Di - what a great idea of yours and I have been reading the responses with great interest. I guess I am one of the "lurkers" on this list, but it is never-the-less, one of my favourite lists. Have used most of those previously mentioned. For U.K. searching my favourite is still Genuki. For Scotland, I use Scotlands People and for Ireland I belong to the County Cork and County Leitrim rootsweb lists. If anyone has a good site for South Africa I would appreciate knowing about that. However.. speaking as one who began her research several decades B.C. (that's before computers) I believe there is still a case for what I call "on the ground" research. Actually being in the locale of my ancestors and using local resources. Now I know that this is not always possible for everyone, and that the www has made a wonderful and easier route for researchers, but it concerns me that some folk only use the internet for their research. There are dangers in this. Please, dear listers, the internet is only one other tool in your family history tool box. Nothing is better than solid research skills. To rely on some-one else's research is fraught with danger. Verify everything you find. I make no apologies for sounding like a Luddite, it's just my 30-odd years of experience. Monty Smith.