This month’s theme is Rooting Out Research Mistakes. Lisa interviews contributing editors for tips on how to keep your genealogy clean of errors.

Ep. 85: June 2015

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In this episode:

News from the Blogosphere with Diane Haddad

Editor-in-Chief Diane Haddad shares her recent blog post called “Confessing a Genealogy Mistake.”

Top Tips: Myth-Takes

Would it surprise you to know that many of those often-repeated assumptions about the past are simply not true? The problem is that “myth-takes” like these about days gone by can affect the way you pursue your family history, ultimately becoming roadblocks to finding your ancestors and understanding their lives. To help us prevent this from happening, Diane Haddad sheds some light on common genealogy myths found in the new article by Nick D’Alto called “Genealogy Mythbusters,” which appears in the July/August 2015 issue of Family Tree Magazine.

101 Best Websites: Correcting Misinformation on Ancestry.com

When inaccurate information is posted on an Ancestry Family Tree or a transcription of a genealogical record, it has the potential of tainting the research of future genealogists. In this episode, Nancy Hendrickson, author of The Unofficial Guide to Ancestry.com walks you through how to submit corrections to Ancestry.com to help prevent this from happening.

Family Tree University: Treat Errors in Your Research

Contributing Editor Sunny Morton walks us through her process for not-quite starting over, as excerpted from her video class 12 Ways to Diagnose (and Treat) Errors in Your Research: “First, review and rethink what you’ve already learned—go back to those original sources to see what you’ve missed.” Sunny shares four strategies for tracking down original records and searching deeper for additional records about a single event. She then describes how to organize and regroup what you’ve found with tools like timelines and maps, and renew your search with fresh eyes, energy and questions.

The Publisher’s Desk with Allison Dolan

In this episode, Publisher Allison Dolan shares ideas for resolving conflicting data and analyzing evidence from the book The Family Tree Problem Solver.

Your Host: Lisa Louise Cooke

Listen to Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems and Genealogy: Family History Made Easy podcasts in iTunes and visit her website for great research ideas, podcast episodes and videos.

Have fun climbing your family tree!