As genealogists we begin our research with what we know and work backwards. That, and the fact that privacy is not as much of an issue, make death records one of the best places to begin an online search for information. Whether it's a death certificate, obituary notice, or tombstone photo, death records offer a decent chance for locating  information about our ancestor and/or the people he associated with. To get you started, here are 10 Places to Start Your Search for Online Death Records - some of them free, and some pay-per-view or subscription.

I often get asked "Why should I look for a death record? I already know when my ancestor died."  There are so many other things you can learn from death records beyond the date of death. Names are a big one - the name of the spouse, parents, informant (often a family member, such as a child or son/daughter-in-law), undertaker, doctor, etc. These are all new people we can research in our quest for information. There's also the occupation, and the place of burial which can lead to new avenues of research as well.

Do you have death information for all of the individuals in your family tree? Especially the more recent generations? We often first locate information about an ancestor in a census, or similar record, and then excitedly start working backward from there to the previous generation. Just don't so excited that you forget to research his entire life - from birth to death.

Family Tree Magazine announced new Family Tree University Independent Study Courses at the FGS Conference this week. Available for download or on CD, you'll have unlimited access to the lessons and exercises and can work completely at your own pace. Courses cover a variety of topics, from Find Your German Roots with Jim Beidler to Land Records 101 with Diana Crisman Smith. They are even offering a 20% discount at the moment - enter offer code SFT120 when you purchase before August 31, 2010.

At the FGS Conference in Knoxville, TN, this week, FamilySearch announced the addition of over 200 million new searchable historic records online representing 18 countries. If you visit FamilySearch Record Search (they will soon be available under "Historical Records" on the new FamilySearch Beta site as well), you'll find 53 new or updated collections from the United States, and over 100 million new records from Europe, Scandinavia, and Mexico. The United States collections include the 1910 U.S. Census, as well as birth, marriage, and death records from a number of states (including 10 million new records for New Jersey and Michigan respectively, 4 million from Tennessee, 41 million from Massachusetts, and more from other states). For Canada, there are new vital records (including some death certificates) for New Brunswick and Newfoundland. Not all of these new records are indexed yet, so in some cases expect to have to browse the images to find what you need.

There are also more than 100 million collective genealogy records (primarily vital records) from Read more...

Genealogists with roots in the New England states are familiar with the great online databases, library and journal of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. As the nation's largest genealogical society (more than 26,000 members), they are now expanding their scope and have launched a new Web site at AmericanAncestors.org.

Here's the press release from D. Brenton Simons, President and CEO of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS): Read more...