A Fresh New Year For Research

I know that the year 2014 was not a good year for many of us.  But, there were some high points in all of our lives, if we choose to find them.

It's a new year for researching family members, I am going to continue to use the wonderful web sites that are available to us to research from home.  Some of my favorites include:

1.  https://familysearch.org/

I can't say enough about FamilySearch.  I know that there have been many frustrations expressed as people muddle through FamilyTree, but hopefully the administrators are listening.

Aside from that, the records that have digitized and indexed have saved me hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in travel and cost of documents.

2.  http://home.ancestry.com

Ancestry has also been a wonderful resource for my research.  I have used the Family Trees, but am still more inclined to use the records that I am able to access.

I love the shaking green leaves!  They have alerted me to sources that give me the opportunity to accept or reject them.

3.  http://usgenweb.org/

I discovered USGenWeb many years ago, and have actively used it ever since.  It's one of the top sites I recommend in my classes.

God bless the coordinators that are diligently uploading information to the county and state pages.  I have discovered ancestors I never knew about in the hills of eastern Kentucky.

4.  http://ogs.org/

I just live a few minutes from the Ohio Genealogical Society headquarters!  They are one of the largest state genealogy societies in the United States.  As a member, I am able to access their databases from home.  And, when I walk into their library, I am always astounded at the state-of-the-art facilities.

Their annual conference is a "must-do" for anyone researching in Ohio and many of the surrounding states.  Even if you don't have Ohio ancestors, there are classes in methodology, technology, and ethnicity that will hold anyone's interest.  They bring in some of the best of the best as speakers.

5.  http://www.findagrave.com/

This is my absolute favorite web site!  I use it nearly every day, and have added hundreds of grave sites to my database, as well as contributed dozens more.  I have looked for name, or simply browsed through cemeteries and their listings.

I haven't even begun to list all of the sites I use from home every day.  These are the ones I frequent the most. These are the ones that keep me up into the wee hours of night.  These are the ones that have led me to records I may never have known about, or even thought of.

For seasoned genealogists, there may be a sigh as you read through these.  But, my job is inspiring those that are of any age, any degree of research, and of any means.

And, I take that job seriously.