In this episode of the Research Like a Pro Genealogy podcast, Diana and Nicole discuss using AI in locality research, focusing on the Isabella Weatherford project. They emphasize the importance of locality guides in genealogical research, as they provide essential historical context, help researchers understand available records, and shed light on migration patterns and local events that may have impacted ancestors’ lives. The hosts explore how AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity can...
Welcome back to our “Research Like a Pro with AI” series! In this blog post. I’ll explore how artificial intelligence can enhance our locality research process. Using examples from my ongoing Isabella Weatherford project, I’ll demonstrate how AI helped create a comprehensive locality guide for Dallas County, Texas, in the 1870s. Why Locality Guides Matter Before diving into the AI-assisted process, let’s remind ourselves why locality guides are crucial: They provide historical context for our...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about Diana’s Clemsy Cline project. She researched three counties and made locality guides to help with research planning. Then she prioritized which collections to search. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is Research Like a Pro episode 227 Finding A Female’s Father, Locality Research, and Research Planning. Welcome to Research Like a Pro a Genealogy Podcast about taking your research to the next level, hosted by Nicole Dyer and...
Are you interested in learning more about genealogy best practices and working toward becoming an Accredited Genealogist Professional or AG? There are resources available to help you prepare. I’m working toward becoming an Accredited Genealogist Professional (AG) through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen) in the Southwest United States region. Several months ago, I learned that I passed the accreditation Level 1 by researching and writing a 4-Generation Project. The starting individual...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about locality research. This third step in the RLP process helps you understand the historical and geographical context of your research project. It also helps you find record groups that might be relevant to your research planning. This is a replay of episode 115 with new commentary at the beginning about Diana’s Missouri locality guide. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is Research Like a Pro episode 186, Revisiting...
In the last blog post, we learned how the book American Nations provides a framework for understanding U.S. History that can give greater context to the community our individual ancestors were a part of. Our ancestor’s small FAN club connected into a larger network of FAN clubs that can be seen in history and in large genetic networks such as Ancestry Communities or the 2017 study published the scientific journal Nature Communications, “Clustering of 770,000...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about Diana’s Dillard project. For the RLP with DNA study group, she is exploring the possibility that a cluster of DNA matches from her second cousin’s network graph are related through Cynthia Dillard’s parents. The MRCA of the cluster appears to be Elijah Dillard. In this assignment, Diana studied Elijah Dillard’s timeline and chose two places to learn more about and create a locality guide – Macon...
Can DNA help us discover an unknown 4th great-grandfather? In the hopes that it can, I’m returning to my brick wall of identifying Cynthia (Dillard) Royston’s father. The Research Like a Pro with DNA study group is a perfect way to tackle a persistent research question. The structure of the assignments helps me stay on track and the process keeps me moving forward. I’ll be sharing my progress in this series. Will I finally be...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is an interview with one of our Research Like a Pro with DNA eCourse members, Allison Kotter. In this series, Allison shares her experience studying each lesson in the course and how she has applied the lessons to her own family. This episode covers the assignments for lessons 5 and 6. Allison tells about doing locality research for her project in Alabama and Texas. She also talks about...
When researching your ancestors, have you considered a deep dive into the locality through reading a book? Although articles on Wikipedia or other websites can give us an overview of an area, we might be missing the deeper nuances that can be found in an in-depth scholarly treatment of our research locale. I recently read A History of the Ozarks, Volume 1: The Old Ozarks by Brooks Blevins. With several ancestral lines settling in the...
