I would just like to back up Beth's remarks. It is amazing what can be found with a little foot work and a whole lot of common sense. One doesn't have to spend money to buy books when you can use them from the library and there are some great basic guides available also at your local Archives. Even our little town of 900 people has an archives and the one in the larger town 8 miles away has an extremely knowledgeable person who was more than happy to recommend all sorts of connections, sites and references when I was starting out. GOOGLE, as often recommended on this site, is an unbelievable resource to the beginner as well as those of us who have been searching for years. Do remember to go back again and again if you are not successful the first time, because everyday more info is being loaded unto their site. It happened that way for me, where literally one day there was nothing and the very next evening I found a gold mind of information. Every province and state has a genealogical society where you can visit, join or whatever you desire to do. These places are full of people who have run before you and often have a language expertise in German, French, Italian, Polish or whatever you need. If you are needing Latin to be translated look for an older priest in your community or a retired Latin teacher. But as Beth said there are all sorts of pages you can download from the LDS site or elsewhere that give you all the key words that genealogists use in birth, baptism, marriage and death certificates. As Wolf keeps saying to folk, try the phone books in Germany and other European countries. I have had great success with them and even when people answered who weren't related, they sometimes still volunteered to check things out for me, which I thought was so amazing. I don't mean to be boring but everything you need is at your fingertips, maybe not always the end answer, but great sign posts that send you down the right roads that lead to finding that long forgotten family ancestor. Narda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave or Beth Arnott" <dsarnott@execpc.com> To: <BAVARIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2005 12:49 AM Subject: [BAVARIA] Just a suggestion > Hi Listers, > > I've been on this list for, oh, about a year or two, and have some friendly suggestions........ > > If you come across something written in Latin or German or? and don't know the language, there are many translation websites on the Web. German/English translation dictionaries should be available at your local public library. > > Maps and locations may be a little trickier to find on your computer. Your library can help there, too. > > There are many excellent encyclopedias with articles about World/European history, Germany, Bavaria, etc. at your library. > > Your public library should also have books on world history, emigration/immigration, European history, as well as German and Bavarian history. > > I realize that we all come to this list with different levels of experience. And those of us who have been here for a while are always glad to help those who are "newbies." Sometimes one has to hike, bike,or drive to the library and do a little digging in this business to get the best results. Your public library is a treasure trove of information. They may not have your family's history, but they have tons of good, basic, helpful genealogical information. > > Best Wishes to all, Beth STEINBERG ARNOTT > > > > ==== BAVARIA Mailing List ==== > Going on Vacation? Longer than 4 days? Go to > http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/DEU/BAVARIA.html > to unsubscribe >