Reference Tools
Census Enumeration Districts
Cousin Calculator
Cousin Relationship Chart
Genealogy Research Forms
Geographic Names
One-Step Webpages by Stephen Morse
The Inflation Calculator
Linkpendium – 10,000,000+ links to worldwide online resources for genealogy
Tombstone Birthday Calculator
U.S. Dollar – Value Then and Now
What Does That Say??? Deciphering Old Handwriting
WolframAlpha
Finding Living People – AnyWho, Facebook, FamilyTreeNow, PeopleFinders, Pipl, White Pages, ZabaSearch
Writing/Research Organization
Creating a Genealogy Research Plan Like a Detective – Excellent article on ThoughtCo.
To record stories/information:
Audacity – free version to record stories, thoughts or whatever else you may want.
To create visual stories to share:
Adobe Spark – create stories and videos to share; free & easy to use
Sway – Microsoft product similar to Adobe Spark; create and share stories; free and easy to use
PowerPoint – for slide presentations, available with Microsoft Office
Using timelines to tell family stories:
HistoryLines – a subscription site at which you can enter information about ancestors and an interactive timeline in historical context appears.
Timetoast – Use a timeline to organize research about a specific person or family or time period.
Apps for telling family stories (both free and fee):
Cozi – online family organizer, free
Legacy Stories- write, record and curate your family history online and share
StoryWorth- weekly questions are sent out to family members and then collected into a keepsake book
Mind Mapping Tools:
MindMappingSoftwareBlog – Mind mapping is similar to story boarding, except that mind mapping helps your create streams of related thoughts that you might like to integrate into your story. Story boarding is more akin to arranging those thoughts in a logical fashion allowing the story to be told in an interesting way.
Coggle – mind mapping and collaboration
Note taking:
Evernote – cloud-based note taking program, which can also be used for collaboration/sharing; free with limitations on two devices
Live Scribe – smart pen for cloud note taking
OneNote – Microsoft product similar to Evernote
Reading old script:
BYU’s Script Tutorial – Learn how to read old script in 8 languages
Transcribing Digital Images:
Jacob Boerema’s Transcript – freeware program to help you transcribe text in digital images
GenScriber
TextGrabber
Writing:
Scrivener – is a program available for both Windows and Mac that helps you organize your thoughts through story boarding to produce a well written family history. There is a free 30 day free trial available (30 days of use, not 30 calendar days), but then it must be purchased.
Trello – an app that allows you to organize and share your work; free
Research Analysis and Logs:
Clooz – document analysis program for family historians; free 2 week trial
Custodian 4 for Family Historians– database software which helps you to store, index and organize information
Evidentia – 14 day trial version available; user can collect information, analyze evidence, highlight missed connections
Research Ties – Users can plan research, record results and analyze documents
Zotero – free online program to collect, organize, cite and share info
NOTE: Many genealogy software programs include research logs, sometimes categorized as “To Do” lists.
Create source citations:
BiBMe – free site to create citations, save and store bibliographies
Citation Machine – This site will generate citations in multiple formats.
Citing Archival Sources – Lakehead University’s site
Easybib – free/subscription, depending on the style of citation that you want to create. Non-MLA format is by subscription. Subscription is also required if you want to save and store your work on the site.
Evidence Explained – Elizabeth Shown Mills’ site that is a companion to her book, Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace.
Google Docs Template – Cite your sources using Thomas MacEntee’s ready-to-go template.
Ottobib – If you have the ISBN number for a book, it will create the citation for you; free
Record Seek – creates source citations from the web
Zotero – describes itself as “free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources.”
Organize your personal library:
Library Thing – online catalog of books in your home library and more
Images and More Images
Web Clippers:
Evernote Web Clipper – This web clipper is part of the note taking system.
Irfanview – This is the program used in the Family History Library and the Family History Centers
One Note Web Clipper – This web clipper is part of the note taking system.
Screen Hunter – Free online clipper which is easy to use. There are also paid upgraded versions with more functions.
Editing Images:
- Adobe Photoshop – The program to use if you have major work to do on digital images. If you don’t have an older version on your home computer, currently this program is by cloud subscription. There is a Mac version.
- Adobe Photoshop Elements – This program can still be purchased. There is a Mac version.
- Snagit – This is much more robust than the free editing tools, but not as powerful as Photoshop or Elements. There is also a Mac version.
- ACDSee Photo Software – Available for PC and Mac with three price ranges, depending on your needs
- PicMonkey – Utility program to edit photos. Subscription is offered both monthly and yearly.
- Fotor – Mac free photo editing program
- Be Funky – Another free photo editing program
- Pixlr – Free program to add a vintage feel to your photos
- UMarkOnline – Add a watermark to your photos. Free version.
For those who want to rename digital files and you have lots of them, there are two tools which have been mentioned to me. Both are PC only:
Online Ancestor Photos:
DeadFred.com
Google Images – Images can be searched in the traditional way, using a surname and/or place. But there is another way. Notice the camera on the right side of the search box? Clicking on the camera allows me to upload an image of my own. Google will then search for a matching image! If anyone else has the same image uploaded to a website, Google will find a match for me.
TinEye – like the Google images camera, is a reverse image locator. Just upload your image to the search box.
Dating Old Photos:
Langdon’s List of 19th and Early 20th Century Photographers – If you are looking for information about early photographers, this is a good American list.
Photographers of Great Britain & Ireland 1840-1940 – Here’s a website covering British photographers.
Public Domain Images:
If you need images to tell your stories, here are some websites that provide images that are in the public domain.
Whenever using images that are not your own, be sure to check for usage restrictions. It’s the user’s responsibility to determine whether an individual image may be used for publication.
American Antiquarian Society
Art Institute of Chicago
Carol M. Highsmith Archives of Photos – Library of Congress
U.S. State Digital Archives – Search “name of state digital archives.”
U.S. Public Library Digital Archives – e.g. NY Public Library
Digital Public Library of America
FamilySearch – FamilySearch policy – When someone uploads an image, they are automatically giving unlimited license to all.
Flickr: The Commons
Gratisography
Library of Congress –Many (but not all) of the Library of Congress images have no restrictions. To be sure, however, click on the image for its description.
Civil War Photographs by Mathew Brady – U.S. National Archives
Morgue File
NASA
National Park Service
New York Public Library Digital Collections
Pexels
Pixabay
Temple University Digital Collection
The Old Design Shop
U.S. Department of Agriculture
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Wellcome Images
Wikimedia Commons
For questions about whether an image is public domain or with copyright restrictions, PublicDomainSherpa can help answer your questions.