Category Archives: Advice & How-To

In my previous two “Facebook for Genealogists” post, I mentioned Facebook groups. I just realized that some Facebook users might not know what a group is or why you might want to join one (or many). Those who are genealogists, especially those new to Facebook, might not know that there is a plethora of genealogy-related groups on Facebook. Even seasoned genealogists/Facebook users may not realize the breadth of groups out there. A Facebook group is a place for people with similar interests to join together and communicate virtually. There are […]

Have you posted a question in a Facebook group, or even on your own profile page, and then months (or years later) you want to refer back to the comments and you can’t find it? As promised in last week’s post, I’ll show you how to find that post without having to scroll through hundreds (thousands?) of posts.

If you’re a genealogist on Facebook, you likely have a lot of genealogy buddies who share all sorts of wonderful posts. Or perhaps you belong to various genealogy-related groups or follow the pages of genealogical organizations or companies. I’ll let you in on a secret. On Facebook, I have a ton of genealogy friends, belong to many genealogy groups, and follow several genealogy-related pages. For many years I actually avoided Facebook because it was overwhelming—so many great things and so little time. A few years ago I discovered a function […]

Let’s say you find a reference to a New England Historical and Genealogical Register article while searching PERSI. Or perhaps you come across an article of interest that is referenced in a lecture syllabus or in a citation. As a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society it dawns on you that you have access to The Register through the website (yes, all issues are digitally available!). But how do you find and retrieve the article among their massive American Ancestors database?

In my previous life as a technical writer, I worked with screenshots a lot. As a genealogist, I still rely on screenshots for various things, especially when writing instructional materials. As an editor for a national genealogy publication, I use screenshots all the time. Screenshots, or screen captures, can serve a variety of purposes, but are especially useful for genealogists who write or present instructional materials. While the typical, standard screenshot is usually enough for presentations or web-based writing, it is not entirely suitable for print publications.

On Thursday, I announced that I was officially relaunching my business, with a slightly different focus and a new name, Brass Oak Genealogy. Part of my business plan is to continue to provide value to fellow genealogists through blogging, providing information items (guides, templates, etc.), and writing a monthly newsletter. I have a ton of ideas, tips, and strategies I want to share with you!

I’m not sure how I missed this, but I just learned that FamilySearch now has a place for researchers to gather virtually to help one another. Simply called Groups, you can access this by logging in to the FamilySearch website, then under the Help menu, choose Community. From that page, click the Groups button. You can browse through the listings or search on a topic or location. So far, I have joined four groups: German Genealogy Research Belgium, Luxembourg, and The Netherlands Ireland Genealogy Research Midwest I think this is […]

Week 2 of the 12 Week Research Challenge centers on planting your tree. For the beginner challenge, it’s about selecting one place to store and organize your data. For the intermediate challenge, it’s about creating a second tree to take advantage of record hints, connect with other researchers, and have a backup in case something happens to one of your trees. For the advanced challenge, it’s about syncing.