RootsTech 2025 Virtual Booth
Find us at booth 408 in the RootsTech Exhibitor Hall
About Us
Welcome to Family Locket! Diana Elder, AG, and Nicole Elder Dyer are professional genealogists who educate through their blog, books, and teaching. Diana and Nicole are the mother-daughter team who authored Research Like a Pro: A Genealogist’s Guide and are co-hosts of the free Research Like a Pro Genealogy Podcast. Diana is an Accredited Genealogist professional specializing in the Gulf-South United States region. She serves on the Advisory Board of the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen). Nicole is a professional genealogist who focuses on Southern U.S. research and incorporating DNA evidence into tough cases. Diana, Nicole, and Robin Wirthlin authored Research Like a Pro with DNA: A Genealogist’s Guide to Finding and Confirming Ancestors with DNA Evidence.
Our recorded RootsTech classes:
AI-Powered Transcription of Handwritten Documents: Tools and Techniques by Nicole Dyer
Efficient Locality Research with AI: Discovering New Avenues of Exploration by Diana Elder
Scroll down to find coupon codes for our online courses & free research guides.
Booth 408
Come find us at booth #408!
Free Weekly Podcast
Diana and Nicole discuss genealogy research methodology in their weekly podcast, Research Like a Pro. Learn about research objectives, analysis, locality research, research planning, source citations, report writing, case studies, DNA evidence, and more. To view a list of recent episodes, click here: Research Like a Pro Podcast recent episodes. To receive the weekly episodes, subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast app. You can also sign up for our newsletter to receive notifications of new episodes.
“I recently discovered RLP and am making my way through all of the prior episodes. Superb content. Diana and Nicole present a professional way of doing genealogy in an approachable and helpful manner, always from the point of encouragement.” -Turpinm, July 2022
Blog
We share new blog posts about records, DNA evidence, tutorials for DNA tools, examples of writing about our own ancestors, and more. A new blog post comes out each week. Go to FamilyLocket.com to see the latest blog posts. Here are some popular series of posts:
- Automatic Citation Tools by Nicole Elder Dyer
- Back to the Basics with U.S. Records by Diana Elder, AG
- Tracing Your Irish Ancestors by Jessica Taylor Morgan, AG
- Endogamy, Pedigree Collapse, and Multiple Relationships by Diana, Nicole, Steve Little, Allison Kotter, and Heidi Mathis
Newsletter
Sign up for our newsletter to receive weekly emails from us about new blog posts, podcast episodes, upcoming lectures, professional research tips, new product announcements, and more.
YouTube Channel
Visit our channel at https://www.youtube.com/familylocket to subscribe and see our videos. Here are some videos to get you started:
- How to Research Like a Pro in 30 Minutes a Day – class with Diana and Nicole
- Tracking DNA Matches with Airtable – A Step-By-Step Tutorial – workshop with Nicole
- How do I paint my AncestryDNA Ethnicity Inheritance in DNA Painter? – Research Like a Pro with DNA Q&A series with Diana
- Why Don’t the Segments Triangulate – Research Like a Pro with DNA Q&A series with Nicole
- What is sufficient evidence for proving the identity of an ancestor? – Research Like a Pro Q&A series with Nicole
- Configuring Views in Airtable Research Logs – Research Like a Pro Q&A series with Diana
Research Like a Pro with AI: Genealogy Workbook
Available in digital format: Research Like a Pro with AI Genealogy Workbook by Nicole Dyer and Diana Elder, regularly $39.99, on sale until 17 March for $29.99
Follow the research like a pro process while experimenting with AI tools. Chapter 1 includes details about the four popular tools for genealogists, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. View a detailed comparison table showing helpful features like Deep Research, side-by-side interfaces (Canvas and Artifacts), saved instructions (CustomGPTs and Gemini Gems), and saved instructions with project collections (Projects and Spaces). The comparison table also includes information about what’s available with the free and paid plans of each service so you can quickly learn which tool you might want to purchase as you use AI to research like a pro. Chapter one also includes a discussion of handwritten text recognition technology.
In the second chapter, you’ll do pedigree analysis with AI then write a research objective with AI. Chapter three discusses gathering known sources and making a timeline. You’ll then analyze the timeline as well as the sources and information. Learn how to use AI to help with timeline creation by transcribing and extracting text. Chapter four includes helps for writing citations with AI. Chapter five shows the incredible AI tools that can help streamline the locality guide creation process. Chapter six is about research planning and how multiple AI features make research planning faster. Chapter seven is about using AI in research logging. Chapter eight helps you incorporate AI into your report writing.
Airtable Quick Reference Guides
Have you been looking for a better way to keep track of your genealogy research? Perhaps you are hoping to track your DNA matches in a more efficient manner or list the friends, family, associates, and neighbors of your brick-wall ancestor. The second edition of our Airtable quick reference guide is out and can help you use Airtable.com as a genealogy research log. Learn about key Airtable terms, field types, linked records, using base templates, formulas, views, research log headings, and more.
Airtable Research Logs for Genealogy – Quick Reference
Title: Airtable Research Logs for Genealogy
Series: Research Like a Pro Quick Reference
Author: Nicole Elder Dyer
Publication: February 2024 by Family Locket Books, Highland, Utah
Digital Download
Airtable Research Logs for Genealogy is available as a PDF download in our store. You will receive two files – one for professional printing on two legal-sized (11×17″) pages and the other for at-home printing on four letter-sized (8.5×11″) pages. Purchase here: Airtable Research Logs for Genealogy – Quick Reference
Laminated
Visit our in-person RootsTech booth, #408, to purchase a laminated Airtable quick reference guide. The four-page document is a laminated, folded reference guide that you can keep near your computer to remind you of Airtable research log tips and tricks.
Tracking DNA Matches with Airtable – Quick Reference
Title: Tracking DNA Matches with Airtable – Quick Reference
Series: Research Like a Pro Quick Reference
Author: Nicole Elder Dyer
Publication: February 2024 by Family Locket Books, Highland, Utah
Digital Download
Tracking DNA Matches with Airtable is available as a PDF download in our store. You will receive two files – one for professional printing on two legal-sized (11×17″) pages, and the other for at-home printing on four letter-sized pages (8.5×11″). Purchase here: Tracking DNA Matches with Airtable – Quick Reference
Laminated
Visit our in-person RootsTech booth, #408, to purchase a laminated Airtable quick reference guide. The four-page document is a laminated, folded reference guide that you can keep near your computer to remind you of Airtable research log tips and tricks.
Research Like a Pro Webinar Series
Learn from monthly case studies presented by Diana Elder, AG, Nicole Elder Dyer, and other researchers using the Research Like a Pro and Research Like a Pro with DNA process. Each webinar will feature the Research Like a Pro steps and how they were applied to a particular case study. Some months will focus on the Research Like a Pro with DNA process and associated steps.
The handout for each lecture is a research report. The webinars are presented via Zoom and recorded for those who cannot attend live. Purchasing the 2023, 2024, or 2025 webinar series gives you lifetime access to the twelve lectures presented in that year. Click here to register and view the schedule of presentations:
Research Like a Pro Webinar Series 2025
Research Like a Pro Webinar Series 2024
Research Like a Pro Webinar Series 2023
To register for $45 instead of the regular price ($60), use the coupon code RT25RLPwebinar. The code expires on 30 April 2025. This applies to all three webinar series.
“Just want to say that I am learning so much on the webinar series! I always feel inspired and hopeful after watching the presentations!” -Webinar Attendee
Research Like a Pro with DNA Book
Research Like a Pro with DNA is available in e-book format and paperback. Click here to purchase at Amazon.
Title: Research Like a Pro with DNA: A Genealogist’s Guide to Finding and Confirming Ancestors with DNA Evidence
Authors: Diana Elder, AG, Nicole Elder Dyer, and Robin Wirthlin
Description: Would you like to use DNA evidence in your genealogy research? Do you have thousands of cousin matches but no idea what to do next? Perhaps you have found some evidence to support your theories but are not confident in your conclusions. Learn a step-by-step method to organize and use your DNA test results to find and confirm ancestors in your family tree. Diana Elder, AG, Nicole Dyer, and Robin Wirthlin share the method they use in their professional research to incorporate DNA with documentary evidence. Study the methodology in each chapter, then apply it in your own research by completing the associated task. You will group and evaluate your matches, diagram descent from the common ancestor, plan the next research steps, track correspondence and research in a log, and write a report incorporating DNA evidence. Work samples and templates are included.
Excerpt from the Foreword by Paul Woodbury
Paul Woodbury, MEd, AG is the DNA team lead at Legacy Tree Genealogists where he has helped to solve hundreds of genetic genealogy cases. He also regularly presents webinars and genealogy conference lectures. He currently teaches and coordinates “Introduction to Genetic Genealogy” at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. Read more about Paul at the Association of Professional Genealogist’s directory.
Over the years I have continually refined my own research processes in genetic genealogy. At the same time, I have met other practitioners who are continually refining their own. Throughout this journey, I have found the truth in Abraham Maslow’s famous quote that “it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.” When I am successful with one approach, my first inclination has sometimes been to force every new research problem into the same strict approach. Gradually, I have learned that not every research project is best suited for my hammer du jour – my favorite new tool, approach, or methodology. As I have adopted and mastered new tools, methodologies, approaches, and strategies my arsenal has grown to the point that I can now consider a research problem on its own merits and select, prioritize, and implement the most appropriate strategies and approaches based on the context of a problem. If you follow the steps of Research Like a Pro with DNA, you will get to this point too. The book presents a process for researching, analyzing, and writing about DNA evidence, and while this process is strict enough to reinforce careful and thorough research habits, it is also flexible enough to permit customization for the needs of a particular problem. Rather than presenting you with a hammer which will fail you anytime you face something other than a nail, Research Like a Pro with DNA provides you with a toolbox, instruction manual, and resources for regular updates and add-ons.
Review from Kindle Reader
“I have taken so many courses and tried so many times to figure out how to use my DNA in genealogy. This book is so easy to understand, and yet detailed and comprehensive. It takes you step by step down a logical path and even includes assignments for you to try with each chapter. Everything has finally clicked for me. What a relief! Must have if you just can’t seem to ‘get’ what to do with your DNA results! Great for those who want to understand before they test too!”
Research Like a Pro with DNA eCourse – Coupon for 40% off
Our Research Like a Pro with DNA online course is available for just $165 (regularly $275) until 30 April 2025 using coupon code Rootstech2025 – click below to register or learn more. Expires 4/30/25 at 11:59pm MT.
Would you like to learn how to use DNA in your genealogical research? Do you need a step-by-step process to guide you? The Research Like a Pro (RLP) with DNA e-Course will help you make progress on your goals, whether to confirm a relationship proven through documentary research, test an hypothesized ancestral relationship, or discover unknown parents of an ancestor.
Learn more and Register for the RLP with DNA Online Course Here
Learn how to assess and organize your DNA matches, create a research objective, make a research plan, keep a research log, and write a report. Watch twelve lectures recorded by Nicole Dyer, Diana Elder, and Robin Wirthlin. Take quizzes and join our private Facebook community to share your assignments and receive feedback. Check in during our live monthly office hours session to get help in a group setting. The e-Course will give you the extra boost you need in your research efforts. You’ll be able to work at your own pace and still receive valuable assistance along the way.
“My research objective focused on my biological father. The process of researching his identity and paternity issues revealed many opportunities to correct deficiencies in my research practices such as: how to do proper citations, additional places to research, analyzing documents and other types of information, how to document my DNA analysis and findings. This course has changed my life and has improved my research capabilities enormously! Diana, Nicole and Robin have thought of everything, and then some, when it comes to teaching genealogical research. They put in enormous effort in their many examples, discussions and class hours that made it all worth while. I wish the course and the Research Like a Pro with DNA Book had been available years ago. I give this course 5 Stars!!!”
– John from St. George, Utah, course graduate
Research Like a Pro Online Course – 40% off
Use coupon code Rootstech2025 to purchase this independent study course for $105 instead of $175. The code expires 4/30/25 at 11:59pm MT. Learn more and register using the link below.
Could you use some structure in your genealogy research? Do you need help breaking down your brick walls? Take our Research Like a Pro independent study course to learn how to analyze records, make a research plan, create citations, keep a research log, and write a report. Watch nine video lectures recorded by Diana Elder, AG, and Nicole Dyer. This course was updated in 2022 to include all the best tips and technology.
Learn More and Register for the Research Like a Pro Online Course Here
Take quizzes, listen to our free podcast, and read chapters from the book. Join our private Facebook community to share your assignments and receive feedback. Check in during our monthly live office hours to get help in a group setting. The e-Course will give you the extra boost you might need in your research efforts. You’ll be able to work at your own pace and still receive valuable assistance along the way.
“As a strong, mostly self-taught, intermediate genealogist, I was longing for a more formal education. It needed to be something I could do at home and at my own pace. The Research Like a Pro e-course gave me the tools to be a methodical researcher and a more organized genealogist. Through the course assignments I have mastered both creating citations and report writing, two aspects of genealogy research that were very intimidating to me. Diana and Nicole are both supportive and helpful throughout the process via email, Facebook messages and office hours, as is the RLP Facebook community. I am happy and proud that I was able to complete this challenge.”
-Susan, RLP eCourse graduate
Books, Felt Family Tree Pattern, and DNA Process Charts
Digital Book Deals
Research Like a Pro: A Genealogist’s Guide is available for only $4.99 on Amazon Kindle, or $21.99 for the paperback. Research Like a Pro with DNA is available for $9.99 on Kindle and $32.99 for the paperback. Find Names for the Temple is just $2.99 for Kindle and $11.99 for the paperback.
You can also find a felt family tree kit pattern (PDF download for $2.99) and DNA process tree charts (PDF download for $10) in our online store.
In-Person Book Deals
Visit our in-person RootsTech booth, #408, to purchase our Research Like a Pro books, 14-day Challenge Workbook, and laminated Airtable quick reference guides at special conference prices.
Study Groups
We offer Research Like a Pro Study Groups twice a year – Research Like a Pro with DNA (RLP with DNA) in the spring and Research Like a Pro (RLP) in the fall.
The next Research Like a Pro Study Group will be in the Fall of 2025. The RLP 11 cohort will begin August 27 and meet weekly, with some break weeks, for 12 weeks. Registration begins May 21 at 10 am MT and ends August 21. Learn more here: RLP Study Group.
In the Research Like a Pro with DNA study group next spring (2026), we will follow a step-by-step process to help you either confirm a relationship proven through traditional research or test a hypothesized ancestral relationship. RLP with DNA focuses on using autosomal DNA in your genealogical research. One of the prerequisites for the study group is to have access to your autosomal DNA test results. You may also wish to include evidence from Y-DNA and Mitochondrial DNA tests in your research project, but these tests are not required for the study group. Click here for more information: Research Like a Pro with DNA Study Group.
Join our email list for updates: Study Group Email List.
Free Downloads
As a thank-you for visiting our booth, we wanted to give you some free documents. Here are some of our popular freebies available to download:
U.S. Census Records Guide – if the link doesn’t work, copy and paste this into your browser: https://familylocket.lpages.co/census-cheat-sheet/
Our U.S. Census Records guide has information about each census and when it was taken, helpful links to detailed information about each census year, birth year calculations, and more. The four-page cheat sheet includes a page of sample reference note citations for census records. We’ve included a section all about the non-population schedules and what you can find on them, as well as a page about analyzing census records.
Probate Records Guide – or copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://familylocket.lpages.co/probate/
On our probate records guide, you can find an ABC of terms in probate records, learn about types of estates, see several sample citations, and learn how to use probate records as evidence. There are four pages in this cheat sheet, with one dedicated to teaching you about wills and how to understand them. When using wills as evidence, we should remember that not all family members may be listed. Another page is all about what kinds of papers you can find in a probate file.
U.S. Federal Census Tables 1790-1950 Template
We have created a U.S. Federal Census Tables template for you to use when writing your reports or extracting information from censuses. You can copy and paste the template from the census year you are viewing and paste it into your research project document or research report, then fill in the columns with the head of household, tick marks for pre-1850 censuses, and names for post-1850 censuses. You can add notes and additional information – the columns are all created to match the columns in each census year, which changed over time.
In our three-page Sample DNA Citations Cheat Sheet, we have given you three pages of helpful content. The first page is a list of the five questions to guide DNA citations, then on the second page, you will see sample citations for DNA informational materials, like articles about DNA test results. There are also sample citations for DNA matches and DNA test reports that you may be using as evidence in your genealogy research reports and conclusions.
Children’s Activity for Family Discovery Day
Need a fun activity for children or youth? Print this inherited traits worksheet. Kids can interview their siblings, parents, grandparents, and other relatives to find out which physical traits they share in common. This two-page worksheet also includes an explanation of dominant and recessive traits, and describes several traits including hitchhiker’s thumb, freckles, cheek dimples, attached earlobes, tongue roll, and long second toe. Download a PDF of the worksheet here: Inherited Traits Worksheet
RootsTech Classes
We’re looking forward to teaching our classes as part of the conference. See our presentations for the RootsTech in-person 2025 conference below. Check the RootsTech in-person website or app to view the days, times, and locations for these classes.
Nicole Dyer
Simplifying Citations: Automated Tools for Efficient and Accurate Documentation
AI-Powered Transcription of Handwritten Documents: Tools and Techniques (recorded)
Transforming Genealogical Research Logs into Reports with Airtable AI
Balancing Creativity and Accuracy: Using AI to Generate Genealogical Narratives – Workshop (pre-registration required)
Diana Elder, AG
Efficient Locality Research with AI: Discovering New Avenues of Exploration (recorded)
Demystifying Probate Records: Taking Your Research to the Next Level
Where are the Records? Solutions for Burned Courthouse and Other Disasters