about me

professional genealogist Jennifer Dondero, author of Essential Skills for the Occasional Genealogist, an Amazon bestseller

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.

Learn More About Me

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.

3:23 PM

The 3 Ps of Genetic Genealogy

Want to use DNA for genealogy success? You'll need these three easy peasy, I mean three easy Ps. This week I was reminded of some basics of genetic genealogy (that's using DNA for family history). Not basics like what a centimorgan is (cM, that's a unit of measurement) or how much DNA you should expect to…

6:53 AM

How to Create an Email Template

Creating an email template is much easier than it sounds. You may think you have to figure out technical details specific to your email program, but you don't (although for some programs, you could). Let's look at how easy it is to create an email template as well as some common reasons a genealogist might …

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 …

9:36 AM

Studying Genealogy Periodicals

An often underutilized source of self-education is the genealogical journal. Genealogical journals are one of the only ways to learn how to do quality genealogy by studying quality genealogy. Studying Genealogy Periodicals: Journals, Newsletters, and Magazines

2:24 PM

Print to PDF for Genealogists

Are you fighting with your printer over another genealogy printing job? Maybe you need to go green and print to PDF. You'll learn how simple it is to print to PDF and why genealogists, in particular, should love this option.