I'd like to take you on a tour of a few of my favorite genealogy sites. There's no way I can begin to list every site that's on the Net, though, so my apologies to those left out. Also, much of this information is geared toward American researchers, of which I am one, although I do include a couple sites with an international research focus. Lastly, I've added a little something extra--some special-interest sites for those facing some unusual genealogical challenges.

So, all aboard for the cybertour of some great genealogy sites! No crowding, please. There's plenty of room for everyone!

Check out the Folks Family Tree message board and monthly article.

For those new to the genealogy hobby, let's stop first at Janyce's Root Diggin' Dept. Here you'll find some great info for the newcomer. And her "Newbie's Most Common Mistakes" page has good advice for all of us. Janyce also has provided netiquette advice for newbies to the Internet that will help make your first cruises into cyberspace pleasant ones.

Now that we're all up to speed, it's time to head over to The Genealogy Home Page. On this comprehensive, general genealogy website, you'll find more than 1,600 links--help and guides, lists of resources and researchers, sites for genealogy societies and libraries, upcoming events, and much more.

While I'm not endorsing any commercial endeavors, I am including the Everton Publishers site because of some valuable FREE databases they have available. I liked the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) best. You'll also find a sampling of some of the databases Everton subscribers have available to them. While only a sampling, you might get lucky and hit on someone researching your family, or find information about a long-lost ancestor or relative.

Another commercial site offering databases you can sample is Ancestry Search. In addition to the SSDI, there are ones for early (very early!) American marriage and immigration records, a geographic reference library (with place names, old and current), and archives to nearly 200,000 recent queries to the GENNAM-L and ROOTS-L mailing lists. A must-stop site on our tour.

Finding yourself totally overwhelmed in your research, or have you reached a dead end (no pun intended, of course)? Stop in for a visit with The Genealogy Lady. Not only does she have a FAQ of previous questions and answers, but also provides a forum for you to ask new questions. There's also a link to a public Surnames Forum.

Don't miss the listing of World-Wide Genealogy Resources, primarily links to European countries.

Now that you know how to do research and have perhaps found some relatives in the SSDI, we'll narrow our focus a bit more at the Genealogy Online directory. Here you'll find links to many databases and resources--some available only to online researchers--including individual family home pages and GEDCOM and PAF libraries, the Roots Surname List, a surname archives, and more. There's also a link to a program that converts surnames to Soundex codes.

Next, let's stop in at my all-time favorite site--the USGenWeb Project. This non-profit, volunteer project has genealogists from all 50 states and the District of Columbia working to make our hobby easier (and cheaper). If you know which state you need, use this URL, replacing the XX at the end with the two-letter postal code for that state: http://www.usgenweb.com/XX. This also is a great place for you to give something back, if you've ever been helped by a fellow researcher (and who hasn't?). If you know of resources not listed yet, let them know!

Similar to the last site we visited, some other ambitious folks are taking the project to the next level--the world. As of this writing, there are 224 countries listed--from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe--but only 15 have been "adopted." Check and see if your ancestor's country of origin is represented. If not, or if you have knowledge about the resources available in a particular country, click on the coordinator button for information on how you can help.

If you still haven't found information that's helpful in your search, you might need one or more of these special-interest resources. Below are sites for African-American, Hispanic, Jewish, Native American, and Adoption genealogy resources.

For those searching for African-American ancestors, The Afrigeneas Homepage is the place to be. Named after the Afrigeneas e-mail discussion group, at this site, you'll find the FAQ for the e-mail list, as well as links to genealogical, historical, and other important sites for anyone looking for ancestors of African-American descent. There's also info about joining the Afrigeneas list. An excellent site!

For those tracing an Hispanic heritage, this site has links to several Latino resource sites--Cuban, Costa Rican, Latin American, and others--can be found at this location.

You'll find lots of links at this site, home of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Rochester, including a FAQ on Jewish genealogy. There are also links to other U.S. and international Jewish genealogical societies, on-line publications, and a Usenet newsgroup. For those interested in the Yiddish Language and Culture list (Mendele), there's a link to that archive, as well.

Native American Genealogy Sources on the Internet is a list of lists for those searching one of the many Native American Indian heritages. There are jumping-off places to several general Native American genealogy sites ("Tracing Your Roots" at NativeWeb is a must), as well as some specific sites for research on Cherokee and Chickasaw ancestry.

If you have been frustrated in your search for your roots because you were adopted, or want to find a child you gave up for adoption, then The Adoption Web Ring is the place to go. You'll find lists of adoption agencies and their addresses, tips on how to search, databases of people who are currently searching for persons who were adopted, and links to many sites that can keep you moving forward.

That concludes our tour--but I hope it leaves you with lots of bookmarks and resources as you continue your ancestry search. Happy hunting!