Puerto Rico Civil Registrations Now FREE Online
Do you have family from Puerto Rico? Newly-searchable at FamilySearch.org are Puerto Rico Civil Registrations. Ancestry published these last year for their subscribers. Ancestry describes this as their "largest single collection of Puerto Rican records." According to...
We Dig These Gems: New Genealogy Records Online
Every Friday, we highlight new genealogy records online. Scan these posts for content that may include your ancestors. Use these records to inspire your search for similar records elsewhere. Always check our Google tips at the end of each list: they are custom-crafted...
Working-Class Roots? British Trade Union Records Now at FindMyPast
Do you have ancestors who may have been part of a British Trade Union? They could have been carpenters, joiners, cabinetmakers, lithographic artists, engravers, printers, paper makers, railway servants, watermen, bargement, lightermen, woodworkers, newspaper...
Calling Volunteers: Help Index Italian Civil Registration Records
It's National Volunteer Week in the United States. What better time to put out a call for help? Volunteers are desperately needed to help index the biggest Italian records project yet: Italian civil registration records. At current rates, it won't be fully indexed for...
Heritage Cookbooks: Recipe for a Sweet Family History
Recently I heard from Jillian in Arkansas, USA, who wrote about "a recent - and accidental" family history discovery she made in a family cookbook. "Not long ago, I was listening to archived episodes of your Genealogy Gems podcast where you and a guest were discussing...
Send Family Birthdays and Events Right to Your Phone
One of my favorite features on MyHeritage family websites is the family events calendar. This calendar automatically populates itself with living relatives' birthdays and wedding anniversaries. In addition to giving you a streaming calendar feed, you also get helpful...
Mr. Spock is Related to Captain Kirk?!? Celebrity Genealogy
After the passing of beloved actor Leonard Nimoy last month, MyHeritage.com took a closer look at his ancestry. Through resources on the world tree site Geni.com, MyHeritage discovered that this star of the Star Trek universe is related to another of its stars, though...
Find Old Maps Online at this Gateway Site
Next time you're trying to find old maps online, take a look at OldMapsOnline. As the site explains, "The OldMapsOnline Portal is an easy-to-use gateway to historical maps in libraries around the world." And not just a few minor libraries, but a long list of major...
We Dig These Gems: New Genealogy Records Online
Every Friday, we post highlights of fabulous new genealogy records online. Scan these weekly posts for content that may include your ancestors. Use these record types to inspire your own search for similar records elsewhere. And always check out our Google tips at the...
Video: Italian Genealogy Research Tips with Mary Tedesco
Do you have Italian ancestors? Did you recently discover Italian heritage in your DNA ethnicity results? Don't miss this exclusive interview with Mary Tedesco of Genealogy Roadshow! She's here to talk about her top tips for Italian genealogy research, as well as share...
Love Finding Old Maps Online? Help “Index” Them!
Recently I've seen two calls for volunteers to help "georeference" old maps. Basically, you're tagging the maps in a way similar to tagging photos of people on social media sites. This makes finding old maps online easier and more accurate. It also allows sites to...
WorldCat for Genealogy: 40 Million Records and Digital Gateway
The 40 millionth record has been added to WorldCat, the enormous multi-library catalog that helps people find library materials all over the world. Even cooler, that 40 millionth record was harvested to WorldCat through the WorldCat Digital Collection Gateway. This...
Google Scholar and ProQuest Team Up!
This just in! Google Scholar and ProQuest are teaming up to provide a publicly-accessible index to all of ProQuest's scholarly journal content. Google Scholar already delivers search results on your favorite genealogy keywords (names, places and records) from...
Free Scandinavian Genealogy Webinar
MyHeritage is a leading resource for Scandinavian genealogy research. Now they are offering a free webinar for those researching Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish and Icelandic ancestry. On Wednesday, April 15, Mike Mansfield, MyHeritage Director of Content and...
Interview with Christina Baker Kline: Genealogy Gems Book Club
As part of our Genealogy Gems Book Club, author Christina Baker Kline joined us on the Genealogy Gems podcast to talk about her international best-selling novel, Orphan Train. Orphan Train explores what happens when your own back story is swept out from under you, and...
NEW Evernote for Genealogy Video Series
Using Evernote for genealogy yet? I hear from people all over the world who are harnessing this free software to finally organize their family history research FOR GOOD! Evernote users can easily import online research finds--along with the URL and other important...
Female Census Enumerators? Check Out These Backstories!
There's a story behind every census record. In fact, there are as many stories as there are names on each census page. This is true not just for people being enumerated, but also for the census-takers themselves. I was reminded of this by Joanne, author of the...
BillionGraves for Genealogy: YouTube Video Interview
Using BillionGraves for genealogy research has never been easier. BillionGraves aims to document and preserve the world's cemeteries. They provide a platform for volunteers around the world (and their smartphones!) to capture headstone images and their GPS locations....