Category: Records

Great Databases, Part 6

Here’s Part 6 in the Great Databases series of articles, highlighting cool and useful family history databases you can access online for free. See also the previous blog articles in the series for more databases to explore. China My China Roots, Zupus—Search for family tree books (Zupus) of ancestors in China, by first and last name. Global Archives Portal Europe—”The Archives...

New Video: Technology – Increasing Access to Archives

We’ve added a new QRB (Quick Research Basics) video to our YouTube Channel. This one is by Miles Meyer, Education Director for The Family History Guide Association and a frequent presenter at RootsTech. It’s titled “Technology – Increasing Access to Archives” and it discusses the following key topics, among others: Purpose and limitations of archives Microfilm and digitization projects Advances...

Revisiting Proof and Truth in Genealogy

Note: This article was published previously in the Genealogy’s Star blog site. Can you prove it? Is what you post in your family tree the truth? In the context of genealogical research, do either of these terms have any meaning? Can these questions even be answered? Genealogical research focuses on a limited part of the world’s history; that part pertaining...

TreeFind: A Versatile Tool for FamilySearch Family Tree

The BYU Family History Technology Lab has produced some interesting and useful tools over the years for doing family history. One that should be of special note and importance is the TreeFind tool, It’s a relatively new addition that helps you find ancestors by category in your part of the FamilySearch Family Tree. Following is a brief summary of the...

About Accuracy in Genealogical Research

Note: This article was published previously in the Genealogy’s Star blog site.   The fundamental issue with historical research (including genealogical research) is accuracy. How do you establish trust in the conclusions of a historical (i.e. genealogical) researcher? For the purposes of this post and from this point on, I will focus on genealogical research as a subset of historical...

Five Great Databases, from The Family History Guide

If you have been doing family history for a while, chances are good you’re familiar with the big genealogy companies, such as FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast, Geneanet, etc. However, there are literally thousands of other family history databases on the internet, and The Family History Guide has just-in-time links to many of the most useful ones. You can find them...

What Does It Take to Have Access to Genealogical Records?

Note: This article was published previously on the Genealogy’s Star blog site.   Each of the large online genealogy family tree/record websites advertises the large number of records they have available for doing user research. In many cases there are various levels of indexing to support the records they claim to have available. But access is not determined by the...

Where Are the Records?

The quest for finding historical records is one of the main objectives for anyone doing genealogy research. Without records, family history easily becomes family mystery, or even mythology. Many types of historical records have been produced by governments, churches, and other organizations, such as vital records, census, immigration, property, military, and many more. The question “Where are the records?” has...

Getting to Know FamilySearch Community and Partner Trees

When we think about using the Search menu in FamilySearch, the most familiar choice is right at the top: Records. The other items in the menu may be less familiar, however. Halfway down the menu is the Genealogies option, which is an interesting one. Many of us are aware that a huge number of user-submitted pedigrees are available on FamilySearch....

New: Database Reference Page

There are quite a few links to helpful articles and videos in The Family History Guide, covering a wide variety of topics. What should not be overlooked is that there are also links to many free databases for records of all types. To highlight these resources, we’ve created a new page: the Database Reference. About the Database Reference You can...