Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

It’s not too late to sign up for Amy Johnson Crow’s excellent FamilySearch workshop!

By Leave a Comment

Just a couple of weeks ago I posted about a workshop, Getting Savvy with FamilySearch, being offered by my friend, Amy Johnson Crow. The $99 workshop has four 90-minute sessions, September 14, 16, 21, and 23. All sessions start at 7 pm eastern time.

The first session was last night. It was so good that I wanted to post again to urge you to consider signing up. All four sessions will be recorded, so if you sign up today, you can watch last night’s session, which Amy posted today. The recordings are available for an unlimited amount of time.

Last night’s session was about searching historical records and collections in FamilySearch. I’ve been using the site for a long time but I picked up some tips and tricks about searching that I can’t wait to put into regular use. During the Zoom session, participants are able to practice what they’re learning with their own research. And they can ask questions in the chat that Amy answers in real time.

I’ve been a big fan of Amy’s presenting skills from the first time I heard her speak at a conference years ago. She’s a clear and thorough communicator. I always leave her talks with new, valuable knowledge.

This is a great opportunity if you feel you could be more effective in tapping into FamilySearch’s 5 billion images. Amy told me she’ll be closing registration on Thursday (tomorrow). So now’s the time to sign up, if you’re so inclined!

Amy Johnson Crow offering workshop on using FamilySearch

By Leave a Comment

I love using FamilySearch. But I almost always use it the same way. (I search the card catalog for documents based on location.)

When I heard that my friend Amy Johnson Crow was offering a four-part interactive workshop called Get Savvy Using FamilySearch, I jumped at the chance to take it. It runs September 14, 16, 21 and 23, 2021 starting at 7 pm eastern. It will be recorded for later access as well.

I’ve heard Amy speak many times at conferences and know what an genealogy expert (and expert communicator) she is. I’m pretty confident I’m missing out by not using FamilySearch more thoroughly so I my interest was piqued when I received her email. I reached out to her to make sure it wouldn’t be too beginner-focused for me and learned that it’s appropriate for all levels of genealogy researchers. (Scroll down on the sales page to the FAQ for more info on that.)

The workshop costs $99, which seems like a bargain. (Full disclosure: Amy comped my fee but I was willing to pay it!)

I’m excited to take the workshop so I wanted to let you all know about it!

Let Amy Johnson Crow help you share your research this year!

By 2 Comments

If you’re like me, you enjoy researching your ancestors and collateral relatives. But do you actually share what you’ve learned with interested people? I have to admit I’m not great at that (beyond the tidbits I share about my research on this blog). That’s why I signed up for by friend Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks program.

I’m a big fan of Amy’s and have heard her speak at many conferences (and of course I listen to her podcast) so I know she’s one smart cookie. I’m looking forward to receiving weekly prompts that will get me thinking about an ancestor and sharing something about them.

Maybe you’d like to try it too! The program is free.

If you start seeing more posts here about my ancestors, you’ll have Amy to thank!

Amy Johnson Crow’s WANDER method for genealogy

By 4 Comments

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you know I’m a fan of Amy Johnson Crow. She was one of my first How They Do It interviewees. She’s interviewed me for her podcast a couple of times. She’s one of my favorite genealogy speakers. And we like hanging out at conferences.

When I read her first blog post/podcast episode about her WANDER method, her description of the genealogy research process, I was really impressed. First of all, coming up with a viable acronym isn’t easy. And it so succinctly describes a really smart way to think about the research process.

WANDER means:

Amy creates a blog post from each episode of her podcast, so you have two ways to consume her information. You can read about it or listen to it. (These links give you access to both media.) She first described the WANDER method in this post, called The Genealogy Research Process: The WANDER Method, which provides a general overview. And then she goes in-depth into each step in subsequent posts/episodes. I’ve linked to those episodes above, in the bullet points. As of this writing, Evaluate Everything is her most recent post. I couldn’t wait for the final one before writing about it here!

I encourage you to read and/or listen to these posts/episodes for inspiration for doing some solid research. (She offers a printable method to remember the steps on the overview post!)