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, …

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 …

2:35 PM

Genealogy Brick Wall Help : Next Steps for Finding More Records

You’ve been building your family tree for awhile. Maybe it’s been months, maybe even years. Now you don’t know what else you can do. There are several ways to identify sources that can help you. First, you need to make sure you're ready to learn about new sources. You might have some other next steps…

10:10 AM

Another Way of Dealing with Incorrect Hints

Some of your hints for your online tree are wrong. You can get mad that you have to actually do your own genealogy research or you can use those incorrect hints to help you do even better genealogy. (If instead, you're looking for information on why you get so many incorrect hints and how to get better hint…

9:10 AM

10 FREE U.S. Record Collections to Search Later

Not all genealogy research can be fast (ok, maybe I should say, most genealogy research is not fast). Even with online searches available, sometimes it just takes time to use online records. Here are 10 FREE online U.S. Record Collections that are worth the time, even if you have to use them lat…

5:53 AM

U.S. Military Research for Occasional Genealogists

As an Occasional Genealogist, someone who only gets to do genealogy occasionally, focusing on military research is a good option. There are several reasons. The "root" of many of these is the simple fact that military research has always been popular. Popular topics mean available resources. Here ar…

3:28 PM

Do THIS to Use DNA for Genealogy

You MUST do this if you want to use DNA for genealogy. I feel like this is a click-bait title but it is 100% true. It doesn't matter who you are, what your family looks like, what kind of DNA results you're working with. If you want to use DNA for genealogy, and I mean if you want to find your ances…

2:07 PM

Your Healthy Home Workspace

Genealogy, even as a hobby, can involve more "work-from-home" time than the average person is used to. Whether you spend a little time in the evenings or large blocks of time on the weekends or periodically, your body is being subjected to a surprising amount of unnatural computer time. In this post we'l…

2:46 PM

5 Genealogy Tasks When You're Stuck at Home

Normally an Occasional Genealogist suffers from a complete lack of time for his or her genealogy research. If you're stuck at home, have power and Internet, and are relatively healthy (broken foot? no problem!), you may finally get your chance to RESEARCH. Here are five free things that take more time than t…

10:59 AM

Will Doing More Help You Do More Genealogy?

It's been a busy week at The Occasional Genealogist HQ. I've been preparing for a webinar and preparing a new product to launch. It's made me think a lot about how I get things done (and how I could do this better) and how that would apply to you, the hobbyist genealogist. Here's the thing. It&#…

3:57 PM

#1 Tip for Finding That Elusive Ancestor

You can't find your ancestor in online records? There are several reasons but this post is about a reason many newbie genealogists don't consider. It can be so frustrating when you're hunting for that elusive ancestor and just can't seem to find them. You keep searching online but... Why…

4:26 PM

Evernote for Occasional Genealogists

Have you realized what the biggest challenge for Occasional Genealogists is? It's not a lack of research results. It's remembering what research you've done. The solution to this problem is great organization. That's not a very helpful answer, though. Great genealogical organization invol…

12:28 PM

Free Online Genealogy Tools

These tools weren't "born" yesterday. And that may mean you are missing out on their awesomeness simply because the buzz about them died a long time ago. Keep reading to (quickly) learn about some of my favorite, free online tools for genealogy.

1:54 PM

5-Minute Prep for Faster Online Research

Are you asking yourself, "how do I make my family history research faster?" Family history research (genealogy) takes time. Think how long it took to create! But, there are ways to be more efficient and efficient means faster. One caveat. With genealogy, you want efficient, not just fast. Fast today can …

1:33 PM

Three Genealogy Shortcuts That Aren't Cheats

There really aren't any shortcuts in genealogy . Most of the "shortcuts" come in organizing, filing, and using technology--rather than record usage. It's really about being efficient. However, I've got three fantastic shortcuts that really can help you. Here are three suggestions to save ti…

11:56 AM

The most under-utilized offline source you should try today

Where was he born? Why isn't he in the 1860 census? Is this record for the same man or a different man of the same name? These are the questions every genealogist is constantly trying to answer. Would you spend an hour identifying a record that could answer these questions? Of course you would. After s…

5:30 PM

How to Do Genealogy on the Cheap, the Right Way

Ten years. Over ten years. I was stuck at a 4th great grandfather for that long. Most of that time I was pretty sure who his father was. But why wasn't there any proof? I was so afraid it was because he was NOT the father. Surely there should have been enough clues to put together (if no direct evidence). I …

9:56 AM

Genealogy Newspaper Research : Saving on Subscriptions

I mentioned in last week's post that one way to save while doing more genealogy is drop a more expensive subscription in favor of a cheaper one (even if that is just a temporary option). This post is going to give you one specific example, newspaper subscriptions (paid AND free options!) This post has been upda…

1:01 PM

How to Save Money on Your Genealogy Subscriptions

There is really only one way to save big bucks on your genealogy subscriptions. To get BIG savings you have to apply this method. The method works and is possibly the best way to do high-quality online research, too. The great thing is, there aren’t any complicated coupons, discount codes, or special websites…

11:48 AM

Quick Reads: Recovering Lost Links, Welcoming Newbies

I often find posts I'd like to share with readers but they don't warrant me writing a whole post about them. So, I'm going to try the "round-up" style post with bits of information from around the Internet. Right now, I don't expect to publish this regularly but we'll see. This is also …