Issue Date: February 1, 2004
Finding your roots
The Internet makes genealogy easy and fun.
Tracing your genealogy doesn't have to mean wasting weekends in the attic rifling through dusty cardboard boxes, hoping the pack rats in the family hung on to important documents.
A few clicks of the mouse and your family's past will begin to seem like anything but ancient history.
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Want to find out about your great-great-grandfather Henry? Wondering whether twins run in the family? Curious about that long-lost cousin on your mother's side? RootsWeb.com is chockablock with information that'll get you up and running. Supported by Ancestry.com, it claims to be "the oldest and largest free genealogy site."
From the homepage, scroll down to "Getting Started" and choose "RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees." Click on "Where to Begin?" for a thorough overview of how to trace your genealogy, covering everything from questions to ask when interviewing relatives to suggested readings. (This site is perfect for Black History Month, a time when we're reminded of the past's profound significance.)
"Discover your family story," touts a box on the homepage of Genealogy.com. Free services on the site include access to an archive of 175 printer-friendly how-to articles. The site also offers dozens of free classes from its online university, covering topics like genealogy societies, church records and networking. If you have cash to spare and want to go all out, memberships range from $69.99 to $199.99 and includes services such as Family Tree Maker software.
A few clicks of the mouse and your family's past will begin to seem like anything but ancient history.
-- Anna Mantzaris
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