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Quick Update on AI “Reasoning” Models
Checking the Accuracy of Grandma's Age in the Census
Checking the Accuracy of Grandma's Age in the Census
by Steven Little
The AI-space has been ablaze with news about “reasoning” models since the release of DeepSeek’s reasoning model “R1” (which grabbed attention for its: 1) strength; 2) non-US origins; 3) open-source availability; and 4) cheap access). Now, as OpenAI releases their next reasoning models – “o3-mini” and “o3-mini-high” – it’s worth understanding what this “reasoning” buzz is all about...
Oversimplified, a “reasoning” model takes a few moments to refine its response before it gives you an answer...it’s as if the model, before providing its response, asks itself if it understands the intent of your prompt, thinks things through “step-by-step,” and reconsiders its response and revises it, all before responding to your prompt. You experience this “reasoning” during use when you see the chatbot taking from a few seconds to a few minutes before responding to your prompt–seriously, reasoning models do not excel at back-and-forth conversation.
Source: aigenealogyinsights.com
Checking the Accuracy of Grandma's Age in the Census
Checking the Accuracy of Grandma's Age in the Census
Checking the Accuracy of Grandma's Age in the Census
by Gena Philibert-Ortega
Imagine you’re researching the U.S. census and you find your grandmother – but her age seems off. In each census she is listed as younger than she should be. She’s not 10 years older than the previous census, but may be only 5 or 8 years older. Or maybe she’s listed as older than she really is. What gives?
The usual answer I see posted on social media is that grandma was vain and wanted people to believe she was younger or older than she really was. That might be true, but let’s analyze that answer for a moment.
There are actually three ways you could answer the inconsistencies in grandma’s age listed on the census:
(1) She wanted people (like a new husband) to believe that she was a different age.
(2) She (and her family) didn’t really know how old she was.
(3) That’s not your grandma.
Source: GenealogyBank.com
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Checking the Accuracy of Grandma's Age in the Census
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the successor agency to the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS), which, along with its predecessors, dealt with immigration and naturalization for most of the twentieth century. In addition to providing immigration and citizenship services today, USCIS maintains millions of historic records on immigrants and citizens. A Genealogy Program was created in 2008 with the goal of helping researchers gain easier and quicker access to these records...
The USCIS Genealogy Program provides copies of files in response to Genealogy Record Requests submitted online or by mail (G-1041A). All file copies are from the five series of records listed below.
- Naturalization Certificate Files (C-Files), September 27, 1906 to March 31, 1956
- Alien Registration Forms (Form AR-2), August 1940 to March 1944 - As of May 17, 2024, all AR-2’s are available through NARA.
- Visa Files, July 1, 1924 to March 31, 1944
- Registry Files, March 1929 to March 31, 1944
- A-Files, April 1, 1944 to May 1, 1951
Read two articles to learn more about the USCIS Genealogy Program here and here.
Sources: USCIS and Recordsnotrevenue.com
Improve Your Genealogy Research Success
Understanding Double First Cousins in Genealogy
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Learn how locality guides can significantly improve your genealogy research success.
by Todd, of Legacy Tree Genealogists
As we journey to discover our ancestors, we often find ourselves researching in unfamiliar places. It's tempting to jump right in and gather whatever information we can. However, this is not necessarily the most efficient way to start research in a new area, especially if it's an area where we will be conducting a lot of research. Creating a locality guide can keep us organized, save time, and uncover valuable resources we might not have otherwise known about.
A locality guide is a comprehensive overview that contains information for researching a specific locale. Whether your focus is on a single county, state, or even a foreign country, a locality guide provides essential background information and directs you to the best resources for finding your ancestors. It is essentially a roadmap for your genealogical journey in a particular place.
A well-constructed locality guide will typically contain:
- Historical background about the area
- Information about jurisdictions, boundary changes, and other local nuances
- A rundown of available records (both online and offline)
- Links to relevant online resources
- A directory of local repositories, archives, and libraries
Source: Legacy Tree Genealogists
Understanding Double First Cousins in Genealogy
Understanding Double First Cousins in Genealogy
Understanding Double First Cousins in Genealogy
by Nancy Ayres
The term “double first cousin” sounds like something out of a complicated family tree puzzle. But it’s real, and more common than you think. This unique relationship raises eyebrows and questions about everything from shared DNA to family gatherings.
Want to know if sharing grandparents with the same couple is as weird as it sounds? We’ve prepared everything you need to know about this fascinating familial bond...
Double first cousins share both sets of grandparents. Let’s say your mother had a sister and both of them married two brothers. Then, you and your aunt’s kid would be double first cousins.
...Double first cousins share a distinct genetic signature compared to regular first cousins. While regular first cousins inherit genes from two shared grandparents, double first cousins inherit DNA from all four. This difference is crucial for accurate interpretation...
Because there is one less set of grandparents in a double first cousin relationship, there is less information to find when taking your family tree back another generation. This allows for more in-depth research into known ancestral lines.
Source: MyHeritage Blog
Using Published Genealogies and Local Histories
Understanding Double First Cousins in Genealogy
Understanding Double First Cousins in Genealogy
Following Footsteps: Using Published Genealogies and Local Histories by Juliana Scuzs
Published family genealogies, biographies, and local histories have been at the heart of many a debate among family historians. To use or not to use, that is the question.
Published family genealogies and histories are the product of research gathered by the author(s) and compiled into a book. Often, they focus on a particular set of forebears in a family and document lines of descent from them. Others may focus on the ancestry of famous figures, and some will also go back to the furthest documented ancestor and then back down the descendants of that ancestor, including many distant cousins of the subject.
Local histories document the history of a location, typically a county or city/town, but sometimes also regions, states, valleys, etc. Biographical details on prominent residents and early settlers were often included. In the US, many of these publications were created around the time of the centennial as part of the celebrations. Notable connections to Revolutionary War heroes may feature prominently, while some relatives may have been omitted for various reasons...
But the veracity of these secondary sources can be questionable. County and local histories are often referred to as “brag books,” because they were a chance for descendants to boast of their famous connections.
Source: NGS.org