Help and How-To

This May Be the Most Important Genealogy Research Trick You’ll Ever Learn

The first thing most family history researchers do when they encounter a genealogy website is to begin searching for their ancestors in the general (main) search form provided by the site – which is often located on the homepage or in another easily accessible area. All large genealogy research sites center around these main search forms which are designed, generally, to look for records in all searchable collections at one time.

General search forms that dig through millions, or even billions, of records are certainly handy. If you have never used a site before – or have not searched for a specific ancestor – these forms can be a great way to gather the low hanging family history fruit, so to speak. They provide a fast way to turn up easy-to-find records with little effort. But, despite this obvious convenience, they may often be stifling your efforts.

These 2.5 Million Records May Be Genealogy’s Best Kept Secret

PERSI is an index of millions of articles, how-to guides, genealogies, local histories and more that have appeared in society publications from around the world. Both family history and history societies publish regular periodicals for their members and have done for generations. These publications cover the area or subject specific to that society, and go into incredible detail – some of which may well contain information about your family.

Can HistoryLines Really Build an Instant Personal History of Your Ancestors?

By Jodi Bash The HistoryLines website bills itself as “Instant Personal History.” Those of us who love family history get really excited when we think we can get a lot of valuable information quick and easy. So at first glance HistoryLines can seem a little disappointing. Instant personal history may be overselling it. But, like …

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This “Genealogy” Site is Openly Sharing Your Personal Details Online: Here’s How to Remove Them

Here at Family History Daily we have spent a great deal of time researching free genealogy sites. While large paid websites, like Ancestry or MyHeritage, can offer a wealth of information to family history researchers, there is an growing selection of no-cost genealogy databases available online that provide just as much value. These sites, which are generally made available through the work of dedicated organizations, local governments, and volunteers provide a staggering amount of data that would be nearly impossible to access otherwise.

Generally, these sites provide information on those who have passed long ago, meaning that privacy is no longer an issue. But sometimes data about living people will be found. This is true on many sites – such as Ancestry – where you might just as easily find your own marriage record as that of your great great grandmother. But what happens when a site crosses the line? When they provide too much personal information about a living person and make it too easy to access?

Need Help Deciphering Old Genealogy Documents? Explore These Free Handwriting Resources

From online databases to image archives, researching our family history has never been easier. However, there is one problem that digitization and online databases cannot fix: historical handwriting. From words no longer used to character formation, cursive style and even sentence structure, it can be very frustrating to the genealogist when deciphering old family documents or official papers. To assist you in this process, let me share some tips and tricks that I have learned in my own research.

While the official study of historical handwriting is known as Paleography, there is a lot more to it than you might think. Some basic themes and issues that you might encounter first are abbreviations and styles.

Digitizing Family Photos and Records: What’s the Best Format to Use?

By Tony Bandy From official documents and family snapshots to handwritten letters and more – incorporating scanned images and documents into your genealogy research can be rewarding on many levels. However, the process of digitizing them can often be difficult. You may find yourself wondering: what format(s) should I use/not use to store old family …

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FamilySearch to End Microfilm Distribution, Plans to Digitize All Records by 2020

On Sept 1, 2017 FamilySearch will make a big change to how they handle their vast collection of microfilmed genealogy records by no longer distributing them to the thousands of Family History Centers in the US and elsewhere.

Currently, researchers can request microfilms of millions of not-yet-digitized records to be delivered on loan to a local center. This service is provided at a nominal fee and allows researchers access to these records without having to travel to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

Tens of Millions of British and Irish Genealogy Records Are Free This Weekend Only

UK genealogy research leader Findmypast has announced that they are offering nearly all of their British and Irish records completely free of charge this weekend. From now until midnight Monday you can access these records without cost and without entering a credit card. Findmypast is only requiring a name and email address. We love that. Start by searching here and then easily view and download records of interest.