Old York Road Genealogical Society

EUROPEAN RESEARCH

• European public libraries: Here's a wonderful compilation of links. (December 2001)
• England and Wales
• British Origins (formerly English Origins; added December 2004)
• UK 1881, 1891, and 1901 census (December 2001; updated December 2004)
• UK parishes (December 2000; updated December 2004)
• Ireland
• IreAtlas Townland Search (December 2001)
• County Tipperary (December 2000)
• IrishOrigins (June 2002; updated December 2004)
• Italy: Research your ancestry at D'Addezio, which includes thousands of surname queries, passenger ship arrivals, cemeteries, recommended Web sites, articles on Italian culture, plus locate record archives in Italy. (March 2001)
• Scotland
• Scottish Archive Network (March 2001)
• Scots Origins (June 2000; updated December 2004)
• Spain: Spain's National Archives, the Archivo Nacional, offers its holdings on-line, including Roman Catholic clergy records as early as the ninth century, military records from the 10th century, and university records from the 13th century. Their holdings are outlined on the Web site along with contact information to help you research them. (December 2000)

ETHNIC RESOURCES

The Carpathian connection: Genealogy and Ethnic Heritage site with major focus on the Slovak Republic. (March 2001)

GENEALOGY PUBLICATIONS AND WEB SITES

• NGS newsletter premieres: The U.S. National Genealogical Society (NGS) has announced a new online genealogy newsletter: UpFront with NGS, The Online Newsletter of the National Genealogical Society, premiering in June 2002. It's designed for NGS members as well as the genealogical community at large. The free bi-monthly online newsletter will offer the latest genealogy news, information about upcoming events and brief articles to help with genealogical research. (June 2002)
• Kudos for RootsWeb.com: Among Time magazine's 50 best Web sites, ROOTSWEB.COM gets their vote in the genealogy category. Their comment: "Everything one needs for researching a family tree, including a free database of 181 million ancestor names." (June 2002)
• FamilySearch expands: Virtual genealogists join the Family Search site. After logging on, click the "Search" button, then the "Research Guidance" button, and a virtual genealogist will introduces herself to help you find records that may have information about your ancestors. A customized tour follows as you're walked through the research process and points to key resources available in the Family History Library. Research guidance also is available for experienced genealogists specializing in a particular locality. (December 2001)
• National Obituary Archive offers searchable database: The National Obituary Archive claims to offer researchers records on over 56 million people through a searchable database. It's free to register and search the database, but there's a fee assessed for those wanting to post an "illustrated memorial." (June 2002)
• New NARA site launches: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) recently launched a revised Web site that promises dramatic improvements in navigation over the old www.nara.gov site, uniformity, plus accessibility for users with disabilities. (June 2002)
• Fees for social security records increase: Ordering a copy of an original application for a society security card now costs $27 (or $29 if you can't supply the social security number); a computer extract of a social security number application, $16/$18; and a search for information about an individual's death, $16/$18. You can download the order forms on-line, but expect a 6- to 8-week wait to get results. (December 2001)
• A new Native American research site includes links to records, newspapers, mailing lists, and pow-wows, related events and organizations focusing on Native Americans. (September 2001)
• The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) continues to be a leader in showing how a genealogy society can best serve its members via the Internet. Realizing that many of its members cannot conveniently visit the Society's library and manuscript collection, NEHGS keeps providing more and more information electronically and recently announced the release of a rather extensive redesign of its Web site. Visit the site to participate in discussion forums, post free queries on surnames or individuals you're researching, search NEHGS's library catalog of over 200,000 books, maps, manuscripts, and photographs, enlist the aid of professional researchers, and more. In addition, NEHGS members can log in and search two large databases, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 1847-2001, and The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. Members also can consult hundreds of articles that are updated frequently, including introductory "how-to's," genealogies, and problem-solving techniques. Another feature: They can borrow books from nearly 30,000 volumes in the society's circulating library. (December 2001)
• The Philadelphia PAGenWeb has a new home: There are places to post many items of genealogical interest, including births, wills, marriages, deaths, and so on, as well as published biographies. (December 2001)
• HSP and Balch merge: Two major Philadelphia historical/genealogical resource centers, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Balch Institute, have merged. (December 2001; updated December 2004)
• Local-interest mailing lists: Have you tried subscribing to mailing lists yet? If not, check out these Pennsylvania lists. You'll see lists for everything from Pennsylvania Dutch to obituaries to the Civil War. In addition to these, there's a new list for Irish in Philadelphia. Log on and subscribe to try it out. (December 2001)
• The Germantown Historical Society has a wealth of material dating back to 1683. The Library and Archives has an online catalog of the directories, newspapers, maps, land records, and deeds relating to this area in Philadelphia that can be found at their site. (March 2001)

MAPS

Library of Congress American Memory has an extensive map collection organized by cities and towns, discovery and exploration, military battles, and much more. The collection includes maps from Australia, England, Israel, and Russia, as well as the United States, and they range from panoramic views to individual buildings. (June 2001)

1895 United States Atlas: Here's an aid to help with your research in the late 1800s: scanned maps from an old U.S. atlas, with large state maps and smaller county maps. (December 2000)

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