familytreemagazine.com 19THE BIG PICTURE
$ Ancestry
Recent additions to this megasite include
150,000 college and high school yearbooks. Six
months of global access costs $149, and you can
add subscriptions to Ancestry-owned News-
papers.com and Fold3 for another $50. An
AncestryDNA test costs $99.
FamilySearch
The Family Tree app helps you explore “the
world’s largest online family tree,” with 1.2 bil-
lion ancestors. And the site’s 6 billion searchable
historical records (and billions more digitized
images available for browsing) will help you vir-
tually tap into the Family History Library’s vast
collection.
$ Findmypast
Building on its strengths in British Isles records,
Findmypast has expanded its North American
off erings and now is partnering with the British-
based genetic genealogy company Living DNA.
Full access to more than 2 billion records (includ-
ing 1,000 exclusive collections) costs $240 a year.
HeritageQuest Online
Now “powered by” Ancestry, this site for librar-
ies has grown into a sort of “Ancestry lite,” far
beyond HeritageQuest’s original half-dozen col-
lections. Cardholders at subscribing libraries
get free admission.
$ MyHeritage
Having evolved from a tree-hosting site, MyHer-
itage now also hosts some 9.6 billion records.
You can view the site’s records (which include
the former World Vital Records database) with a
Data subscription (which costs $189 per year) or
a Complete subscription (which costs $299 per
year and includes extra matching features and
access to an unlimited number of family tree
profi les). Invest in multiple services and your
trees, data and DNA (each test costs $79) will all
work together.
STUDYING ARCHIVES
British National Archives
<www.nationalarchives.gov.uk>
Get started with the guides to genealogical
record types under Help with Your Research >
Family History, then follow the links to collec-
tions both here and elsewhere online.Danish Demographic Database
<ddd.dda.dk/ddd_en.htm>
Here the Danish National Archives serves up
searchable censuses starting with 1787. There’s
also a probate index for Thisted, Viborg, Aal-
borg and Randers counties.Digitalarkivet
<www.digitalarkivet.no/en>
You don’t even need to know Norwegian to get
started at this ever-growing National Archives
of Norway site, which encompasses parish
records, censuses, land and probate papers, emi-
gration records and even more obscure docu-
ments. Many are searchable, including a global
person search.Library and Archives Canada
<www.bac-lac.gc.ca>
Discover Canadian kin by clicking “Ancestors
Search” to search individual databases of cen-
suses, vital records, military records, immigra-
tion lists, land records and many more.National Archives and Records
Administration
<www.archives.gov>
Though not quite as rich a digitized archive as
some other countries’, “America’s attic” does let
you order veterans’ records and research Ger-
man and Russian passengers lists, WWII enlist-
ment records and more.National Archives of Ireland
<www.genealogy.nationalarchives.ie>
Sure and begorrah, you can search Irish cen-
suses (1901, 1911 and surviving fragments), will
collections, marriage records, tithe applotment
books, pensioner records, Catholic convert
rolls and more resources that will make other
researchers green with envy.