The Family History Guide Blog – … See the latest news about your free learning and training site for family history!

June 20, 2025

RootsTech Highlights The Family History Guide

A week ago, FamilySearch sent out an email to RootsTech subscribers that noted upcoming webinars and industry highlights. In the Industry Highlights section of the email, The Family History Guide was mentioned with a link to the site: “The Family History Guide is a learning, resource, and activities center for family history. It’s designed for all levels, from beginners to...

FamilySearch/RootsTech/The Family History Guide Association/Uncategorized Comments: 0

June 20, 2025

What AI Says about The Family History Guide

I recently asked Microsoft Copilot this basic question: “What Is The Family History Guide?” Here is the response I got: “The Family History Guide is a free, comprehensive learning system designed to help people explore and document their family history. It offers step-by-step guidance for using popular genealogy platforms like FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast. What makes it especially useful...

artificial intelligence/Technology/The Family History Guide Association/What is new at The FHG Comments: 0

June 15, 2025

Happy Father’s Day, 2025

The Family History Guide Association would like to wish all fathers, and fathers-to-be, a happy and peaceful Father’s Day! My father was a great example in my life and is the one who got me interested in family history. He covered the bases, from hand calligraphy on pedigree charts to safeguarding documents and photos, and from family history trips to...

DNA/Stories Comments: 0

June 15, 2025

Celebrating Juneteenth

Juneteenth, the day commemorating the official end of slavery in the United States, is celebrated on June 19. This year is the 160th anniversary of the abolition of U.S. slavery. You can learn more about the history of Juneteenth in the United States in this Wikipedia article. The Family History Guide has some helpful resources for tracing enslaved African American...

Research Comments: 0

June 8, 2025

Avoiding Mistakes and Bad Habits in Your Research

It can be tempting to take the easy way, or the path of least resistance, in your genealogy research. However, this can lead to mistakes and bad habits that will end up costing you time and effort in the long run. The Family History Guide helps you get off to a good start with research, in Goal 2 of Project...

Learning/Records/Research Comments: 0

June 8, 2025

New QRB video: Starting Your Research in Ukraine

We have added a new QRB (Quick Research Basics) video by James Tanner, “Starting Your Genealogical Research in Ukraine.” This brings the total number of QRB videos on our YouTube Channel to 93. The video is embedded in Goal 1 of the Ukraine country page, and it’s also included below for your convenience. Enjoy!

Country Research/Research/YouTube Comments: 0

June 1, 2025

The Value of Original Records

It’s a familiar theme: when we see something in print, we often view it as authoritative, especially if it comes from a source we are familiar with. But not all genealogical records are of equal value, and some may even contain errors or misleading information. Finding original records can be important in your research, and knowing how to handle the...

Records/Research/U.S. Research Comments: 0

June 1, 2025

Is AI Helpful or Merely Trivial?

Note: This article appeared previously on the Genealogy’s Star blog site. As a genealogist, there is a division between activities that help and support genealogical/historical research and those that are mere play-time diversions. AI is not my “companion.” AI is not going to help me with my daily schedule. AI is not going to improve the quality of my life...

artificial intelligence/Records/Research Comments: 0

May 25, 2025

Finding Our Ancestors in Military Records

Happy Memorial Day! Today we honor those who gave their lives while serving in the United States armed forces. You can lean more about the history of Memorial Day, as well as Armed Forces Day and Veteran’s Day, in this Wikipedia article. Military Records for Your Ancestors The Family History Guide can help you learn more about military records and...

U.S. Research Comments: 0

May 25, 2025

Genealogy Is Not Just Copying Names

Note: This article was published previously on the Genealogy’s Star blog site. In some parts of the world, particularly for people who descend from ancestors from Western Europe, genealogy is not a particularly new innovation or pursuit. In my 43 years of doing genealogical research, I spent the first 15 or so years copying genealogical information from my ancestors. This...

Records/Research Comment: 1