This book aims to help genealogists at every level learn to trace descendants of ancestors, both direct line and collateral. With step-by-step guidance, methodologies, and practical examples, this guide will give you the tools and confidence to find and make meaningful connections with living family members. In fact, finding living relatives isn’t all that different from tracing your direct-line ancestors and their families. The same skills apply—researching, organizing information, and following clues—but with a focus on connecting the past to the present. This process, known as reverse genealogy, involves creating a detailed family tree, identifying relatives down both ancestral and collateral lines, and using modern tools to track them down.

Cheri Hudson Passey is a professional genealogist, instructor, writer, speaker, and owner of Carolina Girl Genealogy, LLC. She hosts the “GenFriends Genealogy Chat Show on YouTube, where she and a panel of professional genealogists meet weekly to discuss all things genealogy. Cheri began working as a genealogist researcher subcontracted by Eagle Investigative Services, Inc., for the US Army Past Conflict Reparations Branch in 2018. She uses her skills to identify and locate the next of kin, along with YDNA and mtDNA candidates for the families of World War II soldiers who are listed as missing in action. The goal is to use DNA to positively identify remains and, with the permission of next of kin, bring our war heroes home.

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Mr. MacEntee starts with general information about AI and gradually drills down to its application to genealogy. First, comes a discussion of different AI platforms, such as ChatGPT, which is capable of producing human-like text based on mere fragments of information. AI capabilities can also significantly enhance genealogical research by providing detailed and accurate family histories, streamlining the research processes, and improving the overall family history experience. Here are just a few AI applications for genealogy currently in use:

• Automated Record Matching: AI algorithms quickly analyze large volumes of historical records, identifying matches and connections that might be missed by human researchers.
• Optical Character Recognition (OCR): AI-powered OCR converts scanned documents, such as old handwritten records, into searchable and editable text, making historical data more accessible.
• DNA Analysis: AI analyzes DNA test results, identifies genetic matches, and infers ancestral origins.
• Recommendation Systems: AI suggests potential relatives, documents, or records based on user data and search history, making the research process more intuitive.

The balance of this guide discusses some of the cautionary issues associated with AI. Among them are matters of fair use, and proper source citation. The author then cites a number of pros and cons. On the positive side, AI can establish family connections far faster than humans, whether by translating, transcribing, analyzing, or assimilating it. Conversely, users of AI will may find it difficult to determine the source of AI-driven data, contend with bias, risk copyright infringement, violate other persons’ privacy, and fail to detect false information.

It concludes with a glossary of technical terms users will encounter when using this brave new technology.

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However, all records are not created equal, and history is not just a collection of “facts.” Critical analysis is essential, and since 2007 Evidence Explained has been the definitive, go-to guide for those who explore history and seek help with understanding, analyzing, and citing the materials they use. Evidence Explained has two principal uses: it provides citation models for historical sources—especially materials not covered in standard citation guides such as The Chicago Manual of Style. Beyond that, it enables researchers to understand the nature of each source so that evidence they cite can be better interpreted and the accuracy of their conclusions properly appraised.

In the six years since the last edition was published, changes at major repositories and online information providers–as well as the ever-evolving electronic world–have generated new citation and analysis challenges for researchers. As a consequence, Mrs. Mills has once again updated her citation models and added descriptions and evaluations of numerous contemporary materials not included in the Third Edition Revised.

Evidence Explained’s new fourth edition significantly reexamines historical resources and simplifies long-standing practices. Highlights of the Fourth Edition include:

• Updated Chapters One and Two (“Fundamentals of Analysis” and “Fundamentals of Citation”), continue to lay the foundations for successful research.
• An entirely new Chapter Three, “Building a Citation,” provides a tutorial for the construction of citations. Here, you learn to work with seven basic building blocks that can be mixed and matched to create a citation for any kind of source.
• Chapter Three’s 14 streamlined templates replace the previous 170 QuickChek Models, assembling the basic building blocks as needed to create citations for every type of material—whether accessed as an unpublished manuscript, print publication, database, or online image delivered at a specific URL or through a complex path and its waypoints.
• All examples in the twelve “Records” chapters (Chapters Four through Fifteen) are keyed to the specific templates that work best for each source or situation.
• Hundreds of new citation examples emphasize modern modes of access, particularly the layered citations that modern media require.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY . . .

“This book is a necessary work for every researcher’s  bookshelf or desktop, or reference book computer file folder.  I used the digital version of the First Edition for seven years, and the Third Edition for 9 years, and can’t do without them.”—Randy Seaver, “Genea-Musings,” 02/18/2024

“Since the first edition was published in 2007, this has been the gold standard for understanding and citing genealogical sources.  Actually, it’s the platinum standard because of the clear, robust explanations about the wide variety of resources we use to research and document our ancestry. Mills well goes beyond how to cite specific sources–she delves deep into source quality and what that means for the credibility of evidence and, ultimately, the credibility of our conclusions.—Marian Wood, “Climbing My Family Tree,” 02/25/2024

“Elizabeth Shown Mills spent almost a year working on Evidence Explained, Fourth Edition; she has done a fabulous job! I really like this “slimmed down” version of the best guide out there that teaches us how to correctly record all the necessary details to build accurate citations for our genealogical research. . . . The Fourth Edition, with Chapter 3 leading the way, makes the process of creating source citations seem much more manageable.”—Linda Stufflebean, “Empty Branches on the Family Tree,” 02/24/2024

“The definitive guide for how to cite every conceivable kind of source a historian might use, from traditional archival materials to digital media to the most arcane sources imaginable.”–John B. Boles, William P. Hobby Professor of History, Rice University

“Evidence Explained has a fantastic opening section that really changed my perspective on ‘evidence.’ The citation formats are handy but honestly, it’s the commentary from ESM that made me want to buy myself a personal copy sooner rather than later.”–Kim Phillips-Sasso, Clarksville-Habersham County [Georgia] Library, as quoted on Goodreads

“Historians will welcome the publication of this detailed guide to citations. Even avid users of The Chicago Manual of Style regularly encounter sources for which that handbook gives no guidance. Now we can turn to Elizabeth Shown Mills’s comprehensive work.”–Journal of Southern History

“This is an essential resource for family historians; highly recommended for all libraries.”–Library Journal (First edition: Library Journal Best Reference 2007)

“I purchased two copies of this book, one to mark and one to keep in “great” condition. I am underlining, circling, adding sticky notes and such to assist in assimilating what Mrs. Mills has put forth in this definitive work.”—Dear Myrtle

“A staple for any genealogy library. It should be one of the top ten books in any genealogist’s collection.”—Deborah Sweeney, as quoted on Goodreads

“Meant not only as a style guide for the types of source citations used by historians and genealogists, this book also discusses why analysis of information within the total context of a source is imperative to understanding the nature of a fact. Citations not only tell where the source was found, but also can indicate a level of confidence to knowledgeable researchers.”–Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly

** Library Journal’s Best Reference 2007 **
** Winner of the National Genealogical Society’s 2008 Award of Excellence**

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What is Evernote? It is a free online service designed to capture and store nearly all kinds of digital information, including typed notes, handwritten notes, audio files, photos, documents, web pages, and e-mail. Synchronized across all your devices, including tablet, smartphone or smartwatch, it organizes everything from notes and files to blogs and Internet articles. You can type notes using your device’s keyboard; create handwritten notes on a mobile device that supports a stylus; record an audio note using your device’s microphone; create a note from a photo taken with your tablet’s or smartphone’s built-in camera or with a desktop/laptop webcam, or from a photo that was taken earlier; create a note by capturing all or part of a web page in your browser; or make a note that originated as an e-mail you wrote or was sent to you.In this clearly written guide Drew Smith shows you how to do all this and more, including how to share information with family members and how to publish individual notes on social media sites. While nearly all genealogists use a database program or an online family tree, Evernote provides a unique way to capture, organize, and search all kinds of supporting information.

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Specifically, you’ll find chapters devoted to the following social networking services:

• Blogs
• Collaborative editing
• Genealogy-specific social networks
• General social networking (Facebook)
• Message boards & mailing lists
• Photos & video sharing
• Podcasts
• RSS feeds
• Sharing personal libraries
• Tags
• Virtual worlds
• Wikis

Destined to become a classic, this book is about the type of social networking that has been made possible by the development of international computer networks, the availability of network access to most homes (especially broadband access), the creation of websites dedicated to particular kinds of networking (posting photos, viewing and commenting on videos, seeing what books friends have in their libraries, etc.), and the ease of participating in these sites without having to be a computer expert. More to the point, this book is intended to identify those kinds of social networking sites and services that will be of the most interest to genealogists.

THE AUTHOR
Drew Smith, MLS, is an academic librarian with the University of South Florida in Tampa. An expert in digital genealogy, with a lifelong interest in family history research, he is Director of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and President of the Florida Genealogical Society of Tampa. He is also a regular contributor to Digital Genealogist magazine and is co-host of the weekly Genealogy Guys Podcast.

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It begins with a How to Start section outlining a unique seven-step system for gathering facts essential for any genealogical project: interviewing family members, contacting relatives, writing for death records, following up on
death records, census searching, name searching, and Family History Library Searching—the building blocks of genealogical research.

A Where to Find More section follows, giving the websites of the most important genealogy look-up sites, lineage-linked sites, genealogical software/GEDCOM sites, and a list of the various branches of the National Archives and their web addresses.

Next there is a comprehensive listing of Genealogy Resource Centers in the States, giving the websites of the most important genealogical collections in libraries, archives, and genealogical societies for all states, followed by a Research Help for the Addicted section, with a listing of research firms, genealogy magazines and newsletters, and the most important genealogy reference books.

At the back of the book are Master Forms used to keep track of the information gathered, including a Family Group Sheet, a Pedigree Chart, and a Family Data Sheet, all designed for making photocopies as needed.

In a world running on information overload, it’s a relief to find all the right stuff in just a handful of pages!

William Dollarhide is the author of over ten books on genealogy and the editor of the popular magazine Genealogy Bulletin. His new book Getting Started in Genealogy ONLINE is a thoroughly revised and updated version of an earlier book called Genealogy Starter Kit.

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With our growing reliance on electronic databases, computer programs, and Internet resources, genealogical research, for all practical purposes, will never be the same. And yet in many respects it will be the same, for the principles of sound genealogical research are immutable, and this book shows how to combine traditional research methods in the National Archives, the LDS Family History Library, and other major resource centers with today’s technology; how to conduct research in courthouse records, censuses, and vital records using techniques unheard of just a decade ago. It shows you how to get started in your family history research; how to organize your family papers; how to enter information into a genealogy computer program so that you can easily manage, store, and retrieve your data; how to analyze the data and place it in various tables, charts, and forms; and how to put together a family history notebook–all the while using conventional records sources with a modern search and retrieval system.

Furthermore, the book contains guidelines for using public libraries, courthouses, and archives. It also explains how to use LDS Family History Centers and the Regional Records Services Facilities of the National Archives, and it provides a step-by-step guide for using the records in each facility, including background information showing how to obtain vital, probate, military, immigration, and census records–all carefully coordinated with the ever-present backdrop of computers and the Internet.

This edition contains references to current URLs and databases, discusses new genealogy software options, describes the latest procedures at FamilySearch, and includes a revision of the census chapter to reflect the release of the 1930 census.

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Published in the form of a laminated folder, the QuickSheet contains a series of sample citations showing the correct way to identify online sources such as databases, census images, and digital books and articles.

Based on the premise that online sources are publications that have the same characteristics as printed publications, it provides rules and models for common record types such as passenger lists, vital records, and newspapers. Since a website is the online equivalent of a book, the QuickSheet shows you how to cite author/creator/owner of a website, title of the website, place (URL), date posted, and so forth.

Convenient for desktop use at home or in the library, the QuickSheet answers all those niggling questions left unanswered by the standard citation guides.

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