If you’ve ever wondered “What am I missing?” or “Where do I look next?” when researching an ancestor, this session is for you.

In this updated 2026 version of Connie Knox’s Research Plan Checklist, she’ll walk us through a gap-driven approach to genealogy research—one that reflects how genealogists actually think, rather than forcing records into rigid categories. Instead of organizing research strictly by record type or repository, this checklist helps you identify what part of an ancestor’s life is undocumented and what types of records might help fill those gaps.

You’ll learn:

• How to use a checklist as a research planning tool, not a to-do list
• Why some records—especially church records and newspapers—appear in multiple sections
• How to think beyond civil records, particularly for earlier time periods
• How to spot missing census, military, land, church, or migration evidence
• How newer tools, including FamilySearch Full Text Search, can open doors to records you may have never searched before

This checklist is designed to be used repeatedly, one ancestor at a time, and adapted to different time periods and locations. You are not expected to find every record listed—its purpose is to guide your thinking, spark new ideas, and help you move forward when research stalls.

Also, when should you actually order genealogical records like birth, marriage, death, land, or military files? In this second session, professional genealogist Connie Knox.

explains when it’s worth paying for original records, when to look for free alternatives, and how to decide if a record will truly advance your research.

You’ll learn how to:

• Evaluate whether a record answers your research question
• Find free or low-cost records on FamilySearch, state archives, and county websites
• Use the FamilySearch Research Wiki to locate record availability by state and county
• Identify when ordering originals (like the Social Security SS-5 form) is worth the cost
• Recognize clerk copies vs. true originals
• Save money and research smarter

If you’ve ever wondered when it’s worth ordering the real record instead of relying on indexes, this session will help you make confident, informed choices and keep your genealogy budget under control.

Come join us at our May monthly meeting, where we will watch these two videos together and then do breakout room discussions about what we’ve learned. What was most interesting/valuable? Have you purchased records before? When and how could you start incorporating this checklist into your own research?

While Connie won’t be with us in person to present, she loves that we’ll be watching and learning! And for those who are interested, you can purchase her two handouts to accompany this video from her website for $5.00 (Checklist) & $2.00 (Order). Since the video will be available for any number of re-watches on YouTube, you can forgo the handout purchase and pause, rewind, and rewatch as much as you want!