Meet the Author

I'm Jennifer, and I'm an Occasional Genealogist... sort of. For over ten years I've been a professional genealogist. I started researching my own family nearly 30 years ago. Like many of you, I started as an Occasional Genealogist. I had to squeeze research in while in school and while working full-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 all the interruptions, is now mandatory.

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Let's bust your brick wall!

Do you keep going off-track while researching your brick wall? Do you need to find more sources to continue your research? The Brick Wall Solution Roadmap can help.

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11:17 AM

How Much Does It Cost To Hire A Genealogist?

You've been doing your own genealogy but you've hit a brick wall. Maybe it's an ancestor you can't identify, maybe you want specific information about your family and just can't find it. When you get stuck, you might think you have to give-up or hire a pro. This isn't your only option! …

4:34 PM

How Much DNA Do Half-Siblings Share and Why Genealogists Need to Know

Why is it important to know how much DNA half-siblings share (or how much any relationship should share)? Genetic genealogy is NOT an exact science. You might think it will give you a concrete answer but it doesn't. DNA tests for genealogy (family history) are very different than a paternity test. That m…

2:22 PM

FAN Club Genealogy Research: How-to and Tips

If you're trying to learn what a genealogy FAN club (or the FAN principle) is, read this post , instead. Today's post gets into a few more nitty-gritty details of how to start FAN club research for genealogy (also called cluster research or cluster genealogy). IMPORTANT: This is the technique for…

12:37 PM

The Easy Secret for DNA Success

I have what sometimes feels like a magic-wand for genetic genealogy (using DNA for family history). It's easy and makes a huge difference in being able to use DNA results. What is it? It's family trees for my DNA matches, 100s of matches. In this post I'll share a few of my "secrets" th…

1:23 PM

How to Create a Reverse Family Tree

This post will give you some resources if you're trying to create a reverse family tree or trying to decide if creating one is right for you. We'll look at... What is a reverse family tree How to learn more about creating a reverse family tree How to get a free reverse family tree tem…

4:21 PM

The Truth About Citing Your Sources for Genealogy

Do you know you NEED to cite your sources for genealogy? Well, now you do. But there's a subtle truth people miss about this. The Truth About Source Citations The big "truth" is about the actual citations . You don't need them. You might have read that elsewhere on this blog. I'v…