The In-Depth Genealogist a digital community for all genealogists

Friday, May 10 is a very special #genchat! We will be coming to you LIVE! from the 2013 NGS Family History Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada… but wait! There’s more! We are grateful to the conference planning committee and NGS for allowing us to have the ultimate social media social event! The In-Depth Genealogist and Conference Keeper will be co-hosting this #genchat from the Internet Cafe inside the conference venue, and we are incredibly excited. This means that all #genchatters attending the conference will be able to sit down face to face, utilize the complimentary internet provided by NGS, FamilySearch and Findmypast, and chat both in person and on Twitter. We hope that many of our #genchat friends will join us for this very special it-only-happens-once-a-year event. New to Twitter? New to Twitter chats? That’s ok! We would love to see you there as well. We’d love to show you how it works help you through the process and introduce you to our awesome little community. Be sure to follow @indepthgen and @confkeep for news, updates and other information surrounding #genchat. It doesn’t just end in Vegas, we’ll be chatting all year! You can find our schedule on the Conference Keeper website, and you can find fantastic resources on all of our chat topics on The In-Depth Genealogist. If you have any questions, connect with Terri O’Connell (@tracingmyfamily) or Jen Baldwin (@ancestryjourney) through the NGS 2013 conference app or on Twitter. Read More »

Genealogy enthusiasts are often amazed by the connections that they make with others who share family links.  How often have you heard people tell stories about how extraordinary it was that they should meet someone who shared an interest in their family line.  What are the chances?   Can you believe it!   Finding these links is wonderful and a part of the appeal of genealogy.  But why does this happen so frequently in the world of family history? In my view, the answer is very simple.  It is because people ask. Anyone from a smaller country or community, such as Ireland, makes such connections all the time.  If I am overseas and meet another Irish person, I can unfailingly make some connection with them by asking only a few questions.  The link may admittedly not be close.  The person may have gone to the same school, they may know my brother, work with my friend, live beside my cousin etc. etc., but it is usually the case that there are several such connections between us.  I have often met cousins in this way.    What is going on here?   It is not the case that everyone in Ireland knows each other, although social networks do seem to be wider than in some other countries.  What underlies this phenomenon is that some communities are small enough to be assured that if we investigate, we will find those connections.  Therefore we ask the questions.   The process is greatly assisted by the fact that other Irish people do not find the process of investigation in any way strange or invasive of their privacy.  Indeed, they will enter into the process of investigation with enthusiasm in the absolute expectation that we will jointly find these connections.  The degree of probability that ... Read More »

It’s nearly time! The team at The In-Depth Genealogist has been working hard to make sure we gain as much as we can from the NGS 2013 Family History Conference in Las Vegas. One of our goals is to provide you – our readers – with the best possible stay at home experience. Read More »

The team at The In-Depth Genealogist is excited to announce that we are now officially partnering with Conference Keeper as hosts of the twice-monthly genealogy chat on Twitter. If you haven't been with us on a chat before, it's a fast-paced time filled with tips, tricks, and research stories from genealogists of all ages and stages. Just as IDG strives to be a digital community for all genealogists, #genchat supports the same goal. Read More »

Genealogy bloggers, societies, writers and editors are invited to participate in the Federation of Genealogical Societies 2013 Conference by becoming FGS 2013 Ambassadors. Read More »