Cyndi's List

Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet (www.Cyndislist.com) is a free, categorized and cross-referenced index to genealogical resources on the Internet. The site is 14 years old and contains more than 280,000 links to genealogical sites. Be sure and visit this site and you will be amazed at the resources that are available to us as family historians. Cyndi also keeps a blog of random thoughts, advice and tips at www.cyndislist.blogspot.com.

FamilySearch News

Twenty-nine new collections were updated or added last week at FamilySearch.org -- with 26 million names and 1.5 million digital images! The international collections continue to expand, with exciting new additions for Costa Rica, France, Hungary, Mexico and Spain. In addition, nine indexes were added to the U.S. 1910 Federal Census collection -- that means it is 37 percent complete. This project is moving along quickly. There are now 428 collections from original source records available online. Search all of these great collections at http://pilot.familysearch.org/.

Get In Sync

Family Insight is a third-party program certified to synchronize information with FamilySearch. It is a tool created to help reconcile and consolidate multiple records for the same ancestors. With Family Insight, you can compare your database with the records in the new FamilySearch family tree.

• You can add information to your file from FamilySearch. You can: Choose to replace information in your file with better information; add additional information that enhances your record; add additional relatives to your file, such as children, spouses or parents; mark your records with the FamilySearch ID for future reference.
• You can add new information and people from your file directly into FamilySearch. There is no need to type each person into FamilySearch. Family Insight will do it for you. Relationships will be linked as you add these people. To prevent duplication, Family Insight will search for your person before you add them.

To learn more about Family Insight, and to take video tutorials, go to www.ohanasoftware.com. There is a one-time fee for the download.

The DAR Collection

The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Collection is a small manuscript collection consisting of Bible records, cemetery records, church records, marriages, deaths, obituaries and wills. It was microfilmed in 1971 at the DAR Library, Washington, D.C., and is at the Family History Library (FHL films 849914; 869290; and 907987).

Obituaries can help to round out the story...

Obituaries are one of the best -- and at times only -- resources for uncovering the identity of ancestors. According to David Rencher, chief genealogical officer for FamilySearch, "obituaries fill that unique niche of being able to tell you where people went, as well as tell you how people are related. Names and places make obituaries especially valuable. " The "survived by" listings are usually a reservoir of family names. They often identify key locations, such as the cemetery where the deceased is buried, areas where he or she lived and places children have relocated to." Obituaries can provide precious details about occupations, marriages, military service, religious affiliation, and family lore. "It may provide information that no living person could give you about the person's life", says Paul Smart, a certified genealogist and popular lecturer. However, they are written from memory and may be subject to error and bias. Therefore, they must be scrutinized and verified with other documents whenever possible. While the undertaking of putting old newspapers online is tremendous, it is well under way. GenealogyBank.com has 4,300 US newspapers in its database covering all 50 states and ranging from 1690 to the present. It is a commercial subscription site, but you can try it out for 30 days for a nominal fee. The National Digital Newspaper Program has made newspapers from 15 states and the District of Columbia between 1880 and 1922 available online. As more become available, "there will be a lot of mysteries solved through obituaries."

FamilySearch Forums

FamilySearch invites you to become a member of the FamilySearch online community. The community resources will become invaluable as you do your own family history work. One of these resources is FamilySearch Forums. On this site, you can find answers to any question that you may have. Here you can ask about:

• Specific ancestors that you're trying to find
• Which records are best for a particular time period
• Locations of resources
• Features of new.familysearch.org
• Any other FamilySearch product or web site, such as the indexing site.

To access the FamilySearch Forums, click here: http://forums.familysearch.org/

If you register on the site, you will need to set up a user name and password because the Forums site has not yet converted to the LDS Account system. Hint: It is recommended that when you register for Forums, you choose the same user name and password that you use for your LDS Account so that you will not have to change your user information later.

Join the community and find the answers you need, and contribute what you know to help others!

Public Archives

The Idaho State Historical Society serves as the state archives and holds a variety of public records created by state and local governments, such as state agencies, counties and cities. The collection includes territorial records; papers from most governors; selected vital, financial and court records; and a variety of other materials. The library is located at 2205 Old Penitentiary Road, Boise, Idaho. The library holds a substantial collection of Idaho newspapers on microfilm, including both daily and weekly titles, and a variety of irregularly published materials. Also available are a limited number of early titles from other western states, such as California, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Newspapers contain a variety of information that could be very useful in your searches. For example, you may find information on marriage, birth and death notices, local "gossip" columns, legal notices, announcements, etc. To see an index of newspaper holdings and the years available see the PARL site: http://www.idahohistory.net/library_collections.html#anchor565675 Search by city names (also search in nearby cities for information as well.) For other records available at the library, visit online at www.idahohistory.net