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No Stone Unturned

The National Library of Ireland

As if I wasn’t overwhelmed enough by just being in Ireland, entering the most beautiful library I have ever been in put me over the top. I love this place. If I didn’t have to find food eventually, I might never leave. Well, not for a long time anyway.
Doesn’t the beauty of this place say…

Crossover for Mac and Linux FREE on October 31st!

I love my Mac, but I’ve never warmed up to Reunion or Family Tree Maker for Mac, or any of the other Mac-native genealogy database software. I prefer RootsMagic, which is a Windows-based program. I know I am not alone in that regard. RootsMagic will eventually be offering a Mac version, but there’s no release date set yet. Fortunately, I can run RootsMagic on my Mac with a little bit of help from ……

Do You have a Vermont Black Sheep Ancestor?

Black sheep ancestors are often the most interesting. If your black sheep ancestor lived in nineteenth- or twentieth-century Vermont, they just got even more interesting. The Vermont State Archives and Records Administration (VSARA) recently accessioned records from the Vermont State Prison at Windsor. The prison registers begin in 1809, …

GRIP 2012: Day 5 – Genealogical Illusions

I’ve had a few days now to recover from GRIP. Attendees of genealogical institutes will know what I mean when I say that it takes a while to come down from the high of spending an intense week isolated with fellow genealogists, immersed in learning new genealogical research techniques.

On occasion I have joked that I could learn something from Tom Jones if he was reading a cereal box, and I bet it’s true. …

GRIP 2012: Day 1

Well, Tom (should I say Dr. Jones? Nah, we’re all family now.) lived up to his rock star status today. He started the day covering evidence. Now I thought I understood evidence fairly well. I felt like I research with an evidence orientation rather than an information orientation. I thought I understood the difference between primary and secondary sources, original and derivative information, and direct and indirect evidence. “Thought” is the key word there. Tom has a way of taking what you think you know and then bringing you to a whole new level. …