Research Tips – Page 80

SLIG Night at the FHL – Diana’s Classes on Citations and Report Writing

Jan 24, 2018

I wish I were in Salt Lake City! Diana is attending SLIG, the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, this week and I’m feeling left out. SLIG is a week-long advanced genealogical education conference sponsored by the Utah Genealogical Association (UGA). She is taking Course 13: A Practical Approach: Establishing Genealogical Proof with DNA. You can read more about it here -scroll down to the section about Course 13. To see what Diana is learning at SLIG this...

Back to the Basics with Probate Records – Part 2

Jan 15, 2018

Have you discovered a will for your ancestor but are puzzled by the legal terminology? You might have extracted some information like names of sons or daughters but aren’t sure what to do with the rest. Back to the Basics with Probate Records – Part 1 discussed what information might be in a probate record and how to locate the records for your ancestors. Now it’s time to learn about the document that is often first...

African American Research, Rootstech 2108, and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. : A Winning Combination

Dec 30, 2017

Rootstech 2018 is around the corner and I’m starting to get excited – especially with the announcement that Henry Louis Gates, Jr. will be the keynote speaker for Saturday, March 3rd. If that name sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve either watched or heard of the PBS television series, Finding Your Roots. The Rootstech homepage gives a little snippet of information to whet our appetite for what is coming. Imagine meeting with prominent American celebrities...

Learning to Research Like a Pro

Dec 27, 2017

Have you ever had an idea and wondered if it would work? Several months ago at the beginning of the summer of 2017 I started writing the “Research Like a Pro” blog posts with the hope of starting a study group of genealogists, each researching their own families. Several people signed up for the inaugural Research Like a Pro study group and in September we began. Meeting twice a month for a total of six...

Am I Up to It? A Novice’s Questions About Joining a Research Study Group

Dec 13, 2017

Have you been thinking of joining our upcoming Research Like a Pro Study Group? You may have wondered if you had enough research experience or if it would be worth the money and time. Participants from the inaugural group came from varied backgrounds, but each had a positive experience, learning skills to help them move to the next level of research expertise. Today self-proclaimed research novice, Nancy Brown, tells her story. Am I Up to...

Doing a Genealogy Research Project from Start to Finish

Dec 5, 2017

Have you ever completed a genealogy research project from the beginning to end? From objective to report? I just completed one and I want to share what I learned. I did the project for our Research Like a Pro study group. I wasn’t planning to join the group at first – I thought I would just help in the background with whatever Diana needed. She developed the idea for the study group and was finishing...

Ancestry DNA Matches: Three Tools You May Not be Using

Nov 22, 2017

Are you taking advantage of the tools Ancestry DNA has provided to discover and track your cousin matches? If not, read on and discover three tools on the website that are often overlooked and can greatly aid your DNA research. Tool #1: Add a note To illustrate I’m using my first cousin’s DNA match (with permission) to show you how effective and easy this can be. The screenshot below shows the information displayed on...

Back to the Basics with Probate Records – Part 1

Nov 2, 2017

Have you explored probate records in the search for your family? Or do they sound too difficult to tackle? With the digitization of microfilm on FamilySearch and indexes available on Ancestry, probate records are much easier to access than in the past. With an estimated 25% of the United States population leaving a will and an estimated 50% mentioned in a will, why wouldn’t you check out these valuable records? When should you turn to probate records?...

RootsTech 2018 Pass Giveaway: Get Organized

Oct 20, 2017

Are you determined to learn how to organize your multitude of genealogy related papers? Have you always wanted to attend RootsTech? 2018 is the year where you can do both. RootsTech 2018 features several classes on organization and I’m teaching two of them – one for the Getting Started track and one for the traditional RootsTech track. I’d love to see you there! RootsTech Registration As a RootsTech 2018 Ambassador I receive a free pass for...

How to Use a Surname Search to Sift Through DNA Results

Oct 4, 2017

What are you doing with your Ancestry DNA matches? Are they just sitting there waiting for some action? If you haven’t yet explored the surname search capabilities of the website you’re missing out on a valuable tool. Let’s take a look at how a simple surname search works and discover what it can do for you. Because a picture is worth a thousand words, I’m going to guide you through this process with screenshots of...