My boyfriend is very much interested in genealogy and I want to get him a genealogy gift for Christmas. If I buy him genealogy software, such as Legacy, will he be able to search for ancestors? Or is genealogy software only a way to organize family trees? Also, what is a good genealogy search site that I could buy him a subscription to? Thanks for any help.
Genealogy software is a great way to organize people and data.
I collected my family history(s) on a software program, Family Tree, for about 15 years and was very happy with it; still have it on my desktop computer.
Now, I subscribe to ancestry.com, a paid site, in order to gain access to Census, birth, death, marriage and military records, as well as other subscribers trees.
I still back-up my findings every week, as a precaution.
Free sites:
http://www.familysearch.org is a great site for a beginner to become familiarized with collecting and logging data.
They also have free printable charts and forms, which can be used to create a paper trail of data collected from family members, cemeteries, family Bibles, etc., prior to organizing it on the on-line site.
http://www.rootsweb.com is a free Q&A forum, owned by ancestry.com.
http://www.findagrave.com is a free site and may have some bio info.
Paid sites:
http://www.ancestry.com will cost you $159.40 annually.
http://www.genealogy.com is about $199.00 annually and is owned by ancestry.
If you give your boyfriend a subscription to a paid site, there is no need for an additional genealogy program.
Even if he decides not to renew the subscription, he can create a CD in GEDCOM format, before the expiration date and use it with most reputable programs and sites, especially familysearch.org.
Tell him to be careful; genealogy can be addicting!