Welcome to Saint Olaf's
Best of Internet Genealogy
Why Saint Olaf? I went to Saint Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota and got very lucky and hit a Norwegian royal bloodline going back to Saint Olaf (Olaf Haraldson).
I spent two years surfing the internet for genealogy and helping people find their birthparents, adoptees, siblings, half-siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and other long lost loved ones. I reunited about 200 cases over the years and have plenty of amazing stories.
I wanted to create a general internet page with only the better genealogy sites on the internet. This one page will not have an overwhelming number of links. Only the better ones will be posted here. If you need more links then visit Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet. If you feel that I should list a site on this page then email me at the bottom of this page and I will check it out to see if it qualifies. Just put CHIPPEWA in the email subject to attract my attention. Chippewa County, Minnesota is where I grew up. Well, most of my relatives think I will never grow up.
New additions will be the internet newsgroups and some mailing lists. I just need to organize it. Cyndi's Genealogy Links below will discuss them. Rootsweb.com has some great mailing lists but it can overwhelm your mailbox. If your email is overwhelmed by a list then you can always unsubscribe the same way you subscribed. If you forgot how then just send an email to some of the people then email the mailing list and ask for help. I found an easier way on AOL.COM to handle heavy email load (mine is about 100 a day). With my AOL.COM membership comes five separate email addresses each with its own inbox. I have separate email addresses for each mailing list to make it easier for me. That way I know what the list is about and delete email without reading it based on the subject. I am specializing in Norwegian genealogy but that will be on another page.
Most important tip on searches. MOST need everything in lower case letters. Some need AND/OR/NOT in capital letters like AOL's member directory search. Some need +/- instead of AND/NOT. Remember keep name, places, etc in lower case and most search engines will have a search tip/help link to explain what works for their search engine.
Next important tip on searches. Genealogy is the correct spelling. Not genalogy, geneology, geneaology. However, since these are very common misspellings then searches can greatly affect the results. You might try spelling it correctly as "genealogy" or try "geneology" to find something new and maybe hidden from a correct search. More on this on the ALTAVISTA.COM section below.
Another tip for searching overseas. Some foreign search engines will need special characters. I will be working on finding a site with all of those chars. Email me if you know where some sites on this are located.
Some free online classes on genealogy
Below is another test. Not sure if I will stick with normal links or these buttons.Next is a feature for America OnLine members only. Some America OnLine members will have their member profile filled with surnames. Click below for AOL.COM members that are into genealogy.
Member Directory Search Results
notice how the member directory window was setup and then change kolstad with one of your surnames in lower case letters then click on search.Connect with other family historians on Rootsweb.
Roots Surname List -- Interactive Search
Button below is a test to see if another web browser appears so you can read my comments and switch back and forth between windows. Click above and then enter one of your surnames in lower case and leave location blank then click on submit. Next page click on the right end of each entry for usmail/email/webpages that the family historian placed there. That page will also have a link to see all the surnames that the family historian is researching. Some may have expired email so note any address and search using one of the sites below for the historian like the FIND A PERSON section.If the surname feature helped you then try becoming a member of ROOTSWEB.COM for around $12 (basic membership). It has several different levels of membership with various benefits. It relies on donations/membership for additional memory/faster internet connections Membership gives you more powerful searches and other advantages that can save you $100s in trips to non-internet sites not to mention saving you hundreds of hours on research time. Membership will be very well worth it. I added about 4000 members to my tree because of this site. I will be donating some money soon because it really made my grandparents happy. I will take a collection in my family that appreciated the additional info and make their donations in their name since most do not have internet access.
Who pays for Rootsweb?
How To Subscribe to Rootsweb
For an example of Rootsweb.com's surname database, enter a surname below and if no luck then try johnson for a sample.
Search the Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
enter surname in lower case and submit. Try some of your names just keep in mind that they needed to claim their death benefit to be listed and lived when social security started and filed for their SSN #. All fields are optional so enter first name and maybe their deathdate and you might find some possibilities. Keep in mind that you may need to reload pages because this is under heavy use.
If the SSDI lists a zipcode without a location then try
USPS City State / ZIP Code Associations
I found someones birthfather using the SSDI site. The adoptee knew his first name was Russell and his date of birth. She also knew he was a WWII vet and a very talented artist. I tried it once with Russ and again with Russell and entered his date of birth. I came up with five possibilities. I used AOL's member directory and sent out about 300 email to possible survivors of the five Russell's. Her birthfather's daughter, who is also the family historian, responded back. I almost got both half-sister's to meet for the first time in a private AOL chat room. A very interesting case which demonstrates the power of the SSDI index if you know how to use it. The more you use a site the more experienced you will become in knowing how to use it. It never hurts to experiment with a search engine or use it's search tip/help/FAQ links.
Find a Person
The above site you can find phone/address listings for people across the USA. The City and State and First Name fields can be left blank. Some email is listed there as well but may have gone bad by now. Not sure how often this site is updated. It would probably depend on the local telephone company. Also, all of the recent changes in area codes may produce duplicate listings. I noticed occasional duplicate listings. You will also notice that certain areas like California will not have a street address.If you are looking for someone from say Willmar, MN then enter their first and last name and just enter MN for the state. You see a listing for a nearby town then you might have found the person. Another way is to enter surname, city and state then search. If there was a successful search then the person(s) listed maybe related to the person you want to find. I would not call in most cases but send a well written letter instead. You might catch the person at a very bad time if you call them.
Another good white page site is The Ultimate White Pages
There are a few white pages for other countries.
World Directories
Some might have an English version for their white page.
Four11 Directory Services
You enter last name in lower case and then submit. On the next page you need to click on name for real email adddress but just keep in mind that about 20% of the email are invalid. You can find possible relatives in other countries by entering surname and to find Norway only enterno
in the domain field. Some others that I know are: ca for canada
au for australia
nz for new zealand
uk for united kingdom
More Domain Names that I found
Registered Two Character Domain Names
At the FOUR11.COM site, click on advanced search for additional fields to search.
For example: On Advanced Search Screen,
I wanted to find old college classmates so I click on Past College and then
scrolled straight down to the keyword box. I graduated from Saint Olaf College
in Northfield, MN. I figured olaf was the keyword. I only entered olaf
and found lots of email out there. Then I entered olaf again and entered
mn for Minnesota in the state field and found oles in my home state.
This captured Saint Olaf, St Olaf, St. Olaf with or without college.
FOUR11.COM also has past high school, past military, hobbies, etc.
Keep in mind entering names in lower case letters on the net.
Most search engines are case sensitive and might produce no results
when a lower case letter search might produce results.
Now for some surfing (click below)
AltaVista: Simple Query
Enter the following into the search engine (in lower case letters).+genealogy +surname
Note the space between +genealogy and +surname. This is where it is important to know how to spell genealogy. Entering geneology would normally produce different results but you might find hidden webpages than if you spelled it correctly! Something to keep in mind. Common misspellings that I have run across are geneology, genelogy, genalogy, geneaology, genology so you might find some hidden pages that would not show up under genealogy. If the surname comes up with nothing then try
+born +surname
and still nothing then just
+surname
If you have a very rare surname then try only entering the surname. Webpages may contain email address of a relative or clues as to where they might be living near.
For foreign language pages, the translator works for only a few languages right now and does a so-so job. Also, familytreemaker sites can change frequently so you might have to move around the site to get the correct page. Sometimes altavista.com fails to load so just click on reload. Remember: Use your favorite places/bookmarks.
You should become a member of
RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative
Membership gives you a lot more powerful searches and other benefits. It relies on membership to buy more equipment and faster machines. Think of becoming a member like giving money to a church. Rootweb.com can help your search out so damn much with their mailing lists, surname database for connecting family historians together, archives, etc.Who pays for Rootsweb?
How To Subscribe to Rootsweb
USGenweb Project
This breaks down genealogy to the county level. Various people knowing HTML coding, FTP and can handle a lot of email can become a county coordinator for a county that needs one. If you know a lot about a certain county then email the county coordinator to see if they could use their help or maybe they will turn the page over to you or make you a partner and split up responsibilities. ] You should need to know HTML, FTP and other webpaging skills to handle a county. If you don't know what these mean then you better learn first before becoming a county coordinator. If you have history books for a certain county then find the county coordinator and volunteer to do lookups for them. This is supported in part by Rootsweb.com. A lot of counties have webpages located on Rootsweb machines. I will have more on this at a later date.
WorldGenWeb Project
This is another project supported in part by Rootsweb.com and I will have more on this at a later date.Next is a feature for America OnLine members only.
AOL Genealogy Forum
The above is under America OnLine keyword ROOTSThey have some archives and chat rooms for various levels of genealogy skills. They also have experts in chat rooms to help you out and sometimes the chat rooms are schedule for a specific area of genealogy.
Next is a feature for America OnLine members only.
AOL Adoption Forum
The above is under America OnLine keyword ADOPTIONThey have search boards for various states. For those of you brand new to finding your birthparents or an adoptee, most run searches by date of birth and full place of birth. There are various bulletin boards discussing other topics.
The oldest and best adoption reunion site is
ISRR - International Soundex Reunion Registry
You send a SASE to their Nevada, USA location. You get a form to fill out to mail back to them. When a registration is received the information is computerized. If data matches and the ISRR registrar determines a relationship exists, both parties will be notified immediately. It uses donations and volunteers to keep running.
LINC Online Adoption Reunion Registry World Wide
A good online internet site for searching by the adoptee's date of birth. Both adoptees and birthparents can post here.
Long Lost Family Bulletin Board
This site has a genealogy bulletin board and a bulletin board if you are searching for relatives and friends that you are trying to locate.
Finally the best genealogy site on the internet
Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet
1) Use rootsweb.com surname database to connect with other family historians.
2) Use the altavista search engine mentioned above.
3) If you are an America OnLine member then try to find more historians using the AOL Member Directory mentioned above. Cyndi's List may appear overwhelming for some people with all of its links but it is very well organized. If you are starting your family tree then Cyndi's List has a section for beginners called "HOW TO".
otherwise it might be ignored and deleted without being read.
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Copyright © 1998 Michael Andrews.
