Internet Genealogy

There is no doubt that Internet Genealogy has given birth to a new breed of family history enthusiast. When done correctly however, Traditional Genealogy and Internet Genealogy shouldn't be much different from one another.

One of the most important aspects of Internet Genealogy that beginners should keep in mind is that WWW might not stand for what they think! When it comes to genealogy, those letters always stand for Who, When, and Where. By always asking these three questions — online or offline — most family history enthusiasts will stay on the path to success.

• WHO — The Internet can help you collect a great deal of names in a relatively short period of time. As companies, groups, and individuals race to put more information online, your total pool of potential names will likely yield a lot of unwanted matches. Ask WHO, but also use other filters to reduce the list of possible records, saving you time in the process.
• WHEN — One of the benefits of Internet genealogy is the ability to process large volumes of information quickly. Dates are the best way to filter possible matches. If your NAME search yields 1,000 records or more — asking WHEN can likely cut that list in half or even better!
• WHERE — Once you've narrowed your search using WHO and WHEN, the next logical question (and filter) is WHERE. For some online archives, you may wish to use LOCATION as the first filter, instead of TIMEFRAME. Different archives will require different strategies.

Each month, we will post different Internet Genealogy tips on this site. If you have a particular question, please send it to us now so that our first few months will address issues of greatest interest to site visitors.

If you are interested in learning more about Internet Genealogy, visit the Web site of Professional Genealogist Dan Lynch who lectures and writes on this topic regularly.