Breaking Through #1 Mexico Family Genealogy Research Challenge: Frustration

What are the leading five challenges that preventliving in Mexico is digitized. Herein lays the problem.
people from finding someone in Mexico or startingThe information is not on the Internet including
their Mexican family genealogy research? Thefree family genealogy web sites. If you did an
most common challenge that I have come acrossInternet search for Mexico, you would receive a
in my research is frustration. People may feel aslot of results, but a closer look at the results
though there may be no hope in finding thereveals that most of them have to do with New
person they are looking for.Mexico or Mexico, Missouri. The results you get
Maybe they are frustrated because they don'tfrom these online searches are almost always
know or speak the Spanish language. This can beabout people living in the United States and are
especially upsetting for people who are doing theirnot focused on the Country of Mexico which is
Mexican family genealogy and researching to findwhere you want to get information.
a mother or father living in Mexico.Marie Daly, director of the Research Library at
Some clients have told us that their biggestthe New England Historic Genealogical Society
challenge is they do not speak Spanish, havegave this comment about family genealogy
never visited Mexico, don't know much about theresearch on the Internet, "I'd say perhaps only 10
country and have no idea where to start. Somepercent of the genealogical information out there
tell us they have names and some information,is on the Web. But when people do genealogy
but have not had any luck at all finding anybody.research, they think that's 100 percent, and they
They may be ready to stop their Mexico familymake a big error that way. Not everything is on
genealogy research because they feelthe Web. And some of the things that are on the
overwhelmed, confused or even depressed. TheyWeb are erroneous." - How to be a Self-Sufficient
are possibly frustrated because they may haveResearcher by Margaret Moen
spent hours on the Internet and have come upEven though you may spend a lot of time looking
with nothing.for this information and have visited some of the
Let's talk about that for a minute. There's a goodfamily genealogy research web sites, it may be in
reason why a person doing family genealogythe wrong direction. So rest your fingers for a
research for someone in Mexico has not foundminute if you have already spent an hour or
any information. Let's start with the Internet. Formore looking on the Internet. Why would I say
most people, the Internet is an easy way to findthis? Because most people have used up their
people. Let's face it, if you are trying to findown ideas of where and how to search online
someone in the United States, all you need to doafter an hour. There is a science to searching
is put in their name, city, state, and maybe theironline. After an hour most people have used up all
zip code.of their resources and ideas of how to look for
There are many online search engines such asinformation. After that a lot of people are just
Google, Yahoo, or the Internet White Pages. If aspending time surfing the net, bouncing from site
person has done something that got them listedto site, looking and hoping for some new
on the Internet such as: owning a web site; haveinformation.
published articles; been in a newspaper; or evenPeople may feel that if they keep searching, they
just have a residential listing that is online, theywill find that one family genealogy research web
can easily be found through an online search justsite that has the information they are looking for.
by plugging their information into a search engine.There is no one magic web site that will give you
There is a lot of personal information on peoplea simple answer to locate someone living in
living in the United States and there are severalMexico. It is just not out there and this includes
ways to search for them and it is very easy tofree family genealogy sites.
find them--if they are living in the United States.If you are frustrated because you have spent a
So naturally, when most people think about findinglot of time looking for someone, have tried free
someone in Mexico, whether or not they arefamily genealogy web sites and nothing you have
doing family genealogy research, they turn to thedone has worked, you are finally in the right place.
Internet. However, the problem with trying to findIn the next few articles, I am going to share with
someone in Mexico by using the Internet is thatyou information on what to do and how to do it.
very little of the information on individuals who areSo don't give up.