Tika & Differences in Ancestry & FamilySearch

Tika was with us out fishing on Williams Lake (southwest of Spokane). While Handy Man fished (and got five nice trout) we took a swim and enjoyed the scenery. We were happily sitting in the bow of the boat, looking at these basaltic cliffs when Tika asked, "Wow. Two towers in one cliff. Isn't that a good image to teach about using Ancestry and FamilySearch?"

Tika knows I enjoy teaching entry-level genealogists and am always looking for easy ways to illustrate a point. She was right-on about these cliffs!

Beginners will ask, "Which website should I start with? Which website is better? Ancestry or FamilySearch?" I shall use this picture to show that Ancestry (on the left) and FamilySearch (on the right) are two parts of the same cliff..............they are the two bestest websites for beginners (or anybody else, for that matter). Both of those rocky cliffs contain the same basaltic rocks. Both of those websites contain the same sort of information. Yes, there are differences, just like with the rocks making up these cliffs. But the information contained in Ancestry and FamilySearch are the same:  information on our ancestors.

"Besides," asked Tika, "isn't FamilySearch free?"  Tika is one smart little dashchund.