In episode #300 of Research Like a Pro, Diana and Nicole discuss the evolution of their genealogy research methodology, Research Like a Pro (RLP), over the years, focusing on past, present, and future perspectives. Past Developments: Technology: Initially, Diana and Nicole utilized tools like PAF and Ancestral Quest for family trees, Google Sheets for research logs, and Evernote for notes. They also used a lot of paper files and some digital files for organization. Genealogy...
FamilySearch announced at RootsTech last week that they have launched a full-text search powered by artificial intelligence. It currently includes the US Land and Probate Records and Mexico Notary Records collections. This is still an “experiment” in FamilySearch labs, available at https://www.familysearch.org/Labs/, but it already includes over 100,000,000 records, with more collections to be added in the coming months. I tested the full-text search on my brick wall, the father of John Robert Dyer, born...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about conflicts encountered while researching our ancestor Harriet Huggett Kelsey and updating her profile on FamilySearch. Diana found conflicting information about Harriet’s birth year, with possible years of 1823, 1825, and 1826 from different sources. We discuss a conflict regarding the name and identity of Harriet’s twin sister Hester/Esther, with records using both spellings and even an indexed baptism record combining the two sisters’ names into “Esther...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about how to unmerge profiles on the FamilySearch Family Tree. When there are many people of the same name who lived in an area, it’s common for the profiles to get accidentally merged. When you notice an issue where multiple people have been merged into one person, there are several steps to follow to unmerge the people while preserving the original profiles. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is...
A couple years ago I completed a proof argument that Lewis Tharp was the father of Barsheba Tharp. This week I’ve been updating the FamilySearch Family Tree with the information and sources I included in that proof argument. One of the details I found in a Hawkins County deed connected Barsheba’s brother, William Tharp, to Rebecca Tharp, formerly Rebecca Vernon. I found Abraham Vernon’s will and it mentioned his widow, Rebecca. Abraham’s will also mentioned...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about the FamilySearch images page. Camera operators around the world are capturing images of records and they are immediately added to this page. Tune in as Diana and Nicole discuss how to search for relevant images and differences between the images page and the FamilySearch Catalog. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is Research Like a Pro episode 224 Family Search images. Welcome to Research Like a Pro a...
FamilySearch is adding new digital images every second from around the world. These images are being dropped immediately into FamilySearch but are not indexed and not added to the FamilySearch Catalog. If you’re not aware of this next place to search, you may be missing out on a valuable resource. In this article, I’ll walk you through FamilySearch Images and give you some tips on navigating the site. Accessing Images You can find the Images...
RootsTech is a world-wide, free, online family history conference that will be held this week. In addition to over 1500 class sessions, there is a fantastic feature called, “Relatives at RootsTech,” that can help you in your genetic genealogy research. If you’ve ever wanted to connect with like-minded family members who may share your interest in family history, as well as DNA, here is your opportunity! Do you ever wonder who the people in your...
We share ancestors with every one of our DNA matches. Sometimes, we can identify the exact shared ancestor(s) without much effort. Other times, we need to put in more time and energy to discover the ancestral connection. A lot of our time working with our DNA matches involves building family trees or seeing where a previously made family tree intersects with ours. Family tree building by researching ancestors back in time is the primary effort...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about how FamilySearch hints can point you to new record collections you may not have known about. We discuss some essential considerations for using hints and suggestions for doing additional research after attaching a hint. Links The Value of Family Search Hints by Diana Research Like a Pro eCourse Study Group – more information and email list Research Like a Pro: A Genealogist’s Guide by Diana Elder...