FamilyLink, the company behind the World Vital Records subscription data service and FamilyHistoryLink.com genealogy networking site, has a new, nice-looking corporate site. Click Projects for information on upcoming products such as WorldHistory.com (now in private beta, it’ll let you view historical happenings by time, place, event or person) and GenSeek (billed as a service that'll "revolutionize" how you do genealogy, GenSeek is rumored to be the Web 2.0 ...

These news items come from ProQuest, which provides libraries with services such as ProQuest Historical Newspapers and HeritageQuest Online that are free to patrons. ProQuest is getting together with the Center for Research Libraries (a consortium of 240 college, university and other libraries) to offer digital access to 3 million pages of US trade, special-interest and general periodicals from the 19th and 20th centuries. Magazines include American Annual of Photography, ...

Our post about the debut of NBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?" celebrity-reality-genealogy TV series sparked some commentary on what humankind needs more: Another reality show or a hole in our heads. Looks like you'll have more time to decide whether to watch (or be swayed by the success of the British show of the same name). Lisa Louise Cooke at Genealogy Gems reports the show's debut has been pushed back from April 20 to sometime during the summer. Learn more on the Genealogy Gems blog.

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I’m 90 percent sure my long search for my immigrant great-grandparents' passenger list has come to an end. A few small but significant details dragged out my search—maybe my “lessons learned” will help you. ...

In observance of Black History month, this week we’ll highlight Web sites from our “Best for African-American Researchers” category: Lowcountry Africana: This free site focuses on records that document the heritage of African-Americans in the historic rice-growing areas of South Carolina, Georgia and northeastern Florida, home to the distinctive Gullah/Geechee culture. Records include those of the wealthy Drayton family, which owned several plantations, plus Freedmen's ...

A plethora of parties are planned to honor the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth Feb. 12. (That’s also the 82nd anniversary of my grandma’s birth and the ninth anniversary of my nephew’s birth, so I’ll have to divvy up my celebrating.) Go to the Lincoln Bicentennial Web site to find local observances, get facts on the 16th president’s life and download the text of his speeches and letters. ...