This came to me from another list. It contains some GREAT words of wisdom. I have been doing this a while and I found somethings that I did not know about. Happy Hunting! Debbie Mauelshagen ---------- From: Clyde A. Dodge[SMTP:arnie708@SILICON.EMAIL.NET] Sent: Thursday, August 07, 1997 3:30 PM To: Multiple recipients of list KYROOTS Subject: Beginner's Page ***************************************************************************** 8/7/97 FOR BEGINNERS. I have been seeing a lot of newbies getting into genealogy work and wondering what to do first. I felt it might be appropriate to provide some insights for these people, and some starting points. USING E-MAIL. ....There are two main classes of e-mail sources for genealogy data. One deals with surnames. It is possible to put your name on a list to receive all mail sent out to subscribers (free) about that name. The other class deals with locations. You can put your name on a list server to receive all mail sent to the list for the state or other division, that most interests you. Some examples follow: Surname Lists Location Lists Arnold arnold-l@rootsweb.com Kentucky kyroots-request@lsv.uky.edu type subscribe in msg body save returned instruction page Missouri missouri-l-request@rootsweb.com type subscribe in msg body Norcal norcal-l-request@rootsweb.com ....Naturally, there are far too many of these lists to do more here than whet your interest. The Location Lists are more or less organized under the U.S.A aegis. The easiest way to find out the address of the area that interests you is to subscribe to one list, and then just read the messages until you see what you want, or you can send a message to the list asking if a list exists for the area of your interest. Frequently you will see a message about a surname on one of the location lists. This is an easy way to pick up on new information. Or, again, you can simply send a message asking about surname lists. USING THE INTERNET ....Once you have mastered the use of e-mail in obtaining genealogical data, you will want to explore the use of the Internet for this purpose. You will not be surprised to find that this area of study is largely organized geographically by State. There is an organization devoted to the presentation of genealogical data for the entire U.S.A. This organization presents a master URL (Uniform Resource Location) site. You can go to this site and link to any or all of the states. After you are connected to a state page, you will see that there is a further division by county. You can click on any one of the counties and discover whatever data and other information has been collected at that site about the history and people of the area. There you will also find links to other data and other sources. You will also note that there are numerous e-mail addresses so you can contact people concerned with that page. http://www.genhomepage.com/FHC.html Mormon Church FHC addresses. http://www.usgenweb.com/ General Inforation http://www.ancestry.com/ Search SS Death Index free! http://www.rootsweb.com/~bwo Books we own http://www.rootsweb.com/~maillist/ Mailing lists http://www.best.com/~bearbr/genealogy/caindexes/blm.html General Land Office Auto. http://bobcat.etsu.edu/octa/trailmap.htm Westward Ho Trails http://www.concentric.net/~mikerice/helplist.shtml Lookup Volunteers list!!!! http:/www.rootsweb.com/~mogenweb/mo Missouri Master list* http:/www.dsenter.com/~trice/ky/index.html Kentucky Master list* http://www.gendex.com/gendex/ General index of Surnames http://users.aol.com/johnf14246/gen_mail.html General index, lists, sites *There are links on these pages that will take you to every other state. These are some surname sites. Bacon http://www.mindspring.com/~jha/bfo.htm Chambless http://www.mindspring.com/~jha/chfo/htm Clements http://www.mindspring.com/~jha/clfo.htm Collins http://www.mindspring.com/~jha/cfo.htm Dickens http://www.mindspring.com/~jha/dfo.htm Evans http://www.mindspring.com/~jha/efo.htm Holland http://www.mindspring.com/~jha/hfo.htm Perkins http://www.mindspring.com/~jha/pfo.htm Now you have enough information to allow you to explore and find new sites. FAMILY HISTORY CENTERS The local Family History Center in your town can help you with genealogcal information. Call in advance. Check phone book for Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. If you can't find the FHC call any of the numbers listed as Bishop and ask them. Once you have the number call and schedule the computer for 1 hr at a time convenient as their open times permit. Then go there and check the area called Ancestral File first. After that check the area called IGI (International Genealogical Index) That will let you check the records in Salt Lake for your family holdings.