Another look at Wie Was Wie

It's already three months since Genlias closed down. So, how do we live without it, and how does its successor Wie Was Wie fare? Time for another look at the site, based on the questions you asked.

Several people complained that Wie Was Wie is harder to use than Genlias, but the main problem that most of you have is the lack of an English interface. An English interface is promised, but unfortunately there is no published information yet about when it will come. In my opinion this should have been available well before Genlias closed down. Dear Wie Was Wie team, please work on an English interface as soon as possible!

If you have a hard time figuring out how to search at all, I'll give a short explanation. There are two ways to search: From the home page or from the search page. On the home page you can enter your ancestor's name in the search box (in the blue rectangle) and press the Zoek button. If you need a more flexible search click the Uitgebreid zoeken link, which will take you to the search page. There you have fields like Achternaam (surname), Voorna(a)m(en) (Given name(s)), Periode (Time frame), and Plaats (Place, usually municipality). There is a Voeg een persoon toe button if you want to search on two names (which was standard in Genlias). I can give full instructions, with screenshots, in a future article, if needed - just leave a comment if you want that.

If you have too many search results, you can narrow them down by using the filters on the left hand side. That's a big improvement over Genlias! The most interesting ones are Periode (Time frame) and Collectiegebied (province or country).

The software is still not stable. As a result, the website is sometimes hard to reach (or hard to use if you reach it). The team is aware of it and working on it, but I wish they had sorted that out before Genlias closed.

On the bright side, all functionality is free for the time being, at least while the platform is not stable. Eventually they want to charge for advanced search (including searching for two names), sorting and filtering of search results, and notifications.

For a while it seemed that nobody knew exactly what was in Wie Was Wie, and what not. But recently they provided more information about which records can be found in their database. You can download a list (PDF or Excel) here (top right of the page).

For many records there is also a scan of the corresponding document available (but you need to register before you can download or view it). However, the option to directly order and pay for a paper copy (that we had in Genlias) apparently disappeared. If you need a copy of a document you should contact the curator of the document (listed under Erfgoedinstelling) directly.

And what are your experiences with Wie Was Wie so far? Are you getting used to it? Please let us know and leave a comment, below. If you have any questions about Wie Was Wie, you can also ask below in the comments. Or you can contact the Wie Was Wie team directly on twitter or facebook, they usually reply quickly.

Church books at FamilySearch

FamilySearch, the genealogy website of the Mormons, had scans of the civil register for a while now. Recently they also started adding scans of pre-1811 church books: Baptisms, marriages, burials, membership lists and more. Currently available are the provinces Groningen, Drenthe, Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht, Noord-Brabant, and Zeeland (seven out of twelve provinces).

The scans are made from microfilms that the church had in their collection. They are not indexed and have to be browsed image by image, similar to browsing the films themselves.

To find them on the FamilySearch website, click Continental Europe and browse to Netherlands. While you are there, have a look at the many other resources on their website - there's bound to be a few that are useful for your research.

Update on WieWasWie

WieWasWie in English

Last week I answered questions about WieWasWie, the successor of Dutch BMD site Genlias. One issue that remained unanswered in that article was when WieWasWie would be available in English. There is more information available: On Twitter, WieWasWie mentioned that they planned to start on the English translation early next year, but first the Dutch site should work without problems.

Someone from the WieWasWie team also replied to last week's article:

We agree that the English version should be introduced ASAP, the sooner the better. Of course we need to focus on the Dutch version first, but we're definitely planning for the English one! I'd like to add here that you can email to our helpdesk for any kind of help at our site (we know a little English too; -)!): helpdesk@wiewaswie.nl

Records from Zeeland in WieWasWie

Birth records from Zeeland are now in WieWasWie. Still missing: Zeeland death and marriage records, and records from Noord-Holland (and maybe others?). I'm sure that those records will follow soon.

Summary of current situation

For those that missed it a quick summary of the current status:

• WieWasWie is the successor of Genlias, the Dutch database of (mostly) BMD records.
• Genlias will shut down at the end of this year.
• WieWasWie does not have all records yet that Genlias has, but the missing ones will be added over the coming weeks.
• WieWasWie does not have all search options that Genlias has (in particular, searching for two people is not possible on WieWasWie), but that will change over the coming weeks.
• WieWasWie does also offer extra functionality, like downloading scans or building your family tree.
• Not all functionality will be free. Currently you can take out a trial subscription (no credit card required) that offers everything for free until the end of 2012.
• There is no English interface yet, but there will be one. Genlias will shut down before WieWasWie is available in English, though.

Questions?

• Do you have questions about Genlias that you'd like to see answered on this website? Leave a comment below this article, or send me a message.
• Do you have a question for WieWasWie? Send them an e-mail (helpdesk@wiewaswie.nl). You can also contact them on facebook or twitter.

Acknowledgements

Thank you WieWasWie for replying to last week's article, and thank you Yvette Hoitink for pointing me to WieWasWie's tweet.

Genlias and WieWasWie: Your questions answered

Earlier this month I wrote about the upcoming closure of Genlias, and its replacement WieWasWie.nl. I received several questions, and a few reactions expressing concern. I will try to answer your concerns and questions in this article. If you have questions that are not answered please leave a comment or send me an email.

Question: Will WieWasWie be available in English?

This was by far the most common concern: WieWasWie is currently not available in English. Unfortunately I can't answer this question yet: I could not find anything in their FAQ, on their site, or on their blog. I sent an email to the WieWasWie team and will let you know their answer as soon as I have it.

Question: Where can I find the Genlias records that are not in WieWasWie yet?

WieWasWie aims to have those records available by November. Genlias is available until 1 January.

Question: In Genlias you can search for two persons. Will WieWasWie have this option?

Yes. They are currently testing this option. It should be available by November.

Question: How do I...

A few people asked how to do certain things on WieWasWie. I'll get back to that in a later article.

Question: What is the difference between free, basic and premium subscriptions?

I understand from recent communications that this is still subject to change. According to earlier announcements:

• Everyone can search the collections.
• You need (at least) a free registration to store simple searches, to create favorites, and to create family trees.
• You need (at least) a basic registration to store complex searches, and to view and download scans of the civil registers, population registers and church books.
• You need a premium subscription to view and download scans of other registers (e.g. notarial deeds, archives of the Dutch East Indies Company, property deeds).

Furthermore, the number of people you can add to your family tree, and the amount of disk space you are allowed to use for your family tree, also depend on your subscription level.

Planned prices are €30 per year for basic, €42 per year for premium. At the current exchange rate that is around $40 and $55. Very reasonable, in my opinion.

Note that at the moment only free trial subscriptions are available. These will allow free access to all available functionality until the end of the year (but there is a limit on the number of scans you can download).

Follow / Get in touch with WieWasWie

You did not ask for it, but I'll give you their contact details anyway. There are several ways to get in touch with WieWasWie:

1. A contact page on the WieWasWie site lists their email address.
2. WieWasWie has a facebook page.
3. WieWasWie is active on twitter.

Two months respite for Genlias

Last week I wrote about the upcoming closure of Genlias. Genlias was going to shut down on 1 November. Before that time all Genlias data should have been transferred to WieWasWie. Apparently the data transfer is behind schedule and the Dutch archives have decided to keep Genlias running for another two months, until 1 January.

Read the full story, in Dutch, on the WieWasWie blog or on the Genlias website.

Genlias will close down soon

For many years Genlias, the Dutch BMD database, was the place to go to start your Dutch research. I have often talked about or recommended Genlias, here on Trace your Dutch roots (a search for Genlias on this website gives over 300 results). However, the technology behind Genlias is outdated and not maintained anymore. On 2 July a new website opened its doors: wiewaswie.nl. This website is the successor of Genlias.

Now that Genlias has a successor, it makes sense that it will retire, eventually. The Dutch archives, who pay for both (expensive) websites, decided that wiewaswie.nl will be good enough to replace Genlias by the end of this month, and Genlias will close its doors on 1 November. On the English version of their website there is only a terse note about it in the marquee:

"On July 2 this year, a beta version of the website WieWasWie went live. Genlias will be available as usual until November 1, 2012."

As I write this, wiewaswie.nl is still in beta, and it does not have an English interface yet. I do not know when that will change. It does have some extras that Genlias does not have, like the ability to view and download scans (at the moment only for a small part of the records). This will be a paid feature, but is free until the end of the year.

I will soon write another article about wiewaswie.nl. If you have any questions that you want me to cover, please leave a comment below.

Action items for current Genlias users:

• Get acquainted with wiewaswie.nl.
• If you have questions about wiewaswie.nl, ask them in the comments section below and I will try to cover them in a future article.
• If you must use Genlias for anything, do it now (or at least before the end of the month).
• Download the scans you may need from wiewaswie.nl before the end of the year (while it is still free).

Wiewaswie.nl free until end of 2012

I recently wrote about the new website wiewaswie.nl, the successor of the popular Genlias site. Wiewaswie.nl admitted on its blog that there are some growing pains (especially missing or low quality scans). To compensate us for those issues, all subscriptions are now free for the rest of the year! Take out a trial subscription today, and you can use it for free until 31 December. The only catch: The maximum number of downloads is 100 (which is probably sufficient for most of us).

Your trial subscription will automatically expire, no credit card details required.

Online records: Amsterdam population register

The Amsterdam city archive added two new databases to its websites: The population register 1851-1853 and the population register 1874-1893. The index of the latter is not complete yet, but will be soon.

The population register 1893-1939 (also known as the family cards) was already online.

Searching the indexes is free, but there is a charge for viewing and downloading scans.

The new databases are currently only available through the Dutch website.

If you plan to search the population register, be aware that many first names are abbreviated, e.g. Johs means Johannes. Use wildcards when searching, or only use surnames.

Warning: Population registers are not primary sources of BMD data and are known to contain errors.

Read more about population registers.

Online records: Family cards of Rotterdam

The website

The Digital Family Tree of Rotterdam is the database of the city archive of Rotterdam. We looked at this database before, e.g. in 2008, in the article Online records: Rotterdam city archive. Earlier this year the archive added a great new resource: Scans of family cards (1880-1941) from Rotterdam, with an index!

What do they have?

Today we look at family cards, though the database has a lot more. Family cards are part of the population register. Originally, the population was a census-like register that was kept up to date. Because each page could have lots of updates and changes, the register could get messy. In 1880, Rotterdam changed their register to a card system, with one household per card: the family cards. These were easier to keep up to date, as cards could easily be replaced if they were full or messy.

In 1939 the family cards were phased out in favour of a new system, and by 1941 the cards were obsolete.

The cards are now archived in the Rotterdam city archive. They are scanned and indexed, and available online.

Family cards have lots of interesting information about a household. It lists all household members. New members of the household were added at the bottom, members that left were crossed out, usually with a remark about where they went. For each person listed you will find items like date of birth (and possibly death), maiden name (if applicable), address, occupation and religion, and any additional information that the city wanted to register about its citizens.

The images below are the front and back of the family card of Leendert de Kooning, father of the celebrated Dutch-born painter Willem de Kooning (who is listed twice on the card, under numbers 7 and 8).

Is there an English interface?

Yes, if you follow this link the search interface is English. Additional information, search results and of course the scans themselves are still in Dutch, though. You can use my genealogy dictionary to help you interpret the scans.

How do I use it?

Select Population register (and deselect the other options), fill in a family name and optionally a first name, and click Search. Browse through the search results and click the one that interests you. Click View the scan.

The scan will open in a new window. There are buttons for zooming in and out, for rotating the image, for printing and for downloading.

How much does it cost?

Nothing. Even viewing and downloading scans is currently completely free!

Future plans

I assume the family card project is completed. There will be other scanning and indexing projects in Rotterdam, though.

Conclusion

This is a great resource if you have Rotterdam ancestors in the late 19th or early 20th century.

Who was who: The future of Dutch genealogy

A beta version of a new website with Dutch records and scans quietly opened its doors a few days ago: Wie was wie (Who was who).

The website

Wie was wie is going to be the main website for Dutch genealogy, replacing current websites like Genlias and Digitale Stamboom (Digital Family Tree).

What do they have?

The website opened with 18.6 million indexed documents, and 1.7 million scanned documents, from many different sources: BMD records from the civil registry, population registers, church books, notarial deeds, records of the Dutch East Indies company, and more.

You can also build your own family tree on the site, link records and scans to your ancestors, and share your research.

Is there an English interface?

No, though I expect there will be at a later date.

How much does it cost?

Searching indexed documents is free, no registration required. Creating family trees is free up to 100 people, registration required. For downloading scans or creating larger family trees you will need a subscription.

There are two levels of subscription: Basic (€30 per year) and premium (€42 per year). With a basic subscription you can download scans of BMD records, church books and the population register, and have up to 2500 people in your tree. Premium subscribers can download scans of all available record types, and there is no limit to the number of people in their tree.

Future plans

Wie was wie is just starting out. In the future, most Dutch archives will publish their online indexes and their new scans in Wie was wie instead of their own databases.

Conclusion

If you can navigate a Dutch site, Wie was wie is a useful site, but it cannot (yet) replace Genlias - many records are still missing. Use it in addition to existing sites - for now. If you don't want to navigate a site that is not in English, you can continue to use existing sites.

I will review (parts of) Wie was wie in depth in future posts, after I had the chance to use it myself a bit more.

Genealogie Online

The website

Genealogie Online is Dutch a website where users can upload their own family tree, similar to e.g. Rootsweb. Recently I received an e-mail from Bob Coret, the man behind Genealogie Online, that the website is now also available in English. A good reason to have a look at what the site offers.

What do they have?

Users upload their data, others can browse it. In the words of Coret:

"The average genealogist collects large amounts of information about his ancestors. The step to publishing this collection of heritage data and/ or collection of mortuary cards on paper or the Internet is perhaps (still) a bridge too far. To share this valuable data, I (Bob Coret) offer a helping hand. You too can have your genealogical data (GEDCOM) published by me on this site In four simple steps. The data is and remains yours, the data is therefore published with a named source."

The site is aimed at Dutch users. Indeed, for years the website was only available in Dutch. You can use it to find what Dutch users have found about their ancestors, and you can contact the uploaders - possibly Dutch cousins who researched your Dutch roots!

Is there an English interface?

Yes: The section of the website where the data is presented is available in English (and German). The section of the website where you can contribute your own data is only available in Dutch, though, probably because Coret wants the focus of the site to be on Dutch ancestors.

How do I use it?

Enter a name in the search box on the top right, and click Search for .... You get a list of uploaded family trees that contain that name, just click the one you are interested in.

On the image below, I searched for the surname Bansema:

The Dutch text at the bottom states that one person has registered an interest in the surname Bansema. The link to contact him leads to another website (also by Bob Coret) that is currently only available in Dutch.

Two users have uploaded a family tree containing Albert Bansema (1826-1873), though apparently the Van Puffelen family tree does not have a death date. Clicking on the name Albert Bansema leads to an informative page with a family tree, a timeline, and lots of background information about the time Albert lived in (much of that background info is in Dutch, though).

Click on the title, Genealogie Kloos in this case, to find (and contact) the owner of the data.

How much does it cost?

The site is free to use, but donations are welcome.

Conclusion

If you have 19th or 20th century Dutch roots, you will find Genealogie Online a useful site, and you will almost certainly discover someone related to you.

Dutch archive news Q1 2010

• Genlias added new birth records from Curaçao, marriage records from Flevoland, birth, marriage and death records from Limburg, birth and death records from Noord-Brabant, marriage and death records from Noord-Holland, marriage and death records from Utrecht, birth, marriage and death records and church books (baptisms from Brielle) from Zuid-Holland.
• The National Library of The Netherlands is going to digitize part of its magazine collection. Read the project page here (in Dutch).
• Tresoar digitized and translated (in English) a collection of letters that Dutch immigrants in the U.S.A. sent home. Note: The translations are copyrighted and may not be published without permission of the translator.
• Ten Dutch heritage institutions cooperated to create a new biography portal (a who's who of Dutch history). Unfortunately the website is only available in Dutch.
• The Amsterdam city archive is on facebook.
• The Rotterdam city archive placed more than 300 Rotterdam world war II photos on flickr.

Online genealogy in Noord-Brabant

• The main resource for genealogy in Noord-Brabant is BHIC, Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum.
• A few regions and towns have their own online records: Land van Heusden en Altena, West-Brabant, Eindhoven, Tilburg.
• Find images of the past at BHIC or at the Film- en Fotobank Noord-Brabant (Film and Photo database Noord-Brabant).
• There are also local image sites, e.g. for Eindhoven, Tilburg or Roosendaal.
• BHIC is present on Flickr and YouTube. The Tilburg regional archive is present on Flickr and YouTube.
• For historical maps, visit Beelddatabank Historische Kaarten Brabant (Image database Historical Maps Brabant).
• For indexes of cemeteries and photos of tombstones visit Graftombe (Tomb), Online Begraafplaatsen Land van Heusden en Altena (Online cemeteries, Land van Heusden en Altena region) or Online Begraafplaatsen Noord-Brabant overig (Online cemeteries rest of Noord-Brabant province).
• You can discuss your Noord-Brabant roots on the Ancestry message board Noord-Brabant or the Yahoo mailing list Noord-Brabant Genealogy.

For more information see Genealogy in Noord-Brabant.

Online genealogy in Zuid-Holland

• For most towns in Zuid-Holland, the best place to find BMD records is Genlias.
• There are, however, many places in Zuid-Holland that are not in Genlias. Places that are not represented in Genlias include major cities like Rotterdam, The Hague, Leiden, and Delft. There are regional and local databases you can use for these places: Rotterdam, Den Haag, Leiden, Delft, Vlaardingen, Schiedam, and Groene Hart.
• There is no provincial image database for Zuid-Holland. For images of the past, check out local and regional sites, like Rotterdam, Delft, Leiden, or Schiedam.
• The Schiedam city archive is present on flickr.
• For indexes of cemeteries and photos of tombstones visit Graftombe (Tomb). The website Online Begraafplaatsen (Online Cemeteries) has pages for the regions Alblasserwaard, Delfland, Eiland van Dordrecht, Eiland van IJsselmonde, Goeree-Overflakkee, Krimpenerwaard, Rotterdam, Schieland, Vijfheerenlanden, and rest of Zuid-Holland.
• Discuss your Zuid-Holland roots at the Ancestry message board Zuid-Holland or the Yahoo mailing list Zuid Holland Genealogy.

For more information see Genealogy in Zuid-Holland.

Online genealogy in Noord-Holland

• There is no online provincial database for Noord-Holland, but Genlias has many BMD records from Noord-Holland.
• Amsterdam records are not yet on Genlias. There are several Amsterdam databases on the website of the Amsterdam city archive, including the pre-1811 doopregisters (index to baptisms).
• There are other local and regional databases: Haarlem and Kennemerland and Alkmaar.
• Noordhollandse Huwelijken (Noord-Holland marriages) has marriages and family reconstructions (based on marriage acts and other sources) for many towns in Noord-Holland.
• Genealogie in Noord-Holland is a portal site for Noord-Holland genealogy. Unfortunately it is only available in Dutch.
• Images of the past are in the Beeldbank Noord-Holland (Image database Noord-Holland).
• For images of Amsterdam visit Beeldbank Amsterdam, the image database of the Amsterdam city archive. There are many other local or regional image databases, including Alkmaar, Hilversum and Texel.
• For indexes of cemeteries and photos of tombstones visit Graftombe (Tomb), Het Grafstenen project Noord-Holland (The tomb stone project Noord-Holland), or Online Begraafplaatsen (Online Cemeteries, there is a separate page for the island Texel).
• Discuss your Noord-Holland roots at the Ancestry message board Noord-Holland, the RootsWeb NL-NOORD-HOLLAND Mailing List, or the Yahoo mailing list Noordholland-Genealogy.

For more information see Genealogy in Noord-Holland.

Online genealogy in Utrecht

• To find BMD records for Utrecht, use Genlias.
• The archives of the region Southeastern Utrecht and Eemland have their own online databases, including church books.
• The Utrecht provincial archive published an index and scans of the notarial archive of Utrecht city online.
• For images of the past, visit the image database of the provincial archive.
• Regional and local image collections include Rijnstreek and Lopikerwaard, Amersfoort and Zeist.
• For indexes of cemeteries and photos of tombstones visit Graftombe (Tomb) or Online Begraafplaatsen (Online Cemeteries).
• Discuss your Utrecht roots at the Ancestry message board Utrecht or the Yahoo mailing list Utrecht Genealogy.

For more information see Genealogy in Utrecht.

Online genealogy in Gelderland

• There is no online provincial database for Gelderland, but Genlias has many BMD records from Gelderland.
• Streekarchief Bommelerwaard (Regional archive Bommelerwaard) has many online resources for the Bommelerwaard region. Click Digitale studiezaal, Genealogische bronnen, and Zoeken op naam in the navigation menu on the left to start searching.
• The Noordwest-Veluwe regional archive (Elburg, Ermelo, Harderwijk, Nunspeet and Oldebroek) publishes several indexes on their website. Use Zoek uitgebreid at the top to search, or Genealogie in the navigation menu on the left to browse.
• You can find images of the past in the image database Gelderland in beeld, maintained by the Gelderland library.
• There are also many local image sites, e.g. for Arnhem, Nijmegen, Apeldoorn, and many others.
• The Wageningen city archive has a channel on YouTube.
• For indexes of cemeteries and photos of tombstones visit Graftombe (Tomb) or Online Begraafplaatsen (Online Cemeteries).
• Discuss your Gelderland roots at the Ancestry message board Gelderland or the Yahoo mailing list Gelderland Genealogy.
• UPDATE (thanks, Jane): Genealogie in de Achterhoek has many indexes, transcriptions, and sources for the Achterhoek region. They are also on flickr.

For more information see Genealogy in Gelderland.

Dutch archive news - October 2009

• Genlias added the first 120,000 marriage records from Amsterdam. This covers the period 1916-1932. There are also new birth and death acts from Limburg, and death acts from Noord-Holland.
• The Central Bureau for Genealogy (CBG) in The Hague presented the next book in the series Voorouders van verre (Ancestors from far away): Sranan famiri, a research guide for people with Suriname roots.
• The CBG started indexing their collection Familieadvertenties (newspaper ads announcing births, deaths, marriages or other family events). Currently these are only indexed on primary surname, and you may have to browse through many scans (paying for them as you go along) before you find what you are looking for. In the future you can also see which persons are on which scan (first and last name, year, place) so that you can go directly to the scan you need.
• The CBG received a grant for their project StamboomNederland (Family Tree The Netherlands). In the future people can upload their genealogical research to share it with others and make it available to future generations. The CBG has archived printed and handwritten family trees for many years, and they plan to do the same for digital trees. StamboomNederland will launch late 2010.
• Educational broadcasting corporation Teleac has bought the Dutch rights of the famous BBC television series Who do you think you are? They will create a Dutch series together with Central Bureau for Genealogy.
• The Dutch National Archive announced that 800 meters Suriname archive, kept in The Netherlands because of better archiving conditions, will return to Suriname. Next year the Suriname national archive will open a new, modern archive building. Together with improved regulations and staff training this will guarantee proper conservation of these documents.
• The Friesland archive Tresoar and the Groningen university are indexing the registers of the Sound Toll from the Danish national archive. The Sound Toll Registers contain information on about 1.8 million passages. From ca. 1580 onward, the biggest part of the passing ships came from The Netherlands. During the 18th century more ships came from Friesland than from any other Dutch province. The project's website is The Sound Toll Registers Online.
• The city archive of The Hague have published part of the population register online. Not as part of their clumsy virtual study room, but (like many cities in Zuid-Holland) in Digitale Stamboom (Digital Family Tree). You can find the records from The Hague here. Scans are available free of charge.

Online genealogy in Drenthe

• The main resource for Drenthe is Drenlias. Drenlias has indexes of the BMD records of the civil register, indexes of church books, and many other archives. See also my earlier review of Drenlias.
• Drentse Emigranten (Emigrants from Drenthe) is a database of people who emigrated between 1840 and 1930. I also reviewed this site.
• Genealogie Drenthe is a portal site for Drenthe genealogy. Unfortunately it is only available in Dutch.
• Images of Drenthe's past can be found on the Drenthe photo archive, part of the website of the Drenthe provincial archive.
• Smaller image sites include Drenthe zoals het was 75 jaar geleden (Drenthe like it was 75 years ago), or local sites for (among others) Assen, Meppel, Coevorden, or Zuidlaren.
• For indexes of cemeteries and photos of tombstones visit Graftombe (Tomb) or Online Begraafplaatsen (Online Cemeteries).
• Discuss your Drenthe roots at Ancestry message board Drenthe or Yahoo mailing list Stamboom Drenthe.

For more information see Genealogy in Drenthe.

Online genealogy in Groningen

• The most important genealogical database for Groningen is AlleGroningers. The database has indexes and scans of BMD records of the civil register and church books. It's not complete yet, but expects to be so in a few years.
• Ledematen provincie Groningen (Church members province Groningen) has transcrips and (links to) scans of (pre-1811) membership books of many Dutch Reformed churches in Groningen.
• Genealogie Groningen is a portal site for Groningen genealogy. Unfortunately it is only available in Dutch.
• Find images of the past in Beeldbank Groningen (Image database Groningen).
• There are also many local image sites, e.g. for Groningen City or Roodeschool.
• For indexes of cemeteries and photos of tombstones visit Graftombe (Tomb).
• You can discuss your Groningen roots at the Ancestry message board Groningen or the Yahoo mailing list Groningen-genealogy.

For more information see Genealogy in Groningen.