.S. Census Bureau
168(4)
State and Local Sources
172(1)
Other Sources
173(3)
Footnote
173(1)
Bible Records Online
174(1)
Internment.net
174(1)
Obituaries and SSDI
175(1)
Wrapping Up
176(1)
Online Library Card Catalogs
177(12)
Connecting to OCCs by Web Browser
178(1)
Don't Miss These Library Sites
179(7)
Where to Find More Online Card Catalogs
186(1)
Wrapping Up
187(2)
Genealogy Database Sites
189(14)
GEDCOMs 101
190(3)
Database Ins and Outs
193(7)
Genes Reunited
193(3)
GenCircles
196(1)
.ROOTSWEB WorldConnect
197(2)
Other Sites
199(1)
Wrapping Up
200(3)
Part IV The Genealogy World
International Genealogy Resources
203(24)
Beyond the Boat
205(4)
WorldGenWeb
208(1)
Other Good Starting Places
209(11)
International Internet Genealogical Society
209(1)
Asian Genealogical Sites
210(1)
European Genealogical Sites
210(2)
France
212(1)
Germany
213(1)
Italy
213(2)
Spain
215(1)
Portugal
215(1)
Scandinavia
216(1)
United Kingdom
217(1)
Australia and New Zealand
218(2)
Africa
220(1)
North America
220(2)
Canada
220(1)
Mexico
221(1)
A Success Story: German Ancestry Discovered
222(3)
Wrapping Up
225(2)
Ethnic Genealogy Resources
227(22)
Special Challenges
228(1)
African-American Genealogy
229(7)
More Good Resources
234(2)
Arab Genealogy
236(1)
Australian Aborigines
237(1)
Caribbean Genealogy
238(2)
BVI Genealogy
238(2)
Creole/Cajun Genealogy
240(2)
Cuban Genealogy
242(1)
Doukhobors Genealogy
243(1)
Gypsy, Romani, Romany, and Travellers Genealogy
243(1)
Hmong Genealogy
244(1)
Jewish Genealogy
244(1)
Native American Genealogy
244(2)
Metis Genealogy
246(1)
Melungeon Genealogy
246(1)
Wrapping Up
247(2)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
249(26)
FamilySearch Internet
250(2)
Types of Data
252(1)
Some Background
253(1)
International Genealogical Index
254(2)
Ancestral File
256(1)
Pedigree Resource File
256(1)
Social Security Death Index
257(1)
Using These Resources
258(3)
A Run-Through
261(1)
Home Tab
262(6)
Search Tab
263(3)
Share Tab
266(1)
Library
266(1)
Freedman's Bank Records
267(1)
A Visit to a Family History Center
268(5)
WorldVitalRecords and Ancestry.com
269(1)
Kindred Konnections
270(1)
Godfrey Memorial Library
271(1)
Heritage Quest Online
271(1)
Footnote
271(1)
Other Services
271(2)
Wrapping Up
273(2)
Ellis Island Online: The American Family Immigration History Center
275(16)
The Grand Opening
277(2)
A Guided Tour
279(8)
Searches
280(3)
Morse's Forms
283(1)
White Form
284(1)
Gold Form
285(1)
Missing Manifests
285(2)
Community Archives
287(1)
Ellis Island Family History Scrapbooks
287(1)
Scrapbooks
288(1)
Visiting in Person
289(1)
Wrapping Up
289(2)
The National Genealogical Society
291(10)
National Genealogical Society
292(7)
Home
293(1)
Membership
294(1)
NGS Publications
294(1)
Conferences and Activities
295(1)
Learning Center
296(1)
Research Help
296(1)
Conferences
297(1)
News and Events
298(1)
Bookstore
299(1)
Wrapping Up
299(2)
The Generations Network and RootsWeb
301(30)
RootsWeb
302(16)
Getting Started at RootsWeb
306(1)
Available Files and Databases
306(1)
RootsWeb Surname List
307(1)
WorldConnect Project
307(1)
Social Security Death Index
308(1)
GenSeeker
309(1)
Other Search Engines
309(1)
Research Templates
309(1)
Message Boards and Mailing Lists
310(3)
Gen-Newbie
313(1)
GENMTD-L
313(2)
Newsletters
315(1)
Webpages at RootsWeb
315(1)
RootsWeb-Sponsored Pages
315(2)
Freepages
317(1)
The Help Desk
317(1)
Ancestry.com
318(3)
Costs
320(1)
A Sample Search
321(2)
MyFamily.com
323(2)
Genealogy.com
325(3)
A Virtual Mall of Genealogy
328(1)
Wrapping Up
329(2)
A Potpourri of Genealogy
331(52)
Golden Needles in the World Wide Haystack
332(2)
Adoption
333(1)
Beginners' ``Classes,'' How-to Articles, Tips, Etc.
334(3)
Birth, Death, Marriage, and Other Records
337(2)
DNA
339(1)
Ethnic/National
340(4)
Historical Background
344(5)
Libraries
349(3)
Maps, Geography, Etc.
352(3)
Regional
355(2)
Software
357(1)
Starting Places
357(1)
Supplies, Books, Forms, Etc.
358(1)
A Closer Look
359(5)
AfriGeneas
359(3)
Cyndi's List
362(1)
DearMYRTLE
363(1)
Wrapping Up
364(3)
Part V Appendixes
A Genealogical Standards and Guidelines Recommended by the National Genealogical Society
367(10)
Standards for Sound Genealogical Research
368(1)
Recommended by the National Genealogical Society
368(1)
Standards for Use of Technology in Genealogical Research
369(1)
Recommended by the National Genealogical Society
369(1)
Standards for Sharing Information with Others
370(1)
Recommended by the National Genealogical Society
370(2)
Guidelines for Publishing Webpages on the Internet
372(1)
Recommended by the National Genealogical Society
372(2)
Guidelines for Using Records Repositories and Libraries
374(1)
Recommended by the National Genealogical Society
374(1)
Guidelines for Genealogical Self-Improvement and Growth
375(1)
Recommended by the National Genealogical Society
375(2)
B How to Find a Professional Genealogist
377(6)
Set Terms
381(2)
Glossary 383(20)
Index 403