When You Don't Know What You Don't Know

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 In a recent email conversation with a new member, I was reminded of the wealth of information and assistance that is available to genealogists of all levels of experience; if we only knew where to look.  And, with the usual websites constantly adding new material, even the most veteran researcher may miss some information.

Social media such as Facebook and Twitter help spread new discoveries as well respected leaders post information.  Blogs and newsletters are a great source as well.  



This weekly newsletter arrives in my inbox every Saturday morning.  Among its regular features are updates from their favorite bloggers and "What's New at the Big 4", a review of Ancestry, My Heritage, FamilySearch and Find My Past.  This is just one example of what is available.  


My Heritage

Recently I received an email from the MyHeritage Knowledge Base suggesting a video I might watch, "How to Use the 4 Family Tree Views on MyHeritage".  Interesting. . .I wonder what else is available at the MyHeritage Knowledge Base.  


Access is located under "Help" on the My Heritage Dashboard.  This gives you access to articles, webinars, videos and more.   You can subscribe to receive notice of new items.


Ancestry

I've mentioned this before but it bears repetition--Ancestry.com has the Ancestry Academy under Extras.  These are several series of videos on numerous topics, each about five minutes long.

The Ancestry Academy is also available on the Library Edition of Ancestry.  Try it out!



FamilySearch

FamilySearch.org has so much material available, it is difficult to point to one area for instructions.  Probably the most easily accessible area of the site is the Research Wiki, found under the "Search" dropdown menu.

You can search the Wiki by topic or location; be sure to follow links, both those in the text and those on the sides of the articles. - MaryLynn Strickland



Wikitree 

While Wikitree is not usually seen as one of the "Big 4" because it does not have databases of records. Instead, it is itself a database, a collaborative world tree which, according to Wikipedia, "As of June 2022, the WikiTree website had more than 900,000 registered members and included more than 31 million profiles, with 10 million having DNA test connections."

Members build, source and collaborate with other researchers. There are so many tools and other helps, sometimes one can get lost. Fortunately, there is help! Log in at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Special:Home

This is what I see in my own home page:
Wikitree home page, with Genealogist 2 Genealogist discussion and arrows to the Find and Help menus


The G2G forum is very useful. When I was new, I asked how I would go about finding my great-grandmother Selma Andersdotter's village of birth, and a Swedish genealogist looked it up for me in Swedish databases! 

There are also great videos about how to use various new tools on their Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/Wikitreers/playlists especially the Welcome to Wikitree Series and Tutorials. - Valorie Zimmerman


Please tell us in the comments how YOU stay up-to-date?




Valorie Zimmerman

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