If you are thinking of becoming a professional genealogist, you will benefit by following these simple steps to see if you have the necessary skill, experience, and expertise to offer your services to others for pay

Most genealogists working in the US have learned what a valuable tool the US Census is. But the ins and outs of each census record are intricate. It seems like each decade something changed about the information included or the way it was recorded. This perception is quite often the case. […]

Family history is becoming a more popular pastime, especially now that the Internet has made researching your ancestry easier than ever. More than 60 percent of the U.S. Population is interested in tracing family history, according to a 2000 poll by Maritz Marketing Research Inc. This is a 15 percent increase from 1995. This number […]

I have been looking for years to find the first Irish immigrant Murphy in my family. I could trace back to my great-grandfather Edward C. Murphy of Indianapolis. My dad, now 87, thought he was born in Ireland and spoke with a brogue, but could never verify the birthplace. My research led me to believe […]

One of your goals is to perhaps collect enough information to sit down and write a family history or a biography of particularly interesting or favorite ancestors. Regular readers of this column have often seen me refer to the wonderful town of Rome, Georgia, and to my great-grandfather, Green Berry Holder. He is my favorite […]

This week I had a chance to read Karen Clifford’s new book. The full title is The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Genealogy, the Internet, and Your Genealogy Computer Program. That title insinuates a rather ambitions book: one that covers genealogy AND the Internet AND genealogy software all in one volume. I am pleased to report […]

The most FAQ’s by those who are getting started in genealogical research (family history) are, “Where do I start?”, and, “Where can I go to get help?”
If you are just starting it is very important that you do so with a blank piece of paper (or a laptop) on which you write your own full […]