I am always looking for good topics to cover for my readers here; most of you are Springfield area family history and genealogy researchers, I assume. Many are relatively new to the activity, some are much more experienced, and the rest are in between, of course. My wife had a stoke last weekend (She is recovering quite well, thank you; expect her home before the Super Bowl, as one of her therapist said), and our youngest daughter, Arrion, was visiting from Austin (taking a couple of days away from our two young grandchildren, 8 4, as well as seeing mother). She is just getting into genealogy research on her own the last couple of years, especially as a genealogy tourist, particularly in Europe. Her husband goes to Europe a couple of times a year for his work, and she has now gone with him once a year and does genealogy visits – I think it is becoming an annual thing!  The research my wife and I have done has not extended “across the pond,” yet.

As a dynamic, online savvy, lady, she suggested the most useful articles are the ones that get right to the point with a specific research suggestion that can be implemented to solve a particular problem. With that in mind, I’ve been not only making notes on some things to write, but also alert as I read the writing of others to be aware when I see something that fits that bill. Two specific ones caught my eye in the past 24 hours. One is Crista Cowan at Ancestry.com with: “Five Steps to Doing Genealogy Research Like A Pro.” The second was my friend, Terri, at ‘Finding Our Ancestors’ with: “Changes I Have Made in Analyzing my Data.” I think they go well, together.

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The Five Steps article really gets right to the point. Crista even provides the information in graphic form so you can PIN it. Of course, as with any article I bring to your attention, be sure to check out the links and the comments. They also provide great ideas and suggestions.

I am recommending Terri’s article today, as well, because the heart of her story is the use of spreadsheets in her genealogy data analysis. This is a technique many of the younger folks are probably very familiar with already in other contexts, but perhaps not here. She even offers some excellent software suggestions, if you find you can use them. For those of us not terrible fluent in spreadsheets, this may be time to ‘get with the game’ and learn how useful they are in this new context.

What do you think? I’d love to get your feedback on these two ideas to make your research more organized, more focused, and more results oriented.

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I hope you will also subscribe to my series, above or below, as well, if you have not done so already, leave a comment, and share this article with others. You might also enjoy my blogs: Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories, Dr. Bill’s Book Bazaar and The Homeplace Series.

Located in the History Department on the fourth floor of the Central Library at 3030 Poplar, the Genealogy Collection is one of the library’s most frequently used resources.

The collection’s strongest area is in microfilmed and indexed Memphis and Shelby County records. There are also United States census records for 1790-1920 on microfilm with indexes or Soundex, as well as genealogical source books, published family histories and magazines with an emphasis on 18th- and 19th-century Southern United States, especially Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas.

Assistance in using sources and equipment is available at the genealogy desk in the History Department.

Instructional workshops are held in May and October. They cover different aspects of genealogy including an introduction to family research, African-American research, using military records, United States census, immigration/ naturalization records, vital records and research on the Internet.

The History Department actively maintains and improves the genealogy collection. The library welcomes contributions of genealogical works or money to purchase new materials. Each year the department selects a special project for the genealogy collection and sets aside gifts for that purpose. Ask at the genealogy desk if you would like information on the current project.