Genealogy In Action Blog

Learn about various record types, methods and strategies, references and resources, and tools and technology to help you grow your genealogy skills. Articles also include a take-action prompt so you can immediately put into practice what you learned.

Unearth Genealogy Treasures With PERSI: Part 2 references & resources tools & technology Feb 02, 2022

Welcome to Part 2 of this 3-part series about the PERiodical Source Index (or PERSI for short). If you read (or watched) Part 1, you already learned that PERSI is a subject index to all sorts of goodies in genealogical and historical society periodicals. I shared seven different types of articles that you could find that can help you with your research, whether it’s an article about an ancestral line or a how-to article on using a particular research method. In this part, I’ll...

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Unearth Genealogy Treasures With PERSI: Part 1 references & resources tools & technology Jan 26, 2022

Genealogical and historical society periodicals can provide a wealth of information pertinent to your research, from short family history articles to instructional articles, to transcriptions and abstracts of records. But, if you’re like me you can’t afford to be a member of all the societies tied to the places your ancestors lived. And, what about all those back issues that could hold must-see treasures? There has to be a way to find these wonderful gems, right? Why, yes there...

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Find the Family Church Using WPA Inventories methods & strategies records references & resources Sep 22, 2021

Figuring out which church a family attended can be a challenge, especially when there are no city directories to consult or county histories fall short on detailing churches. So where can you turn?

The Works Project Administration's Historical Records Survey located and cataloged church records. The resulting inventories, many of which were published in the 1930s and 1940s, can help you figure out which churches were in a particular area at a particular time, so you can identify potential...

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FamilySearch Wiki: Your On-Call Research Assistant references & resources tools & technology Jun 30, 2021

When it comes to genealogy, finding records can be a challenge, which often leads to brick walls. Well my friend, if you’re in this boat, this is for you!

The biggest question we try to answer is: Does a record exist for the time and place of interest, and where on earth is it?

So, how can you go about finding records, both those you’re familiar with and those you’re not?

The FamilySearch Wiki is a great online tool. Consider it your on-call research assistant. You can head...

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Don't Overlook Academic Libraries methods & strategies references & resources Jun 16, 2021

Academic libraries are probably one of the most overlooked repositories when it comes to genealogy research. But the universities and colleges in the states in which your ancestors lived should definitely be on your list of places to look. These libraries usually contain special collections or archives related to the history of the state or region, as well as the areas surrounding the campus. Even better, many universities are digitizing their archival collections and making them available...

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