Before you pay to join that, check with your local library. Ours will give you their password to log on to heritagequest.com or something like that. Maybe it's just heritage.com, anyway, check with them.

So you've used that service?
And do you have to go to the library to use it?
That doesn't work for me...

I used it - it was fun and kind of addictive. I don't remember what it cost. I quit using it after I'd gotten as far as I could go with ancestry.com. My info is all still in there though so I could sign up and start using it again if I get the urge - and the time. You can also export your info in a standard family tree file format for use outside of ancestry.com.

I have a World Deluxe membership and have had it for 5 years. I think it costs $350.00 for the year, something like that.. I use it on a daily basis and oh my gosh yes.. it is very addictive.

To me it is more then worth the money, the different things I have found on my family I would of never found otherwise. Ancestry automatically searches for records for each member you have in your tree and when they find something they thing belongs to that person you will see a green shaking leaf. The hints do not always belong to that person, you do have to be careful about that and not just add those records before checking them out carefully.

There are public and private trees on Ancestry.com, you choose which you want yours to be. When doing research you can look at other people's trees with your family member in them.. you may come across a picture of your Great or Great Great Grandmother or Grandfather that you never knew existed.

On Ancestry you will find census reports, stories, pictures, birth, death and marriage records and immigration records. This is all included in the World Deluxe membership. There is a cheaper membership but why do all that work and not be able to access their site completely?

They have message boards where you can see if anyone else is researching the same surname you are. They have message boards for Surnames, States, Counties in each State and several others. You may be surprised at the descendants you meet.

You can add your own photos to each person and write your own stories if you wish. You can also go to FindAGrave and add any tombstone photos you might find to each person. This is not a quick project.. not something you do overnight.

I have spent about 5 years working on 2 trees, my family and my husband's family. I am now working on one for a friend and also one for my son in law's family.

There are wonderful publishing projects on Ancestry also, you can have it printed out into a book which you can add pictures to, timelines and pedigree charts. You can also have some very neat pedigree charts printed out etc.. I downloaded my tree into a Family Tree Maker program once I was "almost" finished... now when I find something new, I add it into Famly Tree Maker.. From there I printed off pedigree charts and genealogy reports on each set of grandparents, going back 9 generations. I compiled all of thing including pictures into a book form.
I can highly recommend Ancestry.com.. . . What you find is the story of your family and you may never know what is out there if you don't look...

Debbie

WOW! That is a ton of information! Thank you for your thorough explanation. I don't have lots of time so I may just tinker at first.

I'll see if I can figure out what the less expensive memberships cost. I thought it would easy to find, but I'm still looking. What are the chances I'll find ancestors if I can't even find membership info? LOL!

I have had an Ancestry.com World Deluxe membership for many years. It's something like $300 for a year which may seem like a lot, but it works out to about 82¢ a day. If you're at all into genealogy, it's well worth it. And, yes, genealogy is very addicting!

The World Deluxe membership entitles me to ALL of the records that Ancestry.com has, world wide. If you want only records from the USA, you can get just a USA membership, which costs less.

For either the World Deluxe or the USA memberships, you can subcribe on a monthly or quarterly basis, if you don't want to sign up for a whole year's membership. But, if you calculate the monthly or quarterly over the course of a year, you will end up paying more.

You can get a discount on the membership if you volunteer to transcribe new records for the World Archives project for Ancestry.com.

The "leaf" that you hear about in the commercials is a symbol that appears by a name on your tree to indicate a "hint." It means that Ancestry.com has found a record that Ancestry feels is a match to that person on your tree. It could be a Census record, a birth, marriage, or death record, a military record, etc. Here's an example...

When you look at someone in the Pedigree View, you may see a leaf:

If you put your cursor over the leaf, it will tell you how many hints there are to look at:

Then, if you click on the link for the number of hints, you'll see what those hints are:

The second hint, to the 1881 England Census, is a very good one - look at the wife's and son's names.

The third hint is "iffy," but bears checking out.

The fourth is not a good hint and can be ignored.

The fifth hint is also worth looking at.

If you have any questions, or if you would like for me to search for something on Ancestry.com for you, just contact me through the link on "My Page." I've searched for stuff for quite a few KT members. Two KT members were able to join the Daughters of the American Revolution because I was able to provide the documentation they needed to prove their eligibility.

So, there are records from all over the world? I'm wondering because I'm trying to find my mom's family and I don't remember her brother's names. I think her last sister is dead now. I know one of my cousin's first names but not her last. But, I do have my mom's parent's names. They are Japanese. I just wonder if it is all in Japanese if that is who is using those records?

My DD did some research on Ancestry.com (not any paid sites) for my paternal side, and printed out several pages for me. I see there are mistakes, or omissions, with names. Can they be corrected, and if so how?

Sue

The information you see on Ancestry.com (as well as other genealogy sites) cannot always be 100% accurate because it is, after all, transcribed by humans; and we humans do make errors. You see this a LOT where there is handwriting to be transcribed. I've even seen errors where the handwriting is easy enough to read, but for some unknown reason the person transcribing it wrote something different.

You also have to realize, especially with Census records, that often the enumerator (the person writing down the information) had a difficult time understanding a heavy accent. There was also unfamiliarity with foreign names. Also, there were times when a family's information wasn't provided by someone from the family, but by a neighbor who might not have all of the information correct.

Information on death certificates can be notoriously bad. After all, the information is provided by someone who is still living, who isn't necessarily a really close relative of the deceased, and who is grieving and not always thinking clearly.

In answer to your question, yes, the mistakes can be corrected. If you are a paid member at Ancestry.com, you can click on a link to submit a correction. All submissions are reviewed, and if the correction has merit, it will be allowed. Sometimes the erroneous information is removed and replaced; other times the submitted information is added as alternate information.

I logged in last night - there is a free 14 day trial but they ask for a credit card. If you don't cancel in that 14 days, it (the cheaper membership) is about $150 per year on your card.

Someone - don't know who - had done a bunch of work on my maternal grandmother's side. There were some old photos I've never seen! It was a hoot!

Thanks much!!

Thanks for the info about making changes. Some day I might sign up for a paid membership, and make those changes.

Sue