Follow Friday - Cyndi's List

I have been a follower of Cyndi's List since it first began. (Yep, I'm old as dirt folks!) After all, anyone with name like Cyndi has to be pretty special, right? (Yeah, I know... shameful aren't I?) I've even been mistaken for this Cyndi on more than one occasion, and had to direct them to the correct Cyndi.

And just who is this Cyndi?  Well, we're talking about Cyndi Ingle. That remarkable woman who started this blog in 1996. (Oh my! Now that is some kind of history today for a blog!) I can remember when everything she had was listed on a single page with links. Now, we're talking about so many pages, I can't even begin to discover it all!  And Cyndi's doesn't cost you one red cent. Although, donations are accepted, even those weren't done for many, many years! Cyndi provides this all as a service for those who simply want to find ways to research their family tree. And above all of the genealogy based web sites I have used the most, Cyndi's List has been the one that far outshines any I can recommend to you.

From her bog site, let me let Cyndi tell you why she does this: " The short answer is because I have fun doing this and I'm really happy to hear the great success stories that have come to people through using the list. The list began as a project for my local genealogical society in order to help our members find resources online. I want to make it easy for all researchers to find online resources for their genealogical research. I once read that the Internet is like a library with its books strewn all over the floor. I guess I'd like my list to be the card-catalog for the genealogy section of that library. And after all these years, I honestly believe that this is what I was meant to do. I’m very lucky that something I love to do has become a vocation."

Those of us who have been there all these years, know that it hasn't always been an easy path for Cyndi. And at least once or twice, she even considered giving it up. Thankfully for all of us, and that includes you, she never has! She has persevered, and is probably THE MOST used, and well-loved genealogy resource site in the Internet today!

I love how one of the comments from a user on her site states, and I am paraphrasing here, that she's kind of like the Dewey Decimal System of the genealogy world! Cyndi, herself, states she compares herself to a library strewn with books. You might go and look up one you need to find, but while there, you might also find one, or two, or a dozen, more that will help you! And yes, that's exactly what Cyndi's List is like! I can honestly say, that not once when I have gone there have I only copied one link. I usually copy a dozen, or more! How can that be? Surely I would have them all copied by now! Right?

Wrong! You see, Cyndi works daily on this site. She adds new links and new information every single day! Simply sign up for her newsletter and you'll be amazed at how much she puts into this! And the site is effortless to navigate through.  With the amount she adds, so often, you'd think it would be a jumbled maze!

I can honestly tell you, it's always been a breeze to find what you need here.

If there's one site you want to follow, this is it. Cyndi's List.

Head on over there right now, and be sure and tell Cyndi, that the other Cyndi has sent you there! Tell her 'hey!' for me.