Presentation given on October 5, 2013. Presentation rounds up and examines the best genealogy websites of 2013 available for researchers to use. List includes paid and free websites.

1. Best Genealogy Websites of
2013
May P. Chan
Prairie History Librarian, Regina Public Library
Presented October 5, 2013
SGS Conference, Moose Jaw, SK
© 2013

2. Why do you need this list?
Selection criteria
“The Usual Suspects”
“Journey Around the World”
Canada, United States, UK,
Scandinavia, Europe, Australia and
New Zealand
Something Extra…
Conclusion
Outline

3. Why do you need this list?
 Not all genealogy websites are the same
Paid (monthly vs per image) vs Free (search
vs full record)
Database vs Index
Nominal Searching vs Geographic Searching
Different Creators - Institutions vs Individuals
 List of online resources is not meant to replace
“traditional” formats like books & microfilm.
Rather the list is meant to be used “in addition
to” and is meant to help save you time and
money
 List features both paid ($) and free web
resources

4. Selection Criteria
Offers the most authoritative and
trustworthy websites to use for genealogy
How did I select the best genealogy websites
for you to use?
Annual “Best of” featured on the Family
Tree website
Magazines such as Internet Genealogy &
Family Chronicle
Various genealogy blogs
Tips from other genealogists
Personal experience helping patrons

5. “The Usual Suspects”
 These websites consistently top the “Best of the
Best” online resources to use:
Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com or
http://www.ancestry.ca) - $
Helpful Tip!!! Check with your public library to see if
they provide access to Ancestry Library Edition
(library’s equivalent to Ancestry.com)
FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org) –
FREE
Cyndi’s List (portal; http://www.cyndislist.com/) –
FREE
World Vital Records (www.worldvitalrecords.com)
- $

6. Ancestry + FamilySearch = A
Very Good Combo!!!
Ancestry
largest paid genealogy resource
 US census records
 State census records
 Vital records
 England census records
 Scotland census records
 Canada census records
 1921 Canadian Census!!!
Searchable only by location
at the present moment
Prairie census records
Incoming passengers lists
FamilySearch
largest free genealogy resource
 Saskatchewan
 Homestead files (look
under SK Provincial
Records!)
 Probate Estate records
from 1887-1931 (SGS
volunteer project)
 Other countries’ records!
 Austria, Belgium, Russia,
South Africa, China, India,
Brazil, Argentina, etc.

7. Tip #1: Ancestry Insider Blog
http://www.ancestryinsider.blogspot.com

8. Another Great Site to Consider…
Internet Archive
http://archive.org/index.php
My favorite tool –
archived websites!

9. Internet Archive
Non-profit digital library offering books,
articles, movies, and audio recordings –
Best part, all of the content is FREE!!!
Hidden genealogy resources
US Census Records – 1790-1940 (not
indexed)
city directories
yearbooks
local and family histories

10. Henderson City Directory – Saskatoon
1911

11. Oh Canada!
 Canadian Genealogy Centre, Library and
Archives Canada (http://www.genealogy.gc.ca)
- FREE
 Canadian GenWeb (portal; http://
www.canadagenweb.org) – FREE
 Automated Genealogy (census; http://
www.automatedgenealogy.com) – FREE
 Peel’s Prairie Provinces (newspapers & city
directories; http://www.peel.library.ualberta.ca) –
FREE
 Manitobia (newspapers, maps & books;
http://manitobia.ca/content/en) - FREE

12. Oh Canada! Continued…
 OurRoots (local history books; http://ourroots.ca)
- FREE
 Canadian County Atlases (ON county atlases;
http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas) –
FREE
 Canadiana (historical materials;
http://canadiana.ca/en/home) – $
 Hudson’s Bay Archives (biographical sheets;
http://
www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/index
) - FREE
 Google News Archives (http://news.google.com
/newspapers) - FREE

13. Oh Canada! Continued…
 Olive Tree Genealogy (portal;
http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/index.shtml) -
FREE
Definitely check out the
site’s passenger lists
links!!!

14. America Land of Plenty
National Archives and Records
Administration (1940 census, military &
immigration records; http://www.archives.gov/
) – FREE
US GenWeb Project (portal; http://
usgenweb.org/) – FREE
HeritageQuest Online (census, local
histories, & Freedman Bank records; http://
www.heritagequestonline.com) - $ but FREE
access for Regina Public Library card
holders!!!

15. America – Continued…
Ellis Island (immigration; http://
www.ellisisland.org) – FREE
Castle Garden (immigration; http://
castlegarden.org) – FREE
Distant Cousins (city directories & school
yearbooks; http://www.distantcousin.com) –
FREE
Chronicling America (newspapers; http://
chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/) – FREE
GenealogyBank (newspapers; http://
www.genealogybank.com/gbnk/) - $

16. America – Continued…
 Digital Public Library of America (newspapers,
photos & maps; http://dp.la/) – FREE

17. America – Continued…
Fold3 (military records, newspapers & city
directories; http://www.fold3.com/) - $ but
their War of 1812 Pension files are FREE
Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR
lineage records; http://dar.org/) – FREE
Bureau of Land Management General Land
Office Records (land records; http://
www.glorecords.blm.gov/) - FREE
Find a Grave (cemetery records; http://
www.findagrave.com/) - FREE

18. Jolly Ol’ England
 FindMyPast (http://www.findmypast.co.uk/) - $
but FREE with valid SGS membership
Note: FindMyPast recently added Canadian
history books to its World Collection!
 Free BMD (UK civil registration; http://
freebmd.rootsweb.com) – FREE
 UK National Archives (immigration, wills and
military; http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) -
FREE
 Origins Network (wills; http://www.origins.net/) - $
 Genuki (portal; http://genuki.org.uk) – FREE

19. Jolly Ol’ England – Continued…
 Historical Directories of UK (http://
www.historicaldirectories.org/hd) - FREE
 Deceased Online (cemetery records; http://
www.deceasedonline.com) - $
 British Newspaper Archive, 1700s-1900s (http://
www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/) - $
 Commonwealth War Graves Commission (British
Commonwealth; http://www.cwgc.org/) – FREE
 The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913
(Criminal law proceedings,
http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/) - FREE

20. Let’s not forget about Wales…
 The National Library of Wales
 Wills (http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=487) -
FREE
 Welsh Newspapers Online (http://
www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=4723) - FREE

21. Scotland to “Emerald Isle”
ScotlandsPeople (Scottish census &
BMDs;
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) - $
Scottish Emigration Database
(immigration; http://abdn.ac.uk/emigration)
- FREE
National Archives of Ireland (Irish census;
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/) –
FREE
Irish Family History Foundation (census &
BMDS; http://www.rootsireland.ie) - $

22. “Land of the Vikings”
 Digitalarkivet (Norwegian census, probate &
parish;
http://arkivverket.no/eng/content/view/full/629) –
FREE
 Swedish National Archives (Swedish census;
http://www.svar.ra.se) – FREE
 Arkividigital (Swedish parish records;
http://www.arkivdigital.net) – $
 Finnish Family History Association (FFHA)
(Finnish church & census;
http://www.sukuhistoria.fi/sshy/index_eng.htm) –
FREE

23. “Land of the Vikings”
 Danish Demographic Database (Danish census &
church; http://www.ddd.dda.dk/ddd_en.htm) - FREE

24. “Europa”
WieWaeWie (Dutch census & civil registers;
https://www.wiewaswie.nl) - FREE
 Greek Genealogy (portal;
http://www.greekgenealogy.org) – FREE
JewishGen (cemetery;
http://www.jewishgen.org) - FREE
HalGal (portal for Western Ukraine & Galicia;
http://www.halgal.com) – FREE
EastEuropeGenWeb (portal;
http://www.rootsweb.com/~easeurgw) – FREE

25. “Europa” - Continued
Federation of East European Family History
Societies (portal; http://feefhs.org) – FREE

26. “Europa” - Continued
PolandGenWeb (portal; http://
www.rootsweb.com/~polwgw/polandgen.html) -
FREE
Black Sea German Research (family trees &
maps; http://blackseagr.org) – FREE
Atlas of the German Empire by Ludwig
Ravenstein (1883 German map;
http://www.library.wisc.edu/etext/ravenstein) –
FREE
Bremen Passenger Lists, 1920-1939
(Germany; http://passengerlists.de/) - FREE

27. “Down Under”
 Trove, National Library of Australia (newspapers;
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper) - FREE
Nice feature –
geographical interface!

28. “Down Under” - Continued
 Australian Cemetery Index (http://
austcemindex.com/) – FREE
 Australian War Memorial (military indexes; http://
www.awm.gov.au/) - FREE
 Papers Past (New Zealand newspapers;
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast
)– FREE
 Websites of New Zealand Cemeteries (
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~
) - FREE

29. “Something Extra”
General Reference – Encyclopedias & Dictionaries
 The Canadian Encyclopedia (
www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com) – FREE
 Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan (
http://www.esask.uregina.ca/) – FREE
 Rudy’s List of Archaic Medical Terms – (
http://www.antiquusmorbus.com/) - FREE
General Reference - Maps
 Google Earth (http://earth.google.com/) – FREE
 Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection (
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/) – FREE

30. “Something Extra” - Continued
Keeping Organized
Free Genealogy Forms and Charts (http://
www.genealogysearch.org/free/forms.html) – FREE
GenSoftReviews (genealogy software; http://
www.gensoftreviews.com) – FREE
CNET (software and hardware; http://www.cnet.com/
) – FREE
Dropbox (cloud computing; www.dropbox.com) -
FREE
Evernote (online note taking; www.evernote.com) -
FREE
Online-Convert (file conversions;
www.online-convert.com) - FREE

31. “Something Extra” - Continued
Staying Up-to-Date
 Dick’s Eastman’s Newsletter (http://
blog.eogn.com/) – FREE
 Genealogy in Time Newsletter (http://
www.genealogyintime.com/index.html) -
FREE
 Dear Myrtle (http://blog.dearmyrtle.com) –
FREE
 Genealogy Blog Finder (http://
blogfinder.genealogue.com/) – FREE

32. Staying Up-To-Date – Continued…
Genealogy Guys (http://www.genealogyguys.com)
- FREE

33. Contact:
Email: maychan@reginalibrary.ca
http://www.slideshare.net/maychan
Thank-you!