I am just getting started here on my family genealogy (150 people or so in) and am a bit perplexed by all the research choices online (I know, I know - that's a good thing and has come a long way so it's a good problem).

I'm trying to get organized here and wondered if there was any value is also regularly using some of the other sites out there (genealogy.com or or the like)?

And, are there any sites that you use as a GO TO along with ancestry.com?

I find there are many options - and I've really gotten familiar with some of the offshoots that are out there for the particular locations for my family - but I'd love to know any sites that you go to as a matter of process when you do your research?

Thanks -
Alexa

Hello - Still hoping for some input here. Other than familysearch.com (LDS site) and Rootsweb - is there value in others? I keep seeing Genealogy.com and Footnote.com and more -

help?! Thanks -

Besides Ancestry.com, I like www.deathindexes.com, which shows what death records are available online, and whether the site is fee-based or free. At the bottom of that site is a small link that says "Genealogy Resources" or something. That links to another site with the same info for online B-M-D.

Cyndi's List and Linkpendium ("card catalogs" to genealogy sites on the Internet);
RootsWeb through Ancestry.com;
GenWeb sites for each state or county I'm interested in(free to use; often have indexes online, or links to local societies and libraries).

I have subscriptions to GenealogyBank.com for obits (many are there but certainly not all)- ditto NewspaperArchives.com. I have a Footnote subscription and although it has given me a few things I wouldn't have found elsewhere, I've had less luck with that, and find it cumbersome to use.

Check your local library to see what databases they offer. Here in the Chicago suburbs, our library system gets the Chicago Tribune Historical Archive through NewsBank.com. People in Los Angeles, for instance, may get access to the LA Times archives, etc. Also, many genealogical societies subscribe to fee-based databases, and offer access to their members as a perk of membership. You may want to join a group solely for that purpose... shop around! Hope this is what you're looking for.

This is *exactly* what I was looking for - thank you!

I knew about several of those but not really exactly how to use them. And, I didn't know about using GenealogyBank.com or NewspaperArchives.com on a subscription basis.

I will have to see if there is a genealogical society that might offer something helpful. The MD one here mostly offers MD or mid-Atlantic only perks (and there's certainly enough history here for most, just not my family!) Do you belong to any just geographically - or for networking/education locally (or nat'ly?) I can go to DC though so that's an advantage.

It's funny - I have a masters in history but before everything was indexed online (or available online) so I keep thinking, "oh, gotta go to the library for that one."

I believe I'm fortunate that really all of my ancestors in the US came in as immigrants and stayed in big, well-documented cities (Newark/New York/Boston) really. While it makes it harder b/c there are more people, there are also more sources and most are already indexed or online. One branch on my husband's side settled in upstate NY which is actually wonderful b/c SO many others have done so much of the heavy lifting in documentation up there!

I've got miles to go though before I get to the good stuff - Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Lithuania - now that's going to be fun! :-)

Anyway, I'll check these out and if you think of any others, I'm all ears. I appreciate it!

Alexa

PS Speaking of Chicago (I just posted about this elsewhere so sorry if you read it), I just found one of my most fun sources about my 3rd Great Grandfather. He was a cigar maker in Newark in the late 1800s. Yesterday I was researching him outside of ACOM and focusing on that aspect b/c he made cigars for over 60 years and it helps me identify him. I found his name in the Chicago-published, Cigar Makers' Official Journal in December 1896, the pub for the Cigar Makers' International Union of America. Unbelievable - such a fun find! Exhilarating!

Well, I just learned a valuable lesson.

I rushed out and joined genealogybank.com - and then found out that they don't have ANY Newark, NJ papers (which is sort of shocking to me since it was a big city with several newspapers). And, I can't really find any relatives b/c they were all in NJ really.

How often do they add papers? I saw they did an update in March but no Newark papers - is it typically that many papers added regularly? I have the offer for 30-days for $10 and could drop it after that, but I was so excited as it's an incredibly awesome source to have on hand if it DID cover your locales (or if I do this for anyone else in the future).

I checked NewspaperArchives.com before I joined - and they also don't have Newark papers, so it must be that Newark is not letting them be archived.

Sigh, well, that teaches me!

I'm sorry; I feel badly for having given you a "bum steer." NewspaperArchives or Footnote do not have Newark papers either. It's so hard to say. GenBank adds regularly, but you never know what/where/when. They may add many early African American papers, or add to papers for current obits but not early stuff. It can get frustrating.

This site http://www.nj.com/archive/ says it has NJ newspaper archives from 1989. Links to NJ papers online is at http://www.njstatelib.org/NJ_Information/Newspapers/index.ph... has The Newark Evening News 1883-1972. Microfilm.

The Newark Evening News Indexes, 1914-1972. Handwritten print indexes produced by the paper. Divided into three components for each year: biographical, general and New Jersey towns and cities.

Newark Public Library http://www.npl.org/Pages/Collections/njicgene.html

Are you aware of ItalianGen.org? The Italian Genealogical Group has databases of turn-of-the-century vitals for NYC and boroughs, as well as Suffolk & Nassau counties. It's free but they do appreciate donations. And it includes everyone, not just Italians. Someone once posted on these boards looking for the marriage of her Irish ancestors, and we found it there. She was floored.

(sorry, some text jumped. The Newark Public Library seems to have the handwritten newspaper indexes. They don't appear to be online.)

Thanks for all the tips - and please don't even think twice about a bum steer! I am in thus for the long haul, so a) it's a fantastic resource to know about and b) who know where my path will head as I move back each generation!

The primary paper I need is the Star Ledger (or its historic predecessors, the Newark Daily Advertiser, founded in 1832, then the Newark Star-Eagle, then merged with the Newark Ledger in 1939 to become the Newark Star-Ledger - then later changed to simply The Star-Ledger.). I have found that the only obituaries I have for the family were published there - and it seems to have included the German immigrant population. I know that I can see them in the library and the historic society but haven't been able to find it online anywhere, even just a name search.

But those are great tips and I'll pursue them.

And, like I said, it's great to know about those websites for many other reasons. I should have known to pause and evaluate the sources available!

Thanks too for your time and thoughtfulness. The more I become part of this community, the more I enjoy its support and generosity and hope that I can give that back in turn someday soon!

Posting a request for a lookup on the New Jersey Newspapers board may be successful:
Topics / Newspaper Research / United States / New Jersey Newspapers

That's a good tip! I posted a while ago under Look Ups > New Jersey but didn't know about the newspaper specific message board for lookups. There are so many resources on here - it will take years to figure that out!

Thx again -
Alexa