Diana Elder

About Diana Elder

Diana Elder AGⓇ AGL is a professional genealogist, author, and speaker. She is accredited in the Gulf South region of the United States through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen). Diana graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Elementary Education and has turned her passion for teaching to educating teens and adults in proven genealogy techniques. Diana is the author of Research Like a Pro: A Genealogists Guide and creator of the “Research Like a Pro” study group. She writes regular articles for FamilyLocket.com, the genealogy website created by her daughter, Nicole Dyer. She presents regularly at genealogy conferences, sharing the methods she uses every day to solve challenging genealogical problems.

What Genealogists Can Learn from Colum McCann’s “TransAtlantic”: Writing Family History

Jan 2, 2026

Immigrant stories are fascinating, and in the novel TransAtlantic by Irish author Colum McCann, we follow an Irish immigrant and three subsequent generations. As family historians, we benefit from reading historical accounts based on the author’s research. We can gain important contextual information and insight into the plight of our ancestors. In TransAtlantic, we view the immigration story from the Irish perspective, with young Lily Duggan braving the Atlantic Ocean to start a new life in...

Using the FamilySearch Research Wiki – Part 2: Understanding Locality Pages

Dec 26, 2025

Success in our research depends on understanding the locality’s records, history, and required methodology. Whether we’re experienced in the research locality or a newbie, there is always more to learn. In this blog series on the FamilySearch Research Wiki, guest blogger Virginia Pratt will help us understand what the wiki contains and how best to use it. Virginia worked on the FamilySearch Wiki team for five years, writing and organizing Wiki pages. We’re excited to...

Using AI as Your Genealogical Deed Abstracting Partner: A Case Study

Dec 19, 2025

A good case study can give us excellent ideas for tackling our challenging research. Enjoy this blog post by one of our Family Locket team members, Jill, who shares her success using AI as an assistant. by Jill Leonard Nock, AG® Historical deed research can be simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting. The thrill of discovery often comes after hours of deciphering 18th- or 19th-century handwriting, tracking chains of title, and piecing together family relationships. But what if...

Using the FamilySearch Research Wiki – Part 1: Getting Started

Dec 12, 2025

When Birthdates Don’t Agree: Analyzing and Correlating Evidence

Dec 7, 2025

Our family history research depends heavily on finding dates for our ancestors’ births, marriages, deaths, residences, and more. Tracking down those dates can be challenging when the original records with primary information simply do not exist. Before a jurisdiction mandated birth certificates, family Bible records, church records, a newspaper notice, a letter, or other non-governmental source may have recorded the birth of a child. However, through time, those sources may not have survived, even if...

Revisiting the Father of Cynthia (Dillard) Royston: Part 6 Writing the Report

Nov 16, 2025

Writing a report is a crucial step in our research. As we write, we synthesize the many details we’ve explored and put them together in an organized fashion. This allows us to bring a research phase to a close and provides the next steps for a future research phase. The search for Cynthia’s father continues, but in this phase, I successfully eliminated some candidates and found new opportunities to research. I’ve included the report at...

Revisiting the Father of Cynthia (Dillard) Royston: Part 5 Research Logging and Citations

Nov 2, 2025

After making a research plan, following that plan is exciting. What new information or insights will we discover in the records? Could we find the answer to our long-standing brick wall? I’ve learned through experience that methodically logging my research as I follow my plan ensures that I don’t miss important clues. Creating the source citation is the first thing I do as I fill out my research log for a couple of reasons. First,...

Revisiting the Father of Cynthia (Dillard) Royston: Part 4 Research Planning

Oct 26, 2025

An important step in our research is to make a plan. Rather than haphazardly clicking on record sets in various websites, we can think through our research objective and what we know about the family and locality, then plan searches in specific record sets. For this part of the Research Like a Pro process, we have several steps that help solidify what we know and prioritize the research. Here is the complete series: Revisiting the...

Revisiting the Father of Cynthia (Dillard) Royston: Part 3 Locality Research

Oct 19, 2025

Researching a new locality is always exciting. Finding the extant records and learning the background of the area sets the stage for the research phase. My latest project on finding the father of Cynthia (Dillard) Royston involves research in a new area of Georgia. Using AI to help create the locality guide for Cass County, Georgia, speeded up this part of the Research Like a Pro process and gave me good insights. Here is the...