Since the end of the year is approaching soon, here are some ideas for New Year's resolutions for your genealogy research.
Genealogist's New Year's Resolutions
- Take advantage of the library’s free databases such as Ancestry Library Edition, MyHeritage Library Edition, Fold3.com, Historical New York Times, etc. Many databases can be accessed at home by using your library barcode.
- Stop by one of the monthly Genealogy Drop-In sessions at the library. The last one for 2025 will be on December 4 from 10 a.m. to noon. Starting in January the Drop-In will change to the first Tuesday of the month.
- Join a local genealogy group. Many groups have in-person meetings again. You can find a list of monthly meetings on the Genealogy Federation of Long Island website.
- Join a genealogy group specific to the location where your ancestors came from.
- Interview your oldest relative.
- Share your family history research with family members.
- Start writing a family history book or even just short ancestor biographies for your relatives.
- Use a genealogy software program, stored on your computer, to record information about your ancestors. Don’t just rely on posting your family tree information on genealogy websites.
- Scan photos and documents and store them on your computer as well as another location such as in the cloud and/or on storage media devices such as an external hard drive, flash drive, etc. You can make an appointment to use the document and photo scanners available in the Tech Center at the library.
- Make sure you back up your hard drive each month.
- Listen to a genealogy podcast.
- Attend RootsTech 2026 virtually for free from March 5-7, 2026.
- Take advantage of the free webinars each week at Legacy Family Tree Webinars. All their new presentations are free for the first 7 days.
- Attend a free webinar on Artificial Intelligence and genealogy. You can find a list of virtual genealogy webinars on the website Conferencekeeper.
- Consider taking a DNA test. During December many companies, such as Ancestry.com and MyHeritage.com, will offer a discount on their DNA products.