(VIRGINIA BEACH, VA) GenExchange - One of Two Major Independent Genealogy Projects Left. (Virginia Beach, VA) With the recent purchase of Rootsweb.Com, Inc., by the MyFamily.Com Division Ancestry.Com, the GenExchange (http://genexchange.org) has become one of only two major independent genealogy projects left on the World Wide Web, making it even more important than ever for the GenExchange to maintain it's strong voice in the genealogical community to help preserve our right to permanent free access to genealogical information online. Along with the Church of Latter Day Saints, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org) website, the GenExchange is now the only other major genealogy project not hosted by a commercial entity. Since our inception in September 1996, the GenExchange has been a leader in merging technology with genealogy; being the first genealogy web site to utilize then emerging database technologies to present a whole new way of locating and searching genealogical information. The fore-father of all the existing genealogy portals that now emulate our databased genealogical content methods, including the popular Ancestry.com web site, the GenExchange has over 900 Project Members and Volunteers working tirelessly to add an average of over 100,000 new records online each and every month. The GenExchange is now, and always will be a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping genealogy free online and does not seek donations or charge any access fee for the use of the project web site, our hosted mailing lists, or any of the other genealogy resources hosted through the GenExchange, and maintains a strong user privacy policy. The GenExchange is working hard to lead the way toward non-commercialization of online genealogy through data transcription projects, public outreach, and education. The USGenExchange, the central GenExchange project dedicated to creating indexed and searchable web sites for every state and county in the United States, makes location and access to genealogical records easier than ever before. Access over two million permanently archived records quickly by visiting the USGenExchange now, and revisit often to find new records added daily. In addition, the GenExchange is pleased to host dozens of mailing lists, dedicated to Surname, topic, and geographic specific genealogy subjects; as well as other diverse genealogy resources such as a Surname Discussion Forum, helpful for locating others interested in locating relatives; an online Soundex Conversion tool; a Military Records Collection Project; the critically acclaimed New York Emigrant Savings Bank Project; free genealogy charts and forms; and literally dozens of other genealogical resources The GenExchange is growing larger and stronger every day and will continue to assist online genealogists find their roots. The GenExchange does however need your assistance in helping others. The GenExchange faces a nearly insurmountable task of preserving genealogical records for permanent free access, as numerous commercial organizations seek to capitalize on our quest to discover who we are. Please consider joining the GenExchange by adopting a State or county web site and help us permanently archive genealogical records. Read more about the GenExchange Project by visiting http://genexchange.org/volunteers.cfm. To view previous GenExchange Press Announcements please visit http://genexchange.org/gesr/press.cfm

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• New Official URL for the GenExchange - Jan 1st, 2000