Category Archives: Advice & How-To

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time over the last few weeks exploring the city directories available at Footnote, now Fold3.  The first few days I was frustrated as my searches weren’t turning up anything.  But then I realized why, and have been able to effectively search the directories.  This post will explain how the directories work on Footnote, and how to effectively find the people for whom you are searching.

More and more, people are beginning to realize the benefit of using Facebook as a networking tool beyond just family and friends.  Today, so many genealogists are hopping on the Facebook bandwagon to connect with other genealogists.  But at the same time, people also want to use Facebook to be, well, social with family and friends.  So how can you effectively utilize Facebook for both personal and networking purposes?  The answer is quite simple:  filters.

Prompt:  Write about the genealogy software you use. Comment on any tips, tricks or complaints you may have about the product.

Doing a little catch up here on Randy’s Saturday night challenges. April 25th challenge: Open your genealogy software program and search for a “Date Calculator.” You could go exploring in your Tools or Options menu, or you could use the Help menu to find it. Open the “Date Calculator” and put in a death date for one of your ancestors and put in an age at death (use the one you know, or just make one up – we’re just testing this feature today). Do the same thing by entering […]

Prompt:  Lessons learned. Fess up to your research mistakes so others can learn from them.

I got this idea somewhere along the line, although I don’t remember from where.  At any rate, since I am heading to the Illinois state conference for DAR in two weeks, I thought I’d better put one together.  I also thought I’d share it here.

Prompt:  Talk about the different types of technology you use in your genealogy research. Whether it’s a new search engine, a special application, or anything else “2.0,” let readers know what you’re working with, and how it’s working for you.

In December, I bought myself a digital voice recorder for Christmas.  I got the Olympus WS-210S Voice Recorder, which had great reviews. I love it!  It’s come in really handy for genealogical research.  Below is a list of ways you could use a digital voice recorder in your own research.