Genealogy Search Engines
There are several large subscription (fee)
sites on the World Wide Web now with good, useable data abstractions.
We use the Ancestry.com
and GenealogyLibrary.com
subscription sites. The census indexes for AIS (Accelerated Indexing
Systems, Inc.) for 1850-1880 are available for most states on
Ancestry.com. If you find a U.S. Federal Census record you want on
Ancestry.com, send us your
name, address, the state, the county and the page number and we'll
copy and send the record to you for $12.95 (includes postage and
handling).
Our Favorite Search Engines
Can't find the
record you want online?
We'll search most indexed sources at the Family
History Library for
$15.00 plus expenses - Ask for an estimate!
Primary vs. Secondary Source Material
A Very Basic Introduction . . .
Primary source material is information that
is gleaned "straight from the horse's mouth" (so to speak).
It is abstracted from a vital record, court record, deed or other original
record and contains the first recording of an event. These
records are usually created very near to the actual time of the event by
someone who was actually present or who was directly involved in the
event. An autobiography is also a type of historical primary source
document.
Secondary source material can often be
viewed a bit like "gossip." Secondary source material is
often recorded long after the event has occurred and almost always by
someone not really associated with the event. Most of
the GEDCOM type, undocumented family groups and ancestries placed on
CD-Rom format by software companies are types secondary source
information.
Data Use and the Internet
