I"ve started adding links to Footnote.com (see their 7-day free trial). You can search their databases for free, then view the original document images with a fee-based membership. They have an arrangement with the National Archives and Records Administration to digitize many of their records. The 17 new links I added tonight are all NARA naturalization records and indexes: Naturalization Index - MA Original source: NARA M1545. Index to naturalization petitions and records for the District of Massachusetts, within the US District Court, 1906-1966, and the US Circuit Court, 1906-1911. ...

At what point did it become acceptable to avoid using punctuation? And since when can you enter a long series of surnames with commas between them, but no spaces? And why is it okay to write complete sentences without using one uppercase letter? I may have failed the 8th grade spelling bee because of the word "scenario," but I do know that spelling is a lot easier these days with a spellchecker. Use it!! I do not take e-mails seriously when several words are misspelled, when no punctuation is used, or when consonants and vowels are added or dropped randomly from words. Call me picky, but ...

The first time you went to the library you had to learn how to use the card catalog. The first time you went to the archives or a Family History Center you had to learn how to use a microfilm reader. So, you should take time to learn how to use another important research tool: Google.Take time to read the Help files at http://www.google.com/support/?ctx=webStart by reading the Basics, even if you think you"ve already had enough experience using Google. It is never too late to learn something new.Read the Advanced search help files to learn a new trick or two.Keep a research workbook open ...

I have a links category called Ancestry.com-The Basics. I created it a while back for several reasons: to draw attention to the numerous freely accessible resources available to everyone through Ancestry, and to point out how to subscribe and unsubscribe from their services (after hearing from people who stated they couldn"t figure out how to do so). In reviewing some of the many databases at Ancestry I noticed that they have highlighted several of them with a "FREE" tag next to the title. So, tonight I added a new section to my page for "Free Databases" and I started adding links. I have ...

This is one of the things that really drives me crazy: bounced e-mail because of bad addresses, filters, or blocking services. On average I receive about 200 e-mails a day. My ISP filters spam and viruses. My e-mail software (Eudora) then filters spam and junk one more time. Each day I go through both my ISP and my local junk boxes just to be sure that they didn"t mistakenly identify something as spam. Periodically I find one that shouldn"t be there. Following the junk filters my e-mail software then filters and sorts specific types of messages such as new link requests, broken link ...

I created a new storefront on Amazon.com tonight: Cyndi"s List Genealogy Bookstorehttp://astore.amazon.com/cyndislist-20It is a categorized list of genealogy research books that looks a lot like my bookshelf at home.

I"m honored to have received this today from Family Tree Magazine: "Cyndi’s List This classic collection of links continues to grow—with 264,800 links in 180-plus categories at last count—and remains our favorite stop to find family history sites." Thank you David Frixel & Family Tree Magazine! www.familytreemagazine.com/101sites/2007/

I just put a new category online: Podcasts for Genealogywww.CyndisList.com/podcasts.htmIt is small, but gives you a few ideas of what some people are thinking to do with them.

I just noticed that my Your Research Workbook post on July 10th had no comments. I looked into it and found that the options for comments on that post were turned off. So, despite the fact that I asked you all for your comments about what you use for a research workbook, I didn"t allow any of you to respond. I"m brilliant! Sorry about that. It is fixed now, so comment away.

Well, the CyndisList.com server was down for a while today. Why does it always happen when I"m away from my computer? A girl has to sleep, eat, or play with the kid and the dogs sometimes too. Only one friend e-mailed to tell me the site was down. I can only assume the rest of you have a life away from the computer during the summer. Good for you! Some days I feel like this laptop is a ball and chain. I have about 50 e-mails waiting for me to reply (I get about 200 each day), with at least two of them being e-mails I should have answered a week ago. Sigh. Back to the links...Cyndi

I just finished all the new link submissions from 2003. And Michele and I are putting a big dent in 2004 right now. The backlog has shrunk from over 10,400 to less than 9,400 links now. Going through the backlog we first weed out the broken links and sites that no longer exist. Those, along with duplicate submissions sent by visitors, account for approximately 10 to 15% of the backlog that is currently on the What"s New pages.

(Hi all - I started writing this one in May.then somehow lost track of June and half of July. Better late than never?) When you visit the library, a courthouse, your local Family History Center, or any other research repository you take your research workbook with you, right? If you don"t take it, you should. And if you don"t have one it is time to create one for both your real-world offline research and your virtual research on the Internet. WHY YOU NEED ONE A research workbook is a place for you to keep track of the work you do, the notes you take, the goals you have, and the ideas ...

I"m working on new links today (duh). Once again I have run across a web site with "geneaology" in the title. I often find misspellings in the title of a web site, or within the description. Obviously, those are the two spots I focus on most when I"m setting up a new link. When I find "geneology" or "geneaology" or "ancestory" I find myself with a conundrum. Do I e-mail the owner and tell them that they"ve misspelled the word? That would be the nice and polite thing to do. But the next question that I ask myself is this: if they misspell the name of our hobby what other errors might ...