101 for 2002
By Nancy Hendrickson
Zip through the online genealogy maze and head straight to the Web
sites most worth surfing: our annual picks of the Net's best roots
resources.
Online
ancestor hunting can leave you feeling like you're lost in a vast Internet
maze. You've found countless dead ends among the millions of genealogy sites
out there, but the proverbial pieces of cheese—those digital clues to your
family history—keep eluding you. Your path may produce the prize, but it's
often fraught with frustration.
That's why the editors and experts at Family Tree Magazine are
endlessly navigating that labyrinth of online roots resources. We weed out
the junk and point you to the best sites for your search—in each issue of
the magazine and the Sites of the Day featured on our home page.
And once a year, we whittle down all those worthy Web sites to the ones
that really rise above the rest. We honor those elites here: 2002's 101 best
family history Web sites.
We've narrowed our choices to the 101 destinations that will make your
online searches easier, faster and more productive. Some are "classics"
you'll recognize from past years' picks (see the
2000 and
2001 archives);
others have arrived on the genealogy scene only recently. All appeal to a
wide audience, are easy to use and have a clean design. You'll find free
databases, tools and references, maps, original documents and millions upon
millions of searchable records. If your ancestors aren't on one of these
sites, we're not sure they really existed!
Find news and reviews on more great Web sites in the
August 2002 issue of Family Tree Mgazine.