Go-anywhere, paper-free solutions Archives — GENOHISTORY.COM

Go-anywhere, paper-free solutions

Taming the AI Beast: Avoiding ChatGPT Hallucinations in Genohistory

Genealogists and historians are diving headfirst into the exciting world of AI-assisted research, where tools like ChatGPT offer a wealth of possibilities for uncovering family and community stories. But how do you ensure you’re uncovering truths, not imaginative fabrications? AI hallucinations—those moments when ChatGPT confidently gives you false information—can mislead your research if you’re not vigilant. Here’s how to navigate AI’s challenges and harness its power for genohistory.

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New Year, New Tools: Harnessing Zotero for Family History Research

Make 2025 the year you take your family history research to the next level. Discover how Zotero, the ultimate knowledge management tool for research, can help genealogists and historians merge family history and historical context into compelling genohistory. This New Year’s plan could transform your approach to research, storytelling, and legacy-building.

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Passably Equipped: Conquering PIP Censuses with the PASSED Method

This article may be republished in your genealogical society magazine or newsletter. Simply notify me by email with the name of your organization, name of the publication, and date it will be published. Also include this statement with the article: “Republished with permission of Donna Cox Baker at Genohistory.com.”

I felt reasonably smart as I began my genealogy education. Not MENSA smart, mind you, but at least a bit above average. My ego took a bashing though, when I first hit the infamous roadblock—the PIP censuses (often mislabeled “pre-1850”) that only name the head of household with a string of tally numbers. It mystified me that anyone found them useful. An old spreadsheet had bested me until the PASSED Method emerged, made viable by an alignment tool I call the 90-60 Census Workbook.

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You’re syncing, but are you backing up?

Failing to understand the difference between syncing and backing up your precious research could cost you years of work. Take a minute to wrap your mind around the two. Make it a priority.

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Paperless genealogy: A commitment

Today, as I watch the Notre Dame Cathedral in flames, I know I cannot put this post off any longer. Our research is a fragile thing, if dependent upon paper files. It’s unsafe if dependent upon a single copy in any form. Not even two copies will save it in a disaster, if both are kept together. You’ve heard it all before. You need to commit to paperless genealogy. But today, please hear it and act.

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Instant citations: Zotero’s Magic Bullet

Genealogy friends, if I told you a free product could capture source citation information instantly for most sources in online catalogs with one click of your mouse, would you believe me? Instant citations? It is bonafide, proven, and you can prove it to yourself this very day.

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RootsMagic’s TreeShare for Ancestry–hopeful solution for those API errors?

UPDATE: The problem has been solved by the solutions presented here.

You’ve been waiting for me to make up my mind about the Big Three in my Desktop Dilemma Series, and I’ve been waiting for one last — and most important — evaluation: Can RootsMagic effectively sync with Ancestry.com?

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High-powered hit-and-run data grabbing technique

You’ve invested a day off and a tank of gas to have a precious four hours at an ancestral county courthouse, state archive, or local library. You want to make the most of every minute. Here’s my high-powered hit-and-run data grabbing technique to get home with maximum ancestral data in minimum time. …

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Embedding origin captions into your images

If you post your genealogy to online trees, you’ve undoubtedly had that jolting moment when you see a precious photo of your parent displayed on a  stranger’s page. You know they got it from your tree, but no one else does. Most are borrowing and forward-sharing without awareness of proper genealogical etiquette and protocols. The world is then losing its path back to the original image. Here’s a way to improve your chances that the desired information will travel with the image. …

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Descendants of slaveholders, we have a job to do

Some of you started long ago. I started six months ago. Perhaps some of you will start today. When it comes to the very difficult and incredibly rewarding challenge of documenting America’s enslaved populations, we who descend from slaveholders are the logical ones to do the work.  It makes sense at so many levels. Welcome, GEGs, to the Beyond Kin Project. …

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