2024 was the year the genealogy community embraced artificial intelligence as a useful tool for our work as genealogists and family historians. Nicole and I spent many hours learning and teaching about incorporating AI into our research flow. For this final blog post of the year, it’s only fitting that we look back at where we’ve come. Since we’ve written many blog posts and recorded many podcasts on AI, I’m providing a curated list. If...
In this episode of the Research Like a Pro Genealogy podcast, Diana and Nicole discuss the advancements in handwritten text recognition by large language models (LLMs), specifically Claude 3.5 Sonnet. Nicole shares her experience testing Claude’s transcription abilities with an 1829 North Carolina deed. She is impressed with the accuracy, noting that Claude even outperformed her manual transcription in some instances. Diana and Nicole then provide listeners with valuable tips for transcribing handwritten text using...
Do you have a family or individual who seems to be missing in the US census? You may have thought they were traveling or somehow skipped. Although this situation did occur, it could also be that employing some specific techniques could find those ancestors. In this article, I’ll share three tips that aided me in my search for my Weatherford family. Tip # 1 Revisit the Family The first thing to do is to revisit...
In this episode of Research Like a Pro Genealogy podcast, Diana and Nicole continue their series on researching in England without parish records. They are joined by Jessica Morgan. Jessica is a genealogist specializing in British family research. The hosts and Jessica discuss using probate records to find family members, focusing on the differences between pre- and post-1858 records. They explain the court hierarchy in England and how to determine which court would have handled...
In this episode of Research Like a Pro, Nicole and Diana interview Jessica Morgan, an Accredited Genealogist specializing in U.K. research. They discuss strategies for researching English ancestry when traditional parish records of baptisms, marriages, and burials are unavailable. Jessica highlights the value of parish chest records, which contain documents like settlement papers, bastardy bonds, and apprenticeship indentures. These records can reveal an ancestor’s origins, family relationships, and even their occupation. The hosts and guest...
Think about your most stubborn brick wall ancestor. The one whose identity feels just out of reach, or whose family connections you can’t quite prove. Now imagine finding a clue so distinctive that it creates a breakthrough in your research. That’s exactly what happened in the search for William Reeves’ family connections, where a middle name – “Mauldin” – became the key to unraveling a complex family mystery. Genealogists have long recognized the importance of...
In this episode of Research Like a Pro, Nicole and Diana discuss Transkribus, a platform that uses AI to transcribe handwritten documents. They explain how Transkribus works, the benefits it offers for genealogy research, and how to get started using it. Diana and Nicole outline the transcription process, including uploading documents, choosing the right model, and reviewing the results. They also highlight advanced features like language models, Smart Search, and Super Models, which can improve...
As researchers, we often need to reference past research plans, reports, logs, documents, and locality guides. If you’ve done multiple phases for the same research question, you will have a lot of data to use moving forward. What if you had an AI assistant that could help you pull out specific information from your research and use it in various ways? If this sounds appealing, you can check out Projects on Claude.ai by Anthropic. Like...
In this episode of Research Like a Pro, Nicole and Diana discuss how to add DNA information to WikiTree. Diana explains the benefits of adding your DNA information to WikiTree, such as helping genetic cousins find you and collaborate on research. She provides step-by-step instructions on how to create a WikiTree login and add your DNA test information to your profile. Listeners will learn how to navigate WikiTree, understand the different membership levels, and effectively...
When starting the Accreditation process through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen), the first step is to decide on a regional focus and then find four connecting generations to research for the Four-Generation Project. You’ll need to analyze your pedigree to find suitable candidates. Artificial Intelligence can be a valuable tool in this process, helping to overcome common challenges and providing new perspectives on your family tree data. Challenges with Pedigree...
