The Internet has taken family tree research to a brand new realm. It’s no longer a pastime for social phobic geeks who hide behind the covers of historical books in dusty archive centers. It’s an art that is becoming more and more popular as people realize the value of connecting with family in a few clicks of the mouse. Family Tree Web Sites

Do a Background Check

There might be more to your family history than what meets the eye. Take the time to study the history of the region of the ancestors you are researching. Be sure to record all of the historical challenges and triumphs that may have impacted your family story.

Animate the Family Tree

Sometimes family trees look like the one in my front yard after the utility crew came through recently. One side is nice and round and bushy, but after the kid with the wild chainsaw pulled out.... Well, we now call our tree “Garfield.” It looks like the cartoon cat with a gaping mouth getting ready to take a gigantic bite of a telephone wire sandwich.

I was searching the web for interesting stories and found an article in Ancestry.com that sparked my imagination. I have always been interested in photography since I got my first Brownie camera when I was ten years old. The article talked about building a digital camera that could capture images in all sorts of light – infrared, ultraviolet, incandescent and more.

I just found out that Ancestry.com has improved their search engine.

In the past, if I searched for someone with a birth date in the early 1800s I could expect to see results from the 1930 census or other 1900-era records. Sometimes this resulted in lots of untimely results that we scanned through to make sure we didn't miss an important fact.

Everywhere I look I see online genealogy databases that promise instant access to your ancestors. I spent hundreds of hours sifting through any website that I could find looking for that illusive ancestor that seems just out of reach. I bet you have done the same.

I was reviewing past articles in my Family Tree Magazine© and I found an entry that I had previously missed. When I first looked at it I realized that I had not used my Census research properly. I'm guessing that many of you have run into the same problem.

I was researching my family tree over the weekend, and realized that I had missed a number of opportunities to find a particular ancestor that I have been researching for several months. Have you ever missed a great opportunity to find one of your long-lost ancestors?