NOTE: almost all of these sites are free, $$ denotes membership necessary.
Two of the Most Popular -and indispensable-Websites:
Familysearch.org the Mormon church holds the largest genealogical data base in the world - it is estimated to be completely digitized within the next year. Use of their website, data bases and centers is free to everyone. If records cannot be viewed online you will be directed to visit one of their Family History Centers.
To find one in your area follow this link: www.familysearch.org/locations/
Ancestry.com Membership required; before paying an extra fee for their European membership, look at the FamilySearch.org catalog where you might find the same records free. $$ ancestry.com
General and International Research Tools (Italian sites below)
US National Archives
Tools, records, charts, detailed historical accounts of some US records - learn how to use US records effectively
www.archives.gov/
This link points to the pages that describe and explain US government records
www.archives.gov/research/genealogy/index.html
Steven Morse’s One Step Pages This site contains tools for finding immigration records, census records, vital records, and for dealing with calendars, maps, foreign alphabets, and numerous other applications. Versatile
stevemorse.org/
Jewish Genealogy - JewishGen is a comprehensive site with classes, links, data bases and insights into doing your Jewish family research
www.jewishgen.org
Eric Feinstein - Jewish Genealogist - An exceptional, experienced professional.
www.genealogybyeric.com/
Britain, Wales and Ireland - FindMyPast - announced as the best British and Irish record collection available online $$
www.findmypast.com/
UK General Registry Office - Order Documents Online
www.gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificate#other-ways-to-apply
German Genealogy Internet Portal
www.genealogienetz.de/index_en.html
What Do All of the Census Abbreviations Mean?
www.thoughtco.com/what-do-census-abbreviations-mean-1422760
What Do Those Annotations on Passenger Lists Mean?
www.thoughtco.com/us-passenger-list-annotations-and-markings-1422263
A New Look at Passenger Manifests
stephendanko.com/blog/268
Ellis Island
www.libertyellisfoundation.org/
Researching the History of a House
A Guide to Researching the History of a House
www.homeadvisor.com/r/a-guide-to-researching-the-history-of-a-house/
Genealogy Studies
Family Search - free at familysearch.org website, maintained by the Mormon Church, provides excellent free learning opportunities and links to outside sources in their wiki
www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Main_Page
Family Search - free videos at familysearch.org Large library of video lessons - genealogical studies of all varieties
www.familysearch.org/ask/landing?search=Getting%20Started&show=lessons&message=true
Brigham Young University - free
Visit Youtube and search for BYU genealogical videos to see their many offerings
1. BYU's library of genealogy webinars on Youtube - free
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=byu+genealogy
2. BYU offers a free online webinar every Thursday at 5:00 Eastern time, see their schedule here:
sites.lib.byu.edu/familyhistory/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2019/01/winter-2019.2.pdf
American Ancestors - New England Historical Genealogical Society - free
Excellent webinars on youtube
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=american+ancestors
Some of the below offer free webinars but consider paying for those that are especially insightful
Legacy Family Tree provides enormous amounts of educational materials both free and by subscription (free and $$)
familytreewebinars.com/
National Institute for Genealogical Studies $$
www.genealogicalstudies.com/
Ancestry Academy has a large library of videos covering all facets of research as well as topics
by record type and locale. Paid membership may be necessary.
ancestry.com/academy
Italian Genealogy
ITALIAN RECORDS-free
Antenati website- Italian
www.antenati.san.beniculturali.it/?lang=en
Familysearch catalog - use place name
www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/search/
General Italian Research
Italian Genealogy - links, forums, articles. Excellent source for beginners as well as experienced individuals.
www.italiangenealogy.com/
Italian White Pages, in Italian. Has several uses: find correct spellings of surnames, locate individuals, determine surname variants
www.paginebianche.it/
Surname Mapping in Italy Find your surname and its incidence by provinces and towns; switch to the US map
www.gens.info/italia/it/turismo-viaggi-e-tradizioni-italia#.XEyvG1VKiiM
Surname Mapping worldwide Surname mapping, demographics and name variants
forebears.io
Family Search - under the SEARCH tab, click on CATALOG and search by location. Digital images online or go to your local FHC
familysearch.org This link should bring you directly to the catalog
antenati.san.beniculturali - Italian based site in both Italian and English. A bit slow. Digital images of Italian records by location. (search FamilySearch.org before using this site)
www.antenati.san.beniculturali.it/
Old Maps of Italy
www.oldmapsonline.org/en/Italy
Libraries - Digital
Look for books, manuscripts and journals held around the world. Read online, download or borrow. Inquire about Interlibrary loans at your public library.
Google Books
books.google.com/
HathiTrust
www.hathitrust.org/
Internet Archive
archive.org/
Open Library
openlibrary.org/
Maps and Mapping
Library of Congress, Sanborn maps "The Sanborn map collection consists of a uniform series of large-scale maps, dating from 1867 to the present and depicting the commercial, industrial, and residential sections of some twelve thousand cities and towns in the United States, Canada, and Mexico."
www.loc.gov/collections/sanborn-maps
The Newberry Library Dr. William M. Scholl Center for American History and Culture: interactive maps showing how county boundaries changed over time for each state from its inception.
publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/
NY Map Warper: see old maps and produce current-day overlays of some
maps.nypl.org/warper/
Census Interactive Maps - visualizations of census data over the years with "Census Data Mapper", population maps, employment maps, "Rural America - a story map", track health insurance, poverty, employment, etc.
www.census.gov/geography/interactive-maps.html
Surname Mapping worldwide Surname mapping, demographics and name variants
forebears.io
Barry Lawrence Ruderman, Antique Maps, Inc. "We are dealers in fine and rare original antique maps and atlases dating from the 15th to 20th centuries."
https://www.raremaps.com/
Newspapers Online
The Ancestor Hunt - Links to newspapers by state and Special US Collections; Canadian papers plus Australian, European and Historical Caribbean. Lots to see on this site!
http://www.theancestorhunt.com/
Bowling Green University - EUROPEAN newspaper archives- A guide to free Internet sources of historical newspapers
libguides.bgsu.edu/c.php?g=227439&p=1507130
Library of Congress, Chronicling America - free
chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
Newspapers.com - membership but worth the cost $$ "11,800+ newspapers from the 1700s–2000s"
www.newspapers.com/
US Government Sites
Library of Congress
Largest library in the world. " Contains 17 million catalog records for books, serials, manuscripts, maps, music, recordings, images, and electronic resources in the Library of Congress collections."
www.loc.gov/
The US National Archives
Explore genealogy resources related to specific topics:
- Census Records
- Ethnic Heritage
- Military Service Records
- Immigration Records
- Naturalization Records
- Tools, charts and much more
US National Archives - Prologue Magazine online "Prologue magazine brings readers stories based on the rich holdings and programs of the National Archives across the nation—from Washington, DC, to the regional archives and the Presidential libraries. Access many of our articles online." - www.archives.gov
www.archives.gov/publications/prologue
US Dept of State - Bureau of Consular Affairs
Locate files of US citizens who died abroad
travel.state.gov/content/travel.html
ORDER COPIES OF RECORDS ONLINE AT THESE US SITES:
USCIS - United States Citizenship and Immigration Service Obtain citizenship application records online
www.uscis.gov/
Social Security Administration - online request for computer extract of social security card application, Form SSA-711
secure.ssa.gov/apps9/eFOIA-FEWeb/internet/main.jsp
New York Naturalization Records - order here online - Records held at the NYC branch of NARA
www.archives.gov/nyc/finding-aids/naturalization-records.html
The above link also points to the area where these records, nationwide, can be ordered:
Census Pages Court Records Immigration & Naturalization Records Land Files
WWI Draft Registration Cards Military Service and Pension Records Native American Records