What does it really take to solve a family history mystery? In this video, we walk through the complete genealogy research process used by professional genealogists—from crafting a focused research question to building a research plan, analyzing evidence, resolving conflicts, and writing sound conclusions. This foundational lesson follows the principles behind the Genealogical Proof Standard […]
Preserving your family history has never been easier. In this video, I take you inside my experience using the new Ancestry Preserve service from Ancestry to digitize and preserve old home movies, VHS tapes, film reels, photographs, slides, negatives, documents, and audio recordings. While I personally focused on video and film transfers for this project, […]
Big changes are coming to Genealogy TV. In this video, I hit the road in my new mobile office and travel to Randolph County, North Carolina to walk the land where my ancestors once lived, worshiped, and were buried. My goal was simple: see if I could locate some of the land connected to my […]
Vital records are the foundation of most family trees but knowing how to read them well is a different skill altogether. In this episode we dig into birth, marriage, and death records: what they contain, how reliable that information actually is, and where to look when the official documents simply do not exist. A few […]
Most genealogists rely on death certificates, obituaries, and cemetery records—but what if you’re missing some of the most valuable clues? In this video, we’re exploring five overlooked death-related records that can help you uncover new details about your ancestors’ lives, relationships, and circumstances of death. By the time someone passes away, they’ve left behind a […]
Learn about US Civil War Records from professional genealogist Brian Rhinehart. He will walk us through how to determine if the Union Civil War records are our ancestor or not. Link to Brian’s free handouts https://civilwarrecords.com/pages/freestuff Purchase the Handout here: https://genealogytv.org/product/handout-for-researching-your-us-civil-war-soldiers/
Today we’re diving into NotebookLM, a powerful AI tool from Google that is quickly becoming one of the best platforms for genealogy research and record evaluation. In this video, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at a lesson from the Genealogy TV Academy, where we explore how NotebookLM works alongside ChatGPT to help you analyze, organize, […]
What’s new at MyHeritage in 2026? A lot—and some of it could change the future of genealogy. In this video, I sit down with Daniel Horowitz, Genealogy Expert at MyHeritage, to talk about the latest tools, features, and innovations announced at RootsTech 2026. From powerful new AI capabilities to major DNA developments, there’s a lot […]
Struggling to find an ancestor on Ancestry — even though you know they should be there? In this video, I’ll show you one of the most overlooked (and most powerful) search strategies on Ancestry: using the “Browse This Collection” side panel. Most researchers rely entirely on the regular search box. But when records are mis-indexed, […]
Do you know the Big Four record groups you should search for every ancestor? If you can remember Census, Vital, Land, and Probate, you can build and prove your lineage generation after generation. In this episode of Genealogy TV, we break down: ? What the Big Four are? Why they matter for evidence-based genealogy? How […]
