The Research Like a Pro Genealogy Podcast

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about how to research in state-level archives. Join us as we talk with Senior Archivist at the Maine Archives, Sam Howes. Sam is a genealogist who received a master's degree in Archives Management and has been working at the Maine Archives for several years. He shares exciting news about the launch of the Maine Archives online catalog. Links Maine State Ar...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about writing compelling stories from our family history. Author Annette Gendler shares her experience with writing family stories that were meaningful in her own life. She is a teacher at the StoryStudio Chicago where she has helped countless eager writers over the past several years. Tune in for many tips about writing your own short stories from family...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about pre-1850 U.S. census records. We talk about the challenges of using these census records as well as the helpful information you might find within them. We'll share examples of evidence found in pre-1850 census records and tips for searching them. Join us as we discuss this important record group! Links Diana's RootsTech 2021 classes: Problem Solve wi...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about organizing your DNA matches by adding them to your Ancestry tree. We talk about building trees for your matches within one master tree so you don't have a long list of Ancestry trees. We also go over how to add a floating or disconnected branch to your Ancestry tree to allow you to build your matches' trees and find the common ancestor. We review pri...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about Chinese Ancestry. We talk with Linda Yip, author of the website Past Presence and the new book, Getting Started in Chinese Genealogy. Linda tells about how to research Chinese ancestors in Canada or the United States. She also teaches us about Jiapu, Chinese clan genealogies and how they can stretch back 24-36 generations. We review the laws and hist...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about researching in Irish records. Jessica Morgan, AG, joins us again and shares her extensive experience researching Irish ancestors. We discuss the importance of historical context, the record scarcity in Ireland, and what is possible to find in the records that do remain. She also teaches us about Irish jurisdictions and the power of local history. Joi...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about the essential questions to ask before you start researching your Irish immigrant ancestor in Ireland. The first questions have to do with learning about an Irish ancestor's birth year range, year of immigration, friends and family, and county of origin. Finding these  details will help you know where to focus once you begin researching in Ireland. Jo...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about the Record Linking Lab (RLL) at Brigham Young University. Professor Joseph P. Price talks with us about how his background in economics and interest in his personal family history led to the creation of the RLL. By using machine learning and making connections across data, the RLL hopes to provide better family history experiences for others whether...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is a continuation of Nicole's research on Robert Daugherty and Sarah Taylor of Craven County, North Carolina and Warren County, Kentucky. In the last episode, we reviewed the objective of the project, to find the children of Robert and Sarah, the timeline, and the locality research. This episode focuses on the research plan, log, and findings and how those we...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about Nicole's research on Robert Daugherty and Sarah Taylor of Craven County, North Carolina and Warren County, Kentucky. We review the objective of the project, to find the children of Robert and Sarah, the timeline, and the locality research in Warren County, Kentucky. This was the first phase of a project to discover more about a cluster of DNA matches...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about our ancestor, Elizabeth Malissa Welch. We continue our discussion of pruning and grafting branches of our family tree by discussing the case of Malissa's parents. We had previously concluded that Meredith and Susannah Welch of Sumter County, South Carolina were her parents, but as we revisited the conclusion, we found a different set of parents that...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about revisiting previous conclusions in your family tree. Have you been carefully adding new branches –  or have you added extra ancestors based on hints and suggestions from online programs without much analysis? How about past research – is it up to current standards? If you are like us, some of the branches of your family tree might need pruning out an...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about evaluating AncestryDNA Thrulines hypotheses. If you have ever received a Thruline for a potential ancestor and weren't sure if it was worth pursuing, we will discuss a checklist of criteria that make up a reliable Thrulines. We will also talk about some red flags to watch out for then give several case studies Thrulines we have evaluated.  Links How...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about publishing a proof argument or case study in a genealogical journal. We talk about advice Nicole received from authors of DNA case studies published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ). They shared some of the benefits and challenges of submitting a DNA case study for publication including peer review, contacting people for permissi...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about the DNA Standards in the Board for Certification of Genealogist's Genealogy Standards manual. These DNA standards were added in 2019 as part of the second edition of Genealogy Standards . We discuss some applications of the DNA standards to our own work and ideas for how to meet them. Links How to Write and Publish a Proof Argument with DNA Evidence...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about writing a DNA proof argument. First we discuss three types of proofs: proof statements, proof summaries, and proof arguments. Then we talk about how to organize a proof argument that includes DNA evidence. We discuss figures and tables and how to include numerical data. Join us as we discuss how to write DNA proof arguments! Links How to Write and Pu...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about sharing your written research documents. Whether its a report, proof argument, or ancestor biography, sharing is a great way to get your research out there. We discuss how to add a few safeguards to your report in case pages of it get separated - like footnotes, copyright notices, and headers and footers. Listen in for a discussion on uploading your...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about asking permission from living individuals in your DNA reports and proof arguments to include them in your paper. We also discuss different types of sharing - private sharing and publication - and what permissions you may need to request. We talk about privatizing living individuals by removing personally identifying details, in case your message to r...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about the Southern Claims Commission. This record set was created for loyal southerners to seek redress for supplies seized by the Union Army during the Civil War. Many free people of color filed claims. Many witness and personal statements of former slave owners and the formerly enslaved are included. To access the records, use the index at Ancestry.com a...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about records created during the New Deal in the 1930s that can help research African American ancestors. This is the third part in our series on researching African Americans in federal government documents. Diana shares more record groups she learned about during her IGHR course, including the 1940 census, WPA Personnel records, CCC Enrollee Records, the...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about researching African American ancestors in United States federal records using land and military records. We discuss laws that impacted free black people and freedmen in the reconstruction era. Many records were created because of the Homestead Act of 1862 and Southern Homestead Act of 1866. We go over a brief history of African American involvement i...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about researching African American records in U.S. Federal government documents. This is part one in the series. We discuss the Freedmen's Bureau, the Freedmen's Bank, and the U.S. Federal Census. Join us as Diana shares what she learned from the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) in Deborah A. Abbott's course, "Researching African Ameri...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about identifying family photos and using family photos as a genealogical source. Learn how to use clues in the photo to figure out the date and the people in the picture. Maureen shares expert tips from her experience working with old photographs. She also shares a little about some of her photo projects, including the Last Muster project and Old Providen...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about how to write a research report after your have completed your research plan. Typically a client report is about research in progress. You discuss what was found in the amount of time that was allotted. A report for yourself can be similar. Discuss the starting objective and what was known, then go through the searches that were performed and what was...

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro is about recording your searches in a research log. We talk about the benefits of using spreadsheet over a document for a log and discuss the tools we like to use - Excel, Google Docs, Airtable. We go over an example from Diana's Nancy (Briscoe) Frazier research log for how to fill out the columns. We also discuss what to do with your research log when you ge...