Blog
Getting Started with ChatGPT
By now you have probably heard about OpenAI’s systen, ChatGPT. You can use the Preview Preview for free with an account. ChatGPT has a number of ways it can support the genealogical community, covered in Artificial Intelligence and Genealogy. It can also support your personal genealogical efforts, covered in other posts. NOTE: DO NOT ENTER PRIVATE OR SENSITIVE DATA INTO ChatGPT. Your data is used for training, and is reviewed by OpenAI to verify that content complies with their policies and safety requirements. They may be used...
read moreArtificial Intelligence and Genealogy
By now, you have probably heard about ChatGPT. This blog post will discuss how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used in Genealogy with the help of ChatGPT. In other posts I will cover how to use ChatGPT and some other AI tools that can help you in the pursuit of genealogy. Genealogy is the study of family history and ancestry, and it has become increasingly popular in recent years. With the advancement of technology, researchers have been able to access more information about their ancestors, making the process of genealogy more...
read moreBook Review: “Generation by Generation”
With a wealth of knowledge and experience in researching, lecturing, and teaching others, Drew Smith has now turned his efforts to create a book for those who are beginning their genealogical research in the United States. “Generation by Generation: A Modern Approach to the Basics of Genealogy” is a concise way for new genealogists to benefit from Mr. Smith’s wisdom as well as enjoy his warm and approachable manner. He makes good use of analogies and examples so that the content is manageable by even the most novice...
read moreCultural Anthropology and Genealogy
Cultural Anthropology Last semester I took a third course in anthropology. After taking courses in Archaeology and Biological Anthropology, the next for me to tackle was Cultural Anthropology. (Our local community college does not offer a course in the fourth area of anthropology, linguistic anthropology.) Due to the nature of the subject material, this class was the least rooted in hard science. Cultural Anthropology studies how a society organizes itself. This is done through its beliefs, and how people live, think, create and find...
read moreInterview with Mark Hildebrand about the Annapolis Past Port Wiki
Recently we had a chance to speak with Mark Hildebrand, the Executive Director of Make Your Mark Media, Inc., in Annapolis, MD, to discuss a remarkable collaborative project that captures the memories and history of community members. In this interview you can learn about a creative and engaging approach to capturing history and how you can participate in this project. What is the Annapolis Past Port Wiki? Basically, Annapolis Past Port is a history wiki for stories and history in and around Annapolis, Maryland. It is free and...
read moreNOW AVAILABLE: Our New Research WWI Guide
Our newest book is NOW AVAILABLE! Researching U.S. WWI Military Members, Military Organizations and Overseas Noncombatants: A Research Guide for Historians and Genealogists Have you been wanting to do research about the military and supporting organizations in World War I? With these 30 chapters, this book shows how you can learn about the service of a U.S. World War I military member, WWI military organizations and about noncombatants who went overseas. Based on feedback for the popular “Researching Your U.S. WWI...
read moreBook Review: “United States Army Depot Brigades in World War I”
There are two groups of readers who should investigate this book: those with an interest in soldiers who stayed stateside during the Great War and those interested in soldiers who served overseas. All Army soldiers had been part of the system of Depot Brigades in the United States at some time in their military careers. Some soldiers might also have gained experience in the other stateside military organizations discussed in this book. The authors begin with a discussion about the National Army and the National Guard training sites,...
read moreU.S. Merchant Marine in WWI and SMS Wolf
During my lectures about WWI research, there is usually some with a question about researching members of the Merchant Marine. While I revised and expanded my book about researching WWI ancestors, I definitely wanted to include information about the U.S. Merchant Marine. It can be difficult to research the Merchant Marine in WWI, so I spent some time looking for both obvious and less obvious sources to learn about and understand their experiences. In this post, I will demonstrate the use of a less obvious source: contemporary accounts....
read moreUsing WWI Morning Reports on Fold3
Those who have seen my lectures, read my books or visited my WWI Facebook pages know that Morning Reports have proven to be one of my favorite resources for researching an individual who served in the Army in WWI. The 1,748 reels of 35mm microfilm containing the Morning Reports for 1912-19 have been digitized and are now available on Fold3. There reports are created by a company or detachment and contain the important details of the daily status of in the life of an Army company: where and how they traveled; names of those who joined...
read moreBook Review: “History for Genealogists”
When I envision a commercial for this book, it would have to be a full infomercial rather than a short spot between segments of a favorite program. Timelines are well known tools for genealogy, and are my go-to tool for unraveling mysteries. This book contains historical timelines and so much more. Ms. Jacobson gives context to the timelines, which in turn add context to the genealogical research of individuals and families. Using history in our genealogy is that extra step to bring our research to a higher level by understanding...
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