After an exciting and exhausting week at Brigham Young University’s Conference on Family History & Genealogy, it’s time to digest all of the information swimming around in my head.  Nicole and I attended the conference as official bloggers and met people from all over the country who share our passion for finding their family. Four days, three keynote addresses and nineteen classes later, what did I learn? Keep reading and I’ll fill you in! Vendors Nicole...
Are you curious about the process to become an Accredited Genealogist (AG)? Â Maybe you’d like to get started but aren’t sure what to do next. Â Follow my journey and see if Accreditation is for you! In the six months since I set a goal to become an AG, I’ve been working consistently towards that goal. Â I shared my experience from the Level I Study Group several weeks ago. Â Level 1 focused on the application for...
Do you research in the same state over and over? Â Do you ever find great information on the web that you’d like to save but don’t know what to do with it? Â Do you have stacks of papers you’ve printed out for future reference, but you can’t find them now? Â 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...
Feeling a little bogged down with your genealogy research? Â Need a fun project for the summer that just might have the added bonus of helping break down a brick wall? Â Try creating a timeline for your family. I had finished writing the report for my first generation of my accreditation project, but I lacked any mention of church records. Â Those are important for researching in the south, but my family moved around so much in...
Have you considered becoming an Accredited Genealogist (AG)?  Ever wondered about the process or what you can do to start preparing?  In January 2016 I wrote about setting a goal to become an AG and it’s time for an update on my progress. Accreditation is through The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen).  Their website details information about the accreditation process.  Here are some highlights: -Credentials are awarded on a regional basis which allows the applicant to...
I’m excited to announce that Nicole and I have been invited as official bloggers to Brigham Young University’s Conference on Family History & Genealogy held July 26th -29th. Â Whether you’re looking for a way to boost your family history knowledge, get inspired to tackle your next project, or just need to kick start your efforts, you’ll find what you need at this conference. Â Held on the beautiful BYU campus in Provo, Utah, this conference combines...
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? Â 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...
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...
Updated 18 January 2024 Have you ever read a family history with an interesting fact, like “Great Grandma was a full-blooded Cherokee”? You’re excited to read more and see some proof, but there is nothing:Â no source citations or documentation of any kind. Â You’re left in the dark, wondering how much to believe in that history. Eliza Ann Isenhauer My great-grandmother, Eliza Ann Isenhour, supposedly had Cherokee heritage. Unfortunately, the family history stating this fact...
The excitement and hoopla of RootsTech 2016 ended last Saturday and  I came home with a  bag, two new books to peruse, class notes, and lots of pieces of paper.  So what’s next?How do I organize everything I collected so I can find it when I need it?  How am I going to use what I learned to make a difference in my family history efforts? After attending the Brigham Young University Family History Conference in...
