In the previous blog posts, I defined genetic networks (Part 1), discussed the inclusion and exclusion criteria for matches within the network (Part 2), and described how to find them (Part 3). Now, I demonstrate how to efficiently review the family trees for the shared matches within a genetic network to discover your unknown ancestors. … Read more
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming pervasive in nearly every industry, and genealogy is no exception. As genealogists, we wish to understand how to incorporate AI models, like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, into our genealogy work. But, before we do, what can we learn from other industries that are already using it? As a marketing … Read more
Our ancestors left us clues in the documents they created to help us with our genealogical research. You just need to follow the “genealogical breadcrumbs” to discover that next elusive generation. However, sometimes the path they left is not so clear, and we can be deceived into jumping down rabbit holes of distracting, irrelevant, but … Read more
Tax records have three distinct advantages compared with pre-1850 U.S. census records. Many tax records: Are produced annually; Predate the 1790 census; and Possess more than a list of names. Tax records are often sidelined in our genealogy research because censuses are more widely available and have been popularized because of their availability. Compared to … Read more
We are all used to making New Year’s resolutions, but what about genealogical New Year’s resolutions? Can we set ourselves up for being more productive in 2024? To make good genealogical resolutions, we need to approach the process from an informed position keeping in mind the skills and personality traits that make for good researchers … Read more
If you’re like me, you probably know what city directories are but couldn’t imagine how to really use them in your genealogical research. Sure, city directories list a person’s name, occupation, and address, which we can trace annually through time. But what else can we do with that information? Can you use it solve challenging … Read more
Crowdsourcing is an under utilized family history research tool. Social media tools can make it difficult to search and archive information. Other tools fail to reach large numbers of people online. A research problem is presented for crowdsourced assistance as inspiration for the capabilities of true crowdsourcing.