New Information Available

I recently visited the South Carolina History Room at the Charleston Country Library's downtown location.  I collected a variety of brochures I thought our D.I.R.T. members might find useful.

Please go to the "Resources" tab above and scroll down and you will find a new section entitled "Charleston County Library Resources".  The documents are listed under that heading. All the documents are in PDF format and can be downloaded to your computer or printed.

Which Genealogy DNA Test Is The Best?

For those of you who are still trying to decide on a DNA testing service - Family History Daily recently posted an article entitled, Which DNA Test Is The Best? A Detailed Comparison Guide To Help You Decide that you might want to take a look at.

DIRT Meeting 18 Jan 2018 - FamilySearch.org

We had a lively evening discussing FamilySearch.org, showing a demonstration of the site, each member exploring on their own and answering questions.

Here is a presentation that covers the information used for the meeting:
FamilySearch.org agenda 18Jan2017

I also showed two videos that I got from the FamilySearch.org help section - click on title below
Family Search search tips
How to find your ancestors in Family tree

At our next evening session on February 1 from 7:00 - 9:00 PM at the Lakehouse we will be discussing Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker.

Come join us.

How To Get Started Using DNA For Family History

Guess what, I got a 23andMe DNA test kit for Christmas.  I haven't collected my sample and sent it in yet but I am planning on doing that this week.  Also, I plan on posting the kit contents, directions complete with photos, and my observations for y'all to follow.  Should be fun.

In the meantime, if you haven't done a family history DNA test, or are thinking of doing another one, Lisa Louise Cooke recently published a post entitled How To Get Started Using DNA For Family History which I recommend you take a look at.

It includes a video of her interview with Diahan Southard (from RootsTech 2015) as well as a great outline of the DNA basics.  You also might want to consider adding Lisa's blog, Genealogy Gems to the list of genealogy blogs you follow.  Genealogy Gems is chock full of goodies, including Lisa's well-followed podcast.

Stay tuned for more DNA info and I hope you will check out Genealogy Gems.

Genealogy Charts

Many thanks to Milt and Linda for bringing a fantastic resource to our attention.  If you are looking for some very good genealogy charts (free and paid), you can find them at the Misbach Enterprises website.  You will also find a link to this site under the "Research Project" and "Resources" tabs above with the title "Genealogy Charts (Misbach Enterprises)".

New Year - New Genealogy Goals

I have often written about Lynn Palmero and her genealogy blog The Armchair Genealogist. Today I am going to pass along a few suggestions from Lynn about How To Implement Your New Genealogy Goals.

The new year is a wonderful time to reevaluate your genealogy project and come up with a plan for getting stuff done!  Hope you will visit Lynn's blog and take a look at her suggestions.

Tips From The Armchair Genealogist

Lynn, Palmero has a blog entitled The Armchair Genealogist. I have been following Lynn and her blog, as well as taking courses and purchasing workbooks through her The Family History Writing Studio for years.  She is one of the first genealogy bloggers I found and one I am still very loyal to.

She recently posted an article entitled 8 Tips To Being a More Productive Genealogist in 2017. Which is well worth reading.  In it she describes, in more detail, her suggested eight steps:

1. Push your comfort zone
2. Learn first
3. Ask for advice
4. Don't lose site of the big picture
5. Don't multi-task
6. Accept the unanswerable
7. Don't let mistakes hold you back
8. Ditch the negative people

I would add to that list finding a genealogy group that can help you with some of those items.

I hope you will go to her blog and read her recent post. I think you will find she has outlined a good way to get your research off to a fabulous start in 2017.