IIGS™ Newsletter - July 1998
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IIGS™ Newsletter - July 1998
Just a few days ago I received an email from Family Tree Maker (FTM) informing me of the newest feature on their web site. I browsed over to their site to see what was available. FTM allows very limited access to this site for non-members. You are allowed to search the site, but you cannot review the results. This is a very useful way to determine if membership is right for you at this time. FTM is so sure you will find an ancestor they offer a money back guarantee!
As a member of FTM - Genealogy Library, you have access to over 538 books. The library promotes many of these books as "rare and hard to find" and is committed to providing three additional genealogically related books every business day.
When I entered the site to begin my search, I was interested in the specific ease of use issue. More simply, was this a dummy proof site or was extensive reading required to understand how to use the site? I was pleased to find that this is a dummy-proof site. Three fields were available for input, and I had two separate search buttons to determine how much information I wanted returned. I entered one of my surnames and received several hits. Although none of these appeared to be on my direct research list, there may be an eventual link. I ran checks on several names in my research and, since a good number of the names were rare and unusual, I was not surprised when nothing showed up. Overall the information available was valuable and comprehensive. These entire books are available on-line for review as opposed to being able to access only bits and pieces.
As of this writing, there were five categories of books available. HISTORY had 13 books, LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES had 13 books, PEOPLE contained 314 books, PLACES had 12 books and RECORDS had 83 books.
Recent additions to the library were:
- Morgan County, Indiana, Index to Marriage Records A-Z 1921-1941
- Memorials of the Chauncys
- McKean Historical Notes
There were three databases available at the time of my search:
- Internet Family Finder -- FTM's own powerful search engine designed to search the Internet and return only genealogy-related web pages.
- Social Security Death Index -- A transcribed database of Social Security recipients whose deaths and death benefit payments were reported to the Social Security Administration.
- United States Geographical Names Information System -- You can find the exact locations of cemeteries, buildings, rivers, and other various landmarks in the United States.
FTM - Genealogy Library also offered two research tools, a Vital Records Assistant, which instructs you on how to order records, and Genealogy Discovery Articles. These articles are written by well known genealogists and some who are lesser known. All were stocked with valuable information.
Overall this site has great potential. I look forward to seeing where they are in two years. If they continue to meet their daily goal , we can anticipate having over 2,000 books available to us.
There are a few key issues that I would like to see FTM address in this library. At this time with only simple searches available, I would like to see users able to do more advanced searches. I would also like to see PERSI added to this library, along with additional databases. Having DAR books on-line here would make this a site I would come back to time after time. Additionally I would like to see a larger focus on international books and information. This is one area in which many Americans could benefit.
Check this site out and determine if their resources are what you need. I expect improvements and expansion of this library with the continued quality for which FTM is known.