Helpful International Websites

Introduction

Many informative websites for international family history research are found on the Internet. Depending on the country, they may include research instructions, reference material, indexes to church-, civil-, and other records, document images, and transcriptions. This article provides a small selection of useful websites. Interested visitors may be able to obtain more information on the FamilySearch Wiki or at the respective reference counter in the Family History Library. For European and Hispanic visitors the new FamilySearch site may be helpful. For many countries new names have been added that have never been online before. Go to FamilySearch.org  and click on “Advanced search“to access better search functions for names. Record Collections for different countries are found under the tab “all collections”. Online family history courses for various countries are available on FamilySearch.org. To access, go to FamilySearch.org , click on “learn” [top left], the on “research courses”.

General information

• Website addresses change frequently. If an address no longer works, use a search engine to locate the site at a different address, if possible.
• Foreign-language sites can be navigated more easily with Google translate. Type “translate.google.com” in your Internet browser, then choose the “translate from/ to languages. If you paste the foreign site’s Web address in the “translate” field and click “enter”, the site will come up translated. You can also copy text from the site and paste it in the “translate” window. Google Chrome detects non-English language Web sites and asks if you would like a translation.

NOTE: It is not a good idea to use electronic translators for correspondence, such as a request for    information. In those cases it’s best to find someone who can help you write a letter, or to write the request in simple English.

• A good starting point for any country or family history topic is Cyndi's List