Building a Research Toolbox

Are you sitting on a pile of old family photographs and wondering what is the best way to preserve them? What about boxes of family vacation slides, photo negatives or home movies? As more and more Baby Boomers take on the task of organizing family history materials, we’re uncertain about…

While artificial intelligence won’t help you find specific records for genealogical research, AI can summarize the record sets you should consult for your search. Learn how to construct effective prompts and queries to return the best information on a record set.

Artificial intelligence can assist in constructing a summary of a document or genealogy record. AI can generate summary text in various formats that you can then add to your research.

While you won’t be able to find genealogy-related records using artificial intelligence, you will be able to use AI to learn more about an ancestor’s “social history.” Social history details how an ancestor lived including where they lived, their occupation, the cost of goods and services, and why they may have migrated to or from a location. Social history “fills in the dash” between an ancestor’s birth date and death date.

While artificial intelligence can effectively translate genealogy documents and records from one language to another, learn how to construct effective prompts, and the pitfalls of using AI for translation.

Artificial intelligence is an amazing resource to help transcribe genealogy documents and records, even those with handwriting! Learn which digital file formats and prompts work best for the best results.

You may have heard family stories about a relative who was “different” or perhaps you’ve discovered someone who simply “disappeared.” Have you considered the possibility that you could have a gay or lesbian relative in your family tree? LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgendered) people can be found when researching genealogy, but the search syntax, keywords and strategies are very different. By understanding the basics of “gay history” as well as how LGBT folk lived, worked and socialized, you’ll not only locate these relatives, but realize the importance of preserving their stories.

While AI (artificial intelligence) might be the current “hot” buzz word, the fact is that many genealogy vendors and even genealogists have already been using this technology for years. The AI industry is at a cross-roads and within the next five years, it will permeate almost every aspect of business and society. Learn how AI is currently being used to improve the genealogy experience, and whether or not you should seek out other uses of artificial intelligence for your own genealogy research.

More and more genealogy apps and websites, like MyHeritage, 23andMe, and Ancestry, are moving to Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) to prevent account hacking and secure user privacy. Some sites like 23andMe and MyHeritage utilize the Google Authenticator App in order to manage your 2FA account and generate the 6-digit code to gain access to your account. You’ll learn how the Two Factor Authentication concept works and see how you can enable it on your accounts to protect your privacy and data.