Category: Records

Remembering Our Military Ancestors

On Veterans Day we remember those who have served in the United States armed forces, and many of us have ancestors who served in some capacity in the military. The Family History Guide has a wealth of resources to help you trace your ancestry in the military, including links to records, articles, videos, and databases. Here’s a quick summary of...

Juneteenth Is Coming

“Juneteenth” will be celebrated on June 19 this year. Here’s a helpful introduction to this American national holiday, from Wikipedia: “Juneteenth, officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday’s name is a portmanteau of the words “June” and “nineteenth”, as it was on June 19,...

The Accuracy of Inherited Genealogy

Note: This article appeared previously on the Genealogy’s Star blog site.   Many genealogists “inherited” their interest in genealogy from a relative: parent, a grandparent, or some other relation. I became interested in genealogy in a different way, but I still inherited a lot of documents and information from two great-grandmothers. One of my great-grandmother published an almost 700 page...

Finding Records for Your Military Veterans

As we celebrate Memorial Day this weekend, finding our military ancestors in a variety of records can add extra meaning for us. Here are some resources in The Family History Guide that can help point you to the military records you need: United States, Goal E1: Military Records provides an introduction to U.S. military records and how and where to...

Introducing the FamilySearch Profile Quality Score

Note: This article was published previously on the Genealogy’s Star blog site. RootsTech 2024 was the forum for announcing a valuable feature that helps with the FamilySearch.org Family Tree accuracy. FamilySearch announced the Profile Quality Score which is featured in the FamilySearch.org/Labs website. When this feature is activated by turning it on, it appears on Profile Page of entries in the Family Tree...

FamilySearch to Digitize Ottoman Empire Family Histories

According to a recent article in the Church News, FamilySearch will be digitizing records of peoples whose history was entwined with the Ottoman Empire. The announcement was made at the International Congress on Archives, an event that takes place every four years and is organized by the International Council on Archives, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2023 (Oct....

New QRB Video, for Absolute Beginners in Genealogy

James Tanner has a way of breaking down seemingly difficult or overwhelming concepts into easy-to-understand topics. That is certainly the case in his video series titled “Genealogy for the Absolute Beginner.” Part One of the series is now available on our YouTube Channel in the QRB (Quick Research Basics) playlist. It defines genealogy, outlines the opportunities and challenges for newcomers,...

Update on Practice Exercises

Here is a quick update on the Record Search Practice Exercises that have been added to The Family History Guide. We are pleased to announce that at this time there 333 practice exercises available, each connected to a record collection via a QUIKLink in The Family History Guide, and each with problem statements, hints, and answers. More exercises are on...

Eight New Class Outlines Are Here

Last week we introduced the Class Outlines for The Family History Guide in this blog article and on our social media channels. The response has been very positive, and we are excited about the impact that the Class Outlines will make in family history training everywhere. In the initial announcement there were 28 Class Outlines available, covering topics in Memories,...

5-Minute Features: QUIKLinks

One of the most popular features in The Family History Guide is QUIKLinks, which put record collections from multiple platforms at your fingertips. There are QUIKLinks for FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and FIndmypast in many locations in The Family History Guide. We recently published a new 5-Minute Features video on our YouTube Channel for learning about QUIKLinks. You can watch it...