Introducing the Countries Knowledgebase

In a recent blog post we announced the first Knowledgebase for The Family History Guide. It covers general and United States-specific research, and as we mentioned, it is a work in progress. There are currently about 60 entries, with many more to come. You can access this Knowledgebase from any of the Partner menus (FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, or Findmypast) or...

Searching through Layers of Sources to Find Your Ancestors

Editor’s Note: This article, written by James Tanner, was originally published in the Genealogy’s Star blog site and is used with the author’s permission. It is probably evident that all sources are not created equal. Some are much more equal than others. (Attribution to George Orwell). As I have been doing research, I have noticed that source records are often...

Update: Online Tracker Reporting System

At RootsTech 2019 a few weeks ago, we gave a brief demo of the upcoming Online Reporting System for The Family History Guide, and it generated quite a bit of interest, especially among family history consultants. As described in the demo, consultants will be able to create reporting groups and run online reports to show totals for skill levels achieved...

Sources, Hints, and Record Searches

We recently made some important updates to a few of the Goals in The Family History Guide. They have to do with record sources, hints and searches in FamilySearch Family Tree. Here is a summary of the changes that were made: Project 1: FamilySearch, Goal 8—Adding Sources Choice B: “Browse and sort existing sources in your family tree.” This updates...

Rootstech 2019 ~ Lots of Learners, Teachers & Consultants Sought Help

As various stats were collected after RootsTech 2019, it became apparent that The Family History Guide had some very successful experiences there.  We had three wonderful presentations. Two were given by Bob Taylor, CEO of the Family History Guide, entitled “The “Family History Guide: Accelerating Your Learning and Research”.  The two classes attracted 1350 attendees.  It is estimated that a significant number of them...

Announcing The Family History Guide Knowledgebase

Two of the main purposes of The Family History Guide are to accelerate your family history learning and research. What better way to assist with those goals, than with a handy reference that offers definitions, tips, guidelines and more. We are excited to announce the first release of our Knowledgebase for The Family History Guide, which covers general research principles...

“Introducing The Family History Guide” Gets a Refresh

Every once in a while you discover a gem that just needs a bit of polishing to make it good as new. We recently discovered that one of the items on our Media page, “Introducing The Family History Guide,” was in need of some polishing—so that’s what we did. It now has links to some of the latest features in...

Attending Rootstech 2019 Was Unforgettable

I am still feeling the exhilaration of Rootstech, after my return home on Tuesday.  The atmosphere is just electrifying there in Salt Lake City’s Salt Palace. It is a pure joy to be among people who have a desire to do their family history. In doing so, we can gather tangible evidence of our ancestors and preserve and treasure it. Often it...

RootsTech 2019 Recap: Beyond Words

Now that RootsTech 2019 has concluded, it almost seems like it went by in a flash—but what a flash that was! By all accounts it was our most successful RootsTech ever, in terms of number of people reached and the feedback we got from them. And the new tower and monitor display at our booth were a hit with the...

A Healthy Addition of Exercises

At the end of most Choices in The Family History Guide are Exercises links. These Exercises help you achieve Good or Proficient status for skills. They also provide criteria to help you rate yourself in the Word Tracker (status) or the Online Tracker (slider bars). These Exercises have been available for Projects in FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast. Recently we...