Michael John Neill

Genealogy Lecture topics

browse current and past schedule for additional topics

Research on a Tight Budget How to make the most of your research dollar using cost-saving techniques that do not hinder the quality of your research.

Researching the Entire Family How and when to research the extended family in order to locate more information on your own ancestors. 

Ostfriesian Research Research tips and techniques for researching individuals from this area of northern Germany. Michael is one-half Ostfriesian by ancestry.

Newspaper Research Research suggestions for locating and using newspapers in your own genealogical research.

Tried and Tested Tidbits Tips and techniques that we all knew at one time but occasionally need to be reminded about. 

How to use the ____ web site Michael will develop a customized lecture for your group on how to use and interact with a specific sitie or group of sites (for example using the Library of Congress site, Using a specific online library catalog, Effectively searching at Ancestry.Com, etc.) Michael is familiar with most major online web sites. 

Internet for Genealogists This lecture can be a two hour overview or an all-day sesssion, depending upon the needs of the group. Can also be adapted to an all-day workshop presented in a computer lab.

 Internet for Genealogists-customized for your group Michael will prepare a lecture on online sources of interest to your group. This can be a topical discussion of siteson a topic of your group's choosing.

 An Introduction to the Courthouse An overview of what records are at the courthouse and what innformation is necessary to locate those records. 

Land Records (Public Land States) This lecture provides an overview of land records in public land states, concentrating on terminology, township/section layout, and indexes. Aimed at those who have no or little experience with these records.

Land Records (Public Land States): Intermediate This lecture covers land records besides deeds, effective use of indexes, integrating deeds with other records, and making the most of what land records do contain.

Organization of Information How you organize you information plays a major role in what you notice. This lecture discusses effective and easy ways to organize your information in order to make the most of the data you do have.

 Locating Emigrant Origins This lecture discusses a series of general ways to determine where your emigrant ancestor originated.

Documentation Roadblocks on the Information Superhighway This lecture discusses concerns over documentation of computerized information in both on-line and off-line sources.

Court Records (*) Michael has several court record lectures, including an introduction to court records, 

Probate Records (*)

Illinois Research

The Search for the Parents of Francis Trautvetter (using Illinois resources)

 Why are There Errors in Records?

Notetaking, Abstracting, and Extracting

Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources

Where Could It Be Written?

Problem Solving Applied to Genealogy

Researching Through Footnotes: Using Historical Books and Articles for Genealogical Research

I Found it: Now What?

Land Platting in Metes and Bounds

Other Topics Upon Request

(*) These can be customized for specific workshop-contact Michael for details.

Articles from the Ancestry Daily News can be used separately or combined for additional lecture topics.