Thought I would share this information with everyone. I was recently mailed an article out of the Daily Item.I have not had an opportunity to check out any of the sites yet, but hope some of the information is useful. Sunday, January 18,1998 CHRIS LOFRUMENTO Getting to root of your family tree Perhaps Plato said it best: Know thyself. But you've got to appreciate the past in order to cope with your present. Understanding that past is a huge undertaking. These sites will help. Happy surf'n! How do you start? Getting started in genealogy and Searching Your Family Tree are beginning manuals. Read them carefully for hints and warnings. Be careful. This ancestor stuff can become addictive! www.midas.ac.uk/genuki/gs www.everton.com/genealog/genealog.fhsearch Take a course (non-accredited) for free at the new IIGS University. Beginning Genealogy Lessons, Beginning U.S. Research, U.S. Land and Property Records, and others are available online right now. Also check the IIGS Library for a host of links. www.iigs.org The Journal of Online Genealogy, a monthly e-zine, will help develop your search techniques. Read articles in both the current and the archived editions. Be sure to return often. www.onlinegenealogy.com Getting assistance from others is absolutely essential. Use DejaNews to contact lots of potential help without spending a lifetime wading through unrelated info. Newsgroups are a natural in genealogical research, and DejaNews search engines are time-savers. www.dejanews.com This And That Genealogy Tips won't locate a long-lost surname. However, you will find a compendium of interesting facts and hints ... like those included in Twenty Ways to Avoid Genealogical Grief. Invaluable. www.geocities.com/Yosemite Roots Web claims the spot as the genealogy supersite. You can search the USGenWeb archives, check 360,528 surnames, or add your surname to the list. Don't miss The Roots-L Archives and The Roots-L State Pages. Consider subscribing to any of the almost 2,500 e-mail lists ... free of course. www.rootsweb.com Geneanet also provides a surname database to search and/or add your surname. It may open up new doors in your research. www.geneanet.org The Genealogy Dictionary will help you decipher obscure words buried in those old documents. Got any chiffoniers or cordwainers in your consan-guinities? Not me ... only hawers and hillers in my pedigree. www.electriciti.com/~dotts/diction.html#DICT I know, you only want to know if you've descended from royalty. Maybe so. Find out here. www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/public/genealogy/GEDCOM.html If not from royalty, at least- from those hardy travelers on the Mayflower. Perhaps. www.members.aol.com/calebj/mayflower.html What's in a name may enlighten you to your surname's meaning. Be proud of its history. www.clanhustom.com/name/surnames Once you've exhausted all the sites here, try Cyndi's List. She has over;26,000 categorized genealogical links. That ought to keep you busy awhile! Also check out her Home Page Construction Kit for help with your own online site. www.oz.net/~cyndihow Christian LoFrumento is a syndicated columnist who deals with Internet issues. He can be reached at [email protected] Enjoy Jeff