Family Statistics: A great new feature
Family tree charts are very useful for an overall view of our ancestors, while descendant chart printouts help us understand, in a linear format, how the generations of our family relate to each other. Now there's an entertaining way, via MyHeritage.com's new free tool, to learn family statistics contained in your data. Called "Family Statistics," the new tool will help researchers access and understand 45 sets of statistics gathered from the information in their trees. It will also help identify data

Thanksgiving: Family Health History Day
Americans celebrate Thanksgiving today - it is also the sixth annual National Family History Day, declared by the US Surgeon General. Everyone should know their family medical history. The holidays are great times to get this project started, to collect information from the gathered generations and learn what they know about their own parents and grandparents. Knowing as much of this information as possible may help assist children and grandchildren to be aware of family risks and recommendations. It will help you

Making maps: A volunteer army covers the world
Did you know that armies of volunteer mapmakers are out there - all around the world - adding data to existing maps, fixing errors on those which exist, and creating digital maps of places for which no maps are available. A picture is worth a thousand words and a map of a place closely associated with nostalgia and family history uncovers long-forgotten memories. Those memories reveal that we don't even know what we've forgotten until a map or photo jogs those brain cells. I applaud all those mapmakers! I learned about the new term geo-volunteerism from a recent New York Times technology article that focused on how these individuals are really making a difference. Have you ever experienc

Digitized Maps: Another source of family details
As family history researchers, we are usually fascinated by maps - at least I am. These visual interpretations help us understand our family's origins in other countries and provide information on how our immigrant ancestors traveled to ports to board their ships, in addition to understanding historical events. Those maps can be found in gazetteers and online. There are also local maps that can help us locate relatives who lived in towns and cities. Some local maps are for tax purposes, and others were developed for fir

DNA: African tribal migration patterns
FamilyTreeDNA.com is now cooperating with the Center for African American Genealogy Research (CAAGRI) and the Public Records and Archives Administration of Ghana (PRAAD) by testing several hundred members of the Nzema, Ga, Fante, Ewe and Asante tribes. The results of the DNA tests will be part of a genealogy workshop to be held Friday, October 30 in Accra, Ghana. Led by CAAGRI director Paula Royster, the workshop is aimed at highlighting the importance of recording oral traditions by showing people how to record it. The program will includ