Is there anyplace on the web to research family history without paying an arm an

Question:

Is there anyplace on the web to research family history without paying an arm and a leg?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Go to your public library where the very expensive services are usually paid by library subscription so that patrons like us get the benefit of using them for free. You'll notice, for example, that the full Ancestry.com service is available at this library, but only from within the library itself...not from home. But if you have a half a day to spend on the computer at home, couldn't you just as happily take your laptop to the library, sit in a nice comfy room with a cup of coffee, and do your research there for free?
http://tln.lib.mi.us/epass/

Other library systems use an equally good (sometimes better) package called Heritage Quest. The difference between the two is that it's cost effective by the library's standards to pay the additional fee for patrons to be able to sign in to a portal on the library's site and be able to use it from home.

Another massively (and very free) set of sites that are staffed by very well-qualified volunteers is the http://www.usgenweb.org project. There is a site for every county in the country and many countries around the world. On there you'll find records specific to a region, county or town that the larger services haven't bought up. You'll just as importantly find people from the area who are experts on researching there and can help you through the hows and whys of researching in that particular area.

There are some free sites, but I have seen MAJOR problems with the accuracy of their information, especially FamilySearch.org through the Mormon church. They have a huge amount of records, but they're chocked full of errors...big errors...to the point where you can't be sure that the parents attributed to a given child were even related to that person. When literally anybody can submit information to a site, without any sources or proof of credibility, and when the site doesn't allow the submitter to make corrections to the posted information, you're on a site that's bound to fail you.

Rootsweb used to be a major resource. But then Ancestry.com bought them out and let it die to a smoldering shadow of its former self. But the upside is that they still offer the free access to the Social Security Death Index.