HelPeR - BYU Idaho Special Collections and Family History

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Everton’s Best Rated
Genealogy Sites
This issue of the Helper continues a comprehensive review of websites on the Internet, those with the greatest value to
family historians. The Net Family History (NFH) magazine within a magazine allows in-depth coverage relating to
genealogical research on the Internet. (Note the black bleed at the edge of each page so you can thumb directly to the NFH
pages). Each issue includes a new edition of Everton’s Best Rated Genealogy Sites, featuring reviews written by the NFH
editors. We are presenting annotated lists of genealogy websites, overviews of specific categories of websites, new resources,
and major updates to existing websites. Websites featured in Everton’s Best Rated Genealogy Sites, in our opinion are of
great value to genealogists. There is no rating system, but the fact that a website is mentioned places that website among
the top websites online. Any website selected for review in Everton’s Best Rated Genealogy Sites, is granted an award
and a logo that can be included at the site to recognize it as one of the “Everton’s Best Rated Genealogy Sites.”
The Best Scandinavian Sites on the Net
By Jeffr ey A. Bo c k m a n
We continue our look at foreign countries by moving
up to the Scandinavian countries of Denmark,
Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland. While it is
impossible to cover everything about researching
within a single county in an article, let alone several,
I have attempted to provide some basic information
about the various records that are available or in
some cases the lack thereof.
The intent of this series is to look at websites that
provide access to images of real records. There are,
however a few “non-image” sites that have also been
included, such as indexes to or transcribed data from
civil, parish or other official records where the documents
are not available online or are only available
for a fee.
Getting Started
One of the best places to learn about the various
records and their availability when starting to do
research in a new county is to review the Research
Outlines at:
Family Search
www.familysearch.org—Free Site: www.family
search.org/Eng/Search/RG/frameset rg.asp
They provide information about the history and
availability of Church records, Civil Registration,
Court Records, Census Records, Probate Records, Immigration,
and many others.
Pick the first letter of the country or location of interest
and look for the “Country Research Outline.”
Also check to see if they have produced a version
of their new publication titled “Finding Records of
Your Ancestors, Country” for the country of interest.
These are downloadable and printable files that
include sample images of the various record types.
World GenWebProject
www.worldgenweb.org—Free site
Another good place to learn about a new location
is the local GenWebProject site. These are volunteer
projects and the content can vary greatly but they
can provide information about local records and
resources along with links to online or transcribed
records. Start at the World GenWebProject and then
select the region, the country, and then finally the local
sites. They should also have links to helpful local
organizations and any online records.
Major Issues
On the good side, there are wonderful church/parish
records in these countries. The FamilySearch “Finding
Records” guides show samples of the various parish
records with translations of the column headings. Unfortunately
you will need to know which parish your
ancestors lived in to be able to find and use them.
Some of the challenges to researching within Scandinavia
are the lack of fully indexed countrywide censuses
to help you find exactly where your ancestors
Ja n ua ry/Fe b r u a r y 2009 Ev e r t o n’s Ge n e a l o g i c a l He l p e r © 87