By Gary Katz
Professional Genealogist & Genetic Genealogy Researcher
Every family has its stories. Some are lovingly passed down through generations — tales of migration, resilience, and survival. Others are whispered, half-remembered, or simply lost in time. As a professional genealogist, my work begins where family memory ends — and my goal is to turn curiosity into clarity and scattered facts into well-supported histories.
I’ve traced families across oceans, confirmed whispered rumors of name changes, and uncovered entire branches hidden for generations. Over time, I realized that even the most complex cases follow a familiar rhythm — one that blends evidence, intuition, DNA, and collaboration.
That rhythm became the backbone of what I now call my Evalu8 Genealogy Workflow.
It’s a methodical yet flexible system that guides both traditional research and genetic genealogy (DNA analysis). Evalu8 reflects how discoveries really happen: one question leads to another, one record unlocks the next, and one unexpected DNA match can reframe an entire family story.
⭐ The Evalu8 Workflow of Professional Genealogical Research
Evalu8 is my signature genealogical workflow system. What makes it unique is its flexibility. You can run it linearly when building or repairing a family tree — or non-linearly when diving into a complex puzzle, following a DNA lead, or testing a family story. Each objective stands on its own, yet together they create a complete 360° approach to modern genealogy.
Most genealogy isn’t linear.
Your framework shouldn’t be either.
Evalu8 adapts to the researcher, the question, and the evidence.
🌿 1. Building the Tree Foundation
Goal: Establish a reliable, evidence-supported base that every later discovery depends on.
Begin by grounding yourself in what’s already known — or thought to be known. Conduct interviews with older relatives and branch genealogists, collect oral histories, and build out a foundation tree using tools like Ancestry, FamilySearch, MyHeritage, Geni or WikiTree.
This foundation tree is more than a chart of names; it’s a working hypothesis, ready to be strengthened or corrected as new evidence emerges.
This is the moment clients love: when vague family memories begin to take shape as real, documented history.
📜 2. Verifying the Family Chronicle
Goal: Transform family lore into documented, evidence-based history.
Family stories often mix truth, assumption and embellishment. Verification is where hypotheses become history. This stage includes confirming ancestors’ vital events through:
Birth, marriage and death certificates
- Censuses and residence records
Immigration and naturalization files
- City directories and newspaper archives
Personal papers and cemetery inscriptions
👥 3. Surfacing Living Cousins
Goal: Expand the research network and uncover privately held family materials.
The living can often illuminate the past. By identifying and connecting with cousins and descendants of collateral lines, you can gather new information, photos and documents long hidden in private albums or attics.
Social media, people-finder databases and respectful outreach reveal branches of the family tree no one realized still existed.
This stage requires diplomacy as much as data — and it often pays off in remarkable ways.
🧩 4. Experimenting with Big Puzzles
Goal: Test hypotheses creatively while maintaining rigorous documentation.
Some mysteries resist straightforward methods: unknown parents, inconsistent records, mid-century name changes, shifting borders.
Here, you build experimental tree branches — hypothetical structures that test theories without prematurely committing to them. Tools like:
Ancestry ThruLines
MyHeritage’s Theory of Family Relativity
…help generate possibilities while keeping unverified hypotheses clearly labeled.
This experimental mindset keeps research agile, curious, and open to surprise.
🧬 5. Deep Diving into DNA
Goal: Use genetic evidence to confirm, refine, or challenge existing paper trails.
DNA has revolutionized genealogy, offering clues that can validate generations of research — or overturn long-accepted assumptions. Using autosomal, Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA across platforms like:
AncestryDNA
23andMe
MyHeritage DNA
FamilyTreeDNA
GEDmatch
You analyze match clusters, inheritance patterns, and chromosome maps to identify likely common ancestors.
Genetic genealogy is both science and art — interpreting centimorgans, mapping triangulated segments, and using tools like DNA Painter or Genetic Affairs to visualize biological connections that paper records alone can’t reveal.
📝 6. Publishing for Posterity
Goal: Transform research into lasting, shareable work that attracts collaboration.
Good research deserves to be shared — and preserved. Publishing can include:
Narrative reports
Ancestor biographies
Family trees and GEDCOM uploads
Visual charts and storybooks
Digital scrapbooks or “family story” PDFs
Publication doesn’t just honor the past. It helps future cousins find you, and it closes the loop between evidence, analysis, and storytelling.
🤝 7. Connecting the Dots Through Collaboration
Goal: Multiply discovery potential by tapping into the broader research community.
Genealogy is not a solo sport. Members of genealogical societies, regional groups, surname projects, and DNA clusters often hold pieces of your puzzle. Working with others researching the same surnames, towns or families accelerates discovery and deepens context.
From JewishGen SIGs to Geni collaborative trees, shared research broadens what any person can uncover alone.
🔎 8. Hunting for Random Nuggets
Goal: Spark breakthroughs through creative, nonlinear exploration.
When you hit a brick wall (or simply need inspiration), this is where serendipity takes over. Search laterally:
Neighbors and in-laws
Old newspapers and yearbooks
Memorial plaques
Local archives and obscure databases
Foreign-language search terms
Some of the most satisfying discoveries happen here — when a stray clue suddenly unlocks a long-stubborn mystery.
⭐ A Philosophy of Evidence, Curiosity, and Connection
These eight objectives form a dynamic, integrated workflow — not a strict sequence, but a living cycle. New DNA evidence may send you back to verification; a newly discovered cousin may require revisiting your foundation tree.
What binds it all together is a commitment to evidence-based storytelling:
Start with what’s known
Test what’s assumed
Document what’s proven
Share what’s discovered
Genealogy is more than collecting names. It’s about understanding people in context — their migrations, choices, hardships and triumphs. DNA and digital tools have expanded what’s possible, but the heart of genealogy remains the same: curiosity, empathy and persistence.
📚 What’s Ahead in This Series
In the upcoming articles, I’ll explore each objective in depth, including:
How to structure your tree for long-term reliability
How to evaluate evidence across record types
How to connect meaningfully — and ethically — with DNA matches
How to collaborate and publish in ways that attract new discoveries
Whether you’re a hobbyist ready to professionalize your process or an experienced researcher looking for new strategies, this series will help you work more effectively — and enjoy the detective work along the way.
Because in genealogy, the past isn’t behind us.
It’s alive in every record we find, every cousin we meet, and every story we bring back to life.
👉 Next in the Genealogy Workflow:
Building the Tree Foundation: How to Turn Family Stories into a Solid Research Base
If you’d like to follow along, I occasionally share research insights, case studies, and workflow notes in my Roots Roundup email list.
If you’d like to follow along as I continue this work, I occasionally share notes and reflections in my
Genealogy Gary Roots Roundup
.
If you’re facing a complex research question and want help clarifying what the evidence actually supports, the best place to begin is with a focused assessment.
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