The importance of digital preservation for churches, historical societies, libraries, organizations, and other entities

What happens when a flood, wind storm, blizzard, fire, or other disaster hits a place with one of a kind records. Think about your own records at home. None of these can be replaced. No one way exists to protect records. The infamous “cloud” can fail you. The place you choose for a backup of […]

The Minnesota State Fair and Minnesota Genealogical Society

Interested in genealogy? Combine that with attending the world-famous Minnesota State Fair. The Minnesota Genealogical Society is sponsoring a booth in the Education Building from August 27 – September 7, 2026. It’s in Falcon Heights, adjacent to Saint Paul. Stop and see the volunteers from MGS and its partners. Ask questions, learn about additional help, […]

2026 North Star Genealogy Conference registration opens

Do you know why it’s called the North Star conference? Time for some online sleuthing to figure out why. Registration is now open for the 2026 North Star Genealogy Conference and pre-conference, to be held October 29-31, 2026, at the Eagan Community Center in Eagan, Minnesota.,  ALL of this is included in your conference registration! […]

Southern Minnesota genealogy research? Do you know about the Dalby Database?

Indexes, transcripts, and added knowledge are great to find in our family history endeavors. In Minnesota, we have a unique collection that fits that sentence. Do you know about the Dalby Database? Many years ago I discovered this as I was working on my Faribault, Rice County, Minnesota Cooks. My Great Grandfather, John Thomas Cook, […]

Don’t miss it! 2 weeks left to register for June 22-26 virtual genealogy course!

Only 2 weeks left to register for the June 22-26 virtual “Digging Deeper: Records, Tools, & Skills” virtual blockbuster course. I lead this long running course and teach along with 4 specialists in the field of genealogy. We cover 19-21st century US records, online resources, “hidden” records, analysis, & methodology. This course can prepare you […]

JSTOR. Useful for family historians? YES!

On May 1st, I presented the topic “Insight into State Archives: ARCs, IRADs, ONAHRs, and Other Branches” for Legacy Family Tree Webinars and mentioned JSTOR. It wasn’t the focus of the presentation. I cover it in other presentations, but it wasn’t the main aim of this webinar and I received a couple questions about access.  […]

My genealogy speaking calendar is updated

My next two presentations are:  The afternoon of May 13th, I am doing a basic Family History Research session in-person here in Minnesota about 40 minutes from where I live. It is sponsored by the St. Michael-Albertville Community Education and the Crow River Senior Center. It is designed for beginners or those genealogists who need […]

Register for an intermediate level genealogy course that is Digging Deeper? Definitely.

I’ve had several questions about the course Digging Deeper: Records, Tools, and Skills that is part of the virtual week of learning via the GRIP Genealogy Institute this June 22-26. Others may need the same information. This is a rather long post, but it should help. I’ve pulled this out of some responses to emails […]