[Genealogy] ** But Their Information is Wrong, Not Enough Writing

Fri Jan 2 17:10:18 CST 2026

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2 January 2026

** But Their Information is Wrong!
** NotebookLM for Genealogy
** Sometimes There is Not Enough Writing
** Full-Text Search at FamilySearch for 2026

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But Their Information is Wrong!

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There is no way to avoid it. Wrong information is everywhere.

Wrong information is in online “trees.” Wrong information is in blog posts.
Wrong information is in online websites. Wrong information is in printed
books. Wrong information is in original records. Whenever a document has
the potential to be correct it also has the potential to be wrong. With any
positive comes the negative.

Some gnash their teeth over it. Some complain in blog posts and online
forums about it. Others rant on Facebook about it. Genealogical speakers
talk about it. Writers write about it.

A genealogist can bypass the sites that contain online “trees” as a way to
avoid some of the wrong information.  While understandable, it is an
imperfect solution. Some online trees are accurate, containing solid
information. Others are not.  Even while the trees on the “big sites” can
be avoided, online information cannot be avoided entirely, particularly if
one performs Google searches to potentially locate photographs,
transcriptions of actual records, and the like.  Information from those
erroneous trees will also come up in general searches of the entire
internet.

Locating information online that ones knows is incorrect can be extremely
frustrating–especially when it involves family members that we knew
personally or includes ancestors we have spent years painstakingly
researching.

But…we cannot correct it all. Once the wrong stuff is out there it can be
difficult, if not impossible, to control.

Some individuals will not respond to even the most polite inquiries about
“where did you get that?” and curt, blunt emails are less likely to get a
response.

Make certain your compiled information is as accurate as you can make it.
Consider ways to publish or share that information with others.

Your time may be better spent being as accurate as you can and sharing that
information with others instead of trying to convince someone else they are
wrong.

Maybe.

Just some thoughts. Your mileage may vary.

-----------------------------------
NotebookLM for Genealogy-Make InfoGraphics, videos, and more
------------------------------

Ever wanted to create graphics, mind maps, and other graphics for your
genealogy research easily? Now you can and we'll show you how.

Notebooklm at Google.

Create audio and video overviews, mind maps, reports, quizzes,
infographics, and slide decks from your uploaded files, genealogy
documents, and the like. Notebooklm is not perfect by a long shot, but it
may give you insight into your own research. We will take a responsible
genealogical approach to using Notebooklm. It is a tool and like any took
needs to be used carefully and judiciously. We won’t necessarily agree with
all the conclusions it reaches, but thinking about its insights and trying
to prove/disprove them or analyze them further may enhance our research in
ways we did not expect.

This presentation will be held live on 5 January 2026 at 8 pm central time.
Live attendance is limited and on a first come, first served basis and is
$28
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=QXS2HC8Z23KK8>
. You can pre-order a recording of the presentation and the handout for $22
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=B8BZMPFNMATW4>
.

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Sometimes There is Not Enough Writing

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Reading handwriting can sometimes be a tricky business.

While it can sometimes be difficult to transcribe the handwriting of a
court clerk, census taker, church pastor, etc., often there are several
pages of handwriting to use as a point of reference. On those other pages
there are names that are known, legal phrases that are common, boilerplate
text that is used repeatedly, and other discernible items that can easily
be transcribed. Those transcriptions can assist in the development of a
“handwriting style guide” for the individual who wrote the record. That can
assist the researcher in interpreting those words or phrases that look
difficult on the surface.

Being familiar with common legal terms, especially when transcribing legal
documents, goes a long way to improve a researcher’s transcription ability.

Sometimes that is not enough. Sometimes there is not much on which to go.

The researcher may only have on copy of an ancestor’s signature. Other
records either did not require a signature or are record copies of
documents that do not contain the real signature anyway. There can be
problems with other records as well. The pastor may have written very few
entries in the church register before he moved on to another location. The
Justice of the Peace completing a marriage license may only have had a few
blanks that needed to be filled and did not leave behind a significant
amount of handwriting.

Sometimes one can search for other records the individual may have written
or may have written in. There are times when these records can be located
and other times when they cannot.

If one knows the time period and location in which the person grew up that
may help in determining how the person may have been trained to write
(particularly if the script they learned to write initially was
non-English). Knowing the person’s probable educational level may help. But
sometimes even this information is not really enough.

Sometimes reading a person’s handwriting is part science, part academic
study, and part art.

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Revised Full-Text Searching Webinar for 2026

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We’re excited to offer this revised presentation on the full-text searching
at *FamilySearch*--reflecting changes made to the site since this was
recorded in August 2025. We’ve redesigned our presentation as this
functionality continues to change. And…we have an extensive handout
complete with forms to help you find more people. Available for download by
5 January 2026. Order now for $25
<https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/67D7Z5H4ZQHJA>.

If you have purchased an earlier version of this presentation--email me at
mjnrootdig at gmail.com for the code to order this revision for $10.
Fully Utilizing Full-Text Search: Revised for January 2026

Your purchase includes:

   - *A 90 minute (or more presentation)* you can view as often as you want.
   - *Detailed handout* with charts and forms to help organize your
   searches. Charts and forms sent as separate files you can edit and
   customize and not as a locked PDF you have to re-create yourself as a new
   document.

We’ll be including and discussing:

*Determining what is in Full-Text Search—*what you can access at home and
what you will have to be in a FamilySearch facility or affiliate to access.

*Seeing How AI Transcriptions are different*—they aren’t like the
transcriptions made by humans. That can change your approach.

*Remembering that Full-Text means every word*—approaches need to differ as
we aren’t looking up a name in an index any more.

*Asking Who* is in the record? We aren’t just searching for the main person
like we did with traditional indexes. We’ll discuss how to determine who
could be mentioned in a record.

*Determining How to search?* There are a variety of ways to search and
filter results. We’ll see how each one works to help determine the best
strategy.

*Creating search strategies*—how full-text search changes your approach and
why just dumping terms in search boxes is not always effective.

*Determining what you found* The interface does not always make this clear.
We will show you how to get beyond the confusion and help you get enough
detail for a citation.

*Creating effective problem-solving approaches*—what to do when you cannot
find something you want.

*Demonstrating practical examples*—completely new people and families from
our previous presentations.

Available 5 January 2026. Order now for $25
<https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/67D7Z5H4ZQHJA>.

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Michael John Neill
Genealogy Tip of the Day
http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com
PO Box 17
Henderson, IL 61439

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