Jan Murphy
@packrat74.bsky.social
Enthusiastic family historian since 2006; moderator pro tempore at Genealogy & Family History Stack Exchange. http://genealogy.stackexchange.com Fan of F&SF, figure skating, baseball, equestrian sports, cycling. Former bookseller; book junkie.
Pinned
Jan Murphy
@packrat74.bsky.social
· Dec 5
Tour
Q&A for expert genealogists and people interested in genealogy or family history
genealogy.stackexchange.com
Need a #genealogy help desk? Go beyond the query, and focus on the problem you are trying to solve.
Ask specific, answerable research questions. If you have answers, share your expertise!
The tour shows how #Genealogy and #FamilyHistory Stack Exchange works: genealogy.stackexchange.com/tour
Ask specific, answerable research questions. If you have answers, share your expertise!
The tour shows how #Genealogy and #FamilyHistory Stack Exchange works: genealogy.stackexchange.com/tour
#genealogy Mood of the season: waiting
- waiting for wills to arrive
- waiting for Full Text Search beta to show up at Ancestry
- waiting for some new and exciting record set to be announced
- meanwhile: also waiting for more FigureSkating to happen ⛸️
- waiting for wills to arrive
- waiting for Full Text Search beta to show up at Ancestry
- waiting for some new and exciting record set to be announced
- meanwhile: also waiting for more FigureSkating to happen ⛸️
a black and white photo of a young boy with his hand on his chin .
Alt: Animated gif of Spanky from the original Little Rascals. He is sitting at a desk, resting his chin on one hand, and has a resigned expression. He is impatiently drumming his fingers on his desk.
media.tenor.com
November 30, 2025 at 8:11 PM
#genealogy Mood of the season: waiting
- waiting for wills to arrive
- waiting for Full Text Search beta to show up at Ancestry
- waiting for some new and exciting record set to be announced
- meanwhile: also waiting for more FigureSkating to happen ⛸️
- waiting for wills to arrive
- waiting for Full Text Search beta to show up at Ancestry
- waiting for some new and exciting record set to be announced
- meanwhile: also waiting for more FigureSkating to happen ⛸️
Alt-text: on a black background with white gridlines, a white oval contains the question "Do I need AI?" A single exit line leads to a box containing the answer "No."
November 30, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Alt-text: on a black background with white gridlines, a white oval contains the question "Do I need AI?" A single exit line leads to a box containing the answer "No."
Thanks all for a fun #GenChat! See you next time.
This has been a fun Open Mic; kind of a #GenchatsCollide of so many of our past chats! Next time (Dec 12) is our last #genchat , an investment in our future: Genealogy Education Plans. I hope to see as many of you there as possible!
November 29, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Thanks all for a fun #GenChat! See you next time.
#GenChat Ongoing project list. 👇 #OnePlaceStudy work in several localities; waiting for new records. Lots of waiting. (Yes, that should have been "new and exciting record sets".)
#AncestryHour Mood of the month: waiting
- waiting for wills to arrive
- waiting for Full Text Search beta to show up at Ancestry
- waiting for some new and exciting recorset
- waiting for more FigureSkating to happen
- waiting for wills to arrive
- waiting for Full Text Search beta to show up at Ancestry
- waiting for some new and exciting recorset
- waiting for more FigureSkating to happen
a black and white photo of a young boy with his hand on his chin .
Alt: animated gif of Spanky from the original Little Rascals with his hand on his chin, and a resigned expression. He is impatiently drumming his fingers on a desk.
media.tenor.com
November 29, 2025 at 3:55 AM
#GenChat Ongoing project list. 👇 #OnePlaceStudy work in several localities; waiting for new records. Lots of waiting. (Yes, that should have been "new and exciting record sets".)
#GenChat Speaking of gen societies, NEHGS has a Cyber Monday deal. $30 off a new membership. See details at this link.
hubs.americanancestors.org/cyber-monday...
hubs.americanancestors.org/cyber-monday...
Cyber Monday 2025
Cyber Monday 2025 at American Ancestors
hubs.americanancestors.org
November 29, 2025 at 3:29 AM
#GenChat Speaking of gen societies, NEHGS has a Cyber Monday deal. $30 off a new membership. See details at this link.
hubs.americanancestors.org/cyber-monday...
hubs.americanancestors.org/cyber-monday...
#GenChat November and December seem to be the season of renewing my #genealogy society memberships. Some societies run from January to December because it's easier for the volunteers to manage that way. And with some like NEHGS, it just happens to be when I first signed up.
November 29, 2025 at 3:11 AM
#GenChat November and December seem to be the season of renewing my #genealogy society memberships. Some societies run from January to December because it's easier for the volunteers to manage that way. And with some like NEHGS, it just happens to be when I first signed up.
#GenChat Also, recently, there was all this. 👇
I now have two Fire tablets, one big and one medium (the Fire 7, alas, is all dead).
I now have two Fire tablets, one big and one medium (the Fire 7, alas, is all dead).
#GenHour #AncestryHour #Genealogy
Joke of the day: as a lark, I pulled out my old Fire 8 HD and hit the button and it turned on! I charged it up (battery was at 1%!) and it seems to be working fine. 🤞
(Meanwhile, my husband liked the look of the Fire 10 and had bought another one for himself.) 🧵
Joke of the day: as a lark, I pulled out my old Fire 8 HD and hit the button and it turned on! I charged it up (battery was at 1%!) and it seems to be working fine. 🤞
(Meanwhile, my husband liked the look of the Fire 10 and had bought another one for himself.) 🧵
#AncestryHour News of the week (good & bad):
My old Fire tablet died, but just in time to snag a Black Friday deal on a new one. I upgraded from the Fire 8 HD Plus to a Fire 10. Much better for my Kindle Print Replica items, the digital mags from Pocketmags, etc.
My old Fire tablet died, but just in time to snag a Black Friday deal on a new one. I upgraded from the Fire 8 HD Plus to a Fire 10. Much better for my Kindle Print Replica items, the digital mags from Pocketmags, etc.
November 29, 2025 at 3:09 AM
#GenChat Also, recently, there was all this. 👇
I now have two Fire tablets, one big and one medium (the Fire 7, alas, is all dead).
I now have two Fire tablets, one big and one medium (the Fire 7, alas, is all dead).
#GenChat The price increase for ordering wills in England & Wales got me thinking about resuming my #OnePlaceStudy.
I made a to-order list and then ran out of time before I could order very much. 🤦
I made a to-order list and then ran out of time before I could order very much. 🤦
November 29, 2025 at 3:03 AM
#GenChat The price increase for ordering wills in England & Wales got me thinking about resuming my #OnePlaceStudy.
I made a to-order list and then ran out of time before I could order very much. 🤦
I made a to-order list and then ran out of time before I could order very much. 🤦
November 29, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Reposted by Jan Murphy
Dictionaries
Let’s all go around the table and say one word we’re thankful for.
November 28, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Dictionaries
#GenHour #AncestryHour #Genealogy
Joke of the day: as a lark, I pulled out my old Fire 8 HD and hit the button and it turned on! I charged it up (battery was at 1%!) and it seems to be working fine. 🤞
(Meanwhile, my husband liked the look of the Fire 10 and had bought another one for himself.) 🧵
Joke of the day: as a lark, I pulled out my old Fire 8 HD and hit the button and it turned on! I charged it up (battery was at 1%!) and it seems to be working fine. 🤞
(Meanwhile, my husband liked the look of the Fire 10 and had bought another one for himself.) 🧵
#AncestryHour News of the week (good & bad):
My old Fire tablet died, but just in time to snag a Black Friday deal on a new one. I upgraded from the Fire 8 HD Plus to a Fire 10. Much better for my Kindle Print Replica items, the digital mags from Pocketmags, etc.
My old Fire tablet died, but just in time to snag a Black Friday deal on a new one. I upgraded from the Fire 8 HD Plus to a Fire 10. Much better for my Kindle Print Replica items, the digital mags from Pocketmags, etc.
November 28, 2025 at 4:02 AM
#GenHour #AncestryHour #Genealogy
Joke of the day: as a lark, I pulled out my old Fire 8 HD and hit the button and it turned on! I charged it up (battery was at 1%!) and it seems to be working fine. 🤞
(Meanwhile, my husband liked the look of the Fire 10 and had bought another one for himself.) 🧵
Joke of the day: as a lark, I pulled out my old Fire 8 HD and hit the button and it turned on! I charged it up (battery was at 1%!) and it seems to be working fine. 🤞
(Meanwhile, my husband liked the look of the Fire 10 and had bought another one for himself.) 🧵
Reposted by Jan Murphy
These guys are great! I donate every year and may I suggest that some of the crafts they sell on behalf of the elders make great Christmas presents?
Time once again to rep my favorite place for giving: anelder.org - they supply food, firewood and supplies for traditional crafting to Navajo Elders. If you have the cash, please give these folks a hand.
November 27, 2025 at 9:41 PM
These guys are great! I donate every year and may I suggest that some of the crafts they sell on behalf of the elders make great Christmas presents?
Reposted by Jan Murphy
my sweet beautiful babies
November 27, 2025 at 10:57 PM
my sweet beautiful babies
#FigureSkating fans! Since we don't have #GPFigure events to watch until the final next week, I'm thinking of filling in the gap by watching anime today. Yuri On Ice seems like an obvious choice. Does anyone else have a favorite to recommend? Browsing #Cruncyroll now.
November 27, 2025 at 10:42 PM
#FigureSkating fans! Since we don't have #GPFigure events to watch until the final next week, I'm thinking of filling in the gap by watching anime today. Yuri On Ice seems like an obvious choice. Does anyone else have a favorite to recommend? Browsing #Cruncyroll now.
What, the AI editor said "Looks fine to me?" 🙄
Hey @nature.com, have you got an explanation for how the hell THIS happened? & especially why you accepted a paper with such a bizarre piece of genAI slop in it?!
& more to the point, why we should take you seriously at all going forward?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
& more to the point, why we should take you seriously at all going forward?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 27, 2025 at 9:22 PM
What, the AI editor said "Looks fine to me?" 🙄
Reposted by Jan Murphy
Gentle reminder that if you're inviting someone over, either let them bring their own food or prepare something they can eat. And ffs DON'T SNEAK INGREDIENTS INTO THINGS AS A "JOKE." You can literally kill someone.
November 27, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Gentle reminder that if you're inviting someone over, either let them bring their own food or prepare something they can eat. And ffs DON'T SNEAK INGREDIENTS INTO THINGS AS A "JOKE." You can literally kill someone.
#GenHour Genealogical-dot-com is offering a new book on using FamilySearch and I can't help thinking "it's obsolete before it comes out of the box" (see next post)
genealogical.com/store/ultima...
genealogical.com/store/ultima...
Ultimate Guide to Mastering FamilySearch
FamilySearch.com is a vast treasure trove of genealogical sources from North America and around the world containing over 20 billion records with 2.5 billion new records added annually. And, amazingly...
genealogical.com
November 27, 2025 at 8:49 PM
#GenHour Genealogical-dot-com is offering a new book on using FamilySearch and I can't help thinking "it's obsolete before it comes out of the box" (see next post)
genealogical.com/store/ultima...
genealogical.com/store/ultima...
#GenHour Question for everyone but especially the professionals - how do you keep track of outstanding record orders? I long for a project manager program (something like GoldMine, which is designed for salespeople, but for purchasing not selling things).
#GenHour I spent a lot of time double-checking to make sure I was not ordering wills I had already ordered (and re-ordered one on purpose because I could not find my previously-downloaded copy). If I had found my 'to order' list more quickly, I could have ordered more wills. Oh, well.
November 27, 2025 at 8:44 PM
#GenHour Question for everyone but especially the professionals - how do you keep track of outstanding record orders? I long for a project manager program (something like GoldMine, which is designed for salespeople, but for purchasing not selling things).
#GenHour A reminder: if you have subscriptions to an online #genealogy provider, they may have a feature to save searches and send you notifications when new hits are found. Try a few saved searches for your toughest cases and see what you get. They can be quite helpful, especially for newspapers.
November 27, 2025 at 8:41 PM
#GenHour A reminder: if you have subscriptions to an online #genealogy provider, they may have a feature to save searches and send you notifications when new hits are found. Try a few saved searches for your toughest cases and see what you get. They can be quite helpful, especially for newspapers.
#GenHour For anyone doing US research, AmericanAncestors/NEHGS has a Cyber Monday offer for $30 off new memberships.
Or sign up now for a guest membership now to take advantage of free databases and explore the website.
hubs.americanancestors.org/cyber-monday...
Or sign up now for a guest membership now to take advantage of free databases and explore the website.
hubs.americanancestors.org/cyber-monday...
Cyber Monday 2025
Cyber Monday 2025 at American Ancestors
hubs.americanancestors.org
November 27, 2025 at 8:34 PM
#GenHour For anyone doing US research, AmericanAncestors/NEHGS has a Cyber Monday offer for $30 off new memberships.
Or sign up now for a guest membership now to take advantage of free databases and explore the website.
hubs.americanancestors.org/cyber-monday...
Or sign up now for a guest membership now to take advantage of free databases and explore the website.
hubs.americanancestors.org/cyber-monday...