GREAT! #8
--->Genealogy Research Easy Access Tip!
This information is excerpted from "How to Do Research on the Internet"
http://www.researchonline.net/res1.htm
Permission is explicitly granted to repost this message to other maling 
lists.



GATHERING THE GEDCOMS


Gather ye GEDCOMs while ye may, 
Old Time is still a-flying, 
And this same flower that smiles to-day 
To-morrow will be dying. 
RobertHerrick (1591-1674)
(paraphrased)
    
There are about a dozen sites on the internet that are directories or 
collections of GEDCOM files.

This GREAT tip gives an overview of what you'll find and how to use 
them.

GEDCOM files are basically text files of family records which contain 
"tags" that  identify each field of the record and ties the family together.  
To effectively utilize GEDCOM files you will need a Genealogy Program 
such as Ultimate Family Tree.  These programs allow you to organize 
your family history and print a variety of reports.  They also allow you to 
import GEDCOMs from other researchers and combine their work with 
yours.  Since these are all the results of other's research, the quality will 
vary greatly from one to another, and you should confirm any 
information you find in GEDCOMs before trying to build on the data.

There are a number of tools for viewing and manipulating GEDCOM files 
in the Genealogy Forum of AOL and on the internet at:

http://ftp.cac.psu.edu/genealogy/ftp/gedcom/INDEX.html

There are several libraries of GEDCOM files available on the internet.  
Additionally, the World Family Tree project sells a number of CD-ROMS 
of GEDCOM files.

Basically, the GEDCOM collections on line, falls into two categories: (1) 
collections of actual GEDCOM files on line and (2) "Published" 
GEDCOMS - files or sites which are not in the native GEDCOM format, 
but are the results of publishing various reports from GEDCOM files.

Collectionsof GEDCOM files on line:

GENSERV has a large collection of GEDCOM files available on line.  This 
collection is maintained by Cliff Manis and is accessible at:

http://www.genserv.com

To participate in his program, Cliff requests that you provide a GEDCOM 
file of your own, then you may search his files of over 13 million names 
and retrieve the files of interest to you.

Family Tree Maker has several hundred CD-ROMs of GEDCOM files 
which have been submitted by individuals.  Their index may be searched 
at

http://www.familytreemaker.com

You may then purchase the CD-ROM with the families of interest to you.

Prior to the popularization of the internet in 1996, there were large 
collections of GEDCOM files available on GEnie, Fidonet, and Delphi.  I 
do not know the status of those files now.

Compuserve also has a large collection of GEDCOM files.  I do not know 
the extent of the files available, nor do I believe that they have been 
indexed. Compuserve members may retrieve the files from their archives.

America On Line has a collection of approximately 3,600 GEDCOM files.  
These are available for download via AOL members.    Some 2.4 million 
names are in the files.   They have been partially indexed by Eastern 
Digital Resources as a part of The Genealogist's Index to the World 
Wide Web.  This index is available on CD-ROM for $12.00.  Details are 
on line at:

http://members.aol.com/genwebindx

Genealogy.org  has a collection of approximately 550 GEDCOM files 
which are accessible via the WWW or via FTP.  These files and their 
index are maintained by Andrew J. Morris and the files are also indexed 
on the Genealogist's Index to the World Wide Web mentioned above.   
Since many of the files are quite large, I recommend accessing the site via 
FTP.  Instructions for access are on their web site:

http://www.genealogy.org

There is a collection of approximately 100 GEDCOM files located at:

http://pixel.cs.vt.edu/library/gedcom/

"PublishedGEDCOMs" on line.

The largest initiative in this area to date is Gene Stark's GENDEX.  Gene 
maintains a site index to all of the individuals who have used his 
GED2HTML software to publish their family histories on line.  The site 
index is located at:

http://www.gendex.com

Both of the two sites listed below now have an extensive collection of 
home pages created by individuals from their own personal GEDCOM 
files.  Various formats and reports are represented.  The GEDCOM file 
itself is not available, but you can contact the owner if you find 
something of interest.

http://www.ancestry.com
http://www.familytreemaker.com

The following two sites do not have the full GEDCOM files accessible, 
but both contain extensive indexes to their family group sheets which are 
derived from GEDCOM files.  These indexes are a great resource as they 
also contain dates, location and marriage information.

Kindred Konnections

http://www.kindredkonnections.com

Yates Publishing

http://www.sanbachs.com/cdi.html

The Grandfather of all GEDCOM collections is the Ancestral File of the 
LDS church.  It is now searchable at

http://www.familysearch.org

You can take a diskette to your local FHC library and retrieve the 
GEDCOM formatted records that are of interest.


GREAT! #8
--->Genealogy Research Easy Access Tip!
This information is excerpted from "How to Do Research on the Internet"
http://www.researchonline.net/res1.htm
Permission is explicitly granted to repost this message to other maling 
lists.


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