Matthew L. Helm and April Leigh Helm have shared an interest in researching family history for more than 20 years and manage several online resources, including HistoryKat.com and GenealogyToolbox.com. They are also the authors of Genealogy Online For Dummies.
Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Who This Book Is For 3
Conventions 3
How This Book Is Organized 4
Chapter 1: Writing Your Autobiography with arcalife 7
Creating a Free arcalife Registration 8
Controlling Privacy Settings 9
Noting Memories on the Site 10
Listing Experiences 12
Assembling Your Online Autobiography 14
Chapter 2: Creating an Online Family Tree 15
Starting a New, Online Family Tree 16
Adding Facts to a Profile 19
Citing Sources 21
Adding Media 23
Leaving Comments for Visitors 27
Reviewing Hints 28
Connecting with Other Members 29
Chapter 3: Building Your Family Tree with RootsMagic 31
Installing RootsMagic Essentials 32
Entering Family Data 34
Citing All Your Sources 38
Generating a Family Tree Chart 40
Creating a GEDCOM File to Export Your Data 42
Chapter 4: Using Web Search Engines 45
Searching for Phrases at Google 46
Targeting Your Search Using Google 48
Learning Additional Search Tricks 50
Comparing Results at Bing 53
Using Metasearch Engines 54
Performing Genealogically Focused Searches 55
Chapter 5: Exploring Ancestry.com 57
Initiating the Free Trial 58
Searching All Records 60
Dealing with Search Results 65
Browsing the Card Catalog71
Messaging Other Genealogists 73
Learning More about Genealogy 75
Exploring the Wiki 76
Chapter 6: Using FamilySearch 77
Creating a FamilySearch Account 78
Searching Historical Records 80
Browsing by Location 84
Discovering Family Trees 87
Using the Library Catalog 90
Viewing Scanned Books 92
Volunteering to Index 95
Chapter 7: Gleaning Government Records 97
Identifying Sites with Government Records 98
Discovering the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System 100
Buying Into the General Land Office 103
Coming to Ellis Island 106
Exploring the Online Public Access System at the National Archives 110
Chapter 8: Using Geographical Records and Maps 115
Searching for Geography-Based Records 116
Using a Current Online Map 118
Finding a Location with a Gazetteer 120
Seeing the World through Google Earth 122
Distinguishing Landforms with Topographic Maps 125
Downloading a Map from the U.S. Geological Survey 127
Chapter 9: Mapping Land Records at HistoryGeo.com 129
Registering for a Free Account at HistoryGeo.com 130
Learning about the HistoryGeo Map Viewer 132
Updating Your Profile 134
Working with Other Researchers 135
Chapter 10: Looking at Specialized Online
Collections 137
Registering at Fold3 138
Searching Fold3 for Military Records 140
Viewing Images on Fold3 142
Sharing Records at Fold3 148
Reviewing Archives.com 150
Chapter 11: Exploring Local Resources 155
Exploring GenealogyBank 156
Finding Local Histories by Way of Google Books 160
Looking for Books on WorldCat 164
Paying Respects at Find A Grave 168
Hunting for a Genealogical Society 170
Chapter 12: Connecting with Family Historians on Facebook 171
Joining Facebook 172
Creating a Genealogy List 174
Finding New Friends and Adding Them to Your Genealogy List 176
Posting Questions and Statuses 178
Communicating One-on-One 180
Organizing a Research Group 181
Uploading Photos 183
Chapter 13: Testing Your DNA 185
Learning about DNA Testing 186
Ordering a DNA Testing Kit 188
Interpreting Y-DNA Results 190
Comparing mtDNA 193
Finding Your Ancestors with the Family Finder Test 195
Chapter 14: Using Your iPad for Genealogy
Research 197
Downloading an App 198
Using the Ancestry App 201
Recording Interviews 204
Positioning Yourself Using MotionX 207
Noting Facts with Evernote 211
Uploading Your Finds from iPad to Computer 214
Index 215