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I haven’t done much research this summer. Too hot to sit at the computer at home when the shady deck and a book are beckoning. But, I have kept up with my reading and made a few forays to seek information for a couple of cemetery trips to search for gravestones.

Below are a few new resources I stumbled across that might come in handy in the coming months.

• Mocavo Genealogy Search at www.mocavo.com is a free search engine created by Cliff Shaw. The homepage doesn’t look like much, but type something into the search bar and get ready to be impressed. Searching for ancestors on this site, I’ve been connected to things that other search engines never picked up on. And, it’s a more efficient search because it’s only searching genealogy sites. You also can upload your family tree if you want to. And, soon, there will be a feature that scans your family tree, seeks matches across the web and e-mails you the results. This site went public in March and there’s already quite a buzz about it in the genealogy community.

• I had a couple of requests for information on Swedish genealogy. A new website is Arkiv Digital, which kicked off about a year ago. It’s at www.arkivdigital.net. On the homepage, there is a users guide in English in a pdf format. They have more than 28 million Swedish church records and other historical records. A subscription can be purchased by the week, month or year. A month is 195 krona (about $31).

• If you’re starting out in genealogy and need Macintosh software, there is good news. When I started my research, there was only one Mac software program to store your family tree information – Reunion. However, Family Tree Maker, GETitCOM, Heredis Mac X.2, MacFamilyTree and many more programs are out there now. But, do some research before you choose one. I’m very happy with Reunion and don’t plan to switch. I like the way it’s set up, the charts, sheets and other features it offers. Go to Cyndi’s List (www.cyndislist.com) and click on Categories, then Software & Computers for sites on software and comparisons between the different types.

• I don’t read genealogy blogs much — not enough time. But, there are some good ones and on a winter evening, I might check out a couple and do a few searches. If you want to see what’s out there, visit the Genealogy Blog Finder at http://blogfinder.genealogue.com. At this time, the website is tracking 1,764 genealogy blogs and sorts them by topic. Or, you can choose those most recently updated, what’s new in the latest blogs, or look at a map of recent blogging activity. Or, you can use the search at the top of the homepage. I typed in Iowa once and actually found something useful for my research.

• If you have always wanted a scanner to help with your research on trips, check out the Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner. It’s about $150, is battery powered and results in a 300 to 600 dpi resolution on what you scan. After seeing a positive review in the New England Historic Genealogical Society newsletter, I checked it out. I love it and want one! You can scan photos or documents onto a memory card and then upload them to your computer when you get home. Big items can be scanned in segments and then the software combines them into one image. Check it out at http://flip-pal.com.

• In a previous column, I talked about the difficulties in tracking down women in your family tree if you haven’t got a maiden name. Check out http://genealogy.about.com/od/surnames/tp/maiden_names.htm for a list of the top 10 ways to find maiden names. It’s nothing revolutionary, but is a great checklist when you hit a brick wall or think you’ve covered all the bases (and maybe didn’t).

•Those of us with ancestors who came by sea — most of them usually, all of them in my case — are fascinated by how they got here, which ship, from which port, etc. I have pictures and drawings of the ships my ancestors came on, and a new website I found, www.ShipIndex.org, lists which books, magazines and online resources mention a particular ship. A free section allows you to search and look at some records. A search for the Michigan garnered 47 citations from 16 resources and the first in the list was the ship my Irish ancestors arrived on. There are 142,804 entries in the free database and 2,251,139 entries with paid access, which is $9.95 a month.

•The other ship site I really like is www.shiphistory.co.uk. Once you know which ship your ancestors came on, get a photo or drawing of it from this website. Don Hazeldine is a nice guy and very helpful. You e-mail him from his website and he will e-mail back with details on what he has. He will send you everything he has on a particular ship (photos, sketches, history, voyages, ports) for £8 ($15 U.S.). This website is where I got all the information on my ancestors’ ships years ago. He specializes in passenger steamships from 1870 onwards.

Lynda Rego has a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/lynda.rego where she shares tips on genealogy and other topics. Stop by, click on Like and share any interests you have for upcoming columns.