Online resources
Most digitized files are on a few portals. The resources are listed in the order in which they are worth trying.
Search order
- Predok — a catalogue of files with call numbers and links to scans for a place and years, plus people, events and links to sources (how it works).
- Duck Inspector — a volunteer search for digitized files. It does not store scans itself: it watches several sources (ARCHIUM, FamilySearch, Wikisource, the Babyn Yar Archive, Google Drive and others) and leads to the page where the scan lies.
- ARCHIUM — an inter-archive search portal: fonds, inventories, files and digitized files of several state archives (among them CSHAK, CSHAL, regional archives of Lviv, Poltava, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Khmelnytskyi regions). Search is morphological; a missing file does not mean the book is absent — check the archive's own site.
- FamilySearch — free registration; collections of metric books by region, for example Lviv, Poltava, Mykolaiv, Zhytomyr. Some images are open only in libraries or centres.
- Archive sites — CSHAK: archium.cdiak.archives.gov.ua; CSHAL: archium.tsdial.archives.gov.ua; Kyiv region: archium.dako.gov.ua; other regional archives (overview on FamilySearch).
- Wikisource — volunteer descriptions, transcriptions and projects: revision lists of the Volyn, Katerynoslav, Kyiv, Podolia governorates, civil records 1917–1950, parishes. Search by village — the geographic index.
Catalogues and parish maps
- Genealogical Navigator — a catalogue of resources with a map.
- Map of parishes of Ukraine — parishes on a map (Google Maps).
- Map of metric books of the State Archives of Rivne Region — an unofficial project: about 415 parishes with links to scans.
- Archive catalogues — in the section archives.
Databases by topic
| Topic | Resource |
|---|---|
| Repressed persons | "Rehabilitated by History" |
| Jewish families | JewishGen Ukraine, JewishGen databases, JRI-Poland |
| Polish archives and indexes | Szukaj w Archiwach, AGAD, Geneteka |
| Trees | Rodovid, Geni, WikiTree, MyHeritage — only as hints (principles) |
| DNA | genetic genealogy |
| Places, maps, reference books | places |
| Learning | FamilySearch help for Ukraine (videos, dictionaries, paleography) |
How to check what you found
- A scan in a catalogue does not mean it is visible online: some files are digitized but available only in the reading room.
- Write down the address of the file page and the date of viewing. Archive sites change addresses.
- If nothing is online, write to the archive.
How Predok helps
Ask "List in chronological order which archival documents exist for the parish of Oleske, with links to scans". Predok answers with a list of files with call numbers and links, and in case of gaps shows which years are not covered. If you found a scan that is not there, propose adding it.