I don't know about fast cars or fast trains, but I do know genealogists prefer fast databases. Last night, I released an update to the core Live Roots search that improves performance significantly. Searches that used to take 40 seconds are now returning in less than 10! Also, you may have noticed that the Team Roots program is now available on LiveRoots.com (as well as GenealogyToday.com) via the new top menu options. While presently members enjoy only a few perks on LiveRoots.com, in the near future there will be some very interesting features just for members. Stay tuned! Live Roots was mentioned on the Genealogy etc. blog.

Wow! I didn't realize how many unique books, maps and cd-roms were produced by Heritage Books. They are all loaded into the Live Roots catalog and geocoded. I'm working with some additional publishers to obtain copies of their catalogs for inclusion on Live Roots as well. I've been getting some good feedback regarding the way results are sorted and will be making some changes within the next week. There's also a significant amount of name data for the Live Roots index in the queue, which should be online shortly.

I'm an advocate of transparency when it comes to online genealogy, especially since this is such a passionate hobby. You read articles all the time stressing the importance of "citing your source," and yet so many web sites fail to post the information needed for completeness. Today I launched a new feature on Live Roots that helps you to determine who owns the domains of the resources in our catalog. Along with the ownership (if available), I am providing links to several popular domain tracking sites including Alexa, Quantcast, Compete and the McAfee Site Advisor. If the company behind the domain is accredited by the BBB, a link to the certificate is provided. And, if I am able to find a clearly visible link to the site privacy policy, it will be included as well. A shortcut to this new service is GenWhois.com

Today I worked on cataloging resources from Accessible Archives, The Godfrey Memorial Library (unique resources), and Heritage Books, Inc. (still in progress). Also, more broken links were fixed, and links to dozens of newly discovered transcriptions were added. Earlier this week, I began developing the Live Roots on Second Life outpost for genealogists, where you will soon be able to research you roots in new and exciting ways.