Finding Your Roots on the Web

1
Finding Your Roots on the Web

• Tuesday, March 27, 2007 7-8 p
• Saturday, March 31, 2007 11a-noon
• Berkeley Public Library

2
Today we will

• Introduce ourselves
• Explore genealogy resources in the Berkeley
  Public Library online catalog
• Learn about web directories
• Explore primary source websites
• Get information about other genealogical research
  resources

3
Introductions

• Tell us
• Your name
• How long you have been doing genealogical
  research
• (Brand new/less than 1 year/longer than 1
  year/longer than 3 years/longer than 5 years)

4
Berkeley Public LibraryOnline Catalog

• http//Berkeleypubliclibrary.org
• Ability to search by author, title, keyword or
  subject
• Subject searches headings assigned to books by
  library staff
• Keyword searches all words in a books record

5
Berkeley Public LibraryOnline Catalog

• Catalog records
• List subject headings assigned by library staff
• Show where materials are located
• Tell you if materials are available
• Allow you to request items
• (requires a library card)

6
Find a Genealogy Resource in the Catalog

• Open a web browser (Internet Explorer)
• Navigate to www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org
• Click on the library catalog link
• Select the subject link
• Input the subject genealogy
• Browse through the results and select a
  subcategory to explore
• Identify a book or other resource you might like
  to check out

7
Directory Websites

• Provide links to a wide variety of resources on
  the topic
• Categorize links by type or subject
• Do not necessarily give you primary source
  materials
• Examples
• www.cyndislist.com
• www.rootsweb.com

8
Explore a Directory

• Open a web browser (Internet Explorer)
• Navigate to www.cyndislist.com
• Browse through the different categories of
  information
• What interesting information did you find?

9
Primary Source Websites

• These websites provide access to primary source
  materials
• Newspaper articles including obituaries
• Ships registries and manifests (www.ellisisland.or
  g)
• Birth,death and marriage certificates
• Most primary source websites are
• fee-based or require registration
• Exception www.familysearch.com

10
Explore a Primary Source Website

• Decide who you want to research
• Open a web browser (Internet Explorer)
• Navigate to www.familysearch.org
• Fill in the form on the site giving as much
  information as you have
• At the results screen click on the link for a
  potential match
• See what other information you can find from this
  site

11
What Have You Learned?

12
Genealogy Resources To Go

• Local Genealogy Organizations(See handout)
• Library Books and Materials(See handout)
• Websites We Visited Todaywww.berkeleypubliclibrar
  y.orgwww.cyndislist.comwww.ellisisland.orgwww.f
  amilysearch.orgwww.rootsweb.com