Connecting people. Image courtesy of Dreamstime Doing Genealogy When we first start "doing genealogy" we're finding records, noting what we find, and trying to make sense of it all. As time goes on, we may turn into hobbyists, and begin using forms, consulting books, online repositories, and perhaps, building a tree on our computers, online, or both.  Eventually, it grows so much we don't know what we have, or where! This is where all those "genealogy do-over" or "filing Fridays" projects start. Both of those might be useful in your situation, but here is the ruling principle that can bring quality into your work and peace into your heart: genealogy projects using the Genealogical Proof Standard , the GPS . This principle is what professional genealogists use, but it is not for pros only. Fortunately, it's not a secret; it is the key to effective and efficient work for researchers all around the world.  Genealogical Proof Standard GPS Shapes a

New Mexico Wildfire- -Silver City Sun-News Devon Noel Lee is back! The Family History Fanatics team had to flee their home to escape the terrible forest fires in New Mexico, and have recently been able to resume their informative, useful videos. Devon's first loves in genealogy are first, research, and then writing about family.  Write a Timeline Recently I watched one of her short writing videos called " Write a Family History Story in Chronological Order | FIRST DRAFT ONLY " which seems so logical! Notice the "first draft only" part of the title. Writing out a timeline can sort your thoughts and yield insights about what happened in the family, such as births happening during travel, deaths of family members close together, when and where the land purchases took place, all of which might otherwise not be noticed. You may notice holes in your research as you write, which will pause the writing while you chase down those records and complete finding context and

Screenshot shows the default view of the new "Exploring Chronicling America Newspapers" interactive map and timeline [1] Somehow this week I received a copy of the Library of Congress blog, The Signal, in which I found the news about this new feature at Chronicling America. I had not subscribed to this blog before but I certainly will now!  Perhaps you might find it useful as well:    https://blogs.loc.gov/thesignal/ Interactive Map and Timeline This interactive map of newspapers in the Chronicling America digital library will be a tremendous help in finding the newspapers in your neck of the woods.  Just click on a dot near the area in which you are searching and you get a pop-up with the name of the town and newspapers published in that area.  Neat! Clicking on the underlined text will take you directly to the issues where you may browse or, with the title of the available newspapers, you can do a search by name or phrase.  Not all states are included; this is a work in pro

There is magic in reaching out to others! Sometimes it seems like work, so let's make it easier.  First, write a good query. We wrote about how to do that previously, so check that out.  What's a Query and Why Should I Care? #ResearchOpportunity A good query: Leads with Who When Where Asks a specific question States what resources have already been consulted Once you get a query format you like, copy it! And then plug in more people of interest and their details in a place where you can easily find it. Depending on how you store your genealogy materials, you can put all these queries in one document, or separate ones for each family.  AND.... if you have a research question and the beginning of the research report /timeline for each of these people, make your query statement part of that document and be sure to note where you send or post it and a date, so you can remember to check back and see if you have some responses. Be sure to include some contact information such as an e

courtesy Pixabay Sheer Joy of Research  Sometimes you've got the bull by the horns and rush along researching recklessly, breathlessly. That's fun! But we all know that details are missed this way and sometimes, in your hurry, you take the wrong road, pick the wrong parents, mix the records of two people with the same name. . .we've all been there!  It's fun, but there is sometimes quite a bit of cleanup to do after the rampage.   Professional Approach Professional researchers do it differently. Time is of the essence, and getting results efficiently is what creates success. So the pros will plan their work by working out a research question or a series of questions  with the client , and then begin by  doing a literature and record set survey.  Then is it time to assess what websites will yield the information needed? What repositories will need to be visited, or contacted? After the planning stage, the professional will consult the client for any fine-tuning. Focus Mo

Experienced researchers often urge us to use timelines but why are they worth the time and labor? Lisa Lisson says :  from https://lisalisson.com/organize-your-genealogy-using-a-timeline/ This post is based on my own experience and advice from more experienced researchers such as Lisa Lisson, Kimberly Powell, Diane Haddad, Gena Philibert-Ortega, Melissa Corn Finlay, Caleb Lee and the authors of the FamilySearch Wiki.  Timeline: Chronological Time and Place A basic timeline for your person will often yield insights before you add any extra information. You can also use maps old and new to find out about how they got from one place to another, and why they might have left the home place and moved elsewhere. Sometimes thinking about the travel will yield more clues, such as immigration documents, train or bus routes, or historic trails. Sometimes you will realize that the records you have found cannot possibly be for *your* person, but most be for another person with the same name. It'