The society's 2026 genealogy all-day seminar takes place on Saturday, Feb. 28, at Largo Public Library, 120 Central park Drive. The seminar, which starts at 8 a.m., includes sessions on: Same Name Evidence Analysis; Ancestors Lives in Small Bites; breakout topics on Internet Archive and Befuddled by the Records?; Practical Approach for AI, and Elusive Southern Ancestors. Save $10 by registering by Feb. 17. Additionally, PGS member registration fee is $10 less than non-members

RootsTech by FamilySearch runs from March 5-7 and you can still register for FREE for the virtual event, which includes over 500 classes to choose from. You can see the full schedule here and add the classes you want to view to your online schedule. Click a day, select Online for how to watch, click the plus sign (+) next to the class you want to add and if you haven't signed into your FamilySearch account, it'll prompt you to do so and your schedule will be saved. Classes

Dr. Serafima Velkovich, head of the Family Roots Research Section at Yad Vashem Archives will speak at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 8, at The Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg. Her talk will be about how family memories can help families reconstruct their sense of belonging and identity through stories passed down across generations, fragments of documents. "In the aftermath of the Holocaust, when so many lives and entire communities were destroyed, family memory became

Gesher Galicia has added searchable summaries of Jews prosecuted by the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD), the Soviet agency overseeing internal security and political repression in the USSR. From Gesher Galicia: These files cover arrests by the NKVD between September 1939 through 1941, with the content of the files extending further through interrogations and deportations to labor camps. The additions bring the total number of records to 3,700. Records includ

Yad Vashem has recovered the names of five million Jews of the six million murdered in the Holocaust new technologies like AI and machine learning. There are still an estimated one million names of Jewish victims who are unknown and many will likely remain so forever.  The names are compiled in Yad Vashem's  Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names .

In his Halloween edition of his blog "AI Genealogy Insights," Steve Little, AI Program Director for the National Genealogical Society, offers 16 AI prompts designed to "to conjure better AI responses."  Overall headings of these prompts are analysis, condensation, meta-prompts, specialized and advanced. Little points out what we all have to remember about using artificial intelligence: "Remember: AI is a tool, not a truth oracle." Get his prompts here . Check out his AI Gene

Get Artificial Intelligence links, Facebook group links and more in the Research Resources portion of the Members Only section of this website. Not a member but want to take advantage of these links? Join here .

Family Tree Maker Genealogy Community Ambassador Mark Olsen will showcase the latest edition of Family Tree Maker at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 9, at Riverview Public Library, 9951 Balm Riverview Road. Olsen will give interactive demonstrations and have a Q&A session highlighting the software. Registration is not required. The event will take place in the James B. Jim Johnson Community Room 109 A & B. For more information, click here .

Registration has opened for RootsTech 2026, which will be held in Salt Lake City from March 5-7.  In-person, early bird prices are $99 for a three-day pass (standard price is $129) and $69 for a one-day pass. Online registration remains free. Hosted by FamilySearch, classes  will include Avoiding Research Pitfalls; Finding Records Using the Resources on FamilySearch 2026; Effective Search Strategies on FamilySearch; Seeking the Identity of Unknown Parents; Arriving at the Por

Joe Supan, a senior writer for CNET, warns people about AI-generated obituaries and websites in a piece on the CNET website headlined "Digital Grave-Robbing: How AI Is Plundering Online Obituaries." Even if services like Google eventually weed them out, genealogists might have already fallen victim of the made-up obits and incorporated fake info into thei research. You can read the piece here .

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay was featured in the April 28-May 11 Pinellas edition of the Jewish Press of Tampa Bay. Read the story here . An updated version of the story was printed in the Aug. 18-31 Tampa edition. Read that story here .​

Ancestry recently added two new data sets using data from Arolsen Archives that document Holocaust survivors. Lara Diamond explains the positives of accessing the information through Ancestry (no subscription required) as well as tips for using it. Read her blog post here .

From the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services: On July 18, 2025, USCIS announced new fees that took effect in August 2025. See:  https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/g-1055_0.pdf .  ​ G-1041A, Genealogy Records Request:   https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/g-1041a.pdf ​ Go to: Genealogy Index Search Request   https://www.uscis.gov/g-1041 ​ G-1041 Genealogy Index Search Request ( https://www.uscis.gov/g-1041 ) General filing Paper

The Center for Jewish History has shared its video of a June 9 presentation by  Jenny Rappaport, the center's head genealogist, on interpreting DNA results for Ashkenazi Jews. Among the topics covered: How endogamy affects DNA matches, Ancestry DNA match hints, matches that look closer than they are, techniques to analyze endogamous DNA results without a chromosome browser, methods to sort DNA matches and other tools to analyze matches. You can watch the free video here .

JewishGen has announced its summer update to the JOWBR (JewishGen’s Online Worldwide Burial Registry) database. The update is being done in 2 parts.  You can access the database here and see a complete listing of cemeteries in the database here . JewishGen recommends that if you’re new to the database, you first  go to its screencast page  and take a look at the first two explanatory screencasts. ​More from JewishGen:  This update, adds approximately 560,000 new records and 4

JewishGen has updated its Memorials & Plaques Database, which includes the data from memorial plaques and Yizkor lists from synagogues and other memorials and lists. The database can be accessed here .  Approximately 4,300 records and 4,000 photos from 29 new organizations/memorials were added from Algeria, Colombia, France, Israel, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Tunisia, Ukraine, and 7 states in the US; Connecticut, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New York,

Added to our website's list of Research Resources in the Members Only section is a link and more information on a searchable database of Polish children who signed a "Declaration of Admiration and Friendship for the United States." Children of all religions participated, including Jews with Ukrainian, Polish, and Czech children's names.

During June's JGSTB meeting, Curt B. Witcher, of Fort Wayne’s Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center gave an overview of its available resources to enhance  Jewish genealogical research. You can find his handout here .

Following the JGSTB's May 18 presentation on Jewish Genealogy and Artificial Intelligence, two files have been added to the Members Only  section of our website. The files, one with links and prompts from the presentation, and the other about what each of five AI programs can help you with in your genealogy work, can be found under Files. Not yet a member? Join here  to take advantage of those and other documents from presentations, as well as a comprehensive list of hyperlin

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 100 into law, allowing Georgia-born adoptees over the age of 18 to secure copies of their original birth certificates from the state’s Office of Vital Records. The law takes effect on July 1. Read more here .