02 July 2014

Linkpendium -- one of my favorite genealogy websites



This is the second in a sporadic series where I talk about some of my favorite resources, sometimes put aside for awhile and then re-remembered in the course of a research project.

Linkpendium.  I go back to this resource time and time again, whether I am re-researching in a locale where I have previously done research or I am just starting some research for a community I am unfamiliar with.  And, even though I do extensive NC research just about every day, I will also check this site if my research involves a NC county for which I haven’t recently done any research.

This website does overlap with Cyndi’s List (with which many of you are probably familiar) and they each have their own unique focus and structure. Both are content aggregators.  This means that neither has created any of the content to which they link, though both help us out tremendously by putting at our finger tips, in one place, links to many disparate sources of information.

I typically go to Cyndi’s list for non county-specific records information (e.g. research topics, country records, tools, etc) and I go to Linkpendium for county-specific records.

Linkpendium was developed (and still maintained with the assistance of others) by Karen Isaacson and Brian (Wolf) Leverich, founders of the extremely popular RootsWeb genealogical community site.  They are constantly updating (adding, deleting, correcting) the links on the website.  The easiest way to keep up with the website is via the Linkpendium Facebook (FB) page where it stated that as of 21 June 2014, the site indexes 10,413,608 different sources of genealogical data. Do recognize that not just status reports on Linkpendium appear on this FB page.

Additionally, the website is always soliciting links to new websites (or new to Linkpendium websites).  There is a form you can fill out (URL, description, your email address) to let them know about a website.  You can access this form at the top of each page where you see “Please, add your favorite Website(s) to this page!”

Though you can access the entire website from the link given previously, I typically just put something like Wake + County + Linkpendium into my search engine, click what is usually the top entry, and then I immediately am where I want to be.


Each county-level (and also state-level) page has the same structure.  Only if there is NO content appropriate for a particular heading does that heading not appear.  For each item listed, the source is identified, hyperlinks are provided directly to the resource, and then information on whether a fee website, indicated by ($), or a FREE website (nothing shown) is provided. 

It is an incredibly quick and easy way to find out how much material you might find online for a locale of interest.  The more that is listed, the more you might do in your jammies.  A smaller list means much of your research will need to take place offline (maybe time for that road trip, as we talked about yesterday!). As with any compilation, don’t assume it’s comprehensive and error-free (that is impossible), and it’s a great place to get started.

I start every new project by going to this website and seeing what it lists as available.  After you check it out, maybe you will too!




Editor’s Note : You can tell the affinity I have for this website as I have written two indepth pieces and included it in talks ::
+ Linkpendium: A Genealogy Gem! (2012, Archives.com)
+ Linkpendium (2008, Discovering Family History)
+ Research the Cosmos! (2006, WCGS Presentation)

Editor’s Note : The previous piece in this series is Death Online, or where to learn about online searchable death indexes



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