Category: Research

What Are the Oldest Reliable Genealogical Records?

Note: This article was previously published on the Genealogy’s Star blog site. The oldest records that can be reliably used for genealogical research depend entirely on the place where the records may have been kept. Some Chinese records go back more than 2000 years, but English parish records begin in 1538. If you live in Utah, the first genealogical records...

New: The Family History Guide Q&A Center

We’re happy to announce an exciting new feature in The Family History Guide—the Q&A Center. This tool can be used both for individual self-study and for training family history consultants or trainers. In The Family History Guide, you can access the Q&A Center in the Intro menu or in the Trainers menu. About the Q&A Center It’s fitting that The...

Live and Unrehearsed Research from Goldie May: Episodes 28-30

The Goldie May series continues with more videos. Each of these videos will give you insight into how to do research online. There is about one new video per week released on the Goldie May YouTube Channel. Here are the links to Episodes 28-30. You can view them here or on the YouTube Channel playlist. Unrehearsed Genealogy Research #28: Looking...

Live and Unrehearsed Research from Goldie May: Episode 24

Note: This article appeared previously on the Genealogy’s Star blog site. Goldie May Live and Unrehearsed Episode 24: Tracing African American Families through the Great Migration  https://youtu.be/4RPVQOyYcN8 The Goldie May series continues with more videos. Each of these videos will give you insight into how to do research online. (This one has to do with records from the Great American...

Inside the Guide: Business and Occupational Records

We are coming up fast on the Labor Day holiday in the U.S. One of the joys of family history is getting to know your ancestors on a more personal level, and an important part of that is understanding what occupations they had. Some may have even changed jobs or occupations several times in their lives, due to life circumstances...

Understanding Jurisdictions for Genealogists

James Tanner has created a new video for the BYU Family History Library: Understanding Jurisdictions for Genealogists. In the video, James defines and explains jurisdictions and what types of genealogical records can be found in different jurisdictions. You can watch the video below or on YouTube. Enjoy!  

Universal vs Private Family Trees: Pros and Cons

Note: This article was published previously on the Genealogy’s Star site.   This is a blog post spoiler. When you weigh the pros and cons of universal family trees against those of private family trees, the universal tree always wins. By no means, am I undertaking to compare individual programs, the issues I see of overriding importance duplication of effort...

New: 1950 Census Tools in The Family History Guide

The 1950 United States Federal Census, while not yet fully indexed on some sites, is now being accessed by genealogists and researchers around the world. We’ve added resources in The Family History Guide to help you get started with the 1950 Census in your research, with links to helpful articles, forms, and records for finding your ancestors in the Census....

Goldie May Live and Unrehearsed Genealogy Research, Episodes 17-19

Note: The article below is composed of recent excerpts from the Genealogy’s Star blog site.   Unrehearsed Genealogy Research #19: Confirming family in 19th-century England As I have written recently, most of my work is now in producing videos. Here is the latest Goldie May Unrehearsed Genealogy Research #19: Confirming family in 19th-century England James & Richard look at an ancestor...