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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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Showing posts from 2016

Posts contain affiliate links. See my disclosures page for details.

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Resolutions, Productivity, and More Research

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…
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How to Pry Family History Out of the Willing but Vague

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…
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More Genealogy Lists for Occasional Genealogists

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…
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Genealogy in 45 Minutes a Day: The Lunchtime Genealogist

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…
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Find Every Clue in U.S. Census Records

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'…
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Automated Searches: Shortcut or Cheat?

Did you know genealogists are argumentative? I've been in this industry so long I don't know if this is something "special" about genealogists or (more likely) something you'll find in any group full of passionate people. One "hot topic" I've heard being argued is using automated …
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Do I Need a Family Tree If I Take a DNA Test?

Someone found out I was a genealogist the other night. Almost immediately I heard, "do you use DNA?" followed almost as quickly by "that gives you all the answers, right?" I hope you found this post because you asked the same questions and don't have an answer, yet. Yes, I do use DNA. I spe…
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Success in "Burned Counties" --- easy techniques to start with

I was surprised by the popularity of my recent post, "Burned Counties" aren't always "burned." I suspect some people clicked through looking for solutions to working in burned counties (but I was writing a post for beginners that might not even know what a burned county is!). So, this is the po…
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Gift Guide: From the Genealogist to the Impossible to Please

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…
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Gift Guide: DIY Gifts from the Crafty Genealogist

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…
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"Burned Counties" aren't always "burned"

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…
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50 Genealogy Tasks You Can Do In 15 Minutes or Less

Are you short on time when it comes to your genealogy research? You're an Occasional Genealogist! Here are 50 suggestions for genealogy tasks you can do in 15-minutes or less OR tasks you can break into 15-minute sessions. I've grouped the tasks by type so you can find ideas of interest quicker.
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Research Planning & Budgeting for Research

Welcome to Part 3 of Budgeting for Genealogy. You can read part 1, here , and part 2, here . My main goal with this post is to provide some real life examples. However, I'm also providing some additional "how-to" for those of you that may need it. As I was preparing to write this post, I kept com…
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Budgeting for Genealogy Part 2: Planning and Budgeting

Last week I provided a number of suggestions for budget friendly genealogy . This week I want to talk about "budgeting" as in setting a budget. I like to think of this like a grocery budget. I can't speak for you, but I need to do genealogy almost as much as I need to eat. OK, that's a bit extrem…
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Best writing or journaling supplies for on-the-go

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…
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How to Save $$$ on Genealogy Records

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 …
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Genealogy Collections for Your Bullet Journal (a list of lists)

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…
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Genealogy Lists for Occasional Genealogists (i.e. the Bullet Journal concept)

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…
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Where Do Online Genealogy Records Come From?

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…

Did you know you have a "digital estate" and why genealogists care

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…
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11 Hints for Using DAR Records in Genealogy

Did you like Saturday's post ( eight tips for using the DAR GRS for genealogy --straight from my, now retired, lecture "The DAR Library for All: Near or Far, Member or Not")? If you liked that, I've got a bonus for you today! These are the hints I've always included in the lecture handout…
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The DAR Library for All: Near or Far, Member or Not

Today I am giving one of my lectures for the last time. I am retiring "The DAR Library for All." Lucky you! That means I'm putting my top tips here. No need to wait to hear the lecture anymore. The "DAR GRS" is a great free website provided by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR…
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Sight My What?

"Cite Your Sources" (that's the answer to "Sight my what?") This post is a companion to the first suggestion in " Three Genealogy Shortcuts That Aren't Cheats ." That particular post has become very popular (compared to my other pins) on Pinterest. I know why---it's a …
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Free Civil War Records and Tips for Finding State Pensions

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…
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Evernote for Research Planning: Beyond Just "Plans"

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…
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Is Your Genealogy Knowledge "Fuzzy?"

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 …
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Genealogy Goal Setting Worksheet

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…
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Evernote for Genealogy Handouts

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 …
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3 Tips to Reduce Paper When You Have to Print

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…
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Digital Genealogy: Ebooks for Genealogy

Update! This post originally contained a long introduction about using books as sources. That's been moved to its own post, here . Information specific to ebooks has been left in this post and I've added links to some shops where you can purchase genealogy ebooks. There are lots of ebooks for gene…
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Your Ancestors Had to Pay Taxes, Too

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, …
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10 Easy to Search, FREE U.S. Record Collections

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…