The Social Security Death Index is a great resource for genealogists. It can be used to validate the research that a genealogist has already completed. Unfortunately, there are thieves who are using this same database to commit tax fraud and identify theft. The Death Master File is a database that was created in 1980. It contains the names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers of more than 90 million deceased Americans. It became accessible under the Freedom of Information Act because businesses in the United States wanted to use it as a tool against identity theft. The Social Security Death … Continue reading →

Family Tree University, or FTU, periodically offers online courses for genealogists. They last for four weeks and are instructor-guided. FTU is the online education program from the publishers from Family Tree Magazine. I don’t think that it is an accredited university, but, it is a good way for a genealogist to learn more about genealogy. There are several Family Tree University courses that will begin very soon. If you are interested in taking one of these courses there are a few things that you should know. They are virtual classes, and you can log into them whenever it is convenient … Continue reading →

Whether your smartphone of choice is an IPhone or an Android, there are genealogy apps available that enable you to do genealogical research anywhere. This is not surprising news. There seems to be an app for just about everything under the sun. If your phone is an Android, FamilyBee lets you take your family trees with you wherever you go. You can store an unlimited amount of family trees (that you create on your computer) on your cell phone, and you can search quickly through the stored trees for information. One especially neat feature of FamilyBee is that the family … Continue reading →