Are you sure you’ve found all of the clues in the census records for your family? After you look at the names, ages, and birthplaces, do you pay attention to the rest of the questions and answers? Census records are one of the most valuable tools for a researcher, not only for the information reported, but for the clues to other records. I recently revisited the 1910 census looking for clues on my great, great...
Do you research in the same state over and over? Do you ever find great information on the web that you’d like to save but don’t know what to do with it? Do you have stacks of papers you’ve printed out for future reference, but you can’t find them now? If you answered yes to any of those questions, maybe it’s time you created your own research guide. A research guide is a collection of...
Here are my picks for genealogy and family history news and interesting articles this week. I’m trying to make my list shorter but there are so many good articles out there! News Ancestry Acquires Adpay, Inc. at Utah Business – Adpay, the owner of Memoriams.com (an obituary input network), was acquired by Ancestry to go along with Ancestry’s Newspapers.com in strengthening newspapers’ presence in their communities. MyHeritage is Adding Free DNA Matching at the MyHeritage Blog – People...
Are you a visual learner? When you’re sorting out your family history research do you often resort to drawing little diagrams on paper to help you make sense of what have and don’t have? When faced with a difficult research problem, I have often done the drawing thing, only to have to erase, redraw, and waste a lot of time in the process. I recently decided to try mind mapping a research project just to...
Have you ever wondered why you are asked to type a reason statement every time you change information or add a source to the FamilySearch (FS) Family Tree? Are you a genealogist frustrated with the collaborative aspect of FS Family Tree because others can change your information? If so, read on. I teach a beginner’s class during Sunday School in my LDS ward with people from all parts of the genealogy world: teens and adults...
Mother’s Day is coming up and I’m sure we’re all thinking about what to get Mom! After writing my post about 10 Easy Mother’s Day Gifts Using Old Family Photos, I found four links to more Mother’s Day gift ideas, including questions to ask your Mom if you’d like to write about her life for Mother’s Day. Three of the articles I read this week talked about the memories that come from a grandmother’s apron....
Do you need to reignite your genealogy spark? No time or money for a genealogy conference? Maybe what you need is to try out a free webinar and see how easy it is to build your knowledge one hour at a time, from the comfort of your home. I had been hearing about webinars for years, but just hadn’t jumped on the bandwagon . . .until last month. I got an email about joining the...
Have you ever been sucked into the whirlpool of internet record searches and an hour or two surfaced wondering where you’ve been and what you’ve accomplished? It is so easy to get distracted by all the goodies that are available online: census records, birth certificates, cemetery records, and so much more. How can you put some order into your research? Try formulating an objective and watch your efforts come into focus. I recently started my...
Diana Elder, AG, and Nicole Dyer, mother-daughter professional genealogists, are the co-authors of Research Like a Pro: A Genealogist’s Guide and hosts of the Research Like a Pro Genealogy Podcast. With Robin Wirthlin, they co-authored Research Like a Pro with DNA: A Genealogist’s Guide to Finding and Confirming Ancestors with DNA Evidence. Read more about them and their team of researchers below. Contact us here. Diana Elder, AG, AGL Hi, I’m Diana. I’m an Accredited Genealogist professional,...
The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah is the largest of its kind in the world. Chances are, if you love searching for your family, you’ll want to pay a visit to this amazing library. For information on location, parking, classes, hours, and tips, here is your one stop web page: Family History Library The missing piece of your family’s puzzle is probably somewhere in one of the books or microfilm available in...