Julie Miller, CG, CGL

Every document that is used during genealogical research must be thoroughly and accurately analyzed. Abstracting is a fundamental part of this research and analyzing process. Yet many genealogists are not confident in their ability to perform this task effectively and efficiently. This causes researchers to avoid the abstracting process resulting in research errors. An abstract is a summary of all the important details in a document. This presentation will examine the abstracting process by using examples that show how to abstract a variety of documents, general guidelines for abstracting, what to include and what to eliminate when creating an abstract, and lastly will explore some problems that might be encountered while abstracting.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) website has a wealth of resources that can be used for genealogical research. Information about records located at NARA in Washington, DC, and the NARA regional branches is online and waiting for you to discover them. Some of the actual records are even…

Have you ever wondered why your ancestor decided to emigrate, how they got there, or how they knew where to go? The answers to these questions could have come from an emigrant guide. Emigrant guides contain instructions and advice for those interested or planning to emigrate. They are useful for...

What will happen to your digital assets after you are gone? It is the responsibility of each one of us to take control of our own digital afterlife by identifying our digital assets and then planning what will happen to them once we are gone.