World Wide Web On-line Resources The Internet is a remarkable resource. But it does have its limitations for use in researching and investigations. Most, if not all, of the records found on the Internet are public telephone numbers in directories. That means, simply, if someone does not want to be found, they just will not be listed in directories on the Internet. But for the Internet research that calls for seeking lost family, school mates, or friends, the Internet provides low-cost, national telephone directory access. The list below is not intended to be an exhaustive list of Internet sites but rather a simplified list of some of the more useful sites today. Since the Internet is considered mostly a "free" resource, the telephone and address directories are national white or yellow pages. I have not included sites that generally do not have databases. Nor have I attempted to include commercial sites that cannot produce interactive information that might be especially interesting to you or that does not provide some type of listing that can help you search better, such as a list of state genealogy libraries, for example. 1. Telephone and address directories (most found on the Internet). These systems are based on telephone directories and loaded on electronic files. Then loaded onto an Internet server. I sometimes use the Internet to start an investigation, just in case I "luck out" and find the subject listed with a published telephone number and address. However, I must say, I have yet to find anyone professionally on the Internet. Since most of my clients have already begun here, they all utilize data gathered by just three different information vendors Database America, Metromail, and ProCD. These records are generally found to be three or more months out-of-date, but still represent a good place to begin. Remember that the telephone company's telephone directory, accessed by calling 411 or 555-1212, is generally one to two months out of date, and you must know the city in such cases. Understand, of course, that if you are looking for a classmate or family member these directories can prove useful, since most people in the United States move on average about every four years. So logic would suggest that if a directory is six months old, then the person might very well be still at the listed location and telephone number. Such directories - and there are hundreds of them - are based on one or two types of published information systems. In the next chapter we will talk about 1,300 databanks or more, held privately - based on tens of thousands of published information systems! A good starting place is at The Internet Sleuth, http://www.isleuth.com. This listing has over 2,000 databanks at fingertip, this site has a reverse white pages directory that starts with just a telephone number then will tell you the ownership of the telephone number. E-MAIL DIRECTORIES * ESP EMAIL SEARCH PROGRAM, http://www.esp.co.uk/ * FOUR11 DIRECTORY, http://www.four11.com * HOUSERNET, http://www.housernet.com/ (search by demographics, not by name) * INFOPLUS INTERNET DIRECTORY, http://www.infop.com/phone/isearch.html * INTERNET, gopher://yaleinfo.yale.edu:7000/11/Internet_People * INTERNET ADDRESS FINDER, http://www.iaf.net * NETFIND, http://www.earn.net/gnrt/netfind.html * NETSCAPES LIST OF E-MAIL DIRECTORIES, http://home.netscape.com/home/internet-white-pages.html * POPULUS, http://www.populus.net/ TOLLFREE DIRECTORIES * AT&T 800 DIRECTORY, http://att.net/dir800/ * INTERNET 800 DIRECTORY, http://inter800.com/ WHITE PAGE OR PEOPLE FINDER TYPE TELEPHONE DIRECTOIRES * 411, http://www.411locate.com * 555-1212, http://www.555-1212.com/ (includes e-mail) * BIG FOOT, http://www.bigfoot.com/ * DATA BASE AMERICA, http://www.databaseamerica.com/ * Four11 ,http://www.four11.com * INFOPLUS INTERNET DIRECTORY, http://www.infop.com/phone/isearch.html * INFOSPACE, http://www.infospace.com/ * PC411, http://www.pc411.com/pc411.html * PEOPLEFIND, http://www.lycos.com/pplfndr.html * PEOPLE PAGE, http://www.peoplepage.com/index.html * SWITCHBOARD, http://www.switchboard.com * WHOWHERE? PHONE DIRECTORY, http://www.whowhere.com/phone.html * YAHOO PEOPLE SEARCH, http://www.yahoo.com/search/people/ YELLOW PAGE TELEPHONE DIRECTORIES: * AMERICAN BUSINESS INFORMATION - LOOKUP, http://www.lookupusa.com/ * BIGBOOK, http://www.bigbook.com/ * BIGYELLOW, http://s16.bigyellow.com/ * GTE SUPER PAGES INTERACTIVE SERVICE, http://superpages.gte.com/ * ZIP2, http://www.zip2.com/ * NYNEX YELLOW PAGES, http://s14.bigyellow.com/ * ON VILLAGE YELLOW PAGES PLUS, http://www.onvillage.com/ * TRUE YELLOW, http://www.trueyellow.com/ * YELLOW NET WORLD WIDE PAGES, http://www.yellownet.com/ * YELLOW PAGES ON LINE, http://www.ypo.com/ NASA'S TELEPHONE AND E-MAIL DIRECTORY http://nic.nasa.gov/x500.html PAGENET WORLDWIDE MESSAGE CENTER http://www.pagenet.net/pagenet/page_inp.htm CANADA 411, http://canada411.sympatico.ca 2. Social Security number death indexes. These databanks contain 51 million death records. (But with a Social Security number the Social Security Administration will give you the same information by calling 1-800-772-1213.) * SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX SEARCH http://www.infobases.com/ssdi/query01.htm Search by name, circumscribe by SSN number, state issued, DOB. Returns: Full name, DOB, Date Of Death, Zipcode where death occurred, Zipcode of beneficiary. * SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER VALIDATION DATABASE http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Task_Force/ * SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX http://www.ancestry.com/ssdi/main.html INPUT: Name or Social Security number Furnishes birth date, death date, and last residence 3. FAA Pilot License and Aircraft Registration. * AIRCRAFT REGISTRATION DATABASE, http://www.via.net/test.html Features: No cost aircraft registration information, generally matches FAA registration database. * LANDINGS, http://www1.drive.net/evird.acgi$pass*1661043!mtd*7!map*_landings/images/landings-strip.map?40,41 Databank on aircraft owners, alpha name search of US registrations, certified pilots database, aviation medical examiners database, NTSB accident reports, and air worthiness directories. Other Internet databank resources: * COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION SEARCH, gopher://marvel.loc.gov:70/11/copyright/research * US POSTAL SERVICE ZIP + 4, http://www.usps.gov/ncsc/lookups/lookup_zip+4.html Features: This is a nice free tool to verify if an address is real or not. * DOCTOR SEARCH DATABASE, http://ama-assn.org/ Features: AMA database, information on 650,000 doctors of all types. * FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT: SEXUAL PREDATORS DATABASE, http://www.fdle.state.fl.us GENEAOLOGY ANCESTRY'S SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX, http://www.ancestry.com/SSDI/Main.htm ANCESTRAL FINDINGS, http://access.mountain.net/~wfmoney/cd/ BEST GENEAOLOGY LINKS ON THE WWW, http://home.earthlink.net/~middleton/topten.html CYNDI'S GENEAOLOGY ON THE INTERNET, http://www.oz.net/~cyndihow/sites.htm (really a remarkable site with tons of information) CYNDI's LIST OF VITAL RECORDS NATIONAL ADDRESSES, http://www.inlink.com/~nomi/vitalrec/staterec.html GENDEX, http://www.gendex.com/gendex/ GENEAOLOGY GATEWAY, http://www.polaris.net/~legend/gateway5.htm GENEAOLOGY SF, http://www.genealogysf.com/gendatus.html GENEAOLOGY TOOLBOX, http://genealogy.tbox.com/genealogy/query/queryindx.htm GEANANET, http://www.geneanet.org/ GERMAN GENEALOGY SOCIETY, http://www.genealogy.com/ (listed information) HELM'S GENEAOLOGY TOOLBOX, http://genealogy.tbox.com/genealogy/wwwboard/index.html OBITUARY DAILY TIMES, http://www.best.com/~shuntsbe/obituary/search.cgi MORMANS or LDS, http://www.familyhistory.com/fhdata.htm NATIONAL ARCHIEVES NAIL PROGRAM, http://www.nara.gov/nara/nail.html NON-US GENEAOLOGY DATA, http://www.genealogysf.com/gendatot.html ROOTS SURNAME LIST, http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/searches/ ROOTSWEB, http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/Genea/rsl SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST OBITUARY LIST, http://143.207.5.3:82/screens/opacmenu.html US CENSUS NAMES FREQUENCY, http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/namesearch.html US CENSUS POPULATION STATISTICS, http://www.census.gov/prod/www/subject.html US GEN WEB, http://www.usgenweb.com/ (listings of complied state by state geneaology downloads) YAHOO!, http://www.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/History/Genealogy/Lineages_and_Surnames/ Newsgroups represent an interesting and free method to elicit information by listing your search requests. I have included this list as one method to get the word out on your genealogy searches. This method is a passive investigative or research method, but nonetheless a good one. In the field of genealogy, you cannot be too timid in your methods. This simple but sometimes effective personal information marketing tool reaches hundreds of thousands of people. You can find these newsgroups with most Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Since it is free, I recommend using it since you have nothing to lose and might gain the information desired. When posting a message here, make sure that your message is broad in topic, but specific in request. The topic of a family name like SMITH might produce too many e-mails or other postings. This leads to confusion, but a more specific request or posting might provide better suited for this forum. Alt.genealogy at news:alt.genealogy soc.genealogy.african at news:soc.genealogy.african soc.genealogy.australia+nz at news:soc.genealogy.australia+nz soc.genealogy.benelux at news:soc.genealogy.benlux soc.genealogy.computing at news:soc.genealogy.computing soc.genealgoy.french at news:soc.genealogy.french soc.genealogy.german at news:soc.genealogy.german soc.genealogy.hispanic at news:soc.genealogy.hispanic soc.genealogy.jewish at news:soc.genealogy.jewish soc.genealogy.medieval at news:soc.genealogy.medieval soc.genealogy. methods at news:soc.genealogy.methods soc.genealogy.misc at news:soc.genealogy.misc soc.genealogy.nordic at news:soc.genealogy.nordic soc.genealogy.slavic at news:soc.genealogy.slavic soc.genealog. surnames at news:soc.genealogy.surnames soc.genealogy.uk+ireland at news:soc.genealogy.uk+ireland soc.roots at news:soc.roots * LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, http://www.loc.gov Searchable index by author or keyword. * OREGON SECRETARY OF STATE CORPORATION DIVISION UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE http://www.sos.state.or.us/corporation/ucc/ucc.htm Search Oregon state UCC filings, updated often. * OKRA NET CITIZEN DIRECTORY, http://okra.ucr.edu/okra Features: Keyword searches. * SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION FILINGS http://www.sec.gov/ SEC searches provide detailed information on companies that trade their stock on U. S. stock exchanges. * RESEARCH-IT http://www.iTools.com/research-it/research-it.html RESEARCH TYPES: language, geographical, financial, Internet, shipping & mailing * PAYPHONE COMPANIES http://www.payphones.com/ipp.htm * VETERANS ORGANIZATIONS AND VOLUNTEER LOCATOR http://www.army.mil/vetinfo/vetloc.htm Federal Government Web and Gopher Locations I have included a list of Internet government databanks. Now these World Wide Web and gopher locations are great for research referrals, providing pathways to lists of locations that can assist in some researches. Most gopher files are download files not viewable on-line, but rather opened by applications off-line. By no means will these interactive databanks allow you to obtain personnel records or address updates, but certainly should be listed here as a good reference resource: 1) Archival Resources Elsewhere on the Internet, http://gopher.nara.gov:70/1/servers/archives 2) Genealogical Resources Elsewhere on the Internet, http://gopher.nara.gov:70/1/servers/genealog 3) Government Information Exchange, http://www.info.gov/ 4) Information Infrastructure Task Force Documents, Information at Department of Commerce - Not maintained by National Archives, http://iitf.doc.gov/ 5) International Council on Archives (ICA ), http://www.archives.ca/ica/ 6) Keigwin and Mathews collection of historical newspapers, http://www.bluewater.com/bluewater/keigwin_mathews 7) Library of Congress (MARVEL), gopher://marvel.loc.gov/11/ 8) PRESIDENT (Presidential Libraries IDEA Network), http://sunsite.unc.edu/lia/president 9) References to Internet Resources, http://gopher.nara.gov:70/1/servers/generalGeneral 10) US Government Manual 1993/94, gopher://una.hh.lib.umich.edu/11/socsci/poliscilaw/govman