It's time for resolutions! Get excited, genealogy resolutions mean you're going to do genealogy. That is so much more exciting than getting up at 5 a.m. to try and run when it's freezing outside. I'd rather do genealogy than plan a healthy diet. Hey, if you want those things, slap your laptop on a shel…
Showing posts from 2016
Posts contain affiliate links. See my disclosures page for details.
Finally cornered Aunt Nadine only to be unable to make chronological sense of her tale? It's a chronic problem for genealogists. Inaccurate answers in oral history interviews have nothing to do with the mental acuity of the interviewee, it's human nature. Luckily, there's a pretty easy fix, one often emplo…
Happy Winter Solstice. It's the shortest day of the year so I'm thinking about shortcuts and quick tasks I can do. A quick way to start is with a list. I'm still working on that bullet journal concept I mentioned a few months ago . I have a really hard time putting unrelated items on consecutive pages an…
This post is for (what I consider) the quintessential Occasional Genealogist. It is for the busy person who's only chance to do genealogy is on their lunch break (or perhaps during naptime if you're a stay at home mom with children who still nap). This series is tips with advice and encouragement to achie…
For U.S. genealogy research, census records are a key record. If you aren't from a location with centuries of vital records, census records might be the first record you used. There's a good chance if you're reading this, you consider yourself pretty familiar with U.S. Federal Census records. So let'…
This post contains affiliate links (I know you're shocked, a gift guide with affiliate links). This is one of a series of gift guides for specific recipient types or gifters. Some suggestions are reproduced rather than making you follow a series of links. Do you have that person you have to buy a gift for bu…
This post contains affiliate links (I know you're shocked, a gift guide with affiliate links). This is one of a series of gift guides for specific recipient types or gifters. Some suggestions are reproduced rather than making you follow a series of links. I'm not sure a crafty genealogist really needs…
Does a burned county mean an automatic dead end in your research? Should you just turn around and go home? No, if you want to complete your journey, you have to treat a burned county like a literal dead end street. Go back and try a different way! UpFront with NGS has an interesting post today about the…
I have a confession. I'm always touting the advantages of digital organization (for genealogy or everyday), but I love paper. I don't love organizing with paper. I hate it, hence my promotion of digital methods. It's the actual paper I love. I also love fountain pens. I love the way they write. I like th…
Today I want to look at some places to get free or cheap access to records and also highlight some techniques to use if you have to hire someone to get records for you. If you dont' know why genealogy records cost money, check-out this post on our sister blog . Understanding the expenses involved can …
Yesterday I posted an infographic of genealogy lists you could create in a bullet journal or anywhere you like (infographic also included at the bottom of this post). I keep information like this either in Evernote or Trello depending on whether it is just a list or involves a process, respectively. As I mentioned y…
Can a bullet journal help your genealogy? Maybe the general concepts of a collection of lists is just what an Occasional Genealogist needs! I finally clicked one of the myriad "bullet journal" pins I kept seeing on Pinterest. I was starting to think it might be a good system to incorporate some gene…
This post is mainly to alert you to several aspects of genealogy you may not know exist. These are particularly related to where online records come from (hence the post title). Believe it or not, knowing about these aspects can make a difference in your research. Big Conferences There's a big genealogy conferenc…
I was caught by the title of today's post on Upfront with NGS . It's " Digital Estate Planning Laws -- Relevant to Preserving "Your" Digital Genealogy Assets! " The post is pretty brief and includes some links you may want to check-out. I wanted to stress the aspects of my digital genealog…
This morning I read in Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter about FamilySearch 's new Civil War record releases. I'm always excited about more records (or even indices) coming online, but for me, the big news may be the new landing page. This page is a listing of free online Civil War Era records (so F…
One of my most popular posts is for my Evernote Research Plan with Analysis form. A research planning form in Evernote is great, but there is so much more you can do with Evernote to help with research planning. Today I'll cover my two favorite ways to use Evernote for research planning. Neither involves creati…
Every so often I need a "refresher" on certain topics. You probably get the same kind of feeling. Do you listen to it? Do you answer? Why I need a refresher varies. Sometimes I need a refresher on a topic I don't use a lot or don't know a lot about (such as researching a particular ethnic group or …
I have a project that needs some serious research planning. It's your typical genealogy "project." It involves an entire family which means many branches over many generations. The problem is being in the midst of research and needing to start thinking about this project as several smaller projects---wi…
Lecture handouts may be one of your greatest at-home resources. They are pretty much useless if you can't find them, though. I was never able to keep up with my paper handouts. It's hard enough to file your research documents (we all just LOVE filing, right?) so there's certainly little time left to file …
Friday is Earth Day so this week's posts have a digital theme even if they aren't just for Occasional Genealogists. Yesterday, I posted about eBooks which may or may not help you save the Earth (not driving to a library, having a book mailed to you, or moving physical books could reduce your carbon footpri…
Heads up! I'm restructuring some things related to the blog so this tax list abstracting form is not currently available. The general information about using the form still applies. Your taxes aren't due today so let's celebrate with another free form! Historic tax lists come in a variety of types, …
Here are 10 record collections (or record types) you can search online for free and with minimal time needed. In the sister post are free online genealogy records that take longer to use (like newspaper records). That means all of these links are to databases. Some are just indexes. With those, you will need to…
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About Me
I'm Jennifer, and I'm an Occasional Genealogist... sort of. Like many of you, I started as an Occasional Genealogist. I had to squeeze research into my free time. Then I got my first genealogy job and for awhile, it was genealogy all the time! Now I have two kids. I do other people's genealogy constantly but my own? Coming up with ways to do great genealogy, despite the interruptions, is mandatory.