Genealogy and How

by Steve Johnson

Posting Online

Dedicated Query Exchanges

These have proven to be the most effective means of getting responses to your queries, mainly because they are focused on posting queries only, and provide search features that give you accurate results.

• CousinConnect.com - CousinConnect offers the highest visibility and greatest success rates among the dedicated query exchanges. You can post as many queries you want, and it's completely free for you and the people who respond to your queries. Responses are sent directly to your personal e-mail address, while keeping your e-mail address totally private and protected from spammers. CousinConnect allows you to define as many as five surnames with each query, and you can cross post the same query into several countries, states, and counties. You can also edit and delete your queries at any time.

• Adoption Registry Connect - The makers of CousinConnect launched this query database specifically for adoptee and birth family related searches. Works very similarly to CousinConnect.

• HeritageQuest Query Center - HeritageQuest's Query Center is one of the longest running of the dedicated query exchanges. The amount of query information tends to be rather limited. It also does not protect your e-mail address from spam harvesters.

• RootsWeb Surname List - The RSL is the oldest running dedicated query exchange, and boasts the largest number of listings. However the amount of detail tends to be somewhat limited, and as with HeritageQuest, it does not protect your e-mail address from spammers.

Genealogy Message Boards

Message boards tend to be very popular with genealogists because of its wide-open atmosphere, however genealogists often express frustration because of the high amount of off-topic posts, commercial spam, and flame wars.

• Ancestry Message Boards - The most widely used of all genealogy message boards, Ancestry provides forums for every country, state, and county, and tens of thousands of surnames. It also allows you to associate several surnames with each post, and provides users with a means to search for posts by keyword.

• GenForum - GenForum is one of the oldest genealogy message boards, and a emotional favorite among the tried-and-true genealogists. It supports forums for every country, state, and county, and thousands of surnames.

• GenealogyRegister - The "Register" is perhaps the most popular of the independently owned and operated genealogy message boards. It offers forums for thousands of surnames, and forums for several countries.

Posting in Print

Posting queries in print publications had long been the only way to reach out to genealogists with similar family lines. While the success rates of getting your query answered are much lower, one advantage is that print publications tend to remain archived for decades, making them available to future generations.

• Everton's Genealogical Helper - For decades, Everton's had been the premier place to post a query. Since then, they have launched a new offering, "Bureau of Missing Ancestors" to provide greater visibility to your queries.

• Genealogy Society Journals - Contact your local genealogical society to find out what kinds of newsletters and journals they publish. Many of them will publish queries, and quite often without cost to you, if you are a society member.