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Ancestry.com Review: Genealogy Sites |
| Sign up for Ancestry.com | |
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| Most comprehensive service with the largest resource base; easy to navigate | |
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Ancestry.com is the biggest name in the online genealogy game. It's well deserved, too. The database and userbase are large, and the interface is elegant. It's also the subject of an NBC television show that showcases the genealogical research of stars like Sarah Jessica Parker. There aren't many (or perhaps any) other websites that get their own TV show. Is Ancestry.com worthy of prime time?
You start with a blank family tree. It's generally easy to start with yourself and work backwards, filling in the information you know and searching Ancestry's archives for the rest. Information is culled from a wide variety of records including: military, immigration, death, birth, crew lists, census, etc. To search for a relative, you enter as much (or as little) information as you have. Possible matches are brought up, and you're given the ability to view any relevant records—yes, the actual scanned records. There's something special about viewing the actual census records connected to one's family. Besides just being fun to look at, they also give you additional clues and avenues to follow. It gets more interesting, however, when you discover other Ancestry.com members who have searched for shared relatives. You can then leverage their research, and connect with those members if you choose. Once you start the process, it's pretty addictive. Family trees grow exponentially, and so will your time spent on the site. Plotting the relationships is just the first part. You can add photos, audio, and video to each entry. There are also message boards, collaborative tools, and plenty of how-tos. Additional paid services include DNA analysis kits, genealogy expert help, and a project builder which allows you to turn your research into books, albums, and posters, so your family history does not just live online. There's also a pretty neat iPhone app which makes sharing and gathering information easy. For all the great things about Ancestry.com, there are things that don't make sense. The birth record successfully identified our reviewer's father's mother's maiden name, but there was no automatic discover; we'd like to see that information automatically linkable to a search. In fact, it seems like there should be more ways for it to link probable connections. We also found the appropriate use and entry of married and maiden names to be a little unclear. These are minor things, however, and pretty soon you learn to work around them. The cost of the service depends a lot on what you want. The U.S. Deluxe Membership is $19.95 per month, though an annual plan brings that down to $12.95 per month. For access to international records you'll want the World Deluxe plan, which is $29.95 per month, or $24.95 per month with a year's commitment. Since Ancestry.com is adding new records all the time, there's a benefit to the long-term plan. Ancestry.com is certainly the best, most comprehensive genealogy service we reviewed. Whether it makes for good TV or not, we're not sure. But if tracing your family tree is something you're interested in, it's probably the right choice for you. A 14-day free trial will help you decide if you agree. Sign up for Ancestry.com | Compare to Other Genealogy Services |
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| Price: | Free 14-day trial; $22.95/mo or $119.40/yr for U.S.; $34.95/mo or $239.40/yr for world |
| Features: | Family tree builder; database search; massive record and image archive; member connect; enhanced family tree features; contact genealogy experts |
| Resources: | Census records; voter records; birth, marriage & death records; military, immigration & emigration records; newspaper articles; photos; maps; memoirs; public member trees |
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