Listers--this is the first of a series of articles I am writing as a
result of the Ohio Genealogy Conference I attended last month. Several
of you have expressed an interest in receiving them, so they will go out
to the list. I will try to put the word 'article' in the subject line
for those of you who wish to skip it.
Thanks for your interest! Each article is also available on my site at
http://www.triedit.com in the genealogy section.
Robin, List administrator
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Exploring Cyndis List
www.cyndislist.com
In April 2002 I had the tremendous good fortune to meet at attend
classes given by Cyndi Howells, owner of Cyndis List. For those of you
who aren't familiar with this website, this is a short tutorial.
Cyndi started the list back in 1995 as a repository for her genealogy
bookmarks. Her bookmarks list had grown so large that it wasn't
feasible to store it locally on her computer any more. The prototype
for Cyndis List was born. Cyndi and her husband are both genealogists.
Now it has grown to include countless tidbits of information and links
to sites and she calls it Your genealogical research portal onto the
Internet.
First and foremost, Cyndis List is a categorized index to submitted
sites regarding genealogy. It is cross-referenced and completely
searchable. Individuals submit their sites to Cyndi and those
submissions are immediately posted to her free newsletter (hosted by
rootsweb.com). At some point, Cyndi reviews the submitted site and
posts it permanently on her own website, making it available to the
public at no charge. Currently there is a backlog of approximately two
years between submission by the author and permanent posting on the
website. One visit to the list site and you will understand the sheer
volume she is dealing with. The site gets over 15, 000 visits each day
just on the main index page, and the whole site logs more than 70,000
hits per day. In a typical month she adds about 1500 links, deletes
about 300, and updates another 600. Additionally she receives about 200
personal emails a day and manages to address the issues in about 100 of
them. There is absolutely no charge for her site. And she does the
whole thing herself, with a little help from friends and family on rare
occasions.
There are five ways to view Cyndis List. The easiest of course is to
use the search option. The user simply enters a surname, place, type of
record, etc., then clicks the Find button. This function is powered by
FreeFind, one of the leading search engines for site searches
available. It isn't your only option, however. You can also search via
Atomz, and Google, both of which offer the option of searching only
Cyndis List. In a more traditional vein, there is the Main Index (the
start page) which gives an overview of the entire site with full
graphics. There is a no-frills index which gives the category title
but no additional information on each site. She has another index of
the categories listed alphabetically, and yet another index listed
simply by general topic. Once the viewer learns to scroll down beyond
where the page seems to end, any or all of these indexes work magic when
finding resources.
Researchers won't find a place to post or read genealogy queries on
Cyndis List. What one will find, however, several links to places that
DO accept queries.
Rootsweb.com donates the space for The List and with
so many places offering query space Cyndi feels it is space better
served to put up the links instead. The List also doesn't have a
bulletin board or guest book feature. One can imagine how unruly that
would become at 70,000 hits a day!
Cyndis List has an enormous section for beginner genealogist and for
those who need to go back and brush up on some skills. There are tips
and tricks for all sorts of research methods as well as general guides
to mailing lists, newsgroups, publications, societies, software and
supplies. This index offers related links as well; books, libraries,
individual researchers (paid and free) and anything imaginable. One of
her best focus points in this beginner section is a link to forms. From
her site there are links to every form ever needed, from family group
sheets to applying for the SGGS German Card. There are also links to
places researchers can download forms right from the web.
Access to new links is what keeps Cyndis List current and exciting.
Visitors post their link electronically and they become immediately
available to those who subscribe to Cyndis new link newsletter before
she places them permanently on her site. These new links are searchable
via Cyndis List itself or through the newsletter archives at
Rootsweb.com. Instructions for joining the newsletter or submitting
your site are easy to find on the site.
Another awesome feature of Cyndis List is her internet help section.
Here she gives links to virus information (including hoaxes), spam (junk
email) and cookies. She addresses privacy issues and copyright
information. She even has a section on netiquette (proper behavior
online) and information for new net users. There is a section with
links to software and yet another with links to information about those
confusing computer terms and jargon.
When considering creating your own website for genealogy (or anything
else for that matter) there is an extensive section written by Cyndi on
exactly how to do it. With Cyndis guidance and listed links, even the
most clueless site builder can handle the job. Literally everything one
needs to know, even for an intermediate site designer, is there or
linked to Cyndis List Homepage Design Kit. Keep in mind that what she
has written is copyrighted, so don't quote her work, but she does freely
allow links to it. In fact, she encourages it!
One more thing Cyndi lists on her site is a calendar of her speaking
engagements. At the time of this writing she is fully booked through
2003. That in itself is a testament to the popularity and wisdom of
this remarkable lady! If you cannot meet her in person, you will get a
real sense of her through Cyndis List. The list is an invaluable took
for all genealogists. If you can't find something about your ancestor
or a place you are researching, it will be a huge surprise!
copyright 2002 by Robin Bellamy. Text is available at
http://www.triedit.com under the genealogy section and may be freely
linked to as long as author and page location are cited.