The Genealogy Web Guide featured in the March-April issue of Family Tree Magazine is a must read to get the most use out of eight top genealogy websites.
The article covers step-by-step advice on how to search online, the major content collections, the various price options for subscription sites, shortcuts, sister sites and other important tips. No matter how much you think you know, studying these site reviews should help you get better results as well as understand just what each site contains.
The websites featured are: Ancestry.com, Archives.com, Archives.gov (the National Archives site), Familysearch.org, Findmypast.com, Fold3.com, Loc.gov (the Library of Congress site) and Myheritage.com.
The site reviews are followed by a long article about social media sites and how to use them for genealogy. There’s also another article listing the six largest sites for online genealogy books, some of which are free, others by subscription, with GoogleBooks containing the largest number.
This issue of Family Tree Magazine can be found at major bookstores and grocery stores or online at www.familytreemagazine.com.
Telephone books
Writing in the March-April issue of Family Chronicle magazine, David A. Norris covers the value of telephone books as a substitute for other records. Certainly, in large cities like Chicago, where they quit publishing city directories in the 1930s, telephone directories are a must.
In the metro Atlanta area, I know the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library’s special collections department at the Central Library downtown has a large collection of telephone books, and the DeKalb History Center has a good set as well. Other institutions no doubt have collections.
Telephone books for small towns are probably the hardest to come by. I was lucky to find a 1942 directory for Columbus, which was quite useful in locating businesses and people — and it was also just fun to see the listing for Brooks Service Station, my grandfather’s business, and know that the phone number was 9460.
The Yellow Pages in directories are a good source for advertisements as well.
If you have some older telephone books, or find any, think about donating them rather than throwing them away.
Family slide show
One way to share photos and documents with your family is to create a PowerPoint slide show on your computer. You can update it as new items turn up, and you also can print it out and send a copy to relatives who might not have computer access.
