Tool for Ancestry DNA Matches

Screenshot of FREE Ancestry DNA Match Downloader Page

Partly prompted by my update of the Internet Archive post, David Nowotnik (of a Colleyville, Texas genealogy association), sent a link from North Texas of a tool he developed to use Microsoft Excel to check for Ancestry DNA matches. The tool is free and the link is here. The page looks like the image above.

New North Beach Genealogy Facebook Page

Carrie, with a slightly Photoshopped sign

Thanks to Carrie, we now have a "non-Zombie" Facebook page which may be found here.

I suggest visiting and following it, since I suspect Carrie will use it frequently.

Find it FAST in the US Census

If you need to look up something in the US Census. Pretty much all the big genealogy sites can help you. However, it takes time to put all the information in and then look through the images. It turns out there are simple and quick ways to look up something in the census.

Introducing MyHeritage Education – September 2019

by Michael W. Dindinger, via email on September 8, 2019
FAMILY HISTORY LEARNING MOMENT

Michael's main source for this post:
MyHeritage Education
additional major sources:
MyHeritage Blog
MyHeritage Education – YouTube
Genealogy’s Star Blog

General Comment from Michael: I am aware that some of you do not have MyHeritage on your computer systems – This program is available within the FamilySearch Center portal. This ‘Learning Moment’ is long, but there was a lot of material that is new.

International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG)

ISOGG Logo

From time to time, in our society, and in others, you will hear about DNA testing and pros and cons of various ones. Personally, that is all very interesting, but it tends to go in one ear and out the other. However, one place to remember (if you only remember one) is the ISOGG (go to this post title for the formal, but LOOOONG name. ISOGG is here.

Using Cyndi's List

Cyndi's List is more or less the "Encyclopedia Britannica" of Genealogy links. They claim to have over 300,000 links divided into 221 categories. The site also has a search engine that seems to bring up a lot of ads you have to scroll through to get to the things you used it to see.

Library of Congress Newspaper Archive

There are a number of newspaper archive sites that provide ways for people to bring up stuff about their ancestors. One of the best known is newspapers.com, which is a paid site that is run by Ancestry. Timberland Library System subscribes to "Newspaper Archive" which you can access for free from home if you have a TRL Library Card.

Using Worldcat for Genealogy Research

Worldcat, at https://www.worldcat.org/ is a resource you can use to find WHERE books you've run across in your research are stored. Many libraries (including Ocean Shores), are worldcat members that publish their collections to the worldcat database. People who search for items in those collections, can find out which member libraries have those collection items. While you aren't going to find exotic genealogy books in our Ocean Shores library, you might find very useful books nearby. For a small fee, Ocean Shores might be able to get them here via inter-library loan. TRL has free inter-library loans and if you are a UW Alumni Association, you can access the UW library's extensive collection.

FamilySearch Center Portal

Ocean Shores FamilySearch Center
Information updated in August 2026

FamilySearch has arranged for several premium online research services to be available at our Ocean Shores FamilySearch Center. The special access that FamilySearch centers have been granted to these databases only works when the online services are accessed through a computer in a FamilySearch Center.* Please note that entering the web sites of these providers through their regular, public URLs will not provide access to the full versions that have been authorized for FamilySearch center use. This is what is available:

British Library Newspapersdigital archive This fully searchable database of the British Library's newspaper holdings provides a complete run of 48 national and regional Victorian British newspapers for the 19th century from 1800 to 1900. These support the study of colonial history, genealogical research, politics, urban studies, and media courses.

Alexander Street Press, American Civil War

• ResearchData: Contains indexed, searchable information on over 4 million soldiers and thousands of battles, together with 15,000 photographs.
• Letters and Diaries: Contains approximately 100,000 indexed pages of diaries, letters, and memoirs, including 4,000 pages of previously unpublished manuscripts, such as the letters of Amos Wood and his wife and the diary of Maryland planter William Claytor.
• Images,Photographs, Posters, and Ephemera: Provides a vivid history of the American Civil War with over 1,400 images.
• Social and Cultural History: Personal accounts of well-known historical figures.
• Women and Social Movements in the United States: Organized around the history of women in social movements in the United States between 1600 and 2000 A.D.

American Ancestors Created by the expert staff at the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), America's founding genealogical organization, AmericanAncestors.org is the portal to the nation's leading resource for the highest-quality, comprehensive family history services.

Ancestry Institution (similar to Ancestry library) is available at the FamilySearch Center, providing access to millions of records from around the world, including immigration, census, voter, vital, and military records; newspapers and periodicals; family trees; photos and images; directories, maps, court records, land records, wills and financial records, stories, memories, and histories; and detailed records about births, marriages, deaths, land ownership, and much more.

ArkivDigital Online is the largest private provider of Swedish Church Records and other historical records online! All images are newly photographed color images of the original documents.
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FamNet online family history network for those who have New Zealand roots.

Findmypast makes it easy to research UK ancestry. Search census records, and trace births, marriages, and deaths to bring your family history to life. Please note that not all of the content from findmypast is available in FamilySearch centers.

Fold3 has focused their efforts on gathering the best online collection of military records and stories. From the FamilySearch Center, it appears the entire Fold3 site is available.

Geneanet With 3 billion referenced individuals and 600,000 trees online, Geneanet is the first site dedicated to genealogy in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany.

Goldie May is a suite of software power tools. It is helpful to keep FamilySearch and Ancestry results.

Irish Ancestors - Irish ancestral research with extensive records.

MyHeritage Library Edition Used by millions of people worldwide to help research family history, build a family tree, and add photos, historical records, and more.

Newspaper Archive is a large historical newspaper database.

Paper Trail provides access to 19th-century westward American migration.Provides access to 19th-century westward American migration

Puzzila provides new research opportunities on descendant lines in Family Tree.

Ocean Shores FamilySearch Center

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

228 Albatross Street

OS FamilySearch Center showing entry

 

Current Hours of Operation

• Tuesdays from 10AM until Noon.
• Wednesdays from 6PM until 8

In-house Resources

• 3 hardwired computers
• 1 printer
• Wi-Fi access

* Parking lot access with a Chrome web browser extension (contact the Center for details on how this works)


Family History Guide
5 Minute Genealogy series


New to Genealogy – Beginners First Step
FamilySearch Library
YouTube Presentations here and here