Hi there! I'm Lisa Lisson, and I'm passionate about helping people like you discover their ancestors and expand their family tree without feeling overwhelmed or uncertain about the next steps.
Back up your genealogy before you need it
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Hi, Reader, As I shared last week, I lost access to a large chunk of my digital life. After a very stressful few week, I have good news! The Are You My Cousin? YouTube channel has been restored. 🎉 It still looks a bit barebones, and it will take me a bit of time to get it looking more organized. But, all of the videos are there. :) The loss to many of my digital assets was not permanent, and I did have backups in place. But this experience got my attention. It also made one thing very clear: most of us assume our genealogy research is safe… until we’re forced to prove it. So I went back and updated this post: Backing up your research isn’t really about storage, it’s about access. Can you:
If the answer is “I think so,” it’s worth reviewing your systems and tightening things up. If you haven't already, grab my minimalist genealogy toolkit. It's the simple, practical tools that actually earn their place in a research workflow. I like fewer tools, less friction, better thinking. 👉 Access the Minimalist Genealogy Toolkit​ Happy Ancestor Hunting! Lisa |
Are You My Cousin? Newsletter
Hi there! I'm Lisa Lisson, and I'm passionate about helping people like you discover their ancestors and expand their family tree without feeling overwhelmed or uncertain about the next steps.
Hi, Reader, With Labor Day coming up, I’ve been thinking about work, specifically, the work our ancestors did. When I look at my own family tree, I see a lot of farmers. Farmer. Farmer. Farmer. Not particularly exciting at first glance. 🙂 But an ancestor’s occupation can tell us much more than simply how they earned a living. Their work could influence where they lived, why they moved, who they interacted with and even the types of records they left behind. And sometimes, understanding why an...
Hi, Reader, Apparently August still triggers the part of my brain that thinks I need new school supplies. I haven’t actually gone back to school in quite a few years, but give me a good pen, a fresh legal pad and an excuse to wander through the office-supply aisle, and I’m happy. So after last week’s look at school records, I thought we’d continue the back-to-school theme with a different question: What are the “school supplies” I actually use as a genealogist? I’m fairly minimalist when it...
Hi, Reader, Where I live, “back to school” is a little complicated. We have traditional-calendar schools, year-round schools, modified year-round schools…basically, somebody is always going back to school. But August still feels like back-to-school season. And for genealogists, it’s a good reminder to ask a question we often overlook: What records did our ancestors leave behind when they went to school? School records can be surprisingly useful especially when you’re trying to place a family...