Ancestry.com
www.ancestry.com
Web-genealogy behemoth Ancestry offers subscriptions featuring digitized original records, transcriptions and indexes. You can buy a year's access to the entire site for $189.95, or sign up for these record collections individually:

• Historical Newspaper Collection—Search for any word in dozens of newspapers from across the United States, and view the actual page images on your computer screen. Subscriptions run $29.95 for three months or $79.95 for one year.
   
• UK & Ireland Records Collection—Databases include Parish and Probate Records, with information on 15 million people from 1538 to 1837; the Pallot Marriage and Baptism Index, covering 4 million names from England; and an index of 600,000 Irish immigrants who arrived in New York between 1846 and 1851. Access to the UK and Ireland databases will cost you $39.95 for three months or $99.95 for a year.
   
• US Census Images & Indexes—Ancestry was the first site to offer online access to the complete US census: digital images of all population schedules from 1790 to 1930. Now Ancestry is creating indexes to the entire collection. The price of a subscription is $39.95 quarterly or $99.95 annually.
   
• US Records Collection—Search more than 3,000 databases ranging from military service records to finding aids such as the Periodical Source Index (PERSI) and the American Genealogical-Biographical Index. It costs $29.95 for three months or $79.95 each year.
   

FamilySearch
www.familysearch.org
This popular free Web site from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) features several major databases:

• Census Records—FamilySearch's census database covers 50 million names in the 1880 US census, 4.3 million names in the 1881 Canadian census and 30 million names in the 1881 British census. Each transcribed individual record links to the next person on the census schedule and a whole-household entry; you also get the roll number for the microfilmed original records, which you can order from the LDS' Family History Library.
• International Genealogical Index (IGI)—Access millions of worldwide birth and marriage records spanning 1500 to 1885. Many—but not all—IGI entries are extracts of actual vital records; the rest come from submissions by LDS members.
• US Social Security Death Index—Search 64 million records.
• Vital Records Index—Tap indexes to Mexican and Scandinavian births, christenings and marriages. The Mexico database contains about 2 million index records; Scandinavia's boasts 4.6 million.
   

Genealogy.com
www.genealogy.com
Genealogy.com's original claim to fame (aside from its best-selling software, Family Tree Maker www.familytreemaker.com) was data CD-ROMs. Now it's transferring that prolific CD data to its Web-site databases and, partly through a partnership with ProQuest www.proquest.com, offering images of actual records. Its subscriptions feature books, passenger lists and census images:

• Family and Local Histories—Access loads of family and local history books, as well as rare genealogical journals, atlases and primary sources—all fully digitized and searchable—for $14.99 per month or $79.99 for a year.
• Genealogy Library—Discover a wealth of genealogical data in this database, which includes genealogies, town and county histories, 1850 census images and military, marriage, probate, church and other records. Access to this database runs $9.99 monthly or $49.99 annually.
• International and Passenger Records—This collection documents millions of immigrants from Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Russia and other countries. Data comes from passenger lists, published works and other sources. Subscriptions cost $14.99 per month or $79.99 for a year.
• US Census Collection—Page images of all US federal censuses from 1790 to 1910 are being placed online with indexes (1920 and 1930 will be added later). Subscription prices are $19.99 per month or $99.99 per year.
  A $149.99 annual membership buys you access to two of these collections: Genealogy Library and the international collection. You also get the 1900 census (alas, not the entire collection), along with World Family Tree, a database of user-submitted genealogy files, and a copy of Family Tree Maker.
   

New England Ancestors
www.newenglandancestors.org
Members of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) can access dozens of databases on the society's Web site, including these resources:

• The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633—The Great Migration Project aims to compile all prior research on early New England immigrants. NEHGS has published three volumes so far and posted the data online.
• New England Historical and Genealogical Register—Search the full text of NEHGS' journal, which has published thousands of genealogies. Issues from its inception in 1847 to 1994 are online. An annual NEHGS membership costs $60. Besides the online databases, you get subscriptions to two print sources: New England Ancestors magazine and The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.
   

RootsWeb
www.rootsweb.com
When searching RootsWeb's abundant free mailing lists, cemetery records and military records, don't overlook these key databases:

• Death Records—Search millions of death records from California (1940 to 1997), Kentucky (1911 to 2000), Maine (1960 to 1997) and Texas (1964 to 1998) at searches.rootsweb.com.
• Obituary Daily Times—Visit obits.rootsweb.com to check an index to more than 8 million obituaries across the United States, most from 1996 to the present.
   

USGenWeb
www.usgenweb.com
Through the efforts of volunteers nationwide, this extensive network has quickly become a key destination for genealogists. Don't overlook any of the project's main parts:

• Archives—Here you can view transcribed records from every state. Use the search engines to find a name in a specific state's files or anywhere in the entire collection.
• Census Project—The goal of these ambitious volunteer efforts is to transcribe all US census records from 1790 to 1930. Some transcriptions include links to page images.
• State Pages—These are the jumping-off points to county pages, where you'll find gravestone transcriptions, church records, indexes to wills and much more.
• Tombstone Project—Here you'll find gravestone transcriptions from cemeteries across the country.
   

Genealogy's two commercial powerhouses now have a single corporate family tree. In a move that rocked the family history world, MyFamily.com and A&E Television Networks (AETN) announced Tuesday that MyFamily, owner of online genealogy giant Ancestry.com, has acquired Genealogy.com, producer of the top-selling Family Tree Maker software. The deal puts Ancestry.com, RootsWeb.com and Genealogy.com all under the MyFamily umbrella—and allows MyFamily to overwhelmingly dominate the Internet genealogy business. Together, these Web sites receive more than 10 million visitors every month and boast more than 1 million paid subscriptions. MyFamily will also receive promotion on AETN as part of the deal.

We'd like to know what you think about this acquisition. Is this business marriage for better or for worse? Click here if you'd like to weigh in on this issue. Some comments will be posted online and in the newsletter.