Quick Tips for Genealogists

The Ancestry Daily News began publishing the “Ancestry Quick Tip” segment back in 1999. The column was a huge success. Individuals throughout the genealogy community contributed valuable advice on all types of research topics. Many readers suggested these tips would make a great book. The result of these suggestions, and the efforts of many thoughtful contributors, comes Quick Tips for Genealogists, edited by Juliana S. Smith.

Wedding Date Engraved on Ring, Trouble-Free Cemetery Labels, Is the Boarder a Family Member, Post Office Names, and Check Highway Markers for Clues are just some of the tips to be found in this book. There are over 150 tips in all, each by a different contributor. Many of the tips are ideas the provider has used or uses in their research. Some tips are told with example or story. Some, proving to be entertaining. In all cases, these tips are both interesting as well as educational. Here is one short tip, entitled Document Your Family Heirloom, contributed by Marilyn Larson:

“So that our sons will know the stories about our family ‘treasures,’ I have photographed each item and written a story about its source. the pictures and stories are kept in a three-ring binder in clear, acid-free sheet protectors. the title is ‘Where Did It Come From, Mom?’ It covers everything from pictures of my grandmother’s pump organ to dishes that belonged to my great-great-grandmother. A second set is also in our safety deposit box.”

Maybe the tips provided in this book by other research can help the reader break down their own research walls.