| Looking to find an old school buddy you lost touch with? Or, maybe you're interested in taking over the documentation of the growth of your family tree. Even if you are just planting the seeds for a new family tree, the Internet has become a tool that has revolutionized and revitalized this unique hobby or in some cases passion.
I admit it may sound a little boring to begin with. Or, it's just something your grandmother did right? Wrong. I can tell you the first time you find a person that you lost touch with and they respond to your email or learning where your ancestry comes from is really exciting.
Normally, at the end of my columns, I will list Web Sites that you can go to to find more information. But, due to the vastness of this topic, I am going to just jump right in to reviews of my favorite people search Sites. I highly encourage you to follow these links if you are interested in finding other people or learning about your own past. And, for those of you that really get into it, I will provide a few software options that will get you started making your own family tree.
Find A Person, Business, or Email, http://www.switchboard.com: Try your last name, you might be suprised who it finds and the information it has to offer; Phone, Email, Maps,and More!
Yahoo's White Pages, http://people.yahoo.com: This did not provide as complete of a list for my search but it did find a few that Switchboard missed.
411 Locate, http://411locate.com: The 411 Locate directory offers a huge number unique e-mail address listings, a complete U.S. telephone white pages directory, a complete yellow page directory, and a premiere selection of other related services.
Index of people search resources, http://www.anancyweb.com/find_people.html: Comprehensive list of people finding links, resources, sites, pages. Just scroll down to the bottom of this page and see the terrific list of links they have listed. Links to the three Sites listed above are included.
Cyndi's List, http://www.CyndisList.com: WOW, now contains over Over 31,300 links, categorized & cross-referenced, in over 90 categories. Think you are serious about genealogy? This Site is for you. Featured in many national publications and television shows, this Site is an awesome genealogy resource. A quote from Cyndi's FAQ's sums it up: "I read somewhere that the Internet is like a library with its books strewn all over the floor. I guess I'd like my list to be the card catalog for the genealogy section of that library."
Ancestry.com, http://www.ancestry.com: This Site is a little more commercialized but it does have a wide range of resources. Here you can buy genealogy software, books, browse links, read columns, search for your ancestry, or just get gereral help.
Family Tree software, http://www.broderbund.com: Broderbund is famous for their gaming software but their Family Tree MakerŠ 5.0 also comes highly recommended.
Family Tree Maker, http://www.familytreemaker.com: The companion Web Site will search the Internet and message boards for matches on your family tree.
GenForum, http://chat.genforum.com: I like the way this chat room is set up. This area is dedicated to chats about genealogy. There are options to chat using large text and they have a system in place to prevent the use of foul langauge which I consider a serious bonus.
Well, I hope you find these Sites fun and useful. Drop me an email if you have more detailed questions or would like to suggest a topic for future columns.
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