I think it sounds like a trip to the library is in your future, pal....there are a good many books out there written just for folks like you, who need very general genealogical info, and direction. When you need to keep in mind is that that there is not a giant book that has all passenger info, and that only a fraction of the original passenger lists are extant, and you'll see that finding a record of an ancestor, actually on a boat, is something that most of us never do....there are many ship records on the Chester site and URLs for others,..... look through those, and you'll also need to just do a lot of google searching, using things like "ships passenger lists" +Pennsylvania, as your subject..this is only an example, but you get the idea. This is the site for the SSI Death index, http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ and it also contains a tutorial...should be helpful to you. I'm afraid I have no idea how to answer your last question..."What is the best way to look for living relatives".....if you mean, how do you find others who are researching the same family, then the answer is simply to get your name 'out there' on the internet, along with your family name, in the hopes that others will find you. Join the lists for the surnames and post on the genforum If you mean, how to find your more immediate family, then remember....the first thing to do is talk with every living relative you have...ask them what they know about the family, and write it down. Don't accept it as fact, but use as clues only.... I would suggest you visit the web site of Cyndie's list...there are many articles and tutorials included on the site that would be a help. There are also no answers for " What and where is a good source for people from Canada, Poland, Germany, and Russia"....if someone said to you "where is a good source for people from the US?", what would you answer? There IS no real answer....other than get on the web and read, read, read..... I do think, though, that you need a very basic genealogical research book....I'm sure your library will have several.... Sandra 1. What and where is a good source for people entering the US, but not through Elis Island? 2. What and where is a good source for people from Canada, Poland, Germany, and Russia? 3. Up through what year are US census, and SSID death info available? 4. What is the best way to look for living relatives? My biggest problem is that all that is known are names, and sometimes just the first name. Is there a good place for searching people in Europe?