| 1. Google your ancestors. | | | | View Film Notes for the film number, then take it |
| "Genealogy googling" requires only Internet access | | | | to an FHC after work. |
| and a few facts about your family tree. Take | | | | 8. Join a genealogical or historical society. |
| advantage of Google's ability to combine search | | | | We don's mean just your local group: Membership |
| terms and find exact phrases. Enter an ancestor's | | | | in a society for the area where you're researching |
| name in quotation marks, plus a location (as in | | | | (at the state or county level, or both), can pay |
| "sampson doyle"" hamilton ohio). Be specific about | | | | off big. Many societies have Web sites with |
| the place, you can always widen your search. Also | | | | databases and message boards that let you order |
| try using initials and nicknames, putting the last | | | | publications, ask about local cemeteries, get insider |
| name first and googling two suspected spouses' | | | | advice on circumventing that courthouse fire, and |
| names, each enclosed in quotes. | | | | see if someone can do a quick record lookup. Link |
| 2. Search inside books. | | | | to societies nationwide from the Federation of |
| Use the same search strategies as above, but | | | | Genealogical Societies' Web site, Cyndi's List or |
| this time, with Google Book Search. Not every | | | | USGenWeb's state and county pages. |
| book searchable here can be previewed in total | | | | 9. Watch, listen and learn. |
| on screen. Google "snippets" give you access to | | | | Grab headphones and munch your lunch while |
| only a few lines from a book; you may still need | | | | enhancing your genealogy IQ. On Roots Television, |
| to track down the actual title at a used bookstore | | | | you can view expert interviews, documentaries, |
| or the library. | | | | genealogy lectures, how-to videos and more at |
| 3. Check your DNA. | | | | your convenience. Also surf over to Family Tree |
| Use your lunch hour to order a test kit from a | | | | Magazine's video channel for demos, library tours |
| genetic genealogy service. Once the kit arrives, | | | | and more. Then tune in to an advice-filled podcast |
| you can swab your cheek, package your sample | | | | such as GenealogyGems, the Genealogy Guys |
| and run it down to the mailroom, and still have | | | | Podcast or our very own Family Tree Magazine |
| most of another lunch hour left. When you get | | | | Podcast. |
| the results, spend another lunch searching for | | | | 10. Make new genealogy friends. |
| matches in DNA databases. | | | | Social-networking sites such as Geni and |
| 4. Download digitized military records. | | | | FamilyHistoryLink are a hot trend in genealogy. If |
| Online genealogy sites offer key Revolutionary | | | | your Facebook page already keeps you busy, add |
| War and a growing number of Civil War records, | | | | a genealogy application such as FamilyBuilder's |
| plus selected files from other conflicts. You can | | | | Family Tree to your profile. Most genealogy sites |
| view bounty-land warrants, Civil War POW | | | | let you store and share your family trees; you |
| records, WWI and WWII draft registration cards | | | | even may be able to forgo traditional genealogy |
| and more. | | | | software. Use the networking features to |
| 5. Request a death certificate. | | | | collaborate with family members and other |
| Another task you can accomplish on a lunch hour | | | | researchers, share discoveries, post family photos |
| is ordering (and maybe downloading) a death | | | | and plan reunions. |
| certificate. Usually, getting an ancestor's death | | | | 11. Use the library. |
| record requires writing to the right government | | | | Surely you have a list of research to-dos you can |
| agency (with a fee), then waiting. First, link to the | | | | tackle a few at a time on lunch hours at a nearby |
| vital-records office in the state where your | | | | library. But you also may be able to put that |
| ancestor died. Verify that deaths were recorded | | | | library card to work remotely: Many library |
| at the time and follow the instructions for making | | | | systems let users access databases from home |
| a request (you may have to contact the state | | | | (or the office) simply by typing in a valid card |
| archives or a county vital-records office). | | | | number. |
| But maybe your ancestor's record is online. | | | | 12. Update your family tree. |
| Missouri, for example, catalogs deaths from 1910 | | | | Web sites such as Ages-Online, Ancestry Member |
| to 1957 with links to certificate images. Arizona | | | | Trees, Family Pursuit and Shared Tree let you |
| offers a database of deaths (1844 to 1957) with | | | | dispense with boxed genealogy software and build |
| PDFs of the certificates. Several states, such as | | | | your tree online. Besides securing your pedigree |
| Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio, have online death | | | | files in the event of a computer crash, storing |
| indexes, as does Chicago's Cook County. | | | | your family tree remotely means you can access |
| 6. Interview a relative. | | | | your information from anywhere. |
| Lunch hour is perfect for a local family call, or to | | | | 13. Back up your family tree files. |
| make an appointment for a longer call or a visit. | | | | If you brought your digital data to the office, |
| Your conversation with Aunt Ethel might just turn | | | | lunch hour provides the perfect time to back up |
| to her favorite family stories. You even could | | | | your hard work. An external hard drive can be |
| have some questions prepared. | | | | had for $100 or so. Just plug it in to the USB port |
| 7. Order records on microfilm. | | | | on your computer and drag over your files. |
| If your office is close to a Family History Center, | | | | Another option is making online backups. Free |
| you've got time to zip over and order microfilmed | | | | services offering modest amounts of |
| records (about $5.50 per roll) from the Family | | | | Web-accessible storage space have proliferated |
| History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City. If it's too | | | | fast; some better-known ones include 4Shared, |
| far, use your noon break to plan your next | | | | Dropboks and Openomy. |
| microfilm foray by searching the FHL's online | | | | 14. Read a blog. |
| catalog. I like to start by clicking the Place search | | | | Lunch is a perfect time to catch up on the news, |
| and entering a place name to see available | | | | links and chatter in your favorite genealogy blogs, |
| records. When you find something useful, click | | | | such as Family Tree Magazine's Blog. |