Genealogy Products Reviewed

Genealogy Product Reviewed: One Great Family Membership

Pros: A membership in One Great Family will provide users with so many tools and access to so much information. One Great Family automatically merges two family trees together into one when it finds the exact same person in both. This can save so much time when you are doing genealogical research. A little automation can be a very good thing.

One Great Family also identifies and eliminates all duplicated data within a family tree automatically through their exclusive technology. This also can save you tons of time when you are researching your family tree.

Members say that the results they are getting are simply phenomenal and all of them are very pleased with the service. This makes a membership at the One Great Family website worth every penny.

Donny Osmond says, "I have been searching my genealogy for over 20 years. This is the most amazing tool I have ever seen!"

Cons: A One Great Family Membership doesn't have any discernible cons associated with it. It is actually a very, very good service that can aid in genealogical research.

Guarantee: There is no specific guarantee, but there is a free trial and memberships can be cancelled.

Value for money: One Great Family Membership is actually a very good value for those who are doing genealogical research.

See more at: Discover what research has already been done for YOUR family tree at OneGreatFamily

Are you looking for a gift that will get your kids' creative juices flowing and interest them in your Genealogy Research and their Family History? You can't go wrong with the IlluStory Make Your Own Story Kit!

Whether your child is constantly drawing and writing or hardly ever puts pencil or crayon to paper, this kit is sure to bring out the best of his creativity. It includes instructions and tips to help them write a great story, as well as paper and markers for illustration. But the best part is that your child can send his completed story to the company, and they will put his words in professional typesetting, bind the book in a hard cover, and send it back. Imagine the look on your child's face when he finds that he has become a "published" author!

These books look quite authentic, complete with an "About the Author" page and title and dedication pages. Your child's cover art is laminated on the front, along with his name and the book's title. He will be showing his masterpiece off to friends and family for years to come.

The price of the kit includes publishing of one

IlluStory Make Your Own Story Kit

copy of your child's book. You can get more copies to send to the grandparents or other distant relatives and friends for an additional fee. You can't, however, create more than one book with a single kit, and no refills are available. If your child wants to write another book, or you have another child who wants to become an author, you will have to purchase a separate kit.

IlluStory has won multiple awards, including Family Life's Best Learning Toy Award and the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award. It's a great tool for encouraging young ones to develop their writing and art skills without them even realizing it. And for parents, it gives them a beautiful keepsake to treasure for many years to come.

Genealogy Product Reviewed: The Desperate Genealogist's Idea Book

The purpose of The Desperate Genealogist's Idea Book is to inform and instruct genealogy researchers as to effective research methods.

Pros: The Desperate Genealogist's Idea Book was developed by the combined efforts of the people at Dead Fred (http://www.deadfred.com a free website) and some of genealogy's top ancestral researchers and well-known writers. The Desperate Genealogist's Idea Book is a 150-page e-book packed with articles and case studies that give you invaluable tips, shortcuts, resources and even step-by-step instructions on how to use research tools, conduct specialized searches, and tackle what appear to be insurmountable walls with sheer ingenuity.

According to the website, "Figure out how to demystify mystery photographs by examining aspect ratio and deciphering what type of camera was used to take the photograph with a Camera Comparison Table available on page 78" and "Discover how to find clues about your ancestors by broadcasting on the Internet on pages 39 and 126."

There is a great deal of very informative and helpful information for genealogy researchers in The Desperate Genealogist's Idea Book.

Cons: No really new information can be found in The Desperate Genealogist's Idea Book, but the information that is there is presented in an easy-to-read manner.

Guarantee: There was no specific guarantee of satisfaction offered on the website.

Value for money: The Desperate Genealogist's Idea Book is a fair value for the price.

See more at: The Desperate Genealogist's Idea Book

Genealogy Product Reviewed: Kinship Archivist

The purpose of Kinship Archivist software is to provide a method whereby genealogy information can be uploaded to a website.

Pros: Let's face it; genealogy research is lonely work. Those who delve into their family histories, spend many long and thankless hours going through old records as they search for those wonderful little tidbits about their ancestors. Suddenly, there it is! You have discovered that an uncle 14 times removed served as an advisor to the King of England. Great! Now two of you know this information -- you and the uncle who is 14 times removed, and he isn't talking. Of course you want to share this information with your living relatives.

Kinship Archivist software can help you get this information (as well as all the other information that you have collected) into a form that can be put on a website. The information will be put into beautiful pages that you can share with all of your relatives.

Cons: The website is clunky and hard to navigate. The product appears to do what it promises, however.

Guarantee: There is no guarantee of satisfaction offered on the website that I could find.

Value for money: Kinship Archivist would be a fair value for those who are interested in building genealogy web pages.

See more at: Kinship Archivist

Genealogy Product Reviewed: Genealogist and Record Agent Ireland

The purpose of the Genealogist and Record Agent Ireland is to conduct searches of public records for those with Irish ancestors.

Pros: If your family roots are buried deep in Irish soil, Genealogist and Record Agent Ireland can help you find them. The Genealogist and Record Agent Ireland website offers personalized research into governmental records. There are some searches that are prepriced and range between $25 and $50. Searches that are not listed are priced individually.

The owner and operator of the Genealogist and Record Agent Ireland is Hilda McGauley. Ms. McGauley's educational background is actually in the scientific field, but she became so intrigued with genealogical research that she now does it full time.

Birth records, birth certificate, marriage records, death records, 1901 Census, 1911 Census, Griffith's Primary Valuation, Tithe Applotment Books, Valuation Office Revision Books and Wills are just some of the records that Ms. McGauley can research for you. Physical copies of records are charged for additionally at the rate of $35 per copy.

Cons: The Genealogist and Record Agent Ireland is offering a service that serious genealogy researchers can actually conduct for themselves. But the service is personalized, and it is fast.

Guarantee: There is no guarantee offered on the website but payment by credit card is through ClickBank.

Value for money: The Genealogist and Record Agent Ireland service is a very good value for those who are doing genealogical research about Irish ancestors.

See more at: Genealogist and Record Agent Ireland

Genealogy Product Reviewed: The Complete Genealogy Reporter

The purpose of The Complete Genealogy Reporter is to put genealogy information into a form that is printable and ready for distribution.

Pros: One never knows what interesting ancestors one might find hanging (so to speak) on their family tree. There could be kings or queens. There could be famous or infamous ancestors. You might even find a horse thief or two. Whatever or whoever you find as you are researching your genealogy you will want to share the information with your living relatives or at least with those who are interested.

Most genealogy software does not provide you with the ability to actually correlate and print the information that you uncover. You will have spent a lot of time doing the research and then find that what you have can't be printed in any kind of comprehensible form. The Complete Genealogy Reporter can change all of that for you.

According to the designers of the software, "The Complete Genealogy Reporter will read a GEDCOM file exported from your genealogy program and create a customized document or web folder for any subject individual. The configurable reports can incorporate all connected ancestral and descendant lines, plus indirect relationships via marriage or adoption, as well as any unconnected individuals."

Cons: There is nothing at all wrong with The Complete Genealogy Reporter software that I can find. It seems to be an excellent tool for genealogy researchers.

Guarantee: There is no guarantee offered on the website.

Value for money: The Complete Genealogy Reporter is a very good value for genealogy researchers.

To see more and download a Trial Version: Genealogy Reporter

Genealogy Product Reviewed: Family Forest Leadership Edition CD ROM

Pros: Have you ever heard people (usually teenagers, but not always) say that history is boring and has nothing at all to do with them? I have heard that statement more than once. The fact is that we are all the products of history -- our own family history. And furthermore, our family history has been determined by historical events -- real events in which our ancestors participated.

The Family Forest Leadership Edition CD-ROM brings history alive and makes it totally relevant. Imagine the joy of seeing the ancestry of famous (as well as infamous) historical characters and then finding the ancestors your family shares with many of them. This "people-centered" approach to history makes history come to life in a fun and easy-to-use CD-ROM.

Once you have your copy of the Family Forest Leadership Edition CD ROM, you will never think of history in the same way.

Cons: The Family Forest Leadership Edition CD-ROM is so fascinating you could forget to eat, sleep, or go to work. I could find nothing to complain about. It is an excellent product. Here's a little from their website:

This is the ninth CD-ROM title in a series of lineage-linked tour guides to a vast wealth of professionally recorded paper-based ancestral history. It digitally connects people with each other, and with the history they created, in a fun, educational, and exciting new format. It is the culmination of nine years of strategic development of our Family Forest Project.

This Family Forest Leadership Edition contains all 8 of our previous titles and much much more. Travel back in time to your ancestors. Imagine the joy of seeing the ancestry of famous (as well as infamous) historical characters and then finding the ancestors your family shares with many of them. This People-Centered Approach To History makes history come to life in a fun and easy to use CD-ROM.

Guarantee: There is no guarantee offered on the Family Forest website.

Value for money: Family Forest Leadership Edition CD-ROM is actually an excellent value for those engaged in genealogical research.

Read More at: Family Forest Leadership Edition