It's easy! I promise. If you enjoy the steady stream of free records added weekly to FamilySearch.org (over 11.5 million International records and 2 million U.S. records were added just last week), please consider "giving back" by contributing a little time online as a FamilySearch Indexing volunteer. You can do as little or as much as you would like - at any time of the day or night (and yes, while in your comfy pajamas!).

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A lot of you who missed the inaugural RootsTech 2011 conference in Salt Lake City last month have been asking me about the availability of online video presentations. Well, I'm happy to say that the keynote addresses (which were streamed live during the conference) and a few other popular presentations can now be viewed online for free at RootsTech.org. The conference which still has the genealogy community buzzing, had over 3,000 in-person attendees and another 4,500 attending remotely over the Internet. In-person attendees hailed from 42 states and 15 countries, according to a ...

Have you ever heard the story that your family's name was changed at Ellis Island? The United States' most famous port of immigration is also, unfortunately, the source of one of the many popular myths of genealogy - one that is still perpetuated with regularity in the media. In actuality, inspection agents and Ellis Island rarely changed immigrants' names. That's not to say that mistakes weren't made, but there is no known documented case of a name change occurring at Ellis Island, according to Marion Smith, senior historian for the immigration service.

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Unlike Union pensions in the National Archives, Confederate pension records were issued by the states in which the veteran lived at the time of his application. Some states only offered pensions to maimed (lost a limb), wounded or indigent soldiers, while others eventually extended pension rights to veterans' widows as well. Some states

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Where to Find Confederate Pension Records originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 at 09:20:30.

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Genealogist Debra Farina made an interesting statement about genealogy in an article by Elise G. McIntosh in today's Staten Island Advance. "It's like riding a horse," she said. "Everyone wants to get on and go for a ride, but half of them get off frightened to death." She's got it right, too. There's a bit of a disconnect sometimes between long-time, well-skilled researchers and genealogy "newbies." I've personally invested quite a bit of time this past year taking classes, reading books,  and attending conferences and workshops in an effort to improve my standards, methodology and ...

Just before closing time on March 25, 1911, fire broke out in the top floors of the Triangle shirtwaist factory in New York City. By the time the fire was extinguished, 146 of the 500 workers were unaccounted for and presumed dead, marking one of the deadliest industrial disasters in U.S. history. Many of the 146 victims were young women, some as young as 15 - most of them recent Italian and European Jewish immigrants working for a better life in America. With very little left to distinguish many of the fire victims, some were never identified. Eight unidentified victims (interments ...

Brewster Kahle, digital librarian and founder of the Internet Archive, is not overly interested in his own personal family history. He does have relatives who have researched his past, and he knows that he descends from Mayflower pilgrim, William Brewster. Beyond that, he really doesn't feel the need to know more. Instead, his personal passion is to help make the world's knowledge freely available to all. That's why he took time out to appear as a featured speaker at the recent RootsTech conference in Salt Lake City, and also to sit down and talk with me about the ...

As Dick Eastman so aptly said, the 2011 RootsTech conference was a rock concert! Over 3,000 family history enthusiasts were in attendance and the excitement was absolutely infectious. New technologies, new ideas, new presentersjust wow!

The three day conference was a whirlwind of activity, so much so that I didn't even have time to make it around half of the wonderful RootsTech Expo Hall. I do, however, want to share a few of the new technologies and products that I learned about while in attendance. Things I found cool

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I was thrilled to discover this week that my newest book, the Everything Guide to Online Genealogy, 2nd Edition, by Adams Media, is now available for sale on Amazon.com. It's an updated version of the original book that I wrote in 2008, with many new sites and databases, plus the most current information I was able to include on the seemingly ever-changing FamilySearch.org. The site is geared primarily to beginner and intermediate genealogists, with a foundation in both genealogical research and methodology, as well as online research - although I have heard from a few long-time ...

The inaugural RootsTech Family History and Technology Conference going on now in Salt Lake City, Utah, is an experiment of sorts. The hope is that bringing together technology creators and genealogists who love technology will create a synergy of sorts - with lots of new ideas resulting from the mix. There are a lot of new presentations and new ideas being tried here - nothing like you would usually see at a genealogy conference. They may not all succeed, but you don't achieve innovation without risk. For more on the RootsTech Conference, especially the cool offerings in the Expo Hall, ...

I'm really looking forward to the kickoff of the RootsTech family history and technology conference in Salt Lake City tomorrow, although after a 13-hour research day at the Family History Library today, I'm not sure I'll be at my best. I know, however, that many of you aren't as lucky as I am to be able to attend in person, so I thought you might be interested to know that a sampling of the presentations each day will be broadcast live over the Internet for free. 

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Experience ...

While the 1911 census returns for England and Wales were made public in 1909, Scottish legislation exempts personal Census records from disclosure until after a 100 year closure period. Those 100 years are finally almost over, and the Registrar General for Scotland officially announced this week that the 1911 Scottish census records will be released on April 5, 2011.

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Vanessa Williams, like many of us, remembers the profound effect the television mini-series "Roots" had on her and her family. Her father, a teacher, used the show as an opportunity to share with the family their own family history - at least what was known at the time. Tonight, Vanessa gets to experience her own version of "Roots" - as the U.S. version of the popular BBC hit show "Who Do You Think You Are?" opens its second season on NBC.

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Some day I'm going to make it to the beautiful land of Australia. No Australian ancestors in my family tree, but I really enjoy it when my client research leads me to Australia. Enjoy these online databases and resources for New South Wales, and please let me know about your favorites!

I love getting out and meeting fellow genealogists at conferences and Institutes, because that's where I get the best info on new technology tools, such as a cool new App I don't yet have for my iPad, or the Scrivener writing software I'm now playing with for my research and report writing. So, I'm especially psyched to have the opportunity to head out to Salt Lake City next month for the brand-new RootsTech conference. The schedule of presentations and hands-on workshops is available online and definitely worth browsing. Some of the many classes and workshops that interest me ...