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Thursday, February 10, 2011 8:00 AM – Saturday, February 12, 2011 4:00 PM (Mountain Time)

Registration fee includes entry to the Clark Planetarium dinner event, late access to the Family History Library, the closing reception event, three days of conference attendance, the ability to enter for prize drawings, the conference bag, and access to the Expo hall.

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Even though most cemeteries are public, not all are and I want to make sure I am respectful in doing my research. 

This past weekend I received a request from someone to photograph a family stone in Green Cemetery about 20 miles from where I live.  Since I had never been to this particular cemetery, I decided to take my son along to drive.. I get lost easily and even Google Maps didn’t have this particular cemetery on the map.

I have to admit, it was an exciting search but just a tad spooky to find this cemetery out in the middle of nowhere.  Off in the distance was a lone house.. the dogs barking furiously I’m sure because they sensed strangers a bit to close by.  I expected to have someone drive up asking what we were doing there and hoping they would believe me, but that never happened.

I found some wonderful old stones, some too hard to read and realized I had come a bit unprepared with no brush to softly brush away debris.  My hands hurt by the time we left using them as my only means to clear the stones.  Along the way we came across a second old cemetery (while stopped to make sure we weren’t lost),  named Cosby Cemetery and I took a few shots of the stones there.  I have decided that I am going to create pages with all these photographs and you can find them in the menu above.

As I travel I hope to add more cemetery photo pages.  This weekend I have two more photo requests and I am really looking forward to the search for these out of the way cemeteries and finding links for people searching for lost relatives.

If you have any photographs you would like to share you can either post them on FindAGrave.com or send them to me and I will happily post them on this site for others to benefit from.

Happy Trails.

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At the Door Registration is $75.00

One Day Registration is $40.00

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Since the advent of the internet, there are quite a large amount of records available online but not all.  There are also massive amounts of information on microfilm for viewing at your local family history center, but again, not all records worldwide have been put to film.  This leaves only one option; performing research within the community your family originally hails from.

Even if you were able locate pertinent records to further your cause domestically, these accounts will most likely be in a language you are not able to read.  Worse yet, the records could be in poor condition and the handwriting itself could be less than legible.

What to do?  At this point, you might begin to entertain the thought of hiring an international professional genealogist to aid you in your quest.  They can be an invaluable resource in the capacity of your own personal researcher within nearly any country in the world.

They possess a clear understanding of the process involved when researching and obtaining records found in their local archives, civil record offices, and churches; something which you most likely do not.  Often times however, people mistakenly become intimidated at the thought of forking their money over to someone on the other side of the planet.

How do you go about it?  What will you need to provide? Who can you trust?  These points along with a few other tidbits will all be addressed in this article.

The actuality of hiring a professional genealogist abroad doesn’t have to be a frightening process.  The good news is, if you follow a few basic rules of judgment, then you are likely to find yourself a willing and capable partner in your family history plight.

What would you need to provide them with?  That answer is the same as what you would need to submit to a domestic professional genealogist before the onset of the any research project.  International genealogists use the same methods to trace the lineage of any family group.

Your best bet is to provide them with any and all information you have, including items you deem insignificant.  Let the professionals’ use their expertise and knowledge to judge what is or is not important; never assume.  Typically, a good foundation to begin any search includes the following information:

•    Ancestor’s full name
•    Religion of family member(s)
•    Specific dates and events, i.e. Marriage, Birth, & Death dates and location(s) of events.
•    Range of years which are required for the research
•    Ancestor’s place of birth
•    Ancestor’s date of birth
•    Ancestor’s immediate family members and relationships
•    Occupations (if known)
•    Dates of immigration (if applicable)
•    Information available from previous research – both positive and negative findings
•    What are you trying to accomplish? Explain your goal.

If you don’t have all of this information handy, that’s okay. Just provide your potential genealogy researcher with whatever you have available to you.  That would at least give them a fairly concrete idea on where to start and how to provide you with a more accurate quote. You can mutually decide on a research plan pertaining to your ancestors from there.

Now, how does one go about finding a qualified professional genealogist?  I don’t have near the space to list all the possibilities available online.  Suffice it to say however, there are countless individuals listing themselves as researchers and it’s easy to locate various directories such as Expert Genealogy which is a catalog service that provides information for International professional genealogists.

You have the opportunity to feel your way through their listings and make an inquiry to anyone of interest individually via email.  Another interesting site is Genealogy Freelancers.  They offer a unique concept to the world of ancestry. Rather than combing the internet for individual researchers appropriate to your research project; you can reach numerous professional genealogists collectively on this website; a real timesaver.

Just post your family history project and their system will automatically notify any qualified researcher who is a match to the needs of your ancestry project.  Anyone interested will then place a bid for the pleasure of finding your family.  All you need to do is select the expert that you want to work with; that’s it.

They have experts from nearly every country on the globe too so it’s a safe bet you will be able to locate a solid professional here.  This service also utilizes a rating system so you will have the advantage of knowing what others have thought of their work as well.  These are just a couple of good examples of what’s out there.

Finally, how to know you can trust your chosen professional.  While there is no “absolute” method to this query short of a polygraph test, I can say that usually just some good old fashioned judgment and common sense will suffice.

Really make an effort to communicate your needs fully and ask as many questions as you deem necessary to get to know your potential genealogist’s capabilities, goals, and work ethic.

Ask for references or testimonials and follow up with them.  Professional memberships and a secondary education in family history are all pluses but neither of those stands to their research practice which is the most important part of the equation.  There are plenty of suburb genealogy researchers for hire that have none of this but are thorough and fastidious in their work.

Our latest addition made the MyHeritage Genealogy Search Engine more powerful, as we have expanded our database to include now 1,526 genealogically relevant databases, representing more than 12 billion names.
You can get to it by going to http://www.myheritage.com/research or you can still access it directly from our software Family Tree Builder.

We have expanded our database by 150+ new sources. Some of the new sources are:
· Facebook
· Digg
· Spock people finder
· Michigan Census
· German Emigrants Database
· BMD Registers UK
· USA Gov search
· Western Michigan Newspapers
· Palatines to America
· US Social Security Death Index
· Prague Police Headquarters Conscriptions (1850-1914)
· Consolidated Index of Sephardic Surnames
· Arizona Birth and Death Certificates
· European Patent Office

MyHeritage Research accesses only genealogical resources which helps researchers find those
websites and databases most relevant to their unique family histories. This allows you a much
quicker and efficient search, so you don’t have to wade through volumes of non relevant
records.

You can perform a name search using different spelling options: Exact, Soundex, or our
unique Megadex spelling variations. Megadex allows you to choose from the most commonly
used spelling variations of last names, cutting down on the time needed to research name
variations. Read more about Megadex here:
http://www.myheritage.com/FP/Company/megadex.php

Using the Advanced Search option, you can add birth and death dates. Based on the
information you enter, our search engine will automatically select the databases most
relevant to your search.

There is a lot more information on the Advanced Search on our genealogy blog!

http://www.myheritage.com/blogs/genealogyblog/2009/02/easy_searching_myheritage_adv

a.html

In addition, MyHeritage allow you to store and annotate your searches for further reference.
These tools allow you to focus on the results of your search, not the mechanics.
We hope those extensions will make it easier for everyone to research their family history
and improve the family tree.

About MyHeritage
MyHeritage was founded by a team of people who combine a passion for family history with the development of innovative technology. It is now one of the world’s leading online networks for families, and the second largest family history website. MyHeritage is available in 34 languages and home to more than 28 million family members and 300 million profiles. The company recently acquired Kindo, a family social network, and is based in Bnei Atarot, near Tel Aviv, Israel. For more information, visit www.myheritage.com.

If your instincts tell you something isn’t right… listen to yourself. There is virtually nothing online that you cant find on another site that will assure you of your purchase and have your best interest at heart. Most reputable sites have a disclaimer, privacy policy and contact information including phone and email when you are buying anything. If they don’t please proceed with caution.

By Dave Murray @ Monday, September 22, 2008 12:23 PM http://www.itexaminer.com/

An international network of consumer watchdogs is sweeping the internet targeting genealogy and family history research in the search for scammers.

The International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network is looking for sites that seek to deceive shoppers, investors and researchers with false claims, scams and overhyped promises.

Apparently there are all sorts of sites out there where researchers claim to provide your family tree. However some customers are claiming that if a family tree ever arrives in the mail, it appears to be made up by the scammers.

The sites targeted and trapped by the sweep will be given notice to clean up the information they provide consumers. Others might be asked to take down their site.

Consumer watchdogs have been fairly successful lately in targeting sites who think they can avoid consumer law. In Australia. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission recently launched a criminal investigation into a site called Designer Brand Outlet. While it promised discount designer clothes only to deliver fakes or not supply the product at all.

The ACCC closed the site and there are Federal Court injunctions issued against its owners.

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