Ethical Genealogy
A guide to responsible research, with practical considerations for the people whose lives appear in your family history.
Download the Guide ↓A thoughtful approach to family history
Follow the clues.
Keep the people in mind.
Family history brings together records, questions, and real lives. Our guides and practical research tools help you keep your discoveries organized and approach the stories you uncover with care.
From our research desk to yours
Good research begins with care.
Start with our free Ethical Genealogy collection. Thoughtful guidance for respecting privacy, seeking consent, and sharing family stories responsibly. No purchase or email signup required.
Ethical Research
Quick Reference
Keep the key reminders close at hand while you research, contact relatives, and prepare to share your findings.
Download the Quick Reference ↓Research Contact
& Consent Log
Keep a record of contact and consent when your research involves living people.
Download the Consent Log ↓For the fillable log, download the PDF and open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader. Use Save or Save As to retain an editable copy. You can also print a blank copy to fill by hand.
Thoughtful guidance for your next research question
Give your discoveries a clearer path.
Family history research brings different questions at different stages. Our two companion collections pair teaching guides with reusable tools, helping you organize what you know and examine the questions that need a closer look.
Beginner Genealogy
Build habits that keep your research connected.
Start with one person and give your discoveries a place to belong. The Beginner System helps you organize people, examine sources, track record searches, and keep research contacts close to your notes. A teaching guide and worked example show how the four research tools fit together.
Includes: User Guide, Person Profile, Guided Source Analysis, Evidence Tracker, and Research Contacts & Repositories.
Explore the Beginner System ↗
Advanced Genealogy
Work thoughtfully through more complex questions.
When records disagree, names repeat, or a trail becomes difficult to follow, a focused question can help you decide what to investigate next. The Advanced Collection brings together tools for brick walls, conflicting evidence, identity, migration, and FAN research: friends, associates, and neighbors. A connected fictional investigation shows how the methods can work together while keeping uncertainty visible.
Includes: A 24-page collection guide and nine fillable worksheet PDFs, delivered as one guide PDF and one ZIP of worksheets. The worksheets provide 14 working pages and include both Identity orientations.
Explore the Advanced Collection ↗Choose either collection independently or use them together. Each collection is sold separately, and individual tools are also available in our Etsy shop. Downloadable PDFs. Nothing will be shipped.
01 | Stay Curious
Leave room for questions.
A record is a starting point. Look closely at what it says, what it leaves out, and where it might lead next.
02 | Keep Connections
Know where a claim began.
Keep your sources close to your notes so you can return to the evidence as your understanding grows.
03 | Research With Care
Remember the people.
Respect privacy and consent as you explore, preserve, and share family stories.
A few helpful details
Do I need the Beginner System before using the Advanced Collection?
No. The collections can be used independently. Beginner focuses on organizing people, sources, searches, and contacts. Advanced focuses on working through more complex evidence questions. Choose the collection that fits your current research, or use them together.
Are the Ethical Genealogy resources really free?
Yes. All three PDFs above are free to download, with no purchase or email signup required.
Can I type into the forms or fill them by hand?
The Research Contact & Consent Log and our beginner working forms are fillable PDFs. Download them and use Adobe Acrobat Reader to type and save. You can also print blank forms to complete by hand. The guide and quick reference are reading resources.
How do I keep an editable copy?
Use Save or Save As in Adobe Acrobat Reader. Keep a fresh blank master to reuse. Avoid Print to PDF when you want to preserve editable fields.