Saturday, October 4, 2008

Google's 10th Birthday: How Has Google Changed Your Research?


Can you believe it? It was 11 years ago on Sept. 27, 1997 that the unusual domain name Google.com was registered. And now the search giant is celebrating it's 10th Birthday. In commemoration, Google has posted a searchable timeline illustrating their evolution. This is a fun and nostalgic walk down Internet memory lane that I think you'll enjoy.

Here's a quick list of what I rely on today that was only a dream in some Google designer's head 10 years ago:

  • Google Alerts - how I find ancestors and websites without even looking
  • iGoogle - and EVERYTHING that it does for me
  • Google Reader - tracking my fave genealogy podcasts and blogs
  • Gmail - how I stay in touch with everyone
  • Grand Central - how I hear from my podcast listeners
  • Google Translate - how I translate those pesky German texts
  • Google Images - which I use every day
  • Google Patents - where I found an ancestors original patent
  • Google Books - where do I start?
  • Blogspot - which is how I publish this blog!
  • and countless more tools...

Where were you in your research ten years ago?
And how has Google changed how you conduct that research?

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2 comments:

Hilary Gadsby said...

As a premium member I have found Lisa's google tips very useful.
I set up my igoogle page and get my genealogy list mail sent using gmail.
I have some documents on google docs. I have my own genealogy blog and I use igoogle to follow some of the genealogy blogs.
I have some google alerts set up.
Plus I use google as a search engine.
So I think you could say I am a fan of google Happy 10th Birthday.
Lisa I assume you meant 1997 not 2007 for when the domain name was registered.

Lisa Louise Cooke said...

Oh,good catch! I just corrected it to read 1997. Good for your for really taking advantage of all that Google has to offer genealogists! A few minutes of set up reaps long term benefits. Thanks so much for commenting. Lisa