Reach Out and Touch Someone: International Searches
We regularly use libraries and archives close to home, but how do we access such resources in a foreign country? Although the internet has made it easier to reach genealogists on the other side of the world, we still face challenges in knowing what resources are available "over there" and how to communicate with others who do not speak English. Online translators allow us to translate between quite a few languages and English, so that interacting using the rudiments of another language is not as difficult as they used to be. Even if your grammar is not perfect, you will be surprised to find how understanding a phone call or an email recipient can be as you try to communicate with him in his native tongue.
Colleen Fitzpatrick, PhD, is an internationally recognised forensic genealogist, the founder of Identifinders International. She has been involved in high profile forensic cases, As a world traveler and multilingual, Colleen specializes in international cases; she has researched in over 50 countries and has lectured widely in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. She has appeared in hundreds of domestic and international newspapers and magazines and on international radio and television programs.