Books to break down your brick walls

Do you want to improve your genealogy research skills this year? Here are a few new(ish) books to help you master new techniques in the new year.

Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques by George G. Morgan
This book is all about breaking down your brick walls. The authors describe how to reexamine the evidence you have, how to use little-known resources, and how to develop research strategies to address your unique specific problems.

The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy by Blaine T. Bettinger
This is the most comprehensive guide on DNA and genealogy. Understand the basics of DNA testing and how to interpret and incorporate your DNA results into your research.

How to Use Evernote for Genealogy by Kerry Scott
Learn how to organize your research (and your life!) with this helpful note-taking app. Store, organize, and share your documents, notes, photos, and audio files with Evernote.

Organize Your Genealogy by Drew Smith
One of my favorites! This excellent guide will help you organize not just your physical and digital files but also your research process, correspondence, research trips, and your educational goals.

The Troubleshooter's Guide To Do-It-Yourself Genealogy by W. Daniel Quillen
Go beyond the basics of genealogy research. Quillen provides in-depth explanations of records and advanced research techniques.

Unofficial Guide to Ancestry.com by Nancy Hendrickson
Explore all of Ancestry's vast collections and master the best search techniques for finding your ancestors. Also discusses Ancestry Family Trees and AncestryDNA.

Unofficial Guide to FamilySearch.org by Dana McCullough
Discover the best research strategies for using FamilySearch. Learn about their offline resources, family trees, and more.

Choosing a Genealogical Software Program

Many Family Tree Maker users may be looking for new genealogy software soon. The following webinar is by the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Rhonda R. McClure discusses how to select the software that's right for you.

Family Tree Maker & Genealogy Software

Ancestry recently announced that they will be retiring Family Tree Maker. The software will be available for purchase through December 31, 2015 and Ancestry will continue to provide technical support until January 1, 2017.

Ancestry Member Trees will still be available (and you can create one even if you don't have an Ancestry subscription).

If you're looking for genealogy software, here are a few good options:

• RootsMagic
• Family Tree Builder from MyHeritage (free!)
• Ancestral Quest
• Legacy Family Tree

Also visit Family Tree Magazine's Genealogy Software Guide to help you pick out a new program. 

There's a good Genea-Musings blog post that explains what Family Tree Users should be doing now and what your future options are.

FamilySearch Apps

FamilySearch has added a new App Gallery to their website. The apps are mostly websites that help you organize or find information to add to your family tree but some such as MobileFamilyTree you can download to your portable devices.

Apps, such as Kinpoint, analyze your family tree, explain what information is missing and provide insights into what records you need to search for. Others, like HistoryLines, organize and visualize the lives of your ancestors in unique ways.

My favorite is RootsMapper which syncs with information in your FamilySearch Family Tree. RootsMapper then plots out the routes your ancestors traveled across generations. It's an easy and interactive way to visualize your family's migration.

RootsMapper

Make Sure You Have a Gedcom

GEDCOM is an acronym for GEnealogical Data COMmunication. It is a generic database format designed to let you exchange genealogical data between different genealogy software programs. GEDCOM was developed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an aid to genealogical research.

A GEDCOM file contains genealogical information about individuals, and meta data linking these records together. Most genealogy software supports importing from and/or exporting to GEDCOM format.

GEDCOM is a standard, not a program. As such, genealogy programs that are going to use the same data have to be written by the programmers to handle GEDCOM files. and both programs have to support GEDCOM. The instructions for creating or reading GEDCOM files will vary from one program to another.

According to Cyndi Howells of Cyndi's List, here is how you create a GEDCOM: "In most programs, go to "File, Export to GEDCOM" and create a new file with a ".ged" file extension after the name."

Cyndi also says "To read another person's GEDCOM file (in most programs), go to "File, Import from GEDCOM" and create a new database file that can be opened in your genealogy software program. This will not merge with your existing database file unless you indicate that you wish for the two files to be merged."

[from Cyndilist Gedcom Page]

GEDCOM files can easily be shared with others via e-mail attachment or on a disk.

You can create a GEDCOM file using the free genealogical software at FamilySearch.

Get a GEDCOM! start sharing your family history research!