At an ever-increasing pace, creators of genealogically useful databases are posting them on the Internet—and scattering them in a variety of different locations. Some may be found on the website of a Jewish genealogical society; others are on JewishGen; still more are found on numerous other sites.

This scattershot placement creates a problem. How may a conscientious, thorough researcher know where to look for all the databases that may prove invaluable in solving a particular problem? A Google search, good as it is, cannot find a family member listed in an obscure database. As things stand now, our primary option is to discover the unusual, odd list through continual networking with others pursuing similar interests. It is a fairly haphazard method, one that necessitates considerable diligence, energy and luck.

[Ed. Note: This article was originally published in AVOTAYNU, Volume XXVII, Number 3, Fall 2011, page 3.]

How much we all would benefit if those individuals creating databases for Jewish genealogy would agree to post them in a single location—and the logical place is on JewishGen. Consider what has happened with an analogous situation, DNA testing, about which AVOTAYNU editorialized a few years ago. When most Jewish genealogists who tested their DNA chose Family Tree DNA, they enabled the company to assemble the largest database of such information and to find matches between researchers that likely would not have been possible had DNA results been spread out over a number of databases.

A similar situation exists at JewishGen. If we post all of the Jewish genealogically valuable databases currently being created (and move those already posted), we will immeasurably improve our access to information. JewishGen offers all-country and all-topic searches of multiple databases that easily enable the researcher to spot potentially valuable information. For details, go to www.jewishgen.org/projects/desc/DatabaseSharing.html. This arrangement would not preclude having any database exist on another website—for example, an individual’s own personal site.

Two examples illustrate the importance of a single source for all Jewish genealogical databases. Gary Mokotoff’s great-grandfather lived his entire life in Warka, Poland, before immigrating to the United States. Both of this ancestor’s parents were born in Warka, and all of his children were born in Warka. Yet the great-grandfather’s birth record could not be found among the Warka vital records (although his marriage record is there). It turns out he was born in Siedlce, Poland. How did Mokotoff find the record? It appears in JewishGen’s All-Poland database, which has five million records from all over Poland. Here is a second example. Many cemeteries in the United States have now placed their burial records online. Many Jewish families have some roots in New York City. To date, ten Jewish cemeteries have posted their burial data online. Researchers who do not know the cemetery in which a relative is buried must search each cemetery database individually. Imagine the great advantage of having a single consolidated database—on JewishGen’s Jewish Online Worldwide Burial Registry.

The International Institute for Jewish Genealogy (IIJG) also has been considering how to improve our knowledge of the vast wealth of Jewish genealogical resources available—only a portion of which is posted on the web. In its current portfolio of research proposals is one for a Master Bibliography and Computerized Portal to Jewish Genealogy Sources and Resources. The proposal notes:

In the last quarter of a century, with the advent of the personal computer and access to archives in Eastern Europe, public interest and involvement in Jewish genealogy has literally “exploded.” This extraordinary phenomenon has resulted in a surge of printed works related to Jewish genealogy, the discovery of countless sources and resources for Jewish genealogical research and an infrastructure of Jewish genealogy websites, many offering valuable databases of information extracted and translated from previously inaccessible archives. In parallel, vast data sets of direct interest to Jewish genealogists have come online, ranging from the Yad Vashem Name Index and Ellis Island Database to complete national censuses in the UK, U.S. and other Western countries with large Jewish populations.

This wealth of material, however, is diffuse and frequently beyond the reach of the average Jewish genealogist…despite the assists provided by such search engines as Google and certain specialized facilities available on the Internet. Thus, there is a demonstrable need today for a Master Bibliography of Jewish Genealogy and a dynamic site, utilizing the exponential growth in information technology that will have the capacity to guide subscribers to (and through) the ever-growing body of Jewish genealogy resources and sources.

The need to improve access to the information we need is imperative. As a first step, readers can help by posting all Jewish genealogical databases on JewishGen. The next step will be for IIJG to create and post its proposed Master Bibliography and a Global Portal to sources and resources for Jewish genealogy.