Question of the week: Favorite technology

It is amazing to think of the technological tools available to genealogists today that were not available twenty or even ten years ago.

I didn't start getting interested in family history research until about 2001, and have thus always used the internet. It's hard for me to imagine someone trying to find such information B.W. (Before Web).

So... what are your favorite technological tools/programs/devices that you use for genealogy? How do you use them?

Comments

[Ryan O.]

Hi Karen - for me, the easiest answer is the internet itself. When I first got into genealogy, it was a matter of sending letters or making calls to far-away places and waiting weeks for a response. Most of my lines only arrived in the US during the second half of the 19th century; with the internet, it's much easier to view records from Ireland or Portugal within just a few minutes. Another great innovation is DNA genealogy, which can get you a glimpse of your ancestry that long predates any available records.

[Karen K]

Ryan, thanks. Yes, Tracing DNA reveals amazing things, and I've considered doing that. But it's very expensive, and DNA is too complicated for most people (including me, and I'm no dummy) to understand without help.

I know what you mean about the Internet itself being a tremendous tool. Without it, I probably would not have even gotten involved in researching family history to begin with. I'd have had to either write or physically go to New England to find out what I've discovered by just sitting in my pj's in front of the computer.

But consider that everything that is available on the Internet is just the tip of the genealogy iceberg; there is so much more that ISN'T available online!

I have the Flip-Pal portable scanner on my wish list.