I’ve reviewed the main types of primary and secondary genealogical records. In the past decade, public interest in genealogical research has mushroomed, leading to ever more online sites devoted to obtaining information about the lives of our ancestors. In turn, those sites have further sparked growth in the study of genealogy.

There are dozens of online sites catering to the serious and not-so-serious researcher. Some, new to the undertaking and dazzled by the array of Internet sites available, believe that every bit of information about each ancestor is there to be had, online, if only the right link is “clicked.”

That’s not the case, but much information is out there in cyberspace, as well as information on how to locate the data that isn’t (yet) online. I can present only a limited number in one column, so this topic will be continued next month.

Cyndi’s list (free): One of the oldest and most-referenced genealogy sites is “Cyndi’s List” (www.cyndislist.com), an eclectic collection of lists of most anything to do with genealogy on the Internet. Cyndi’s List will not give a list of surnames from the part of the world you’re investigating, but it will give links to sites where you can find that information.

Nowhere on Cyndi’s List will you find a copy of an actual birth record, but it does identify online and conventional sources of such information. Links can be found on Cyndi’s List for record sources, for online family trees posted by others, and for local, state, and federal repositories and genealogical societies, as well as tabulations of printed books, newsletters, and other materials pertinent to genealogy.

So Cyndi’s List is a starting place, one that can point to other sites or resources where the object of your search can be found. Other examples of the many online “genealogy list” sites are:

• http://www.sardallas.org/GENEALOGYSITES.htm
• http://www.progenealogists.com/top50genealogy2011.htm
• http://www.familychronicle.com/webpicks.htm
• http://genealogy-websites.no1reviews.com/sitemap.html

Be forewarned that many of the links found on the above sites lead to commercial sites that require payment before actual records are produced.

State or County Genealogical Sites (free): Every state in the United States and nearly every county has a site with more or less information about genealogical resources available in that jurisdiction. The sites are free, but many specific services or documents are available only through purchase.

Type “Genealogy” + “State Name” in a search engine to find these sites. For example, New York state has genealogy-related websites, including those at http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/research/res_topics_genealogy.shtml and at http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/gengen.htm.

A variety of information is available, including hints on conducting genealogy research, location and hours of repositories of “hard-copy” records, lists of types of records in existence, etc. As with non-governmental sites, even state sites, though free, can have links that lead to sites requiring payment before actual records can be obtained.

Genealogical Society Sites: Genealogical societies are usually nonprofit volunteer organizations that operate on grants, contributions, or membership dues.

They can be ethnocentric, such as the Jewish Genealogical Societies (http://iajgs.org/index.php) or the Polish Genealogical Society (http://pgsa.org/), or place oriented. They can have expansive, wide-ranging sites or more modest resources. Search for a specific jurisdiction’s name for your region of interest.