SPANISH GENEALOGY QUEST CONTINUES

Happily esconsed at my desk this morning, I am reviewing the 20 pages of notes taken this past week from a class titled, Advanced Internet Genealogy. The professor at Christopher Wren Assn. at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg is a master genealogist along with the three assistants in the class. I was mesmerized with the wealth of knowledge filling the room and delighted to find I had only scratched the surface of the many research repositories and internet links to the genealogy world.

I learned that before Ellis Island, there was Castle Garden. I learned that you can go to the Library of Congress web site and look for books of specific counties, times, ethnic communities and genealogy -- print out the book information and take it to a local library and request an Interstate Library Loan or take it to the LDS Family History spot in my local area for help. I found I can find ancestors on the www.familysearch.org web site and jot down the film # and page # and they would order it (for a small shipping fee) and I can study and copy it when it arrives in their offices.

I learned there is a site www.cyndislist.com and is amazing.......they have indexed where and why and how for many sites based on what you want and where you want to look and what forms to use and why, including free templates.

I learned that using www.rootsweb.com can lead to message boards so you can type in your family history and others will read it and respond if they have similar experiences and family history stories that could help yours. I have already exchanged information with a fellow Spaniard and look forward to the amazing ride into the Silvan and Ruiz ancestor tree! Now, armed with my book of knowledge, I'm crashing through as many brick walls as history has built for me to jump over! PS