Finding Anyone, Anywhere, Anywhen

by Elliot, Noel Montgomery

• ISBN13: 9781554074709
• ISBN10: 1554074703
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-02-01
• Publisher: Firefly Books Ltd

Summary

A lot has happened in the four years since this book was first released. This second edition of Finding Anyone, Anywhere, Anywhen has been fully revised and updated to include new or changed websites, to delete dead sites and to provide new tips on using the Internet to locate people.The Internet is the most powerful research tool available today, but there are tricks to using it to its full potential. Noel Montgomery Elliot reveals what he's learned over his 35 years of research experience, including the most common mistakes people make when trying to locate ancestors who lived a century or more ago. He reveals how the little-known science called onomatology is one of the keys to unlocking genealogical research in the distant past, and he shows how easy it is to open the door.Whether searching for ancestors or descendents, or just looking to get in touch with friends from years ago, this is the definitive how-to research handbook. Finding Anyone, Anywhere, Anywhen is an exciting read about what is possible now and what will soon be available to those willing to surf on the cutting edge of technology.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Our Hidden History

The Internet Unfolds

Finding People in the Past

The Lost Genealogies

Finding People in the Present

The Future Internet

Worldwide Website Directory

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

IntroductionIn the beginning, our ancient ancestors created artwork and text, pictographs and hieroglyphics, and each created work was an original.With the invention of the printing press, mass production of copies of any original work became possible. Creativity exploded worldwide. As costs came down, the ability of people to share art and printed communication created a virtual torrent of knowledge and information.It is always the creativity of individuals--inventors, innovators and visionaries--that leads the way.The invention of radio and television created instantaneous mass communication. Each broadcast meant that anyone with a receiver would receive a simultaneous copy of the original work. Recording devices allowed copies to be literally frozen in time, for later playback.In 1958, Jack St. Clair Kilby invented the integrated electronic circuit, or microchip. His invention paved the way for the miniaturization of computers and the birth of the Internet. Once again, another creative individual influenced and changed the world.And so it was with the invention of the popular personal computer or PC. The Apple computer, one popular example, was born in 1775. Two teenagers in California were largely responsible for its success.The Apple was designed by Steve Wozniak to demonstrate to his local computer club, and when a store ordered 50 of them, he and his friend, Steve Jobs, began production. The Apple II and its clones revolutionized the lives of millions of people throughout the United States and Canada.The low price of PCs brought them within reach of highly creative and talented young people in their teens and twenties. For the first time, the power previously available only to multinational corporations and governments was suddenly available to the public.Apple computer clubs swept the continent. Here, in monthly meetings, computer enthusiasts could meet to excitedly discuss new ideas and try out new experiments and programs.Still, one thing was missing. And that missing something created a truly formidable challenge.These avid computer club enthusiasts and other PC users wanted to go far beyond their local clubs and neighborhoods. They wanted nothing less than to be able to communicate globally, and exchange ideas with other young people all over the world.To do this, they needed to cross language and geographical barriers, and political boundaries. It also had to be free, or almost free. How on earth could all these creative people--potentially millions of people scattered around the globe--share information and communicate with each other?A large part of the answer came during a remarkable four-year period, from 1991 to 1994. A visionary scientist named Tim Berners-Lee, working in Geneva, Switzerland, created a shared information space which allowed communication among a group of research scientists. These scientists needed the ability to retrieve information regardless of the variety of computer platforms that were in use at the time.Berners-Lee's real intent, however, even in his first proposal in 1989, went far beyond the needs of the physicists he worked with. He envisioned nothing less than a worldwide communication system for public use. And from 1995 onwards, the World Wide Web literally skyrocketed in popularity.True, there were many Internet protocols being developed as early as the late 1960s, particularly by the U.S. military, and small nets were being used at an early date. It was the public's demand, however, that exploded the Internet into the real global phenomenon it has now become.Today, the distinction has become blurred between the Internet and the World Wide Web (www). In this book I will often use the words interchangeably, but generally speaking, the word Internet will always include the World Wide Web.The idea of retrieving information was paramount for the scientist