Category Archives: Basics

Facebook and Genealogy

Social Media icons on a smartphone
So many networks, so many family members.

Any discussion among genealogists nowadays will eventually lead to social media, and more specifically, Facebook. They may not be discussing it as a venue for serious research or a way to find that crucial elusive record to break through a brick wall, but Facebook is neither a search engine nor a research focused medium, so though it may be tempting to want something out of FB that it is not intended or suited for, it  would be foolish to consider it that sort of venue. But what it does, it does well.

What Facebook (and Twitter) does provide is a way to interact Continue reading Facebook and Genealogy

New Year, New Host

You may have noticed (or maybe you haven’t) but I can’t get it out of my head that it’s been a couple of months (read: four) since my last post.  Honestly, I’ve written tons of drafts but for one reason or another, haven’t pushed that button to make them live.  Yet my blogiversary is coming up so obviously something needs to be done.

So I’m moving — except not moving far.   Continue reading New Year, New Host

Location, Location, Location

As anyone will tell you, the three most important factors in real estate are location, location and location. No doubt, any genealogist will likely tell you the same.

What this means is you can not go very far in any family history without location becoming a crucial element in you research. Location features in every census, birth or death record. Newspapers may report on national and regional events, but the ones genealogists care about tend to focus on more narrow locations: a city or sometimes even a neighborhood, which will include the details of residents that might hold a sliver of the story of our ancestors lives. Continue reading Location, Location, Location