2.1 Introduction to “The Big Four”

“Science and technology revolutionize our lives, but memory, tradition and myth frame our response.”−Robert J. Szczerba1

There are hundreds of websites that could answer the particulars of different genealogical research questions, but the starting points for family historians are FamilySearch.org; Ancestry.com; MyHeritage.com; and Findmypast.com. These sites are known as “the big four.” Each of them has strengths and weaknesses. The best method for historians is to be familiar with all four and comfortable navigating between them. Utilizing the advantages of each will allow for answering the research questionA question that research aims to answer, in genealogy a focused question that seeks unknown information about a specific person and that helps frame research scope, lead to relevant information, and identify evidence.2 as quickly as possible. Knowing when to focus on a certain website is advantageous. For example, if a historian is beginning a census surveyThe attempt to identify every census record for each person who falls within the scope of the research project. and knows Ancestry.com provides search highlights on the documents, using Ancestry.com could make it easier to quickly identify the sought for family than if the researcher looked up the same record on a different website. Choosing the most efficient method to identify needed information increases satisfaction and decreases frustration. Spending time becoming familiar with each of the big four and knowing their pro’s and con’s helps researchers make better use of the time allocated for each project.