Trace Your Genealogy on the Web

Wouldn't it be neat to know if your great-great-great grandfather was a painter, a farmer or a jazz musician?

Welcome to the age of the Internet. You can find tons of cool info about your ancestors online.

Before you get started, look through your paperwork for all the documents you can find. Wills, death certificates, birth certificates, family Bibles - they'll all give you an idea of names, dates and other important facts.

If you're looking to do some free online research, try www.interment.net to gather information on birth and death dates. Then enter them into www.rootsweb.com or www.familysearch.org to find out more. (Hint- when using the free sites, you will have to sift through some advertisements - that's why they're free!)

You can also use plain old search engines like Google to dig up information. Search for names in quotation marks, like "John Doe" and provide additional information when available to narrow your search, such as "John Doe, Moberly, MO."

If you're serious about your quest, consider an online subscription to sites like www.ancestry.com or www.genealogy.com. Services that require payment do a lot of the work for you and make the search easier and more accurate.

Subscriptions typically range from $10 to $30 per month. Be sure you know what you're agreeing to, since sites have varying subscription lengths (such as monthly or annually).

As with any online research, verify the information you find is credible. Look for sources, or stick with reputable websites and consider a paid service if accuracy is a priority.

Finally, understand the limits of your online research. Genealogy websites won't tell you about your relatives' personalities, what their hopes and dreams were or other personal information.

So don't forget to step away from the computer and go visit older relatives if possible. Bring your research along to help jog their memories. Ask them to tell you stories.

Now that you know how start digging into your past, what are you waiting for??