Twitter hash tags for genealogists Ever wonder why people use "#" in their tweets on Twitter? Do you want to know what a specific hash tag like #surnames or #brickwall means? Learn how to use hash tags and then leverage their power through searching and analytics.

Surname variations – a valuable tool for genealogists Ever been stumped or hit a brick wall with your genealogy research? Have you thought of using variations on a surname in your research? And what if the surname is foreign - do you just guess at variations? Guess no more - Surname Suggestion List to the rescue. This free download takes your surname and generates a list of variations!

Surname variations – a valuable tool for genealogists Ever been stumped or hit a brick wall with your genealogy research? Have you thought of using variations on a surname in your research? And what if the surname is foreign - do you just guess at variations? Guess no more - Surname Suggestion List to the rescue. This free download takes your surname and generates a list of variations!

Using Google Alerts for genealogy research If you are constantly searching for the same items in Google while working on your genealogy research, learn how to set up automated Google Alerts to notify you of new pages which match your search criteria. This is great for finding new information on your surnames or other research projects.

Using Google Alerts for genealogy research If you are constantly searching for the same items in Google while working on your genealogy research, learn how to set up automated Google Alerts to notify you of new pages which match your search criteria. This is great for finding new information on your surnames or other research projects.

Your names – meanings of given names and surnames In honor of of Celebrate Your Name Week, here are some websites you can use to learn the meaning of given names and surnames, look at demographic data for surname distribution in the US, understand popular nicknames of the 18th and 19th century and more.

Genealogy and DNA – my results follow-up to my previous post about using a DNA testing kit to augment my genealogy research. I've found out that my ancestors are in Haplogroup R which originated from Central Asia 30,000 years ago and migrated to Western Europe. This makes sense since I've been able to trace my roots to England, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands.

Who to follow on Twitter and how to be followed If you're new to Twitter you realize the goal is not just to attract followers but to attract quality followers. How do you do this? Well it all starts be following others! And here are some Twitter directories you can use to located other tweeps who share your same interests.