Tucson Family History Fair

Thank you for coming to our classes! To view the slides from our presentations, scroll down on this page to the class materials section. Handouts are available at the Tucson Family History Center website.

About Us

Diana Elder, AG and Nicole Dyer are a mother daughter team of professional genealogists who love helping others with genealogy through their free podcast, blog, books, and teaching. They are the authors of Research Like a Pro: A Genealogist’s Guide, a best seller in the genealogy category on Amazon, and hosts of the free Research Like a Pro Genealogy Podcast.

Diana is an accredited genealogist professional specializing in the gulf-south United States region and is the presentation specialist with the International Commission for the Accreditation of Accredited Genealogists (ICAPGen). Nicole is the publicity chair for the Pima County Genealogy Society.

Free Weekly Podcast

Diana Elder, AG and Nicole Dyer discuss the Research Like a Pro method and how to take your genealogy research to the next level in their weekly podcast, Research Like a Pro. Learn about research objectives, analysis, locality research, research planning, source citations, report writing, case studies, 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 Play, or your favorite podcast app. You can also sign up for our newsletter to receive notifications of new episodes.

“This is a great podcast for both beginning and experienced genealogists. Beginners can learn the how to do genealogy the right way from the start. I wish this process was around when I started genealogy – I would have saved a lot of time and effort! Experience genealogists will learn something new from the discussion of the various tools and tech that Nicole and Diana use. The other thing I love about this podcast is the quality of the audio. The discussion of the topics is very clear and easy to listen to in the car, and there is no annoying bumper music or other useless content. Highly recommended!” – Bill

Research Like a Pro eCourse

Would you like to learn the process that professionals use to solve difficult cases? Our independent study course can help you go through all the steps in a genealogy research project and make progress in your research. Learn more about the course here: Research Like a Pro e-Course.

Class Materials

We appreciate your attendance and participation. Thank you for coming! Here are the presentation slides from our classes:

Strategies to Use When You Hit a Roadblock (Nicole Dyer) – Slides: Strategies to Use When You Hit a Roadblock 2020

Doing a Genealogy Project from Start to Finish (Nicole Dyer) – Slides: Doing a Genealogy Research Project from Start to Finish 2020

Using Tax Records to Identify Ancestors (Nicole Dyer) – Slides: Using Tax Records to Identify Ancestors Tucson FH Fair 2020

Getting Organized One Paper at a Time (Diana Elder, AG) – Slides: Getting Organized One Paper at a Time

Please sign up for our weekly newsletter so you can receive notifications of our blog articles! To read recent posts, click here: https://familylocket.com/blog/. When you sign up for our newsletter, you also receive a research log template for free.

Our Books

Research Like a Pro: A Genealogist’s Guide by Diana Elder, AG with Nicole Dyer

Are you stuck in your genealogical research? Wondering how to make progress on your brick wall problems?Discover the process that a professional genealogist uses to solve difficult cases. Diana shares a step-by-step method using real world examples, easily understood by any level of genealogist; written for the researcher ready to take their skills to the next level.

Find Names for the Temple: A Step-by-Step Method for Success by Nicole Dyer with Diana Elder, AG

Whether your family tree is partially filled out, mostly complete, or full with many relatives who were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this step-by-step method will help you discover new relatives and reserve their temple ordinances. You will review the accuracy of your tree, analyze your pedigree, and make a list of ancestors to research. Those with many Latter-day Saint relatives will locate research opportunities by diving deeper into tree analysis and listing ancestors who were not members of the Church.

Free Cheat Sheets

Here are some of our most popular freebies. Click below to have them delivered to your email inbox.

U.S. Census Records Cheat Sheet

Our U.S. Census Records Cheat Sheet 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 Cheat Sheet

On our probate records cheat sheet, you can find an ABCs 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 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.

Sample DNA Citations Cheat Sheet

In our three page Sample DNA Citations Cheat Sheet, we have give you three pages of helpful content. The first page is a list of the 5 questions to guide DNA citations, then in the second page, you will see sample citations for DNA informational materials, like articles telling 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.