FamilySearch 2024 Year in Review

Note: This article appeared previously on the Genealogy’s Star blog site.   FamilySearch.orgI realize we are getting well into 2025, but I am always fascinated by what happened in the past year. FamilySearch.org had a banner year and from my standpoint, more than I can quickly learn about is coming in 2025. I do, however, have a few comments about...

Maribel Medina’s RootsTech Classes

Maribel Medina is one of the rising stars in family history education, particularly for Latino audiences and research in Spanish. She is one of the interviewees in the upcoming Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid TV series on genealogy that features The Family History Guide. Maribel will be presenting multiple sessions at RootsTech 2025: Taller para Consultores I: Principios y Prácticas Efectivas...

Martin Luther King Day and Family History

Today, January 20, celebrates the legacy of Martin Luther King, a pioneer Black leader and activist who promoted civil rights in the United States and gave his life for the cause. You can read about his life ana accomplishments in many books and websites, including Wikipedia. Part of the awareness he helped to raise is the connection between generations in...

BYU Webinar: New Training Tools in The Family History Guide

On Wed. January 22 I will be presenting a webinar for the popular BYU Family History Library sesires, titled “New Training Tools in The Family History Guide.” The webinar begins at 5 p.m. Mountain Time and is free. To register for the online event, go to this page: To join the webinar, wait until just before the start time and...

Update: Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid project

It has been a while since we posted about the Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid project featuring The Family History Guide. So, let’s get up to speed with what has been happening: We recently received the edited video footage for the 30-second commercial, the broadcast piece )about three minutes long), and the documentary (broadcast piece plus another three minutes. Our Management...

What’s New in The Family History Guide

From time to time we add new features and items to The Family History Guide website, and when we do, they usually end up in a blog post like this. So here goes, with several things that have been added in the last few weeks … 1.  70+ Tasks to Do with FamilySearch and The Family History Guide—This is a...

New: Weekly Family History Activities for 2025

When the Come, Follow Me program for Latter-day Saint scripture study came out in 2019, I remember a conversation I had with Angelle Anderson, our Marketing Director: “Should we provide a weekly companion for it—one that focuses on family history?” We jumped in, a bit nervous but excited, and here we are introducing the seventh yearly installment: Weekly Family History...

Inside the Guide: England

We’ve added another video to our Inside the Guide playlist: England Sites and Databases. Each Inside the Guide video will highlight websites and databases featured in country pages of The Family History Guide. The videos do not have live links to the sites and databases, but they are easy to find in the Goals and Choices of The Family History...

Year in Review: The Top 20 for 2024

This past year was a memorable one for The Family History Guide. Here’s a look back at 20 of the events and website features that made 2024 a special year: 20. AI Goal added—With artificial intelligence being applied to genealogy in new ways, this new Goal in The Family History Guide helps you get up to speed on ChatGPT, handwriting...

Inside the Guide: Germany

Here’s another addition to our Inside the Guide playlist: Germany Sites and Databases. Each Inside the Guide video will highlight websites and databases featured in country pages of The Family History Guide. The videos do not have live links to the sites and databases, but they are easy to find in the Goals and Choices of The Family History Guide....