Welcome to Internet genealogy

Okay. How many of you got new computers for Christmas? Goodness! So many!

Okay. Now, how many are still trying to figure out how to do genealogy on the Net? Uh-oh. Too many. Maybe this column will help you get started.

Many of you are old hands at genealogy but new to computers ... and it is a whole 'nother world. Just in the three short years I've been researching on the Net, information on Web sites has more than doubled. And I'm not talking about just family trees and family information. I'm talking about vital records information, cemetery listings and court documents that people have transcribed and generously shared with the world.

There are tax lists, censuses, wills, Civil War rosters, newspaper reports and many other records online to aid you in your research. And, except for an occasional typo, they are pretty accurate since they were transcribed from original records on microfilm or, in some cases, right off the books in the courthouse.

The Internet can save you hours of time for basic research, but you still may have to make a trip to the library or courthouse to "document" your findings. And, as my cousin Vicky reminds us on her e-mail tag, "Genealogy without documentation is mythology."

The first and most important thing you need to learn is how to use the "search engine" on your Internet Service Provider's (referred to as an ISP) home page. Your ISP is AOL, BellSouth, Mindspring, PeoplePC, or any other service you either dial up on a modem or use DSL to get to the Internet. Every ISP has a general search function where you can type in a word or a name and search the entire Internet for Web sites where that specific word is found. Once you find a useful Web site, you can "bookmark" it or save it to your "favorites" and get back easily just by clicking on the name (link).

You may also type in a specific Web site (preceded by www and ending with .com., .org, etc.) in the search box and go directly to that site.

By far, the Web site you will probably use the most is Rootsweb (www.rootsweb.com). Rootsweb has it all ... family trees, mailing lists, message boards, lessons on genealogy and more ... and it is all free, free, free!

Rootsweb's parent site is Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com), a "for-pay" site which you may subscribe to for a fee. Ancestry is probably the most reasonably priced site on the Internet and I have been a member for three years. Some of its facets are free, such as its Ancestry World Tree (family pedigrees). The most advantageous thing about Ancestry is its online census images ... the real thing. These are actual photos of the censuses you find on microfilm at libraries and you can browse census records from the comfort of your home, any time of the day or night. Census records are included from 1790 (the very first one) through 1930 (the latest available) and they are still working on indexing them all. I have found censuses to be the biggest plus in my Ancestry subscription.

The LDS church also has a site at www.familysearch.org. This site also is free.

Family trees also can be found at GenCircles (http://www.gencircles.com/).

Another site you will use often (I check it at least once a week) is Genforum (http://genforum.genealogy.com/). This is a message board service where you can leave a message for whatever you're researching, and others around the world respond. Messages are stored by surname and region (states, counties, etc.) and this is where you will find all your lost cousins. Vicky and I met here on the Fowler message board and have become like long-lost sisters (although I'm actually old enough to be her mother!). I check all my surnames and regions weekly for new messages.

Rootsweb/Ancestry also has a message board and you might want to check both sites. The message boards have a search function and you can type in a keyword to narrow your search. For instance, when I check the Fowler board, one of the keywords I use is "Gwinnett" to find those Fowlers who were in the same area as mine.

The other site I use most often is the Georgia GenWeb (http://www.rootsweb.com/~gagenweb/). This site has a page for each county in Georgia. It also has an "archives" where vital records information can be found. You will find marriage records, Civil War records, wills, and other official information on the county "archives" sites.

There is also a GenWeb page for every state in the country and for most every county in those states. These can be accessed through the USGenWeb (http://www.usgenweb.net/).

A word of caution ... except for those "official" records, everything you find is not necessarily accurate. Anyone can have a Web site or submit a family tree to Rootsweb or Ancestry. It may have been submitted by Susie Jones, who just put everything her family told her, to Mrs. Millie Smith, who has been doing research for 50 years. Always follow up with documentation of your own and be careful about sharing information that isn't accurate. Tell anyone who wants to know where you found it and let them check it out for themselves.

I hope this will help get you started on your Internet genealogy. It is probably the most exciting adventure you will ever have.

Next week I'll get back to family research with information on the southside Arnolds so generously submitted by my dear friend Frances Hanson Arnold.

Send stories about your Atlanta area ancestors to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; E-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com.

Until next week, happy hunting!

(Judy regrets that time does not permit her to do personal research for others. She will willingly share research information on her own family lines, including collateral and allied lines.)