Family history documentation includes your research notes and the products that you produce to present your research to others.
Develop your documentation skills and learn tools and techniques for citing sources, note taking and sharing your research with others.
Articles about documenting family history
I have a ton of blog posts about documenting family history, linked below. Let me know if there are other topics you would like covered.
Citing sources:
Start here: Citing family history sources
Related posts:
- What is good quality family history?
- Three tips for easy family history source citations
- Five tips to make citing sources easier
- More than a source citation for DNA evidence
- Four good reasons to cite your sources
- Citing an archival source
- Citing photographs and objects
- Citing yourself and others
- Family history source citations: styles and format
- Fix missing or inadequate family history source citations
- How do you know if you have an accurate family tree?
- How many sources do you need?
- How many sources should you use?
- Family history source citations that support your conclusions
- WikiTree Sourcer: A Free Browser Extension for Searching and Citations
Other tips for documenting family history:
- Improve your family history research notes
- How to take effective family history research notes
- How to manage your family history research notes
- Five tips to protect your online privacy in family history
- Documenting your family history
- Which family tree chart is best depends on your purpose
- Ten more uses for family tree charts
- Tips for creating a good family tree chart
- Researching FFANS: How to document a broader search
- Create a Surname Tree to Organise Your Family History
- Writing family history: Should you publish a book?
- Writing family history: 3 alternatives to publishing
- What will happen to your family history after you die?
- Writing family history: when your audience are genealogists
- Am I descended from royalty?
- Baptised before birth and other silly claims
- Defining Family in Genealogy Research: Beyond Nuclear Units
Family trees & software:
- Where’s the best place to put your family tree?
- How can you incorporate DNA evidence into your family tree?
- AI can help you use Family History Software
- Ancestry tags, notes and comments
- Five reasons to use Wikitree
- Online family tree: Using Wikitree for DNA research
- Customise your family tree chart
- Family history software helps your research
- Having fun with Wikitree
- Observations on downloading an Ancestry family tree
- Using Canva and Affinity Studio in Family History: 21 Ideas
More information
If you want to read more about my approach to documenting family history, you might like to read chapter 5 of my book, The Good Genealogist. I also have another website, Rustenivy, where I write stories about my own family history.
Other resources
I provide useful and practical tools to help you with your research. Watch this space for free downloads.
Study with me
You can develop your skills and learn my techniques by studying with me. I run research methods courses online, through the Society of Australian Genealogists.