I have no dealings with the following, but thought it was some good information for anyone working on genealogy. From: The Kim Komando Show Free Electronic Newsletter Thanks for being a Komando commando! Here's where to sign up: http://www.komando.com/media/newsletter KIM'S KOMPUTER KOLUMN: USE THE INTERNET TO RESEARCH YOUR FAMILY TREE There's never been a better, or easier, time than now to strike out on a journey to research your genealogy, thanks to the power of the Internet. While the Web is where you're headed in search for your roots, the place to start is right at home. Write down all you know and can find out about your family, starting with your parents and working backward to uncles, aunts and grandparents-as far back and as wide as your living family tree can be traced. Don't forget to seek out more distant relatives who may be able to fill in lots of blanks, and be sure to track down any family "sourcebooks." It was common practice years ago (and still today in many families) for generations of records to be kept in a bible or other prayer book. Photo albums or scrapbooks can also prove to be a treasure trove of genealogical information. At some point, you're going to get stuck. When this time comes, get online. But before you start gumshoeing around the Web, get your computer set up to organize the information you'll find (and already have). For this, turn to any one of the many software programs available to get you started creating your family tree. If you are serious about it, try Sierra's $89.95 Generations Grand Suite 8.0 (www.sierra.com) <http://www.sierra.com)> , with 31 CDs full of information. Or you can't go wrong with the $99.99 Family Tree Maker Collector's Edition (www.genealogy.com) <http://www.genealogy.com)> , either. This 42-CD package includes immigration and vital records as well as actual family trees. For Windows genealogy shareware with lots of bells and whistles, try Cumberland Family Tree (www.cf-software.com) <http://www.cf-software.com)> . For Mac users, Reunion (www.leisterpro.com <http://www.leisterpro.com> ) offers similar powerful tools for organizing your family tree. Now you're ready to do some online investigation, so first, pick an ancestor to research. It's easiest to start with someone who was the closest to a living relative, and then focus on an event in his or her life, like birth, marriage or death. A good place to make your first stop is Ancestry.com, where you can do a free search on the Social Security Death Index (www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/vital/ssdi/main.htm) <http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/vital/ssdi/main.htm)> . You'll also want to check out state birth and marriage information, and that's where a company called Vital Check (www.vitalchek.com <http://www.vitalchek.com> ) can help. This web site sells copies of birth, marriage, divorce and death records, and also has state-by-state listings of the proper agencies to contact to order certificates directly from the source. If you only have a fragment of a location to work with, go to http://mapping.usgs.gov/www/gnis/gnisform.html <http://mapping.usgs.gov/www/gnis/gnisform.html> and look up any place by features (like hospital, school, beach or park), state or territory, population or by a generic query. If you've exhausted the basic vital statistics, you're ready to head into deeper water and look at military, immigration, church and cemetery records. Whew, this could be the start of a serious hobby! Military service records can be located at the United States Internet Genealogical Society's Military Collection (www.usigs.org/library/military/index.htm) <http://www.usigs.org/library/military/index.htm)> . Here you'll find name, rank and hometown for soldiers in specific outfits, as well as extensive links to veterans of U.S. wars, from the Revolution to Vietnam. For immigration records, one of the best resources will undoubtedly be the online records of Ellis Island (www.ellisislandrecords.org) <http://www.ellisislandrecords.org)> . Other immigrant options are the GeneaView listing of Ships and Passenger Lists (www.geneaview.addr.com/resources/pass_ship.html <http://www.geneaview.addr.com/resources/pass_ship.html> ) and the extensive links organized by country at http://members.tripod.com/~khuish/nonusa.htm <http://members.tripod.com/~khuish/nonusa.htm> . For church records or a variety of specialized searches, look at the resources offered at www.familysearch.org <http://www.familysearch.org> . Cemeteries can also be resources of great historical goodies, and Cemetery Records Online (www.interment.net <http://www.interment.net> ) has a database of listings from the U.S and all across the world. You might also want to take a look at JewishGen (www.jewishgen.org) <http://www.jewishgen.org)> , a site with extensive burial records, Holocaust name lists and other significant information. If you or one of your ancestors was adopted, this can put up a real hurdle to overcome. There are online resources to help. Start at Vital Record's adoption resources links (www.vitalrec.com/links3.html) <http://www.vitalrec.com/links3.html)> , or the Adoptee Search Center (www.adopteesearchcenter.org) <http://www.adopteesearchcenter.org)> , a registry site devoted to helping match up adopted children and their birth parents. No matter how hard you try or how many links you search, a crucial piece of your family's historic information could still elude you, and then it may be time to bring in a hired gun-the professional researcher. You can find a qualified investigator by looking up "professional genealogy" at your favorite search engine. Since this can be an expensive route, make sure to check out his or her credentials. Also, contact past clients to see if they were satisfied (you should ignore any "pro" who refuses to provide credentials or won't give any references). Researching your family history can be informative and entertaining, and it can also be a great way to get the whole family involved on a fun project. Just remember to be patient, use all your available online resources, and share what you find! Pat Ratcliff Baumholder, Germany Researching Ratcliff/Grabill/Button/DeWitt/Hicks/Liebler/Tuttle/Main/Touchstone/Butt s/Knight/Clough http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/r/a/t/Patricia-Louise-Ratcliff