If you spend as much time browsing the Web as I do, you know there are literally thousands of terrific Web pages with a genealogical or family history research focus, and new ones are added each month.

There are also some lousy Web sites, filled with questionable if not altogether bad information. The old adage, caveat emptor, holds true with Web sites as well: "Let the buyer [sic, user] beware." There are no warranties on the Internet. You must always assess the reliability and credentials of every Web site. By now, as an experienced genealogical researcher, you should be a pretty astute judge of written records and printed sources. You just need to adapt your skills and apply them to Internet resources you encounter.

Frequently I'm asked, "What are the best genealogy sites on the Internet?" In seminars, at genealogical society meetings and conferences, in online encounters, and via e-mail, the question comes up so often that I've given it a great deal of thought. In "Along Those Lines . . ." this week, I want to go on record with what I consider to be the best and most reliable Web sites I have found. These are all sites that I have used again and again, that have been online for some time, and which can be considered reliable. That doesn't mean that all the links stored there are 100% without question; you must still apply the skills you have developed to question and judge each Web site and its links as appropriate and reliable for the research you are doing and the information gathering objectives you have set for yourself.

With that said, here are my top choices. They are not arranged in any ranking order; they are simply the best I have found.

The Best Genealogy Sites on the Web
Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Web
http://www.cyndislist.com/
Cyndi Howells has, over the past several years, compiled the definitive collection of over 41,700 categorized sites (at this writing) for excellent research reference. If you're looking for any genealogical research topic, Cyndi's list is the place to start. I don't know how she continuously adds, refines, and maintains this massive resource. However, Cyndi is my "Web goddess" for all the work she does to consistently provide this excellent site. (Brava, Cyndi!)

Family Search
http://www.familysearch.org
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) has recently stablished a Web site. It provides access to an online database providing an exceptional search facility for locating ancestors with references to the Mormon (LDS) resources that are available in or through LDS Family History Centers, Web sites, and other materials of interest. The site is still in beta test mode at this writing, and has some periods of down time and excessive busy usage, but it is a tremendous new resource and it is free.

USGenWeb Project
http://usgenweb.org/
This is the central Web site for the nationwide project to organize, state by state, county by county, genealogical resources onto Web pages. You will find everything you need to understand each state's resources—from archives, genealogical and historical societies, special historical resources, special projects and more—all produced, presented and maintained by volunteers on a vast collection of Web sites. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this effort and the depth of content you will find in these Web sites. I salute all the volunteers who have made this project the ongoing and expanding success story it is!

GENDEX Index of Surnames
http://www.gendex.com:8080/
This tremendous free database is a compilation of many genealogists' research and one of the best organized integrated databases around. Here you can search by surname, then ranges of given names, locate specific names, and view vital information for the individual. If parents, spouse information exists in the database, you can surf through links to other records in the database to see records for those people as well.

RootsWeb
http://rootsweb.org/
RootsWeb provides access to an incredible collection of genealogical resources. One of the most important resources here is an up-to-date listing of every genealogical mailing list (listserv) and instructions for how to subscribe. At this writing, there are more than 63,000 mailing lists! If you aren't subscribed to mailing lists for the surnames you are actively researching, geographical areas you are researching, historical periods, military conflicts, and a vast array of other topics, you are missing out on a major investigative opportunity. In addition, there are some state databases and archives of some of the mailing lists' messages, surname resources, links to other Web sites, and many other online resources.

National Archives and Records Administration
http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/ and http://www.nara.gov
Often called the U.S. government's "attic," the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the location of tens of millions of records of historical and genealogical interest. Their Web site is a tremendous repository of genealogical "how-to" information, and their NAIL database (National Archival Information Locator) can provide you access to a database containing many thousands of catalogued and/or digitized records. You will also learn what physical records, such as military service records, ships passenger lists, Native American resources, etc., are stored in NARA facilities, and you'll learn what forms you can obtain and complete to order copies of these records for your files.

Library of Congress Catalog
http://lcweb.loc.gov/catalog/
The Library of Congress provides the best location online to locate existence of books by author, title and subject—and then you can search other libraries close to you. I use this ALL the time. I am fortunate, too, that my library participates in Interlibrary Loan (ILL) and will request photocopies of books indexes and tables of contents for books in which I am interested. After reviewing these copies, I may also use ILL to request copies of specific pages from these books.

Library of Congress List of Links to Other Institutions' Online Catalogs
http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/
This is an excellent site for accessing other libraries' catalogs to search their genealogical holdings.

AfriGeneas
http://www.afrigeneas.com/
This Web site is the definitive research site for the African American genealogist. It provides an excellent starting point for research, including an extensive surname database, links to volumes of other Web sites, information about joining their Internet E-mail mailing list, a newsletter and much more.

Native American Resources
http://members.aol.com/ssmadonna/native.htm
This site contains a vast collection of Web sites and online resources by area and tribe. This site complements the NARA site above for information about Native American records and research.

Notable Women Ancestors
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nwa/
An excellent resource regarding genealogical research for female ancestors is Notable Women Ancestors, an award-winning Web site recommended by the History Channel, which contains categories of profiles of notable ancestresses from many areas.

Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
http://www.ahip.getty.edu/vocabulary/tgn.html
This Web site provides a reference allowing you to search for place names and retrieve records for places, including vernacular and historical names, coordinates, place types and other relevant information.

Census Online
http://www.census-online.com/
This site contains the beginnings of the project to transcribe and place all census material online. You will find some great material here, categorized by state, then county, and then census year. Within the year, names are organized alphabetically.

The Census Online (And other important data bases)
http://www.doitnow.com/~moravia/census.html
This site also contains census records and, in addition, passenger lists and other materials online. It is well worth a look.

Civil War Rosters - Arranged by State
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9787/cw.html
This is an excellent resource for the Civil War researcher, providing rosters of soldiers organized by state and unit. Although it is still in the development process and many units are not yet catalogued, new materials appear to be added on a regular basis.

A Barrel of Genealogical Links
http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/mark.html
Here is another collection of links to many excellent Web sites. Once you get past the author's personal material, there is much great data for your reference.

Ancestry.com
http://www.ancestry.com
Ancestry, the venerable publisher of high quality genealogical reference books, is also the leading commercial genealogical Web site on the Internet. Their free and pay databases provide a treasure trove of research materials that, in years past, would have taken us months or years to locate, access and work with. The site contains free access to their searchable GEDCOM files in an integrated database through which you can surf up and down family groups using hyperlinks. The Social Security Death Index (SSDI), once only available as a CD-ROM purchase elsewhere, is available here for free. A searchable database containing 1790-1870 census records to their pay database area which provides indexed access to the censuses, some mortality and veterans schedules, and a number of other records, was recently added to Ancestry's pay database area. In addition, this site offers a growing collection of "how-to" materials, online genealogy columns (complete with an archive of past columns), Juliana's Links to other Web sites, a store where you can purchase the very best genealogical reference books, magazines and CD-ROMs anywhere, and other resources.

Genealogy Records Service (GRS)
http://www.genrecords.com/
GRS has compiled a nice, utilitarian site with a collection of terrific forms, charts and online help facilities that every genealogist can use. Each of these is available free of charge. You must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, available free from http://www.adobe.com, in order to read and print the forms. In addition, there are references for how to calculate Soundex codes (and an online calculator), lists of old time occupation and illness names, and some common genealogy definitions.

The Genealogy Forum on America Online
http://www.genealogyforum.com/
I certainly have to recommend the Web site for the Genealogy Forum on America Online. It is the home of a huge and varied content and the strength of almost 150 staff and volunteers. This Web site contains descriptions of the tremendous reference resources of this venerated AOL facility for genealogists. While you cannot access the forum from here unless you are a member, you can download AOL software and join AOL. Take a look at what the Genealogy Forum offers and know that other resources on AOL such as maps, encyclopaedia, dictionaries, ethnic and geographic reference resources, photography, Revolutionary War and Civil War forums, and a host of other reference materials complement the Genealogy Forum. All of these combined resources will certainly make you interested in joining AOL for your research.

Librarians Serving Genealogists
http://www.cas.usf.edu/lis/genealib/
This Web site was created for genealogical librarians who serve the genealogists who use their libraries and archives. It is an excellent resource from that perspective, but also provides us with access to those same librarians' online reference resources links to genealogy libraries' sites on the Web, and to other resources that you will find useful.

10,000 Year Calendar
http://calendarhome.com/tyc/
Last but certainly not least, here is a resource for calculating any date via a perpetual calendar. You will find this useful in determining the day of the week on which your ancestor or relative was born, married or died, and for a variety of other uses.

There You Have It!

You certainly will have other favorite Web sites that you think I should have included. Hopefully you will find those under Cyndi's List.

In the meantime, please remember that the information you find on the Internet is, at best, a secondary source. Always maintain that healthy skepticism and question every piece of material. These Internet resources are certainly a boon to genealogists and family historians, but they should only be used as pointers back to the primary sources you can examine for yourself. Primary sources are your very best resources and, with them, you can carefully weigh the evidence and develop the right hypotheses and conclusions about your family.

Happy hunting!

George

The definitive guide to the Genealogy Forum on America Online has been published by Ancestry Incorporated, the leader in genealogical reference publishing. The Genealogy Forum will introduce you to America Online and to each of the types of resources found within the forum. From "how-to" guides for beginners to reference articles for experienced users; from message boards to file libraries; from vast surname resources to informative chats and lectures; from international research guides to extensive ethnic resources; and from sophisticated forum search facilities to the very best resources on the Internet, The Genealogy Forum will teach you how to make the most effective use of this online treasure trove.

The article originally appeared in the Genealogy Forum on America Online. You may send E-mail to alonglines@aol.com. George Morgan would like to hear from you but, because of the volume of E-mail, is unable to personally respond to each letter individually. He also regrets that he cannot assist you with your personal genealogical research.