Genealogy Website Reviews
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As you probably already know if you have somehow reached this page, there is an almost-overwhelming abundance of genealogy websites teeming the World WideWeb. Some of these are free sites, offering information at no cost, content provided by volunteers. These sites contain a wealth of information as a whole, but often require tremendous efforts to locate specific information, due to often rather narrow scopes. Annotated links to many free sites appear at the end of this page.
Of great help to researchers, especially those living far from their ancestral localities, are the more highly encompassing subscription-based genealogy sites. These sites are generally owned by corporations, and, with their much greater resources and income, are able to provide much more content, often exclusive and covering entire nations! How does one judge the cost of these sites vs. their intrinsic value?
Ancestry.com - U. S. Deluxe Collection
Summary: Ancestry.com is the godfather of all Internet genealogy sites. The U. S. Deluxe Collection contains fully indexed digital images of every federal census through 1930, passenger lists from most major U. S. ports, and the 1917-1918 World War I Draft Registration Cards, as well as thousands of other databases, including city directories, state censuses, vital record indexes, military rosters and pensions, etc. Its parent company also manages Rootsweb.com and Genealogy.com, produces the popular Family Tree Maker software, and controls Ancestry by DNA and Ancestry Press.
Important Databases: The most important part of the U. S. Deluxe Collection are the U. S. Census Records. These are fully indexed, and can be searched by name, location, birth year, and birth place, including Soundex searching and +/- year options. The images can be viewed using the Basic Viewer or a downloadable (free) Enhanced Viewer, which has more flexibility for zooming. However, there are so many great databases on Ancestry -- including the Social Security Death Index, the World War I Draft Registration Cards, and the U. S. Immigration Collection, which includes fully indexed digital images of passenger lists from every major U. S. port. The U. S. Military Collection, for example, contains records and databases from all military conflicts, including Revolutionary War Bounty Land Warrants, Civil War soldier database, various muster and pay rolls, through World War II Draft and Enlistment records and Vietnam War casualties! To replace the missing 1890 census, Ancestry offers databases containing city directories for that year from many U. S. cities. Rating: 5 out of 5
Searchability: The classic Ancestry search box allows three ways to search: a general search, "Exact", or "Soundex" -- each also allowing the use of "?" and "*" wildcards. The general search is the most organic. If no exact matches are found, Ancestry's search engine will return variations in first name, age, and location, and variant spellings for the surname. The "Exact" and "Soundex" options both return only exact matches, or exact Soundex matches. These options are perfect for locating individuals in a specific locality, without wading through hundreds of non-matches. Ancestry is currently testing a new search function that appears even more dynamic. However, I have not used the new search enough to rate it. There is a drawback to the current searching function, though: its reliance on transcriptions. All too often, especially with the census records, where the handwriting is not completely clear, Ancestry provides inaccurate or incomplete information in its indexes. To use one example from my own research, James Dennis was indexed as James "Denier". This name did not show up in any of the above searches, though I was finally able to locate the record using a wildcard search for "Den*". Unfortunately, I have also seen names that were completely wrong. For example "Zimmer" indexed as "Timmer", and these are only able to be found using more creative methods, foregoing the surname altogether. Ancestry has attempted to correct these problems by allowing users to suggest corrections that are eventually indexed, but this process lends itself to too many user mistakes, rather than actually being of much help. Overall, though, the search process does ultimately allow reasonable success. Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Extras: The "My Ancestry" feature allows for saving records into a "Shoebox" or creating Family Trees (GEDCOM upload supported) and attaching records directly to the subjects. "My Family Trees" also allows one to upload multimedia files and add "Stories" to an individual. Users are able to invite other users to collaborate on, or simply view, trees, depending on permissions. One can also choose whether to keep the tree private, or make it public, in which case it will be searchable by other users. A recent addition is the ability to create a "Military Page", where you can add stories, service records, and battles fought, to an individual. The Family Trees can be viewed as a pedigree chart, family group records, or individual profile pages. The Ancestry Press feature allows one to import a family tree, and edit the design to create a custom book or poster, which can be professionally printed and bound by Ancestry Press. A 24-page family history book using this service starts at $34.95. I have not yet used the printing service, but I have used the design functions to create a "project", and the process is quite user-friendly and creates very nice-looking pages. The "Community" feature has locality- and surname-specific message boards, and promotes member connections by allowing one to search the research interests of other users. Finally, the "Learning Center" provides tutorials both in genealogy research itself and in using the features of the Ancestry.com website. Rating: 5 out of 5
Cost vs. Value: The U. S. Deluxe Membership costs $19.95 per month, $50.85 quarterly, or $155.40 annually, as of August 2007. How does the value of this website equate with its relatively high cost? In my opinion, it is well worth the price. I have personally had a subscription for several years now, and am extremely pleased with it. In addition to the many features currently listed above, Ancestry regularly adds new features and new databases, allowing access to a seemingly endless supply of new information on your ancestors. However, if you are still unsure about the annual price, I would suggest starting a monthly subscription for just $19.95 -- then you can cancel if it does not fill your needs. Rating: 4 out of 5
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Footnote.com
Summary: Last summer, Footnote.com caused mild hysteria in many researchers (including myself) with its announcement of a partnership with the U. S. National Archives and Records Administration to digitize and publish online many never-before-available records. As of this writing, Footnote has already digitized most Revolutionary War pension applications, and has plans to release Civil War pension applications, among its many other databases. Its Web 2.0 features, including the ability for users to transcribe records themselves, and attach other records, photos, or additional information, directly to an individual appearing in a document, have set a new standard in online genealogical sharing. Furthermore the image viewer allows greater flexibility and control than most others viewers, and the image quality itself is the highest of any site.
Important Databases: There are many great databases on this site, both historical and genealogical. On the historical side, there are the federal district and circuit court, and Supreme Court records concerning the Amistad, the Matthew B. Brady collection of Civil War photos, Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention records, George Washington correspondence, Abraham Lincoln assassination papers, and the oddball Project Blue Book records investigating UFO sightings. For the genealogist, the collection of databases is much greater: the Civil War pension application index; Confederate service rolls; Revolutionary War service and pension records; the Pennsylvania Archives, which reproduces several colonial and early state record groups; U. S. Passport applications; Pearl Harbor muster rolls; dozens of local newspapers, including the London Times from 1785-1820; naturalization records and/or indexes for New York, Los Angeles, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and others; FBI case files; Dawes packets, concerning native Americans; and the newly released 1860 U. S. federal census, plus many others. The outstanding part of these databases is that the images were scanned from the original records at the National Archives (and its regional facilities), as opposed to being scanned from the microfilm. This results in much higher quality images. Furthermore, many of these records, and those to come, have never been microfilmed, and are unavailable elsewhere online. The Image Viewer displays the image in the center window with dynamic zoom and rotate options, and the ability to "tag" the document with annotations, spotlight the document, connect it with other documents on the site, and save, print, or share it with other users. All pages of a selected record appear in a filmstrip at the bottom of the page for extremely smooth navigation. Rating: 5 out of 5
Searchability: The search function is extremely basic, with a single search box for keywords. To search across all databases, this will work, however, one is likely to receive many more irrelevant results than relevant. The key to successful searching is to first browse the available databases by date/era - these are organized in a hierarchical fashion, from the broad time period, to specific record groups, locations, etc., down to individual records. Once you select your record group of interest, the search is more likely to produce the relevant results. Another rather annoying aspect of the search results page, is that each page is limited to only display six (6) records. This can consume quite a bit of time even when there are a relatively low number of results. Footnote is currently testing a Beta version of a new search engine, however, which allows one to narrow results by specific names, dates, locations, etc., appearing in the resulting records, or to add keywords. This new search, when instituted, will greatly improve the site's rating in this category, but I still think more should be done. Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Extras: The greatest extras are the "Web 2.0" interactive, user-initiated and -controlled, features of this site. Digital images are able to be "tagged", allowing users to transcribe or annotate the records, for all to see, in a manner similar to a wiki. Furthermore, records can be linked to other records directly, allowing a user to connect all available records for an ancestor together. In another interesting feature, Footnote allows users to upload their own digital images of records, which can then be displayed or connected to other records. "Story Pages" are a great way to share information with others about one of your more colorful ancestors, or even a historical event of interest! "Member Discoveries" announce your interesting finds to other users. Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Cost vs. Value: The monthly cost of Footnote is only $7.95, and the annual cost is $59.95. Considering the unavailability of many of these records elsewhere online, this a real bargain! And if Footnote delivers the databases it promises in the near future, this will be an even greater deal! Rating: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 4.25 out of 5
WorldVitalRecords.com
Summary: The newest powerhouse addition to the world of online genealogy, WorldVitalRecords came out swinging! Started by one of the founders of Ancestry.com, WorldVitalRecords announced, within its first year or so, several lucrative partnerships to offer exclusive content to its members, including Everton's Genealogical Helper, Find-a-Grave, Quintin Publications, and Genealogical Publishing Co., among others.
Important Databases: WorldVitalRecords has images and indexes to the federal censuses through 1920, provided by Allcensus, but also hosts images of the 1910-1930 Puerto Rico censuses, an offering I have not seen on other sites, and the 1884 and 1904 Michigan state censuses, another rare find. The collection of family and local histories from both Quintin Publications and Genealogical Publishing rivals the best genealogical libraries. One recent addition - and one that is unique to this site among the subscription sites - is the Family Tree DNA database, containing 210,000 records and 83,000 unique surnames. For my own personal family history, I appreciate the Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, which appears on this site and contains births, deaths, and marriages from colonial Connecticut town records. Vital records from many other locales are also indexed on the site. Other recently added databases (as of 12 Dec 2008) include the Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 9000 passenger lists from the Immigrant Ships Transcription Guild, 276 Australian databases from Archive CD Books, and the U.K. Census Collection from FindMyPast. Databases are constantly being added, though, so this is definitely a site to keep an eye on. Rating: 4 out of 5
Searchability: The basic search box allows for First Name, Surname, Place, Date, and Keywords. This box can be used across all collections or within a single collection. There is strong need for improvement in this area, especially with the more flexible 2.0-style searches now supported by WVR's main competitors. One of my personal pet peeves is when search results for newspapers and other published works that have been indexed using character recognition software display nonsense. This personally affects my use, as most search results that come back for "Hait" are actually uses of the word "hair". There also appear to be bugs and errors when searching that occasionally arise and give empty results. Rating: 1.5 out of 5
Extras: The only extras to speak of are the great deals that World Vital Records negotiates with its partners. In the past, they have offered discounts on software, books, and magazine publications, and even discounted subscription rates to competing sites! Overall, though, the lack of any personalized extras on this site is a minus to its overall value. Rating: 2 out of 5
Cost vs. Value: The cost for a subscription to the U. S. Collection (as of 12 Dec 2008) is $5.95 per month or $39.95 per year. The cost for the World Collection is $14.95 per month or $119.95 per year. They also have frequent "special offers" where other items are offered free or discounted with a paid subscription. In my opinion, the rapid growth of this site makes it a real bargain, as the value of the site will certainly outpace the cost. Rating: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5
GenealogyBank.com
Summary: Like its parent site, NewsBank, this site serves, first and foremost, as a repository for digital images of old newspapers.
Important Databases: All fifty states and the District of Columbia all have at least some representation in the newspapers available, though the dates of availability for these newspapers can vary. However, I have searched, and been able to easily find, everything from contemporary perspectives on national events to small-town obituaries and classified ads. In addition to the newspapers, GenealogyBank also offers the most frequently updated Social Security Death Index available online, and a very large collection of "America's Obituaries" dated from the 1970's to today, and also updated frequently. I was able to locate a relative's obituary online less than two weeks after his death. Two additional collections, "Historical Books" and "Historical Documents" (which includes all of the American State Papers and extracts from the U. S. Serial Set) round out the databases on this great site. Rating: 5 out of 5
Searchability: In contrast to many of the historic newspaper collections available online, the newspapers appear to have been spot-checked, rather than simply run through Character Recognition software. This makes the collection very easy to search. The search box allows for specification of First Name, Middle Initial, Last Name, additional keywords to include and/or exclude, State, and Date Range. It is not as fancy as some sites, but very powerful! Rating: 5 out of 5
Extras: There are no extras included with the GenealogyBank membership. It does not attempt to be more than its mission statement: to provide historic newspaper images. Rating: 3 out of 5 (bonus points for consistency)
Cost vs. Value: There is a 30-day trial membership available for $9.95, but the regular monthly cost is $19.95. The annual cost is much more cost-efficient at just $69.95, a savings of over 70%! The price is still a bit high for my tastes, but the content is unavailable anywhere else, so I still feel it is worth it. Rating: 2 out of 5
Overall Rating: Overall, I would recommend this site to any serious researcher. I have maintained my subscription for over two years, and plan to renew it again in the future. The frequent updates ensure that the new information will always make this subscription worthwhile. Rating: 4.5 out of 5
FREE SITES
USGenWeb:
Genealogy Trails:
NEW Genealogy Wise: Social networking for genealogists. Connect with other genealogists as friends, in Groups and Forums. Read or write your own Blog. Upload or watch genealogy-related videos. Overall rating: 4 out of 5! (http://www.genealogywise.com)
GenCircles:
WeRelate:
FamilySearch:
Family History Archive:
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness: This site contains lists of volunteers willing to do free record look-ups around the world. Many of them offer cemetery photographs, with a much smaller percentage willing to conduct courthouse record retrievals. Overall rating: 5 out of 5. (http://www.raogk.org) Books We Own:
FamilyLink:
Y-Search:
Geni: