I’ve been a subscriber to Ancestry.com for years but just this week learned about a resource there that I’m really excited about. In its Learning Center, Ancestry offers a Family History Wiki with some terrific information and links.
I learned about the Wiki while watching an archived Livestream lesson from Ancestry, on finding death records. I clicked on Vital Records at the top, then on the state I was interested in and simple as that, I got the information I need about the availability of vital records and how to go about getting them. In the past, my first choice in searching for vital records from a specific state has been Google. Now it’s going to be this Wiki. So far, I’ve used the Wiki only for vital records, but there are sections on census records, immigration records, military records, African American research, Jewish American research and more.
Much of the vital record information provided comes from the resource, Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources. I’m so excited at how easily accessible the information is!
This is just one of the many reasons that I am happy to fork over $155 a year to Ancestry. I have found it to be an invaluable resource. I’m hopeful that their recent acquisition (as reported on Family Tree’s Genealogy Insider blog) by the European private equity firm Permira doesn’t affect the quality and accessibility of the content.
I clearly have not explored the learning opportunities available via Ancestry. Time to do more investigating of the Learning Center!
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