(AUDIO PODCAST) It’s August, and before summer slips away, we’re going surfing—genealogy style! In this episode, we’re taking a fast-moving tour of favorite genealogy websites, along with some lesser-known gems that may be completely new to you. At each stop, you’ll discover a reason to visit and a practical tip for getting more from the site.

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Sandie writes in to share her success story after listening to Researching Your Father’s Story – Episode 308

Lisa’s Recommendations: Book on Chicago research: Finding Your Chicago Ancestors by Grace DeMelle.

For comprehensive Chicago genealogy, the best free starting point is FamilySearch. It offers the largest free collection of digitized Cook County records, including Cook County Birth Certificates (1871–1953) and massive US Census databases.

For localized, city-specific research, explore these free resources:

• Geographic & Neighborhood Mapping: Utilize the Newberry Library Chicago Ancestors Project to discover your family’s history by street address, ward, and neighborhood.
• Archival Collections: Search the Chicago History Museum ARCHIE Catalog to find early Chicago portraits, manuscript collections, and historical directories.
• Local Vital Statistics: Use the Cook County Genealogy Online Portal to request non-certified historical birth (older than 75 years), marriage (older than 50 years), and death records (older than 20 years) for Chicago and suburban Cook County.
• Newspaper & Periodical Indexes: Check Chicago Public Library Genealogy Resources

Devon writes to say the downloadable Premium show notes are a huge help.

Linda, also a Premium Member, shares her breakthrough utilizing the Genealogy Research Plan course included in Premium Membership. She also used Find a Grave. “I had to share because your podcasts were instrumental in my skill set.”

Surfin’ the Internet for Great Websites

THE BIG WAVES

Google is still one of the best vehicles for finding both online and offline information for genealogy.

Think of Google.com’s current tools this way:

• Google traditional search — FIND
• Google AI Mode — UNDERSTAND
• Gemini.com — WORK

Tip: In traditional Google Search, use quotation marks strategically around important names, phrases and keywords. Google will return exact matches.

FamilySearch is free and one of the largest genealogy websites. Explore the Catalog, Research Wiki, digitized images and individual collections.

Tip: Try FamilySearch Full Text Search. It uses AI to search handwritten and typed historical documents that previously could only be browsed page by page.

Ancestry is a massive record-discovery engine, DNA hub, and place to build a family tree.

Tip: When reviewing hints, open the original record image and mine it for every clue. In records like the census, be sure to review the pages before and after the page with your family. Remember that hints draw from only a portion of Ancestry’s total record collection, so conduct your own searches as well.

MyHeritage

MyHeritage is especially strong in international collections, DNA and technology-driven genealogy tools.

• Photo enhancement tools: improve, repair and colorize old family photographs.
• Search Connect: find other MyHeritage members who have searched for the same ancestor. Open a Search Connect result and review the researcher’s Related Searches to see whether they may be working on the same family.
• AI Scribe: use AI to help transcribe handwritten historical documents.

PADDLE FARTHER OUT

GenealogyIndexer.org is a free search engine covering more than 2 million pages of historical material, including directories, Yizkor books, military records, school records and other sources. It is particularly useful for Central and Eastern European research.

Tip: Don’t get hung up on exact spelling. Try surname variations, partial surnames and place names. If you can’t find the person, search for the place and the people around them.

The Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild (ISTG) is a long-running volunteer project with more than 30,000 passenger manifests online, along with information about ships, immigration, naturalization, ports, archives and other migration resources.

Indexes can be approached from several directions, including surname, ship, port of arrival, port of departure and date.

Special projects include German departures, Australian convict ships, World War II refugees to Australia, Irish immigrants to Argentina and more.

Tip: Don’t search only for the immigrant. Search the voyage. Try the ship name, port, date and other family members who may have traveled together.

Matricula provides free online access to European church registers, primarily baptism, marriage and death records. Collections currently include records from Austria, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Serbia and Slovenia.

Church registers can reveal parents, godparents, witnesses, residences, occupations and other members of an ancestor’s FAN club (friends, associates and neighbors.)

Tip: Figure out the parish before searching for the person. Identify the likely parish, locate the appropriate register and time period, and browse the original pages. Don’t stop with your ancestor’s entry; study nearby records for recurring surnames, witnesses and godparents.

Reclaim The Records is a nonprofit organization of genealogists, historians, researchers and open-government advocates working to obtain genealogically valuable public records and make them freely available.

The organization uses Freedom of Information and Open Data laws (and sometimes litigation) to obtain records held by government agencies. More than 60 million records have been reclaimed.

Tip: If you encountered an unavailable record collection several years ago, check again. Online record availability is not fixed. Collections, laws and access restrictions change.

The Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland is digitally reuniting this scattered material. In June 2026, another 190,000 records were released, bringing the collection to 544,000 records and 340 million searchable words of Irish history.

The Public Record Office of Ireland was destroyed in 1922 during the Irish Civil War, taking centuries of Irish archival records with it. But copies, transcripts and related records survived in repositories around the world.

Tip: Don’t search only for a surname. Search the county, parish, estate, townland and institution associated with the family.

When records are said to have been destroyed, ask:

• Were copies made?
• Were transcripts created?
• Were portions published?
• Did another government office receive a copy?
• Was the document quoted or abstracted elsewhere?

The original may be gone while some or all of its information survives.

Arcanum Maps features a rich collection of historical European maps, including detailed maps of the former Habsburg Empire and surrounding regions. Many collections offer synchronized views for comparing historical maps with other maps, along with 3D tools that can help visualize the landscape.

Tip: Look for maps as close as possible to the time your ancestor lived there keeping in mind that borders and boundaries may have changed multiple times over the years.

Cite-Builder was designed specifically to help genealogists create source citations. Select the type of source, enter the information about the record and let Cite-Builder help assemble the citation.

The service offers more than 900 source templates and multiple citation styles, including Evidence Explained. Free and paid versions are available.

Remember that a citation generator does not replace understanding the source. Determine:

• What is the record?
• Who created it?
• When was it created?
• Where did you access it?
• Are you viewing an original image, index, transcription or database entry?

Tip: Create the citation when you find the record. Don’t wait until later.

WorldCat is said to be the world’s largest library catalog and can help you discover books, articles, maps, theses and dissertations, sound recordings and other materials held by libraries around the world.

Tip: Use WorldCat first as a discovery tool. Before asking, “Can I get this online?” ask, “Does this thing exist?” Once you identify an item, determine which libraries hold it. Your local library may be able to obtain it through interlibrary loan, or the holding institution may offer look-up or copying services.

THE QUICK SURF 

Google Books – Search over 25 million digitized items. Think of it as Google Printed Materials, not just books.

Wayback Machine – Use the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine to recover websites and webpages that have changed or disappeared from the web.

Library of Congress – Explore the massive newspaper collection, historical maps, photographs, manuscripts and other collections that can help reconstruct the world in which your ancestors lived.

Find a Grave – Search cemetery information, memorials, photographs and family connections.