Every month I run a group session at Rosny Library and for September the topic is Overseas Records. I like to have a blog post or slideshow to use at these sessions, so decided this time to write a blog post.

First place to look would be the family search research wiki. Family search is a free website. You can join at no cost and to use the research wiki, there is no need to join.

1. Click on Search in the navigation bar
2. Click on Research Wiki
3. Click on the continent where you want to search
4. Choose the country from drop down menu on left side. Those countries with >in front of them will open again to counties or provinces or states etc
5. You should now get a webpage on that country or state etc. On the right hand side of the page will be a list of wiki topics such as beginning research, record types, background and cultural groups.
6. On the main part of the page, you should see contents and perhaps a coloured button for online records and another for asking the family search community

Spend time clicking on the links on the page. Remember to right click on your mouse and open in a new tab. That way you wont lose your original country page.

Other resources around the world

Cyndi’s List – This a an indexed list of genealogical websites. Begin with categories and choose the letter of the country and gradually work your way through the links as they appear. Be careful: there are lots of ads on the pages, don’t click on them if at all possible.

GENUKI – this is relevant to UK and Ireland genealogy. Make sure you check out the section for first time users.

Other posts I’ve written about researching in other countries – mainly as Twitter chats

• Researching ancestors in general
• Family history societies – pros and cons and how they can help in your research
• Researching Irish ancestors – hints from actual Irish genealogists
• Researching English ancestors – includes hints if visiting record offices in England while on holidays
• German ancestors – but could be helpful for non English speaking ancestors
• New Zealand – finding family records in NZ
• Scottish ancestry – some links go to twitter profiles that have link to actual website
• Cornish ancestors – often found in mining communities
• London ancestors – includes some great websites to use

As these posts could be three years old, some links might not work properly especially if they go to a twitter profile.

Hope these hints have been helpful in researching overseas.