An overview of a relatively new genealogy website that is fast becoming a major resource for scanned historical documents, records and photos.
Footnote.com is fast becoming one of the "big guys" when it comes to online genealogy resources. Unlike sites such as Ancestry.com, Footnote is not a place to create interlinked family trees and source out relatives that way. The main focus of Footnote is the access of historical documents.
At the moment, their content is mostly American in nature, particularly documents pertaining to the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and World Wars I and II . But as more and more documents are added, the scope of the site is growing. There are also historical newspapers and photos, naturalization records and political files from several eras. At the time of this writing, the Footnote database contained more than 22 million scanned document images.
It may sound like a lot, but the site really is quite narrow in scope and content right now. The majority of the content is either political or military. As the site continues to grow, the database will surely improve.
Document images are added to their databases through member uploads, as well as through partnerships with large organizations like the U.S National Archives and Family Search. They are adding new historical documents at a rate of 2 million each month. So far, there are very few collections of vital records that many genealogists might be expecting to find.
The images are easily read with their online viewer, and can be saved, downloaded or printed for your records. Though the documents are simple scanned graphics, the text has been transcribed so that you can search by names or other keywords.
Besides just viewing documents, you can connect with other members who are doing the same research you are and share information if you choose. You can make "annotation" to the documents to help with your own later research. Personal stories and narrative can also be added to your account.
You can join the site for free, which will allow you to access some of the document files that are designated "free". Full access plans are around $7.95/month. You can try the full access plan with one of their frequent 7-day trials, at no cost.
While websites that are designed to create and connect uploaded pedigree charts are still extremely valuable, more and more people are getting into doing their own primary research through actual documentation. Even if you don't think there is anything at Footnote.com to help you, you should keep the site in mind considering how quickly it is growing. There's a good chance that you might need it in the near future.
