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The 101 Best Family History Web Sites: 2003 Edition | |
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2002's 101 Best Sites | |
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2001's Best New Sites | |
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The Original 101 List | |
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More Great Sites | |
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Simply the Best Everyone's a winner with our annual guide to the cream of the crop of genealogy Web sites. Start your online ancestor hunt with these 101 essential digital destinations.
Unlike the movies, of course, Web sites stay on screen for more than just a few months; they're continuing creations. So some extraordinary sites have made our list more than once. This year, our fourth annual 101 list, we're recognizing these consistently click-worthy sites with a Hall of Fame designation, denoting those that have made the list at least three times.
Also unlike the movies, you don't have to buy a "ticket" for most Web sites. But with more of the dot-com world moving to paid access, we've added a $ symbol to the listings for those sites where users must pay for a substantial portion of the content, or for the "really good stuff." In general, as we compiled this year's listing, we gave preference to sites that are free. Some subscription sites are certainly worth the asking price, however, and we'd be remiss if we didn't point you to paid places where you could view your ancestor's actual census page, for example, or search millions of vital records.
How else did we choose a mere 101 sites among the zillions that have popped up in the relatively brief history of Internet genealogy? Overall, we aimed for the essentials: If we took our computer to a desert island and our Favorites list would hold only 101 sites, what would we bookmark to bring along? We gave a slight edge to databases and real records over lists of links and how-to sites, though there are plenty of those, as well. We preferred to single out sites from the states, foreign countries and ethnic groups of greatest population and genealogical interest—so, for example, a North Dakota site would have a higher bar than a Pennsylvania one, and that Ancestors from Andorra site probably had no chance. We emphasized genealogy over ancillary interests more so than ever before, while including a handful of "Web Tools" that no genealogist should log on without.
In keeping with tradition, we've made touring these 101 standouts a snap by posting links to the whole list below, you can also click on previous years' honorees. No need to type URLs; just click and surf.
So just which sites made the cut for our toughest-ever, most-rigorous-yet selection of genealogy's 101 best? The envelope please...
Find news and reviews on more great Web sites in the August 2003 issue of Family Tree Magazine.
By David A. Fryxell
Movies have their Oscars; television, the Emmy awards; chemistry, economics, peace, literature and such, the Nobel prizes. For genealogy Web sites, the ultimate annual honor is inclusion in Family Tree Magazine's 101 Best Web Sites. And just as the Oscars, for example, help moviegoers discover noteworthy films they may have overlooked, each year our 101 list leads family historians to the latest and greatest resources on the ever-expanding Internet.
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