What makes a good genealogical website?

The best genealogical sites are those which provide relevant content, cite the sources used, provide leads to other sources whether physical or online (this does not include links as an affiliate), are not padded with irrelevant material, provide primary documents, are easily navigated and are updated regularly.   

The criteria by which I will assess each website are as follows:

·      Do all the links work?

Too often I spot an interesting link only to find that the site has been withdrawn, moved or the link somehow broken. This is very frustrating. Dead links should be removed or re-connected.

·      Is the site maintained regularly?

 A site must be maintained regularly. Broken links must be re-connected or the link itself deleted if the linked site no longer exists. Information should be updated and new data added if possible. 

·      Is it easy to navigate around the site?

It is easy to lose your way when a site is large. Backward and forward arrows are useful; also a breadcrumb indicating your path to the current page helps users identify exactly where they are and how to return to a specific page.

·      Does the site provide primary documents?

Researchers look for hard evidence and facts with which to identify their ancestors. Historic descriptions and timelines are interesting and helpful to a point but solid facts and primary sources such a scanned documents are the best evidence.

·      Does the content consist of a list of names without references?

Often a site features a list of names found in some document or repository. These are useless unless they are anchored in a place, time or a documentation location.

·      Is the site merely a conduit to a larger site such as Ancestry.com?

Many sites are affilated with a larger organisation such Ancestry.com. This if fine but if their only real worth is through their affiliation, it begs the point of the site.

·      Does the site have a translation button?

A large number of researchers are migrants looking back from Australia or America. European sites that are written in English are a great help for those who are not proficient in the language of the country in which they are conducting the research. It does not take much effort to add a button to a site for English translation. It would open the site up to a large number of  researchers.

Genealogical website reviews

I am a first generation Australian of European parents and I am having a frustrating time tracing my ancestry via the internet. If my ancestors had been Irish, English or Scottish my search would have been far more fruitful. If they had migrated to America, I would have had a great wealth of information to dip into. I have listened to my friends of British extraction exclaim that they have found long lost relatives and could actually visit places and verify vague rumours mentioned in the stories that almost become myths as they are passed down the generations. My mother, still living today, and my father long gone, were story-tellers. So, I have some family history but as I compile it, I find so many holes and unanswered questions which could be resolved by a simple birth, death or marriage certificate.

 The American genealogical sites are amazingly comprehensive as are those catering to British descendants. Unfortunately, many of the European genealogical links lead back to American websites, such as Ancestry and FamilyLinks. So in most cases if you enter a name you are given a list of American sources rather than those of the country you are researching. Admittedly these sites fill a gap left by the sparsity of European sources but they are not the answer.

Europe has a long way to go before it throws off its inhibitions and allows the world to delve into its family histories. The complexities of European history include its changing borders, the mass migrations imposed on the population of so many countries and the number of languages one has to know to delve into archival repositories or even to read their online sites.

In this blog I will be reviewing the various European genealogical sites that are on the web analysing what they have to offer. If you have any sites you would like me to look at or would like to comment on this blog please feel free to do so.