12:29 PM

How to Keep Track of Genealogy Research Ideas (Even When They're Not About an Ancestor)

Keeping track of genealogy research ideas is one of the most underrated organizing challenges in family history research. It's easy to capture a find—but what about the collections you want to explore, the repositories you need to contact, the search strategies you haven't tried yet? This pos…

4:51 PM

The Brick Wall Solution Roadmap: The Genealogy Framework That Turns a Dead End Into a Next Step

If your genealogy research has hit a brick wall, the problem is almost never a lack of records. It's a missing framework. The Brick Wall Solution Roadmap is a free six-step process that makes the genealogy research process genuinely actionable — so you always know where you are in your research and what t…

2:57 PM

Make Your Genealogy Skills Go Pro

How do professional genealogists accomplish so much more? Is it simply knowledge; do they know more than you? Is it just experience? Have they been clued-in to some secret or magic formula? The magic theory seems to be pretty popular. In fact, it seems to be the belief held by many peop…

9:01 AM

Digitizing Family Media and Why It’s Essential for Your Genealogy Research

Today's post is a guest post written by Paul Schneider of Remember Whenever , a media transfer company based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He's going to share his expertise in this post to help you understand digitizing family media like video and audio tapes, DVDs, slides, film, and more—specifically fo…

10:17 AM

Building a Genealogy FAN Club : The Basics {+ my top recommendations}

Already know what a genealogy FAN club is? This post covers the very basics of how to create and organize one. This is the follow-up post to " What Is a Genealogy FAN club? " and continues providing what it is and is not as well as organizing ideas. As a reminder, there are multiple terms we…

6:30 AM

What Genealogists Can Learn from Tax Records

Tax records weren’t created for genealogists—but if you know how to read them, they can be surprisingly revealing. The key is knowing: what kind of tax you’re looking at, the law that applies at that time and place and analyzing it (based on the above two), so you can understand what it m…

6:00 AM

Why Some Records Aren’t Digitized—and What You’re Missing If You Only Research Online

It’s 2025. Shouldn’t everything be online by now? Not even close. Here are four reasons records don't get digitized plus some ideas for how to find them irl. If you've ever felt stuck in your genealogy research, the issue might not be your skills or your ancestors—it might be the limits of the …

6:41 AM

The Two Most Basic Things You Need to Bust a Genealogy Brick Wall

Before you can do anything else to bust a brick wall, there are two things you must have, information and knowledge. This sounds really simple and it shoukd be. But people rush ahead and get stuck for years because they don't START with these absolute basics. Genealogy knowledge is the foundation for bu…

5:56 PM

Stop "Building" Your Family Tree and Do This Instead

Maybe your family tree is stuck because you're trying to "build" it. If you haven't had this genealogy revelation, it might just change the way you research. This is a follow-up post, read the other post, here . I use the term "great genealogy" but that is what you want to wor…

2:27 PM

What to Do Before Hiring a Genealogist [+Checklist]

In this post, we’ll go over what to do with your genealogy research before hiring a genealogist. Why you need to follow some essential steps before hiring a pro. The three things you want to do. What you'll get from this process, regardless if you actually hire someone or not! What to…

12:12 PM

How to Break Through Genealogy Brick Walls

Does this sound like you? You've searched the same databases three times. You've tried different spellings. You've stared at the same census record until the ink blurs. And your ancestor is still nowhere. If that sounds familiar, you've hit a genealogy brick wall and you're in good company…

9:54 AM

How to Bust a Brick Wall When You're Too Busy for Genealogy

It takes time to bust a genealogy brick wall. There are no magic shortcuts. If you truly don't have time for genealogy, you can't bust a brick wall (you would need to have someone else do it for you, either a volunteer or pay someone). But you're reading this so you've found some time for geneal…

1:12 PM

Organizing Genealogy Research : Organizing System Options

This is a follow-up post with brief information about... Tried and True Research Systems The Gold Standard for Genealogy Filing Hybrid and Digital Genealogy Organization Make sure you start with our post about organizing basics. Tried and True Organizing Options (Folders, Binders, &…

4:00 PM

Top Way to Find New Genealogy Sources for your Brick Wall

Genealogists need to find new sources. This post will give you a strategy to help you focus, find new evidence, and become a better genealogist. This is the third post in a series. Most genealogists, when they get stuck, think they need to find new sources to use. At some point that is where you are, …

3:53 PM

How to Start Busting a Brick Wall: No Research Needed

Are you focused on finding "new sources" for a brick wall problem? That might not be your best next step. There is a point where a genealogist needs to learn about and find new sources, but there's something else you do, first. Good news, it's actually much easier than learning about and…

10:46 AM

The 3 Genealogy Mistakes You Have to Tame to Improve Your Skills

Do you want to further your genealogy skills so you can research better or faster? Have you run into a problem that seems too "difficult" for your current skill level? Whatever reason you have for wanting to improve, there are three basic mistakes you have to tame before you can move beyond-beginner…

2:53 PM

That's Not a Genealogy Source!

Big genealogy websites are not a genealogy source. In this post we'll look at how understanding what they are helps you use them more effectively. That means you'll bust more of your brick walls and grow your family tree! That expensive genealogy website you have a subscription to, it's not a …

4:26 PM

Organizing Genealogy Research : What You Need to Organize

You want to organize your genealogy. But what exactly needs to be organized? Information Documents Everything else This post will cover the basics of what to organize and why. Don't miss the first post in this series on genealogy organizing basics (for creating a system that wor…

1:12 PM

Organizing Genealogy Research : Problems

This post highlights problems you can run into even when starting with a good (tried and true) genealogy organizing system. The problems you encounter will occur due to your preferences related to the actual organizing method PLUS your unique research. A great way to avoid or minimize issues with a new gene…

8:35 AM

Genealogy Records : 4 Ways to Learn About New Sources

This post is just a quick add-on to my post about identifying new sources when you hit a genealogy brick wall. It covers four ways to try and identify new sources, specifically when you are stuck on a tough genealogy problem. by repository by location by record type by time period …