Tools to Help With Your Research

Many of you are probably already subscribed to Paul Chiddicks and are enjoying the weekly The Chiddicks Observer. But in case you missed it, in Paul’s “How to Solve Genealogy Mysteries…” he discusses missing or conflicting evidence. In one example, he discusses official documents that are wrong, and in another, he points out how he found half-siblings because he looked at the original record instead of depending on a transcription. There was so much here, I had to add it to my save list.

If you participated in RootsTech 2026 or 2025, you may remember Steve Little talking about AI and Genealogy. I’ve been using AI as a proofreader and an editor. In my case studies, I ask, “Does this make sense? Did I prove my point?” Now with The Genealogical Research Assistant, I can see adding “Does this meet the Genealogical Proof Standard?” And I liked the results from the Genealogical Research Assistant’s analysis of a document using the three-layer model and the Genealogical Proof Standard. Are you stuck? Steve suggests describing the problem so GRA can help create a research plan.

Vibe Genealogy

The Genealogical Research Assistant (GRA): Free for Every AI Platform

Hello, Friends! And happy Spring! It’s a beautiful Easter/Passover weekend in the mid-Atlantic! Which is fitting, as this post will be one of my most important of the year…

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a month ago · 48 likes · Steve Little

If you want to research like a pro, take a look at N.P. Maling’s “Managing Your Genealogy Research Like a Project.” He helps you create a research plan, determine what records are available, evaluate the information, and know when to stop. This is another article I want to keep and refer to again.

Sea Genes Family History & Genealogy Research

Managing Your Genealogy Research Like a Project

Every genealogy research effort, whether you’re a hobbyist tracing your grandmother’s maiden name or a professional working under contract, is fundamentally a project. It has a goal, a set of resources, a timeline, and constraints. Treating it that way — deliberately, with some structure — makes the difference between research that spirals and research …

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13 days ago · 13 likes · 4 comments · N. P. Maling

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Call for Contributors

Why should we all have to learn the hard way? Please share what you’ve learned. Email me at YourFamilyQuest@gmail.com

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday, 5 May 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) Mission: Genealogy Atlantic Gathering

Tuesday, 5 May 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PDT/EDT) Mission: Genealogy Pacific Gathering

Sunday, 10 May 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) Speakers’ Corner Preview: Jennifer & Barbara Talk “Letters & Old Lace”

Thursday, 14 May 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) Speakers’ Corner: Of Letters and Old Lace with Cynthia Raleigh and Helene McClanahan

Friday, 15 May 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) Projectkin Live: Emma Explores Preview

Sunday, 17 May 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PDT/EDT) Stories250 with Anne Wendel of Grandma’s Granny’s Family Album

Substack: “Just Write”

The platform correctly rewards you for writing. In the last couple of years, they’ve methodically removed the setup friction that kept writers from getting started. If you get something published, you’re doing it right. Bonus points for engaging with your readers in comments and notes.

Ready for more?

Here’s the thing. If you’re the sort of person who enjoys the subtle qualities of well-crafted writing, then you probably carry some of that ethos into your digital posts. Why not take a moment to refine your use of the platform? These aren’t tricks to help your work be found;1 they’re just five little buttons and dials to give your reader a better experience with your work.

Image Menu: Captions, Alt-Text & Resizing

Three of these amazing little tools are tucked into Substack’s image menu. To use it, just add an image by:

• Dropping an image file (e.g. .png or .jpg) into the web interface,

• Tapping the image icon in the toolbar at the top to upload, or

• Selecting a stock image or generating an image.

If you’re a visual learner… just jump ahead to the video.

1. CAPTIONS are one of those simple helper tools that, like footnotes, create a special place to tuck contextual information. It can include links, and the text can be styled.

Too often, I’ve seen pieces where the writer seems to try to add a caption, but gives up to add a simple line beneath the image. That works, but it can leave the writer confused. Why not add the caption Substack intends?

That caption space is special. As soon as you hit return, you’re out of the space.

Tricks: Pasting in copy can be tricky, though if you select the text for “caption..” (leaving the last period) you can usually paste in text as long as there’s no paragraph mark in the text. Also, there’s no footnotes from a caption. So, since I thought you might wonder who “Tim Berners-Lee” was, I’ve added this as a link in the footnote.2

2. ALT-TEXT might seem like a nerdy thing just for assistive devices, but it’s more powerful than that in the context of search elements. I’ve found that the discipline of entering a clear description forces me to consider how other people might view my image. Will they get it?

That gives you the space to type a simple line. It’s a little extra sensitive to where you click, so be careful to stay in the dialog box.

3. RESIZING your images can strongly affect their impact. Sometimes you only want them to be small (such as for decorative lines), at others, you want them to stretch to the edges of the page, regardless of the window size.

That’s all it takes. These three features are best illustrated in video, so I’ve prepared one for you as a screen recording.

While I can drag-and-drop a video into the post body, I cannot add a caption or resize the video. At least not right now. Here I’m simulating a caption with centered italic text. This isn’t a real caption, so I’m adding a footnote.3

4. PREVIEW images are associated with the URL for the post and are used by Substack, Facebook, X, Bluesky, and dozens of other platforms to encourage readers to tap through to the post itself. The image is specified in the HTML code that describes a link through metadata in one of several standards.

Substack makes all of that easy to configure in each post's settings.

Notice that in this case, the hero image for this post is much wider than it is tall. The ideal size for a preview image is 1200 px by 628 px, roughly 2:1. With only one image, Substack will default to that image, but often this throws it off-center. To fix it, just swap out the image with one cropped to the right aspect ratio. See that in the video.

While we’re in settings, notice that you can also tap SEO Options to modify the URL used for your post.

5. “AUTO” LINKS and anchor text are confusing, not because they’re inherently hard, but because different platforms do it differently. I can appreciate that in print, there might be a “right” way to publish links. You may want to include the “https://” protocol designator because that’s what you mean.4

The problem is that for your reader, who is most likely reading your post from a digital device, not actually linking the text is super annoying. Why are you making them select, then copy your text, then paste it into a browser?

If you include a link,5 the better option is to select the text and add the link yourself.

Substack makes that super easy by validating the URL and automatically adding the “https://” for you. That reduces errors and makes the experience better for everyone.

Style: While we’re here, why include the protocol designator in a URL? Curiously, in the world of web and app design, you pretty much don’t. It’s like entering “mailto:” before an email address. Tell me why I’m wrong:

Leave a comment

That gives you five little pointers you may not have known about, and I hope will make your writing and our reading experience just a little better.

To learn more about subheads and footnotes, check out some of our other tips:

5

And I personally love them, especially for non-fiction posts. They’re like footnotes sent on an expedition.

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Call for Contributors

Why should we all have to learn the hard way? Please share what you’ve learned. Email me at YourFamilyQuest@gmail.com

Upcoming Events:

Wednesday, 29 April 2026 at 6 pm/9 pm (PDT/EDT) Behind the Publication with Kristin Rapinac

Sunday, 3 May 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PDT/EDT) Projectkin Live with Lisa Magire: Themes in Global Migrations

Tuesday, 5 May 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) Mission: Genealogy Atlantic Gathering

Tuesday, 5 May 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PDT/EDT) Mission: Genealogy Pacific Gathering

Sunday, 10 May 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) Speakers’ Corner Preview: Live with Cynthia Raleigh and Helene McClanahan

It started with a name—Abner Greenleaf.

All I knew was that he was one of the original proprietors of Campton, Grafton, New Hampshire. So I started with FamilySearch’s full-text search looking for an Abner Greenleaf in Campton. One of the results was a deed from Abner Greenleaf of Newbury Port, Essex, Massachusetts (a blacksmith), who sold “one whole right or share or shares of land in Campton in the Province of New Hampshire, it being my original right as by charter...” to Moses Little (a merchant) of Newbury Port.

Once again, I am using the FAN method (Family/Associates/Neighbors). From previous research, I knew Moses Little was from Newburyport, Essex, Massachusetts; he was an original proprietor who had built a saw mill with Joseph Spencer Sr. in Campton, and he had bought a significant number of rights to the land in Campton. So far, the original proprietors were from the East Haddam, Middlesex, Connecticut area or from the Newburyport, Massachusetts area. I was confident the above Abner Greenleaf was the man I was looking for.

Another deed was between Caroline Little of Campton (single woman), who sold a “fifteenth part of a certain tract of land, the buildings thereon, situated partly in Campton aforesaid and partly in Plymouth” to Abner Greenleaf of Portsmouth, Rockingham, New Hampshire. A fifteenth part tells me this was probably land Caroline had inherited. Was she related to Abner? So I looked at the deed before and after this one. In the deed before, Samuel Rogers sells the right to a fifteenth part of the same land on the right of his wife, Elisa Ann. The deed before that has Joshua Greenleaf selling Abner Greenleaf a third part of the land in Campton that was the “homestead farm of James M. Greenleaf.” Was Abner Greenleaf of Portsmouth the same Abner Greenleaf who lived in Newburyport?

The will of Abner Greenleaf of Portsmouth, dated 1867, led me to a FamilySearch entry where he has a brother, James Milk Greenleaf, who does not have a spouse. This means his estate would have been divided between his siblings or their heirs if he died intestate. This could be the James M. Greenleaf who had a homestead in Campton.

And sure enough, the will of James M. Greenleaf leaves bequests to his nieces, Caroline Little and Elisa Ann Rogers, and to his brothers Joshua Greenleaf, of Newburyport, and Abner Greenleaf, of Portsmouth.

I am comfortable saying I’ve found my Abner Greenleaf.

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Additional Reading/Viewing:

Nancy A. Peters, CG, CGL, Cards, Clevises, and Calomel: What Probate Files Can Reveal about Our Ancestors

Call for Contributors

Why should we all have to learn the hard way? Please share what you’ve learned. Email me at YourFamilyQuest@gmail.com

Upcoming Events:

Thursday, 23 April 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PDT/EDT) Kathy’s Corner at Projectkin.org

Sunday, 26 April 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PDT/EDT) Substack Live with Kyla Bayang: Planning Relatives at RootsTech for 2027

Wednesday, 29 April 2026 at 6 pm/9 pm (PDT/EDT) Behind the Publication with Kristin Rapinac

Tuesday, 5 May 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) Mission: Genealogy Atlantic Gathering

Tuesday, 5 May 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PDT/EDT) Mission: Genealogy Pacific Gathering

Sunday, 10 May 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) Stories 250 with Anne Wendel of Grandma’s Granny’s Family Album

While I’m at it, I thought I might toss out some special attention to the strategies others have taken that I thought were quite clever. I might even add an occasional callout on Tips: “I see what you did there.” 👀

Stay Independent: Before I get to these, an important clarification about platform independence. Though we originally built MissionGenealogy as a place for genealogists to gather on Substack, it was never intended to promote the platform. I personally do think it’s a fine choice for many of us. It also isn’t for everyone. For that reason, I think it’s just as important that we always consider ways to support cross-platform “skybridges.” One of our tips below highlights a suggestion that’s useful for these kinds of links.

New Features I’ve Noticed

1. Scheduled and Saved Notes

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll have realized just how useful and engaging Substack’s Notes feature can be. It creates a “meta” layer above posts and publications where we can discuss publications and also get to know each other. Those are vital functions that set a community apart from a publication.1

Substack has recently added a feature to quickly and easily draft, save, and schedule notes. To use it, open the notes icon, then tap the calendar icon. Learn more in Substack’s updated support page for using Notes.

This new feature, unfortunately, steps on the code projects of several developers offering this as a service, , for example. I’d encourage you to continue exploring his and the many “how-to” Substack publications. We all gain from this effort.

2. A Brand New Website Editor

Your Substack “website” is effectively your home page on Substack. This is the page you see for MissionGenealogy at MissionGenealogy.Substack.com and configured with new “publication design settings.” They’re a little loose with the terminology, but that’s because they want you to think of it as you would a website, perhaps even considering it as an alternative to a dedicated website.

To see it, you need to have first created a publication (explore this support article to learn more if this is new to you). If you already have a publication, you’ll see the new designer by going to:

• Dashboard > Website Editor

The trick is to scroll down on the left to a section called “Creator Tools,” where you’ll also find Payments and Recommendations.

I think the user interface expansion is beautifully done and would rival any dedicated website-building platforms. Among the new functions are features like pinned posts and new ways to add and vary elements on the left and right.

Learn more about how to manipulate these features in Substack’s support article here.

3. New Editing Features in Posts

These are subtle yet powerful features quietly added to the interface.

Drop caps

This one is exciting to see but not obvious to implement; you’ll kick yourself when you realize how it’s done. You might think it’s configured in the post editor, but no. It’s a site-wide configuration for posts, much like colors, fonts, and highlights. Once configured, it will always force the first letter of the first paragraph of normal text into a drop cap. (Notice the first word of this post.)

To set it up, you must have a publication (head over to Publications 101 to explore related help topics if you’re not sure). Substack have been very vague about terminology for “publications,” a “custom website” or a “stack.” Don’t worry, it’s not you, it’s confusing. You can publish without a publication. Having a publication adds additional functionality. Feel free to reach out if you need help:

Message Barbara at Projectkin

Once you get all of that, you’ll be familiar with the Website Editor in your publication dashboard (you may have to scroll to see it). From there you’ll understand the ridiculously simple instructions in the Substack’s help article, “How do I add a drop cap to my Substack post?:”

Paragraph Alignment: Center, Right and Left Flush, and Justified

This is one of the simplest functions of a word processor, yet it’s been missing from the Substack interface since the beginning. I’m not sure why it was left out, but I’m happy to see it now.

I find it most useful to add as an introductory line,

Templates

Oh, hello! This simple tool is wonderful for simplifying your workflow. If you have routine post types that always include a subscribe button and a consistent intro and close, this template tool is like a quick shortcut to just pour in that detail first. I look forward to seeing how you’ll use it.

Recipes & Prediction Markets

These are also features I don’t use myself, but can see how they’d be useful to others in specialized fields. You’ll find several custom formatting features in the More menu item in the interface where you write a new post in the browser.

You can also insert prediction market selections to notes, but not recipes. I suppose they see those as specialized items for engaging, if not controversial, Notes discussions.

You’ll find more about these features in this On.Substack post:

On Substack

New on Substack: Publication design settings, recipe embeds, and live video scheduling on Android and desktop

Today, we’re rolling out a set of updates designed to give publishers more control over how their work appears and reaches their subscribers, from new formatting options for publications and recipes to scheduling livestreams on Android and desktop…

Read more

3 months ago · 1608 likes · 320 comments

If you aren’t already a subscriber to this publication, you’ll want to check it out. Their marketing team produces it, and I’ve found it a useful pipeline into the management thinking about features and futures.

Callouts

Finally, the feature I think is one of the most surprising and delightful. You’ll see me do this a lot over on Projectkin.

S👀 What I Just Did Here?

Callouts are an old design technique from print media. When you’re writing a piece about one thing, you might use a callout to explain something in more detail or a local connection to the topic. It simply makes the content stand out. To use it, simply type your text, select it, and tap “Callout” in the insert quote item on the menu, like this:

Notice, by the way, that you can add images, captions, and styled text to a callout. You can’t add an inserted quote, captions, or footnotes, however.

I think all three of those last items, inserted quotes, captions, and footnotes, are incredibly powerful and underused, along with linked text. They’re on my little list of irritations. Do you have a few?

Leave a comment

4. Desktop “Recording Studio” for livestreams

Though I lean heavily into livestream features (I’ve talked about best practices for Projectkin here, for example). Included in the bundle of features were two important functions that felt more like finishing the livestreaming feature:

• Support for viewing and broadcasting from a desktop browser.

• Support for scheduling events and broadcasting from scheduled events. This was a technical nit left missing from previous releases.

• The ability to embed overlays for branding purposes. This is something you routinely see livestreamers on YouTube do, for example. I’ve used software called Camo Studio for this for a while now, but I’m glad to see it now as a native part of Substack.

Candidly, I don’t use this studio much myself yet. I’ve found that the livestreaming features, like Zoom, require more processing horsepower than my old Mac Mini can handle. As I plan my upgrade, you may find these features interesting and helpful to your own livestream programs. Here’s Substack’s announcement of the feature:

On Substack

Introducing the Substack Recording Studio

Today, we’re launching the Substack Recording Studio, a built-in studio that makes it easier than ever to pre-record and publish a show on Substack. Substack Studio, currently available on desktop only, lets you record a solo video or a conversation with up to two guests and publish it when you’re ready, with auto-generated clips and thumbnails included…

Read more

2 months ago · 2274 likes · Zach @ Substack

From what I can see, Substack is in a fierce competition for “creator” talent with YouTube and Patreon. I believe this is what’s pushing them for these features. Again, here’s where competition is good for all of us.

In that same vein, they also introduced an integration with Apple TV (the physical device) and YouTube TV (the paid service). If you have either of these services, you can add a Substack app, which will let you view your subscribed videos in your TV app. I now have AppleTV as a software service, but not the hardware. I’d love to hear the impressions of anyone using this yet.

On Substack

Introducing the Substack TV app, now in beta

Today we’re launching the Substack TV app for Apple TV and Google TV. Substack is the home for the best longform—work creators put real care into and subscribers choose to spend time with. Now these thought-provoking videos and livestreams have a natural home on the TV, where subscribers can settle in for the extended viewing that great video deserves…

Read more

3 months ago · 1710 likes · 805 comments · Zach @ Substack

Recommend MissionGenealogy

And THAT ☝️, by the way, is a custom button with a secret link that takes you to the reader’s own publication recommendation page (if you have a publication) to encourage you to write a nice recommendation about MissionGenealogy. Here’s that link so you can do it too: http://your.substack.com/publish/recommendations.

Subtle, and I hope effective. 😉 Recommend as many publications as you like.

As many of you know, holds monthly clubhouse gatherings to compare notes and share encouragement. We hope to see you at either of our two meetings in May:

1

Social media platforms like Twitter were vital in this role in the early days of blogging.

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Call for Contributors

Why should we all have to learn the hard way? Please share what you’ve learned. Email me at YourFamilyQuest@gmail.com

Upcoming Events:

Thursday, 16 April 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) A conversation with Lori Olson White “How To Create a Time Capsule.”

Sunday, 19 April 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) Projectkin Live: The View from Kathy’s Corner

Thursday, 23 April 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PDT/EDT) Kathy’s Corner at Projectkin.org

Sunday, 26 April 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PDT/EDT) Substack Live with Kyla Bayang: Planning Relatives at RootsTech for 2027

NOTE: As part of Barbara at Projectkin’s Skybridge plan, I’m including links to websites. While website URLs embed in Notes, they don’t in Posts. You’ll need to click the button to visit the website.

New Area of Research

I had no idea that you can sort the hints on Ancestry by record types. Thank you, Doris Kenney, for the tip. Kenney has been using the feature and the index panel to transcribe and mine the 1850 census for information. She describes her process in Ancestry’s Index Panel: I’m Trekking Through the 1850 Census Faster Than Ever.

Ancestry's Index Panel

In The Significance of Witnesses by , she explains how looking at the witnesses helped her find more family members. In one case where the witness was “not related,” she found the families had intermarried.

Heines Sight

The Significance of Witnesses

Looking at witnesses might help you break down those brick walls…

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2 years ago · 16 likes · 22 comments · Lynda Heines

explains how she used Claude Cowork to prove Stephen Crumrine was “alive in 1800 and 1810, eighteen years after the SAR said he died.” You’re dealing with tick marks in those early census records, and Allen used Cowork to determine who those tick marks represented, giving her a more complete image of the household.

Chronicle Makers

What Your Census Records Are Actually Telling You (And What You’ve Been Missing)

From Evidence to Finished Chronicle — Week 2 of 10…

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a month ago · 7 likes · 2 comments · Denyse Allen

Tools to Help Tell Your Stories

The RootsTech Ridealong introduced me to the GeneaBloggers. One article that caught my eye was Drawing Family History: Floor Plans, Memories, and the Stories They Tell by . While I think nothing of the homes I’ve lived in, the house plays a central role in the stories my husband tells of his childhood.

Floor Plans & the Stories They Tell

This blog post by Celia Lewis was written in 2022, but is still relevant. In CLUES GALORE! Greatgrandmother Sarah E. WHITEHOUSE’s 1858 Birth Certificate, Lewis used the information about the place and the father’s occupation to tell the story of why the area was “once termed the Black Midlands, due to the smoke/soot in the air…” And she found more stories.

Clues Galore! Sarah's Birth Certificate

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Call for Contributors

Why should we all have to learn the hard way? Please share what you’ve learned. Email me at YourFamilyQuest@gmail.com

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday, 7 April 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) Mission: Genealogy Atlantic Gathering

Tuesday, 7 April 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PDT/EDT) Mission: Genealogy Pacific Gathering

Thursday, 9 April 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PDT/EDT) Speakers’ Corner: Stories from Down Under with Jane Chapman and Lex Knowlton

Sunday, 12 April 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) Stories 250 with guest, Dai Davies of GenealCymru

Thursday, 16 April 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) A conversation with Lori Olson White “How To Create a Time Capsule.”

Sunday, 19 April 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) Projectkin Live: The View from Kathy’s Corner

Unfortunately, in speaking with the town clerk for Wilton, Saratoga, New York, I found their copy of the record had been destroyed, and I would need to order a copy from the state.

It is good to keep a log of your requests. The website said I could expect to receive the record after a year. At the year mark, I contacted them only to be told the wait is now three years. suggested I try getting the record from the county.

The New York State indexes to vital records often pop up in the hints on Ancestry for my relatives. Since it cites the town where the event took place, it’s just a Google Search away to order the record and avoid the three-year wait.

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Call for Contributors

Why should we all have to learn the hard way? Please share what you’ve learned. Email me at YourFamilyQuest@gmail.com

Upcoming Events:

Sunday, 5 April 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PDT/EDT) Speakers’ Corner Preview: Live with Jane Chapman and Lex Knowlton

Tuesday, 7 April 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) Mission: Genealogy Atlantic Gathering

Tuesday, 7 April 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PDT/EDT) Mission: Genealogy Pacific Gathering

Thursday, 9 April 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PDT/EDT) Speakers’ Corner: Stories from Down Under with Jane Chapman and Lex Knowlton

Sunday, 12 April 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) Stories 250 with guest, Dai Davies of GenealCymru

Offering your readers a voice recording of your work is a way to make an intimate connection with them. Artificial intelligence can do the job – but let’s face it – it’s rare when a recording beats the warmth of a human voice.

In addition to better engagement with your audience, there is another great reason: you now have two senses working to refine your piece.

Our brain plays tricks so our eyes alone can’t always catch typos, missing words, or even confusing sentences. But when we have to say it aloud—you are processing through another part of your brain—allowing you to refine your work.

If you have thought about voice overs for your post—but are a bit nervous as to where to start, I have you covered.

The Equipment

You can use the built-in microphone on your laptop, so you don’t have to think about running out for equipment. But if you want to deliver a higher-quality product—think about getting a microphone.

I use the HyperX external microphone. I set it back about 6-8 inches and am thrilled with the results.

The Setting

Regardless of whether or not you use an external or built-in microphone—make sure you have a quiet setting. My desk is in an open floor plan, so I have a 24” self-standing frame in front of my laptop that blocks noise from the other room.

The Software

Substack allows you to create a voice over directly from the app—or to upload an audio file. Just click on the headphone link and choose Voiceover (the microphone icon) to record it directly on Substack—or the Audio embed (play-button icon).

My choice for better quality is to record onto an app like Zoom. It allows me to save as an audio file—and then upload the file. I don’t do anything else besides trim the timing a bit so it opens immediately onto “Hello!” versus having a person listen to blank space.

If you are so inspired, you could add a musical bed in the beginning—which I may do in the future.

The Recording

Make sure your vocal cords are warmed up before you start.

You don’t have to do anything crazy—but don’t use a tired morning voice. Think about how you would answer the phone if someone you haven’t spoken to in ages called. Same enthusiasm!

In fact, smile when you are recording. That was a tip I heard from my news director when I was a radio news reporter. Frankly, this tip transfers to any time you are speaking. Believe it or not, the smile transmits.

One of the hardest things to do when recording is to remember to slow down your speech. Without non-verbal cues—people might not be able to keep up. And when we get nervous, we automatically speed up!

Now take a breath, and begin.

Reading with Conviction

You’ve spent a lot of time crafting your story—allow the ebbs and flows of your piece to be apparent in your voice. You will want to vary the rate of speed. I know I mentioned not to speak too quickly—but if you are writing something where there is a lot of action—speed it up!! It creates urgency.

If it is solemn….. slow .. it .. down.

When we wrote radio scripts, we gave ourselves cues …. like ellipses….. to create pauses. I use a lot of en dashes for the same purpose. And of course, italics for emphasis. You’ll get the hang of it.

The Greeting (Intro)

This is probably where I changed the most. When I did podcasts for work, I had a typical intro and outro. I didn’t do that for my voice over. It was a dumb mistake—I wasn’t giving my own work the setup it deserved.

I now start off my recording with a very enthusiastic:

Hello! I’m Diane Burley with Musings of a Storyteller. Today is Friday …

I also now add a bit more that I don’t put in my newsletter. I feel like people listening are my friends—and they want to know how I am doing. I give a bit of extra—maybe what inspired the piece—but not too much.

Then I add, I hope you enjoy it—or, I hope you feel the joy I had in writing it.

The Sign off (Outro)

I end each recording with an invite to sign up—or a prompt to leave a comment, and then close with a simple, thank you for joining me, I’m Diane Burley with Musings of a Storyteller.

Creating a podcast

Substack has a feature that allows you to publish your audio file to your own podcast, as well. Here’s a video that Substack Coach Adrienne has created on how to do just that.

One of the comments I get most often is how much they like to hear my voice—they feel as if it is a friend speaking to them. As you can imagine, comments like that make my day. That is exactly what I was going for.

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Call for Contributors

Why should we all have to learn the hard way? Please share what you’ve learned. Email me at YourFamilyQuest@gmail.com

Upcoming Events:

Wednesday, 25 March 2026 at 6 pm/9 pm (PDT/EDT) Introducing Behind the Publication with Jennifer Jones and her guest, Carole McCulloch

Thursday, 26 March 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PDT/EDT) Kathy’s Corner at Projectkin: “Project: A Roadmap for Creating a Treasure Box with Special Guest Jane Chapman”

Sunday, 5 April 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PDT/EDT) Speakers’ Corner Preview: Live with Jane Chapman and Lex Knowlton

RootTech2026 has ended, and my computer desktop is a mess. My husband used to be appalled, but since I refuse to change my workflow, he’s realized it’s just like my physical desk. The piles go away to be replaced by new piles, nothing is lost, and the work gets done. All that clutter on my desktop is what I am currently working on. It is there as a constant reminder.

One of the sessions I viewed last week was Practical Digital Strategies for Family Historians by Andrew Redfern, and I wanted to write about it because I think I have some better solutions. But my solution may not work for you. Please share your ideas in the comments.

I’ve mentioned before that my younger son told me that the first place you look is the place you should keep the thing you were looking for. I have a folder called Odd Relatives Put on Substack. However, when I go to look for this file, I always start by looking at the Substack folders. Time to rename the folder Substack Odd Relatives and file all the stuff on my desktop I used for the Justin Gould project.

Most of the mess on my desktop is the syllabi from RootsTech. Redfern mentioned not burying your documents under too many layers of files. I have a Deborah folder, the next level is Genealogy, then Education, and then a list of topics. Where do I file Question Everything? I decided Genealogy Proof Standard would be the best folder.

Another folder on the same level as Education, is Localaties. Under that, I have Canada, where I filed the syllabus for Cracking Canadian Census Clues. Surprisingly, I didn’t have a folder for England, and I had to create one for Victorians to Elizabethans: British Research in the Twentieth Century.

I store all my research on an individual in a folder with their name. Redfern believes the documents should be filed by type since they may contain information on more than one individual. For example, a death certificate has the individual, their spouse, their parents, and the informant. I’ve been planning on creating shortcuts to solve this problem. Since Planning and Organizing Research Findings for Tough Problems talks about both research plans and research logs, I filed it under Research Log and then created a shortcut, which I put under Research Plans. In Windows, right click on the document, click on Show More Options, and then Create Shortcut.

There’s the great underscore, dash, or space debate, which I won’t address, but Redfern suggests naming files who-what-where-when for easy searching and sorting. I’m doing okay with my naming system, and I don’t feel a need to change it. I do like that he tells us not to tidy up our system all at once. As I worked on cleaning up my desktop, I found misfiled documents. Yet another Quest to start in 2026.

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Additional Reading/Viewing:

Andrew Redfern, Practical Digital Strategies for Family Historians

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Wednesday, 25 March 2026 at 6 pm/9 pm (PST/EST) Introducing Behind the Publication with Jennifer Jones and her guest, Carole McCulloch

Thursday, 26 March 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm Kathy’s Corner at Projectkin: “Project: A Roadmap for Creating a Treasure Box with Special Guest Jane Chapman”

A couple of times, my mother, a professional genealogist, has asked me, “Are these a match?” If Mom is looking for a second opinion, I know the answer isn’t going to be obvious. I create timelines for the two individuals. I’m looking for the improbable and the impossible.

In my latest post, Was Justin Ambrose Gould a Bigamist? I needed a timeline.

The 1902 entry stood out. I was researching Justin Ambrose Gould, not Justin Bennett Gould. Obviously, two men had been mixed in the FamilySearch entry. I needed a new timeline to sort out which sources belonged to which man.

Comparing Justin Ambrose Gould and Justin Bennett Gould showed they were probably the same man. They were born about the same time, in the same place, with parents who had the same names.

Now the information needs to be written up and posted on FamilySearch, so other researchers can see how I came to that conclusion. Otherwise, another researcher could see the names don’t quite match, and that Elizabeth H. (Ruddy) Gould was listed as Justin Gould’s wife at the time of her death in 1903, when Justin Bennett Gould was married to “second wife,” Catherine Jane Moynihan, and conclude they are two different men.

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Tuesday, 10 March 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PST/EST) Mission: Genealogy Pacific Gathering

Thursday, 12 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Speaker’s Corner: New Lands of the American West with Crystal Lorimor and Kellie Cedarfield

Friday, 13 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Projectkin Live: Emma Explores Preview

Sunday, 15 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Stories 250 with Linda Stufflebean of Empty Branches on the FamilyTree

Thursday, 19 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Emma Explores…Stories, Mysteries and Fame

Sunday, 22 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Projectkin Live: The View from Kathy’s Corner

RootsTech 2026

While the tips shared may be for RootsTech 2025, they apply to RootsTech 2026. Her tips cover both online and in-person attendees. recommends downloading the syllabi for the in-person classes you are interested in, but won’t be able to attend.

Last Minute Tips for RootsTech 2025

You Don’t Have to be Perfect

There were so many things I loved about ’s Finding Mattie, Part 2, I just had to share it. First, Erin created a timeline (see next week’s Tip) and discovered that because of changing boundaries, she was looking for records in the wrong location. She used the hints on Ancestry as they were intended—as hints, and discovered a new source. She discovered she hadn’t found the record she was looking for because she had restricted her search to a single county and a single year. And the original sources lead to still more discoveries.

Stories in the Records

Finding Mattie, Part 2

If you missed Finding Mattie, Part 1, you can find it here…

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3 months ago · 3 likes · Erin Hoover

New Area of Research

shares a tip on how to find the mother’s maiden name on the General Register Office (United Kingdom) online index back to 1837.

Rees Scott Archive

General Register Office Search Online Indexes - Maiden Names

Back in 2019, I started a One-Name Study for the Surname SELVES. I became fascinated by the story of my 3 x great-grandfather Thomas Selves, and his wrongful conviction for stealing soap and poultry in 1831 Woolwich. (I’ve covered the impact on his wife, Mary Ann Grey…

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3 months ago · 3 likes · Barry Rees

Just in time for the one-year anniversary, I’m finishing the rewrite for my 30-day female ancestor challenge. As I entered the names into my index, there was Charles Denis dit Laporte. I figured dit Laporte was like a hyphenated name, so I entered him as Denis, Charles and Laporte dit, Charles. Then I ran into Ian Gubbenet’s post about French-Canadian Genealogy, which explained that pesky dit.

Genera Genealogical Services

A Beginner’s Guide to French-Canadian Genealogy

by Genera Genealogical Services (GGS…

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3 months ago · 9 likes · 1 comment · Genera Genealogical Services

Tool to Help Tell Your Stories

mentioned using eBay as a source of family treasures in Finding Physical Photos and Artifacts. gives a list of items to look for on eBay and five tips on how to find them.

5 Top Tips for Using eBay

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Tuesday, 3 March 2026 at 12:30 pm (MST) RideAlongPartners Lunch in person at the Radisson Hotel (not in the restaurant, but in Suite #1524), 215 West South Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Wednesday, 4 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along with Bill Moore

5–7 March 2026 RootsTech 10 am–7:30 pm (EST)

Thursday, 5 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along with Lori Olson White

Thursday, 5 March 2026 at 5 pm/8 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along—Kyla and Bill’s Great Adventure

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Friday, 6 March 2026 at 5 pm/8 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along—Kyla and Bill’s Great Adventure

Saturday, 7 March 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along with Taneya Koons

Saturday, 7 March 2026 at 5 pm/8 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along—Kyla and Bill’s Great Adventure

Sunday, 8 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Speakers’ Corner Preview: Live with Crystal Lorimor and Kellie Cedarfield

Tuesday, 10 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Mission: Genealogy Atlantic Gathering

Tuesday, 10 March 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PST/EST) Mission: Genealogy Pacific Gathering

Thursday, 12 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Speaker’s Corner: New Lands of the American West with Crystal Lorimor and Kellie Cedarfield

Friday, 13 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Projectkin Live: Emma Explores Preview

Sunday, 15 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Stories 250 with Linda Stufflebean of Empty Branches on the FamilyTree

Think Media, How to Make YouTube Videos on Your Phone (Beginners Tutorial)

Think Media, How to Make YouTube Videos on Your Phone (Step by Step)

Plug and Play SM, How I Use Zoom and a WebCam to Create my Videos

Brian the Camera Guy, Best Lighting for a Zoom Meeting

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Tattooed Nerd, Lighting Hacks to Upgrade Your Next Video

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Gilda Bonanno, Avoid Miscommunication: Managing Your ‘Resting Thinking Face”

DIY Video Studio, Master Eye Contact Where to Look When Recording a Video

Solo Shannon, Substack + YouTube is the Best Discover Engine for Your Business

Barbara at Projectkin, Office Hours in Gatherings/All About Using Video in Substack

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Thursday, 26 February 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along with Jennifer Jones

Friday, 27 February 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along with Kyla Bayang

Saturday, 28 February 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along with Aryn Youngless

Sunday, 1 March 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along with Kathy Stone

Monday, 2 March 2026 at 9 am/Noon (PST/EST) Mondays with Myrt at the FamilySearch Library

Monday, 2 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along with Emma Cox

Monday, 2 March 2026 at 12:30 pm (MST) RideAlongPartners Lunch in person at Copper Canyon, Radisson Hotel, 215 West South Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah

Tuesday, 3 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along with Lynda Heines

Wednesday, 4 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along with Bill Moore

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Friday, 6 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along with Simon Davies

Friday, 6 March 2026 at 5 pm/8 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along—Kyla and Bill’s Great Adventure

Saturday, 7 March 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along with Taneya Koons

Saturday, 7 March 2026 at 5 pm/8 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along—Kyla and Bill’s Great Adventure

Sunday, 8 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Speakers’ Corner Preview: Live with Crystal Lorimor and Kellie Cedarfield

My research experience is with United States newspapers, with the occasional Canadian newspaper. Please share your knowledge about other resources either in the comments or as a tip.

Subscriptions

Newspapers.com

Many have been frustrated with the Basic subscription. Basic gives you access to older, public-domain newspapers. Publisher Extra has more recent papers. Only Publisher Extra can be given as a gift subscription —$99.99 for six months. Basic costs $59.99 for six months. It might be worth the hour drive to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to use their subscription a couple of times a year.

Hmmm. $9.44 for gas. Up to $3 for parking. It might make more sense to sign up for a month at $19.90 a few times each year. See Newspapers.com’s plan comparison. The Publisher Extra seems to include Australia, Canada, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Ireland, New Zealand, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland, Samoa, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. I recommend you check the availability before subscribing. Poland has about seventeen years.

MyHeritage

I like MyHeritage for colorizing photos and accessing their newspapers. While I’ve found some good newspaper articles, in 2024, MyHeritage created OldNews.com, which put many of the sources I want behind another paywall.

For $399 a year, you can have access to everything, or for $99 a year, you can have access to just OldNews.com. But the good news is that it includes papers from the 1800s and 1900s and “includes newspapers from across the U.S., Canada, U.K., Austria, Germany, Czechia, the Netherlands, and Australia.”

Now I’ll tell you a little secret. You can’t see the newspaper article using your MyHeritage subscription without the OldNews.com upgrade, but the search return gives you enough information that you might be able to find the original at one of the free sites.

And if you don’t have a MyHeritage account, again, some public libraries have it.

GenealogyBank

I joined GenealogyBank during one of their sales and ended up with them for a second year because of the automatic renewal. The regular subscription price is $99.90 per year. The papers range from 1690 to today, but are limited to the United States. Over those two years, I found many articles that pertained to my research. GenealogyBank would be my favorite site, except for their use restrictions.

I contacted them for clarification about their policy, and I was told I’m allowed to use the information from their site for my personal and my client’s personal use only. So I would find the information through GenealogyBank, and then I’d go and find the information somewhere else.

GenealogyBank is owned by NewsBank, which the library in one town over subscribes to. I foresee visiting them a couple of times a year.

And More

And there are other sites, such as Newspaper Archives and ProQuest, which are available at some public libraries.

Free Sites

Local Newspaper Projects

I am constantly reading about newspaper projects around the country, but I haven’t been tracking them. Google to see if there is one in your area of research.

One I use quite often is NYS Historic Newspapers. They have newspapers for Saratoga from 1854 to 1923. I found many articles that included my family.

The Library of Congress

Once you have the information about the article, you might be able to find the image at the Library of Congress’s website.

Google News Newspaper Archive

Google had a project to upload old newspapers, but then gave it up. However, you can still access what was uploaded. I’ve gotten lucky and found what I needed many times.

Public Library

My public library has digital images of the local English paper from 1869 to 1952, and the local French paper from 1898 to 1964. They also have microfilms which contain newspaper images not digitally available. And the microfilm reader is not like the ones I used at the Family History Library; this one can save the image to my flash drive, email it to me, or send a copy to the printer.

For my town, the digital images are part of Community History Archive. Some libraries require a library card to access the database from your home; mine is one of the ones that does not.

FamilySearch

Check the card catalog and the full-text search, and you’ll find newspaper articles. Most of the ones I’ve found, when you click on the little i for information about the source, say it is coming from NewsBank. Remember from above, NewsBank/GenealogyBank has a strict use policy, so I would not copy the image regardless of the age of the article, but I will create a link so my Substack readers can go view it at FamilySearch.

Elephid

Elephid was not on my radar, and I’ve seen better search engines, but for free, I’m not going to complain.

The British Newspaper Archive

Find My Past is a subscription site, but the newspaper archive is free.

I Love Libraries

Did you notice that all five newspaper subscriptions I mentioned, I also found at libraries? I often use these sites for their search engines. Once I find the article, I look for the newspaper at a free site or get a copy from the library where the paper circulated. I find the reference librarians won’t do research, but they will look up and send me a copy of an article if I know the paper, date, page, and article title, and I include the column number if I know it.

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Sunday, 22 February 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Projectkin Live: The View from Kathy’s Corner

Tuesday, 24 February 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Special with Rhonda Lauritzen: “Handling the Hard Stuff”

Thursday, 26 February 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along with Jennifer Jones

Friday, 27 February 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along with Kyla Bayang

Saturday, 28 February 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along with Aryn Youngless

Sunday, 1 March 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along with Kathy Stone

Monday, 2 March 2026 at 9 am/Noon (PST/EST) Mondays with Myrt at the FamilySearch Library

Monday, 2 March 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) RootsTech Ride Along with Emma Cox

Sometimes we are very fortunate to have family photos and artifacts passed down to us from our ancestors, and our biggest challenge is how to preserve them. But sometimes we are not so lucky—then what?

My Grandparents immigrated from England in 1929 with two children. We found their immigration records at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.1 This gave us the date of their arrival in Halifax, NS, and the name of the ship they arrived on.

With no photos or documents from this time, I searched online and found photographs of the ship, a photo of an ashtray bearing the ship’s name, and links to postcards available on eBay. While nothing I found was from the ship at the time of their sailing, I was able to purchase some postcards of the ship from various times and learn more about the Cunard White Star RMS Scythia.

When writing this tip, I took a quick look at eBay again and found another Scythia postcard with Mediterranean Cruise, 1929 written on it. While my grandparents were not on a cruise, that was the year they immigrated, so of course, I had to purchase it!

On eBay, you can add items to a watchlist by clicking on the “heart” symbol. If you want to set up email alerts for items you are looking for, search for them and then select Save Search (the “heart symbol” next to the number of results). You will have the option to receive emails or not. You could search for a family name, location, or other related items. I have saved the Scythia, Durham County, UK collieries (my grandfather’s family worked in the mines), and WWI Gallipoli, as my Great Uncle was killed there. No guarantees, but it’s a start if you want to collect physical items. One more note: I am in Canada, so I have linked both my eBay.ca and eBay.com accounts. I found the latest postcard on .com, so it is probably worthwhile to check eBay sites in countries where your ancestors came from.

Another place you may find treasures is in thrift shops and antique stores. This requires a little more footwork, but you never know. Lori Olsen White told a story on a Projectkin Live we did about finding an old picture in a thrift shop and tracking down the family through a genealogy site.

I have found samples of cabinet cards, carte de visite, and a stereoscope with pictures to go with it in a thrift shop. Visiting shops in the area your ancestors came from may also help you find some treasures. My son and daughter-in-law purchased some great tintypes for me on Facebook Marketplace, which is another source. They aren’t my family, but I do love the history of the photograph, so having a few samples makes me happy.

Have fun searching for your family treasures.

1

https://pier21.ca/research/immigration-records-and-family-history-research-help

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Tuesday, 17 February 2026 at 11:30 am/2:30 pm (PST/EST) ACPL Genealogy Center: Reimagining Family History Storytelling

Thursday, 19 February 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Emma Explores…Stories, Mysteries and Fame

Sunday, 22 February 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Projectkin Live: The View from Kathy’s Corner

NOTE: As part of ’s Skybridge plan, I’m including links to websites. While website URLs embed in Notes, they don’t in Posts. You’ll need to click the button to visit the website.

You Don’t Have to be Perfect

mentioned research notes as one of her seven genealogy regrets, and I’m equally as guilty. I get caught up in the research and neglect to jot down what I’ve done. While I was working last night, it looked like I’d already searched 1860 to 1885 for the births of Feliciano Maffeo and Eufemia Clementina Romano’s children, but because I couldn’t be sure, I did it again. Now I’m working my way through the death records, and I wonder if I did this once before when I was researching this family in 2022.

Knext Gen Genealogy

7 Genealogy Regrets I'd Fix with a Time Machine

If I could hop in a time machine and travel back to my first year of family history research, I’d do things VERY differently…

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3 months ago · 14 likes · 8 comments · Lex Knowlton

New Area of Research

To be better organized, I should create a localities folder. I knew I had the source for the 40% Italian child mortality rate in one of my previous Posts, but which one? I found it on the fifth try. If I put it in a folder for Italy or Southern Italy, under localities, I’ll find it fairly quickly. As I find new references for Italy, I’ll add them to that location.

Research Like a Pro: Locality Research

Tool to Help Tell Your Stories

Judy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist, explains that copyright has ended for works created in 1930, and they are now in the public domain. Judy’s blog is my go-to resource for understanding copyright. It can be so confusing—the rules differ depending on whether a work was published, whether it was registered, when it was published or registered, and if it was never published.

Welcome to 1930!

Why You Should Share Your Stories

I’m a big fan of FamilySearch’s tree. I’ve said it before: it can be frustrating when someone comes along and changes or deletes the entries you’ve made, but someone else may also come along and add information that finally breaks through your brick wall.

and I both upload copies of our narratives to FamilySearch. It’s free, and it will probably be available forever. Nancy has also added an Alert Note to her FamilySearch Tree profile (which will be visible after her death) to tell future generations about her blog. I’ve mentioned my posts in Alert Notes when I’ve had to use a case study to prove relationships, and I’ve also put a link to the case study under Sources. We’re not trying to drive readers to our pages, but rather to share what we’ve learned.

Nancy Gilbride Casey

Add an Alert Note to FamilySearch

After I’ve written a blog post on a particular ancestor, I like to add a link to the post to the Memories section of a person’s FamilySearch Family Tree profile. Recently I had a revelation about something else I could do to ensure my family stories and research are shared in the future…

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4 months ago · 3 likes · Nancy Gilbride Casey

understands the importance of recording our family stories. Knowledge of Betty Anderson’s parentage may have been lost forever, except that she took a job at the local tinplate works. The job didn’t last, but the relationship with her previously unknown sister did.

Uncovered Roots

Orphans, Cousins, Sisters

Betty Anderson thought she knew who she was…

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4 months ago · 6 likes · 2 comments · Freya Thompson

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Sunday, 8 February 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Speakers’ Corner Preview: Live with Jude Rhodes and Kyla Bayang.

Thursday, 12 February 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Speakers’ Corner: Migration Stories with Jude Rhodes and Kyla Bayang

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Sunday, 15 February 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Projectkin Live: Dr. Mary Marshall Shares the Springfield Baptist Church for Stories for 250

Carrie Loranger asked me about how to get to the Genealogy category here on Substack. Who knew there was one, right?

It’s a little convoluted in that you have to set it up to see it. To set it up, you have to have “History” configured in your interests, then specify the subcategory of “Genealogy.”

Once you do, you’ll see posts of those who’ve classified their publications in the interest category of History, and the algorithm has detected a subcategory of Genealogy when you visit the Explore page.

Finding Posts About Genealogy

To set this up, you have to specify your interests to Substack. You either do this on your initial onboarding, or follow these instructions from the browser:

1. Go to your profile (tap your image or color circle web interface) on the home page.

2. Notice the “hamburger” menu in the bottom left and the word More. Tap that and go to Settings. (Or make sure you’re logged in and go to substack.com/settings.)

   

3. Scroll down, and inside the box titled Content preferences, you’ll find Manage Interests. Tap the right carat >.

   

4. Scroll down to History and make sure that Genealogy has a 👍. This listing directly affects the buttons you’ll see on the Explore page.

   

Your configuration is all set.

Now go to the Explore menu (🔍 or Substack.com/explore), and you’ll see a series of buttons across the top that map to the 👍 you selected in interests. Genealogy will now appear as an interest along with all other interest areas you’ve selected (and a few defaults like Best Sellers). See example at the top of this post.

Sharing Your Work With Readers

If you have your own publication, you can also specify to Substack that your posts would be of interest to those looking for work in the general category of History. Though you can’t specify Genealogy, using tags and related words seems to attract the attention of the Substack algorithms so that your work will appear when readers tap the Genealogy button.

Here’s how to specify History as an interest category for your publication. This affects all posts under this publication. The only way to specify interest categories in greater detail is by using tags in individual posts. These appear to be used by the algorithm to further refine interests, but that is not documented.

1. In your web browser and on your home page (Substack.com/home), tap the Dashboard button on the left.

   

2. From here, tap Settings to get to your publication settings. You can also get there from xxx.substack.com/publish/settings where “xxx” is your Substack name. Note, this is different from your profile settings; you’re now modifying the settings for any post you release on this publication.

   

3. Right there on the top, you’ll see Basics. The first choices are what Categories you’ll ascribe to your publications. This is a drop-down menu. Choose History. Genealogy is a subcategory of History; that’s their view, so that’s how this works.

   

Congratulations! 😮‍💨

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Tuesday, 3 February 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Mission: Genealogy Atlantic Gathering

Tuesday, 3 February 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PST/EST) Mission: Genealogy Pacific Gathering

Thursday, 5 February 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PST/EST) Genealogy Storytelling and Junk Journals with Taneya Koonce

Sunday, 8 February 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Speakers’ Corner Preview: Live with Jude Rhodes and Kyla Bayang.

Inspired by ’s Solving the Genealogist’s AI Dilemma in 2026, I explored using AI to handle the mundane task of writing my genealogy citations. I cannot examine every available tool, so if you find a winner, be sure to let the rest of us know.

Test One

For AI: Please write a genealogy citation for https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/revolutionary-war-veteran-and-widow-pensions.htm using Evidence Explained style.

I created a chart to show how each test performed, but decided it was cluttered and that a summary would be more useful. ChatGPT, Gemini 3, and the free version of Perplexity all produced good source citations. Be sure to proofread them and tweak them to be consistent with your citation style.

The other programs I tested required filling in a form that was then turned into a source citation. If I am going to enter all the information into a form, I might as well write the citation myself, since the program is not saving me any time. However, Grammarly, Zotero with Genealogy Style, Legacy Family Tree 10.0, and Cite-Builder (Evidence Explained templates) all produced good citations (again, be sure to proofread).

WikiTree Sources works on WikiTree.com profile pages and on records pages from certain genealogy websites, and Goldie May creates citations for FamilySearch and Ancestry records. As a result, these programs did not work for this source.

Test Two

For AI: Please write a genealogy citation for https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9F3-H8WN using Evidence Explained style.

ChatGPT and the free version of Perplexity admitted they did not have enough information to write a citation for the source. Gemini hallucinated: instead of citing a letter from the War Department, it produced a citation for a Vermont birth certificate.

Wikitree Sourcer and Goldie May recognized that the document was part of the Revolutionary War pension and bounty-land-warrant application files, but they did not identify it as a letter from Abel Patrick’s file. The template-based programs produced usable citations.

Conclusion

AI could have written the FamilySearch citation if I had provided the same information I entered into the templates. But if I am doing all that work, I might as well write the citation myself. While ChatGPT could not create the FamilySearch citation from the URL, it did a good job proofreading my version using Evidence Explained standards.

Many experienced researchers keep a list of source citations they have written to use as templates. Now that I have tweaked my citations to suit my Substack audience, I need to create a new list to keep my style consistent.

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Additional Reading/Viewing:

Grad Coach, How To Use Zotero 2025 (Including Zotero Connector) - Full Tutorial With Examples

Rob Pavey Software, WikiTree Sourcer Extension Intro and Overview

Start Writing With Grammarly: Free Citation Generator

Goldie May, More Genealogy in Less Time

Cite-Builder, Creating a Source Citation with Cite Builder

Family Locket, Automated Source Citation Builders

Genealogy Citation Generator

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Why should we all have to learn the hard way? Please share what you’ve learned. Email me at YourFamilyQuest@gmail.com

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Sunday, 1 February 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PST/EST) Projectkin Preview: Taneya Koonce & Junk Journals

Don’t tell me you already knew this, or I’m going to be more than a little miffed at you for not telling me. Occasionally, I would come across a JSTOR article during my research and skip it because I didn’t have a subscription—and it didn’t seem worth it for the two or three articles I wanted to read each year.

But when I was researching the unknown British soldier buried in the Lexington, Massachusetts, Old Burying Ground, I contacted the curator at the Lancaster Infantry Museum in the UK because I wanted information from a reference titled “47th FT Boston, Lexington, Concord & Bunker Hill,” written in 1775. The curator told me the catalog reference referred to an article entitled, “The British Expedition to Concord, Massachusetts, in 1775” by Allen French, published in the Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research.

The only online copy I could find was on JSTOR.

I really wanted to read this article. I checked the public libraries within a 60-mile radius—none subscribed to JSTOR. A nearby college had a subscription, but its contract did not allow it to give me access. I can’t access my alma mater’s databases off campus, and it’s too far to visit. So I finally looked at the subscription prices.

Free

I signed up for a free personal account, which allows me to read up to 100 journal articles online every 30 days. For about $20 a month, I could upgrade to unlimited reading and 10 downloads each month, but the free personal account more than meets my needs.

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Call for Contributors

Why should we all have to learn the hard way? Please share what you’ve learned. Email me at YourFamilyQuest@gmail.com

Upcoming Events:

Thursday, 15 January 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Emma Explores… Stories, Mysteries and Fame

Sunday, 18 January 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Projectkin Live: The View from Kathy’s Corner

Thursday, 22 January 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PST/EST) Kathy’s Corner at Projectkin.org

New Area of Research

This is an older post about a source I haven’t been utilizing. , who is an archivist, shared the 2024 United States National Archives Genealogy Series schedule. The videos are available, and I’ve got Passport Records: Passport Applications at NARA, 1790s-1925 on my to-watch list. And now that I’ve found the Archive’s YouTube channel, there’s still more presentations I want to watch, like the 2025 Researching Immigrant Ancestors: Alien Registration (AR-2) Forms. (If someone else wants to share about another archive, such as England or Australia, you can write a tip for Mission: Genealogy.)

The Book of Mary

2024 National Archives Genealogy Series

I had a number of other ideas to write about this week, but I am on the listserv (aka the email list) for the National Archives. They have several different lists including highlights from the National Archives Catalog, DocsTeach and several Presidential Libraries…

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2 years ago · 4 likes · 2 comments · Mary B Hansen

I use death certificates and registers. I use obituaries. I use cemetery records. Did you know that historical coroner and medical examiner records might be available? I didn’t. I need to add them to my records checklist for reasonably exhaustive research. How about burial registers, sexton records, and indigent burial lists? mentions these and more resources to examine when searching for a relative’s death you can’t find, and whose burial and estate might have been handled by the county or city.

Cemeteries and Genealogy

When Ancestors Vanish: Researching Unclaimed Deaths, County Burials, and Public Administrator Estates

In the United States, when a person died without nearby family, without money, or without anyone aware of their death, the county or city stepped in. Their remains may have been buried quietly in a public cemetery, cremated, or placed in a common grave, while their property, if any, was handled by a public administrator…

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5 months ago · 7 likes · Steve Johnson

FAN is the focus of Ian Gubbenet’s post at . I’ve used the FAN principle many times and it really works. If you’re ready to try it, Ian explains what FAN is, why it works, and how to apply it. Then he moves on to advanced association research, including occupational clusters and military clusters.

Genera Genealogical Services

The Brick Wall Strategy Nobody Taught You

By Ian Gubbenet, Genera Genealogical Services (GGS…

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5 months ago · 17 likes · 2 comments · Genera Genealogical Services

Tool to Help Tell Your Stories

In the 10 November 2025 Tip Roundup, I mentioned that convinced me to use AI as a way to point me in the right direction for social history. That would be Phase 3 of ’s suggestions on how genealogists should use AI. And AI is not one-size-fits-all; some are really good at one task, while others excel at another. As you find the best tool for a job, please share. Meanwhile, one of my 2026 goals is to find a good tool to take care of the mundane chore of writing citations, leaving more time for research and writing. There are free programs available, but I didn’t care for the one I tried many years ago. I think it is time to look again. (Anyone want to write a tip about their experience?)

Carole McCulloch

Solving the Genealogist’s AI Dilemma in 2026

In the world of family history research, we often encounter a specific kind of anxiety. I call it the “Genealogist’s Dilemma.” Imagine, if you will, the sensation of running breathless on a treadmill. You are exerting maximum effort, yet you watch as new innovations—Genea-Bots, handwriting decoders, and deep-nostalgia animators—fly past you…

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5 months ago · 8 likes · 3 comments · Carole McCulloch

Why You Should Share Your Stories

The Challenge of Black Genealogy: When Black History Gets Personal by could have gone under New Area of Research, but I felt it belonged here. Lisette wanted to know where in Africa her ancestors came from, so she did an Ancestry DNA test. Lisette knew she was adopted, but it was a friend who encouraged her to look at the matches and find her birth family. Eventually, Lisette connected with a relative who had written a family history and could tell her a little about her slave ancestors—the place most African-American researchers hit the brick wall. And then Lisette explains ways to get over that wall.

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Thursday, 15 January 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Emma Explores… Stories, Mysteries and Fame

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got me started adding voiceovers to my posts and now I’m hooked. Instead of listening to the news while I’m cleaning, cooking, or sewing, I listen to Speakers’ Corner, Projectkin Live, Emma Explores, Kathy’s Corner, and other Substack video posts. But can I listen to ’s Margin Notes: Four Bullets at Baler Bay?”

Text-to-speech is available in the app, and AI will read the post. The app is available for iOS and Android. Sadly, the feature is not available when I access Substack via the internet. But text-to-speech is now available for all posts through the app. There was no triangular play button for Four Bullets at Baler Bay, but Winter Schoolhouses by played just fine, and the voice was beautiful.

As a writer, you pick the voice. Go to the settings for your publication, click on branding, and choose a read-aloud voice. I chose Taylor. But none of my articles have the play button on the app. Substack’s AI has submitted a bug report.

You also have the option of adding your own voiceover. This voiceover is available to your readers who access Substack via the app or a browser. You can record your voiceover directly into Substack. You can’t edit the audio file, so I don’t recommend it. I prefer to create an audio file with Audacity and then upload it to Substack.

Audacity is a free program for recording and editing audio available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

It is fairly simple to record a voiceover. I hit the red dot to record, I read the post, I hit the square button to stop. Then I hit File > Export Audio. Once that is done, I hit the X to close, and it asks if I want to save the project, which I do.

I’m not perfect when I record, but I keep going. If I mess up a word or sentence, I repeat it as many times as I need to get it right. After exporting the audio and saving the project, I open the WAV file. I scroll in a little to make editing easier.

I usually have background noise — like the furnace blowing. I highlight a portion of where the audio track looks like a flat line (hold down the mouse button and drag), I click on Effect > Noise Removal and Repair > Noise Reduction > Get Noise Profile. Then I hit Control A to highlight everything, Effect > Noise Removal and Repair > Noise Reduction > Okay.

Next, I start cutting. Again, hold down the mouse button and drag to highlight the portion you want to cut, and then hit delete. Once the editing is done, I Export Audio. I give it the same name as the original file and add edited. This time, I don’t save the project.

I now have an MP3 (or WAV) file, which I drag and drop into Substack after hitting the insert audio icon (it looks like headphones).

Walk Through

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Additional Reading/Viewing:

Substack Help Center - How do I listen to a Substack post?

Sustack Help Center - How do I add a voiceover to my Substack post?

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Why should we all have to learn the hard way? Please share what you’ve learned. Email me at YourFamilyQuest@gmail.com

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Tuesday, 6 January 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Mission: Genealogy Atlantic Gathering

Tuesday, 6 January 2026 at 4 pm/7 pm (PST/EST) Mission: Genealogy Pacific Gathering

Thursday, 8 January 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PST/EST) Speakers’ Corner: Tragedy Strikes Families in England and the US with Xanthe Hall and Marian Beaman

In The Study of Lousy Handwriting, I asked ChatGPT to translate a handwritten note. It didn’t do well, but I often find AI will trigger my brain to see the right words. Transkribus was designed to convert historical documents from handwriting to text.

The free version of Transkribus gives you 50 credits per month and access to AI text recognition, custom AI model training, and a document editor. So I took the handwritten note I’d given ChatGPT in the earlier tip and gave it to Transkribus.

ChatGPT did a better job. This one doesn’t even come close.

Update: and recommend Gemini 3

Transcription (Italian)

Pastello Clelia locale Contrassimo i Voti in Cerchione Gio. venni addì 29 - 10 - 93 Parte 2a S. A. - N° 116 - L’Ufficiale dello St. Civile A. Dell’Anna

Translation (English)

Clelia Pastello [of this] locale contracted Vows with Cerchione Gio. [Giovanni] on the day 29 - 10 - 93 [October 29, 1893] Part 2nd S. A. - No. 116 - The Civil Status Officer A. Dell’Anna

The transcription wasn’t perfect, but the translation was the closest AI has gotten. Clelia’s surname was Paolella, and Giovanni’s surname looks to be Alcione. Gemini missed that the marriage took place in Naples, but got the date right and the reference right.

Then I threw Transkribus a softball.

Genuaio should be Gennaio
autmeri should be antimeridiane which it got partially right, but inserted the nella casa Comunale beforehand. Correct transcription: a ore antimeridiane undici e minuti ____ nella casa Comunale.

Sinvaco should be Sindaco
Englio should be luglio
Provincia & Caserte should be Provincea di Caserta
compars should be comparso
Baffaele should be Raffaele
treutotto should be trentotto
pizzicaguolo should be pizzicagnolo

And I’m going to stop here.

How did ChatGPT do?

ChatGPT gave me two transcriptions side-by-side. Response one got debitamente right, but wrong in response two. Response one has Acerra in the Provincia di Teramo, which is wrong; response two has Provincia di Caserta, which is correct. Both transcriptions get his name wrong (Raffaele Paolella) and his profession wrong (muratore when the document says pizzicagnolo).

And I’m going to stop here. Sorry, Transkribus, for my Italian documents, I think ChatGPT is the winner.

So, how about another softball?

Transkribus dropped of after Spencer. an is correct; the d is missing in the original. Correcticut should be Connecticut. the should be this. Christmy should be Christ my and is on the wrong line. Son should be soul. oug should be to God through (add Jesus Christ my). overtasting should be everlasting life,. P C should be I Commit to the earth to be decently. par notre should be my Executors hereafter named.

And I’ll stop here. You’ll note that spaces between words are missing in several places. This is because the person writing did not pick up the pen, and the ink continues into the next word.

ChatGPT’s turn.

ChatGPT added the ‘ in Jan.Y and .D. before 1788, so while the meaning is correct, the transcription is not exact. Skinner should be Spencer. Again, ChatGPT made a correction to the original, and appears as an in the original. Testament has two periods after it, and and is not capitalized. Comma after life. Executors is capitalized.

ChatGPT did not do an exact transcription, making appropriate corrections, but the one error was major. The man’s last name was Spencer, not Skinner.

Is anyone having better experiences with Transkribus? Please share in the comments.

Update: recommended https://transcribehistory.com/ I had it transcribe the first page of Abel Patrick’s pension petition. It was not perfect, but it did a better job than ChatGPT. Chat GPT got everyone’s name wrong except for Abel’s, while transcribehistory only missed one name — Bussell instead of Burrell.

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Additional Reading/Viewing:

Nicole Dyer, RootsTech—AI-Powered Transcription of Handwritten Documents: Tools and Techniques

Call for Contributors

Why should we all have to learn the hard way? Please share what you’ve learned. Email me at YourFamilyQuest@gmail.com

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There are no events scheduled until 4 January 2026.