Podcasts about Family Tree Maker

Nicole and Diana interview Rebecca Shamblin, genealogist, speaker, author, and blogger, about turning your family tree into a book. Rebecca gives an overview of her two books, "Leaving a Legacy: Turn Your Family Tree into a Family Book" and "Building a Legacy: A Guide to Combining Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker." The hosts and Rebecca discuss the five phases of creating a family history book: planning, researching, writing, printing, and distribution. They talk about choosing a subject and the technical aspects of the book in the planning phase. In the research phase, they cover using Family Tree Maker and interviewing relatives. For the writing phase, they discuss using the Family Book Creator plugin and its features, such as adding images and creating a table of contents.  In the printing phase, they talk about using Lulu.com and the choices involved in printing. For the distribution phase, they cover pricing, copyright, and selling the book. Listeners will learn how to turn their family tree into a family book. This summary was generated by Google Gemini. Links Review of Leaving a Legacy: Turn Your Family Tree into a Family Book - https://familylocket.com/review-of-leaving-a-legacy-turn-your-family-tree-into-a-family-book/ Producing a Family History Book with Family Book Creator - https://www.rebeccashamblin.com/producing-a-family-history-book-with-family-book-creator/ Introducing "Leaving a Legacy:Turn Your Family Tree into a Family Book" - https://www.rebeccashamblin.com/introducing-leaving-a-legacy-turn-your-family-tree-into-a-family-book/ Family Book Creator Workshop - Winter 2025 - https://www.rebeccashamblin.com/courses/family-book-creator-workshop-winter-2025/ Rebecca Shamblin Speaking Page - https://www.rebeccashamblin.com/speaker/ Rebecca's Facebook Group, "Leaving a Legacy: Researching & Writing Your Family History Book" - https://www.facebook.com/groups/rebeccashamblin Free! Rebecca's Word Template for Narrative Biographies (regularly $4.99) www.rebeccashamblin.com/coupon/likeapro2025 Sponsor – Newspapers.com For listeners of this podcast, Newspapers.com is offering new subscribers 20% off a Publisher Extra subscription so you can start exploring today. Just use the code “FamilyLocket” at checkout.  Research Like a Pro Resources Airtable Universe - Nicole's Airtable Templates - https://www.airtable.com/universe/creator/usrsBSDhwHyLNnP4O/nicole-dyer Airtable Research Logs Quick Reference - by Nicole Dyer - https://familylocket.com/product-tag/airtable/ Research Like a Pro: A Genealogist's Guide book by Diana Elder with Nicole Dyer on Amazon.com - https://amzn.to/2x0ku3d 14-Day Research Like a Pro Challenge Workbook - digital - https://familylocket.com/product/14-day-research-like-a-pro-challenge-workbook-digital-only/ and spiral bound - https://familylocket.com/product/14-day-research-like-a-pro-challenge-workbook-spiral-bound/ Research Like a Pro Webinar Series 2024 - monthly case study webinars including documentary evidence and many with DNA evidence - https://familylocket.com/product/research-like-a-pro-webinar-series-2024/ Research Like a Pro eCourse - independent study course -  https://familylocket.com/product/research-like-a-pro-e-course/ RLP Study Group - upcoming group and email notification list - https://familylocket.com/services/research-like-a-pro-study-group/ Research Like a Pro with DNA Resources Research Like a Pro with DNA: A Genealogist's Guide to Finding and Confirming Ancestors with DNA Evidence book by Diana Elder, Nicole Dyer, and Robin Wirthlin - https://amzn.to/3gn0hKx Research Like a Pro with DNA eCourse - independent study course -  https://familylocket.com/product/research-like-a-pro-with-dna-ecourse/ RLP with DNA Study Group - upcoming group and email notification list - https://familylocket.com/services/research-like-a-pro-with-dna-study-group/ Thank you Thanks for listening! We hope that you will share your thoughts about our podcast and help us out by doing the following: Write a review on iTunes or Apple Podcasts. If you leave a review, we will read it on the podcast and answer any questions that you bring up in your review. Thank you! Leave a comment in the comment or question in the comment section below. Share the episode on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest. Subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcast app. Sign up for our newsletter to receive notifications of new episodes - https://familylocket.com/sign-up/ Check out this list of genealogy podcasts from Feedspot: Best Genealogy Podcasts - https://blog.feedspot.com/genealogy_podcasts/

Send us a textDiscover the transformative journey of Bill Sallurday as he uncovers his Italian roots, tracing his family lineage back to the picturesque village of San Cipriano Picentino. With a passion for genealogy, Bill's relentless research has revealed his family's true surname, Sabato, and connected over 8,000 individuals through a comprehensive genealogical database. His dedication not only reconnected him with his heritage but also earned him honorary citizenship from the village, highlighting the profound impact of his work. Tune in to hear about the unexpected paths and serendipitous moments that genealogy can lead to, from newfound relatives to heartwarming family reunions.Embark on a personal journey through Italy, as Bill recounts his visit to San Cipriano Picentino, a quaint village at the base of the Amalfi Coast. Through social media, Bill discovered a street painting linked to his ancestors' home, unveiling deep familial ties and showcasing the power of digital connections in tracing one's roots. Hear stories of unexpected connections, like a train ride that led to a spontaneous visit to Florence, illustrating how genealogy can bring families closer, bridging distances and generations. Bill's experience emphasizes the importance of community resources like Antenati, and how they can help unearth rich family histories.Explore the practical side of genealogy research with insights into using Family Tree Maker and Ancestry. Discover how to manage databases, identify duplicates, and creatively utilize search strategies to map the geographic spread of descendants. With tools like Steve Morse's advanced search interface, listeners can learn to navigate the intricacies of genealogy, from seeking dual citizenship to expanding their family tree globally. This episode is not just about tracing lineage; it's about inspiring others to embark on their genealogical adventures, enriching their understanding of family history, and connecting with their past in meaningful ways.Wandering SpectatorTurnkey. The only thing you'll lift are your spirits.Farmers and NoblesRead about my research story and how to begin your family research.Italian Marketplace LLCOnline tee shirts, hoodies and more for ItaliansDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showPurchase my book "Farmers and Nobles" here or at Amazon.

In episode #300 of Research Like a Pro, Diana and Nicole discuss the evolution of their genealogy research methodology, Research Like a Pro (RLP), over the years, focusing on past, present, and future perspectives.  Past Developments: Technology: Initially, Diana and Nicole utilized tools like PAF and Ancestral Quest for family trees, Google Sheets for research logs, and Evernote for notes. They also used a lot of paper files and some digital files for organization. Genealogy Methods: Early methods included using FHL book indexes, census research, and writing letters to courthouses. DNA: Diana mentions a Y-DNA study with the Roystons at Sorenson and using Ancestry DNA for the Cox project, and focusing on high-level ethnicity estimates, while Nicole speaks about testing three of her four grandparents. Present Innovations: Technology: Diana and Nicole now incorporate Family Tree Maker, Airtable for research logs, and digital tools like Grammarly and Canva for productivity and images. Genealogy Methods: Modern strategies involve using the FamilySearch Wiki and Catalog, digitized microfilms, hiring researchers for onsite record lookups, and leveraging tax, probate, land, and deed records. DNA: RLP with DNA process is used extensively for client cases, focusing on autosomal DNA, genetic networks, third-party tools like WATO, and further testing in Y and mitochondrial DNA.  Future Directions: Technology: Anticipated advancements include the possible use of Family Historian for tree management, Airtable enhancements with AI, and integrating documents with AI through Notion. Genealogy Methods: They plan to leverage FamilySearch's whole text search capabilities. DNA: Future plans involve expanding coverage with MyHeritage, enhancing Y-DNA and mtDNA surname projects, and employing third-party tools like Banyan for addressing pedigree collapse and endogamy. They also mention the importance of solving brick walls with DNA and confirming ancestral lines. Throughout the episode, Diana and Nicole emphasize the importance of adapting to new technologies and methodologies in genealogical research, while also stressing the significance of responsible AI use, citing specific examples of AI assistance in their work.   Links Ancestry DNA Match Downloader - https://sites.google.com/view/colleyvillegenealogy/member-contributions/ancestry-dna-match-downloader  https://www.usgenweb.org/ https://www.familysearch.org/en/  Family Tree Maker software - https://www.mackiev.com/ftm/ https://www.wikitree.com/  https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/  https://www.grammarly.com/  https://airtable.com/  https://www.canva.com/  https://www.evernote.com/  https://dnapainter.com/tools/probability https://trello.com/ Sponsor – Newspapers.com For listeners of this podcast, Newspapers.com is offering new subscribers 20% off a Publisher Extra subscription so you can start exploring today. Just use the code “FamilyLocket” at checkout.  Research Like a Pro Resources Airtable Universe - Nicole's Airtable Templates - https://www.airtable.com/universe/creator/usrsBSDhwHyLNnP4O/nicole-dyer  Airtable Research Logs Quick Reference - by Nicole Dyer - https://familylocket.com/product/airtable-research-logs-for-genealogy-quick-reference/ Research Like a Pro: A Genealogist's Guide book by Diana Elder with Nicole Dyer on Amazon.com - https://amzn.to/2x0ku3d 14-Day Research Like a Pro Challenge Workbook - digital - https://familylocket.com/product/14-day-research-like-a-pro-challenge-workbook-digital-only/ and spiral bound - https://familylocket.com/product/14-day-research-like-a-pro-challenge-workbook-spiral-bound/  Research Like a Pro Webinar Series 2024 - monthly case study webinars including documentary evidence and many with DNA evidence - https://familylocket.com/product/research-like-a-pro-webinar-series-2024/  Research Like a Pro eCourse - independent study course -  https://familylocket.com/product/research-like-a-pro-e-course/ RLP Study Group - upcoming group and email notification list - https://familylocket.com/services/research-like-a-pro-study-group/ Research Like a Pro with DNA Resources Research Like a Pro with DNA: A Genealogist's Guide to Finding and Confirming Ancestors with DNA Evidence book by Diana Elder, Nicole Dyer, and Robin Wirthlin - https://amzn.to/3gn0hKx Research Like a Pro with DNA eCourse - independent study course -  https://familylocket.com/product/research-like-a-pro-with-dna-ecourse/ RLP with DNA Study Group - upcoming group and email notification list - https://familylocket.com/services/research-like-a-pro-with-dna-study-group/ Thank you Thanks for listening! We hope that you will share your thoughts about our podcast and help us out by doing the following: Write a review on iTunes or Apple Podcasts. If you leave a review, we will read it on the podcast and answer any questions that you bring up in your review. Thank you! Leave a comment in the comment or question in the comment section below. Share the episode on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast app. Sign up for our newsletter to receive notifications of new episodes - https://familylocket.com/sign-up/ Check out this list of genealogy podcasts from Feedspot: Top 20 Genealogy Podcasts - https://blog.feedspot.com/genealogy_podcasts/

News You Can Use and Share! Don't miss the opportunity to win a free MyHeritage DNA Kit. Listen to the MyHeritage ad later in this episode for details on submitting your entry to our raffle. MyHeritage recapped their activities in 2023: 4M DNA kits in their database 9M faces tagged with Photo Tagger 700M historical records added in 366 new collections 320M new Family Tree profiles added 4M MyHeritage and Reimagine mobile app downloaded 19M new Theories of Family Relativity™ New AI tools added: PhotoDater™, AI Record Finder™, and AI Biographer™ 3M photo dates estimated with PhotoDater 26M photos uploaded 2,112 webinars on Legacy Family Tree Webinars 605 articles added to the MyHeritage Wiki George recaps MyHeritage's Historical Record Collections added in December 2023. Drew recaps FamilySearch's 2023 highlights. FamilySearch announced the historic release of the 1931 Census of Canada. Drew shares what to expect from FamilySearch in 2024. DNA Segment Our popular DNA Segment returns with expert Diahan Southard and Drew Smith in conversation about 23andMe. Listener Email Mike writes about genealogy podcasts and the lack of references made to the newspaper research site, Old Fulton New York Postcards website at https://www.fultonhistory.com/ for a collection of New York newspapers and postcard images, and Advantage Archives at https://www.advantagearchives.com/. Sheila writes concerning how to get a “long photo” (30” long x 6” high) scanned and then how to locate software to tag each person's face with their name. The Guys suggest obtaining advice from archivists at university archives and special collections, and state/provincial/national archives, to find out who offer large scanning jobs services. Julie writes to discuss her and her daughter's interesting DNA matches (and non-matches) with another individual on different websites. Dennis's 40 years of collecting data in Germany and Ireland was entered into Family Tree Maker and uploaded to Ancestry. The data seems to have disappeared and he asks for suggestions. He also seeks suggestions about how he and his sisters can/should format the family history they are planning to compile. Laurie writes to ask about the possibility of a researcher being able to bulk-download data from databases such as Ancestry for a specific county. Diana writes to advise us that there is a law in New York state requiring that each county have a county historian to help preserve and promote the history of that county. They can guide you to resources and other organizations. There is a website at https://www.aphnys.gov where you can identify and contact these people. Judy asks for advice and recommendations about sorting potential ancestors who share the same name in a specific area at the same time. Tom has inherited family photos, slides, and negatives from his mother. He is seeking information about scanners to effectively digitize these things. George suggests the Kodak Slide N Scan with a 5” color LCD screen which scans to an SD or SDHS card. Thank you to all our Patreon supporting members for their support. Your Patreon support helps us improve our technology and provide even more podcast content to you! You can join us for as little as $1 a month or as much as you'd like to contribute. Visit https://www.patreon.com/genealogyguys to get started. Please also tell your friends and your genealogical society about our free podcasts, blog, and the Genealogy Guys Learn subscription education website. And don't forget to order Drew's new book, Generation by Generation: A Modern Approach to the Basics of Genealogy, from Genealogical Publishing Company (https://genealogical.com/) or Amazon.com. Please let us hear from you at genealogyguys@gmail.com.

News You Can Use and Share! MyHeritage announces a new, free, searchable collection, Israel Immigration Lists, consisting of 1.7 million records from 1919 onwards, transcribed by MyHeritage from images stored at the Israel Archive. Dr. Wanda Wyporska, Chief Executive Officer of the Society of Genealogists, is stepping down in March 2023 to accept a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at another organization. World Archives has rebranded as Storied and has launched a new, next-generation family history platform at https://storied.com/. The Family History Library has been renamed the FamilySearch Library, and Family History Centers have been renamed FamilySearch Centers. Drew recaps the vast new and expanded collections at FamilySearch from January 2023. Listener Email Dave asks for suggestions about the thousands of genealogy research tasks he has entered into his Family Tree Maker software. He would like suggestions for how to view these tasks on his iPhone and iPad. Donna wants suggestions about methods for how to pay for international genealogical research, and The Guys ask listeners for input. Irene provides tips for Drew on his upcoming Irish research trip. Cindy is researching a friend's Swedish grandfather who emigrated from Sweden to the U.S. She is looking for his origins in Sweden, and has performed extensive research but without success. George suggested MyHeritage's collection of Swedish Household Examination Books and asks listeners for other suggestions. Drew's Upcoming Research Trip Drew discusses a genealogy research trip that he and his brother are making to Ireland in October 2023. He continues to talk about the preparations he is making and will provide more over the coming months. And you can be sure he will report back about how well his preparations served him on the trip. Thank you to all our Patreon supporting members for their support. Your Patreon support helps us improve our technology and provide even more podcast content to you! You can join us for as little as $1 a month or as much as you'd like to contribute. Visit https://www.patreon.com/genealogyguys to get started. Please also tell your friends and your genealogical society about our free podcasts, our free blog, and our Genealogy Guys Learn subscription education website. Let us hear from you at genealogyguys@gmail.com.

Over a decade ago, I produced two large family history books well over 700 pages in length. Then, a man from Denver offered me $30,000 to create one like I did for the Smith Family. The answer to why I turned it down was because the number of hours it took me to finish this family genealogy history was far more hours than what minimum wage would have been on writing the record. Furthermore, I began a significant undertaking and did a genealogy study starting with Adam and Eve in Genesis. There has been a lot written about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and the tragic story of their first two boys. However, much less was said about their son Seth, an obscure Old Testament figure who biblical genealogies demonstrate was an ancestor to some very important people. From Seth, I expanded my genealogy study using Family Tree Maker, which I have been associated with since Day 1 back in the 90s. But, now, let's take a look at what the Bible tells us about Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel so that we understand Seth's connection to God's first human creations. The Story of Cain and Abel While my study is filled with catastrophe, the story of Cain and Abel teaches us an important lesson about living with sincerity. Through their model, we learn how our behaviors and mindsets matter to God. It demonstrates just how devastating sin's consequences can be. It's only through God's mercy that we learn to live with the simplicity and sincerity of God. Not just by human wisdom but by the grace of God. After Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden by God, they decided to begin a family. While the number of children they had is unknown, the Bible tells us that their first two were Cain and Abel, both boys. When they grew older, Cain labored in the pastures, planting and harvesting crops, and Abel became a shepherd. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sidneystjames/message

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://joannedi.wordpress.com/2015/12/11/ancestry-to-retire-family-tree-maker/

It’s true. Just as A.J. Jacobs says, “We’re all cousins!” We’re all related if we go back far enough—which is exactly where genealogists love to go—far enough. Last week we talked trees and I mentioned the metaphorical family tree—with it’s roots and branches and if you’re at all familiar with Ancestry.com, “shaky leaves” but seriously, what is this find your past movement all about and how do you actually get started finding your cousins? My guest, Lisa Lisson takes the overwhelm out of genealogy research. She is an expert researcher with 12-years of practice searching out her own family facts and helping others move forward in finding their ancestors. Lisa talks about starting where you are—right at home with resources that you have easy access to. Then, reaching out to family members and asking the right questions. Don’t worry though before you know it, she’ll have you dealing in official documents and feeling completely comfortable in the basement of the courthouse. Ready to dive in?Let’s start with Lisa’s website, Are You My Cousin? This is where you’ll find a wealth of information and resources—there’s even a FREE e-course if you subscribe to weekly emails. Lisa also has a YouTube channel with dozens of how-to videos and expert guidance. If you just want to follow along and see what this genealogy thing is all about, start by following @areyoumycousin on Instagram. Photo by Jude Beck on Unsplash Lisa also has a special interest and passion for helping her clients FIND photos—especially the older, one-of-kind prints. IF you have questions about this, be sure to reach out to her!During our conversation, Lisa mentioned the following resources …Family Tree Maker and RootsMagic which are both software programs that help you create and build your family tree on your own computer. When you’re ready to share what you’ve created or connect with others who may be working on your same lines, FamilySearch is a major data base with a shared global tree and it’s completely FREE. They host the RootsTech Conference every year. The major subscription based data bases are of course, Ancestry, Find My Past and My Heritage. As a BONUS, here’s a link to Genealogy Bargains, a site that curates the freebies and promos throughout the genealogy industry. I’m one who has up until now, been focused primarily on the family hiSTORY side of this fascinating work, but I think with Lisa’s guidance I could become more confident doing the research too. I invite you to join me in this effort. Just be warned, it’s addicting in the best way possible

What is genealogy? Where do I start when embarking on my own genealogy project? How can my photos play a part of my genealogy project? Join Fiona Staff and Chantal Imbach as they call upon an expert in this area, Caroline Guntur from The Swedish Organizer, to discuss this valuable topic.In this Episode we talk with Caroline and delve into the world of genealogy, with a specific focus on photos (of course)! Caroline’s journey into genealogy started as a teenager with a school project on Family History and the discovery of a steam boat ticket stub, from her great grandparents, when they immigrated back from America to Sweden. She was hooked.We talk about:How to get started on your own genealogy projectHow to stay focussed and not get distractedWhich program (or not) to use to track your projectHow to share your project with family membersTop Tips from Caroline:Start small and keep your focus on one thing.Keep it simple.Start with what you know. . . Yourself!Keep asking one question at a time.Open a document and start writing.Write like a newspaper reported.Links to learn more from Caroline Guntur at The Swedish Organizer:http://www.theswedishorganizer.comhttp://facebook.com/theswedishorganizerhttp://instagram.com/theswedishorganizerLinks discussed in this Episode (no Affiliations):Adobe Lightroomhttps://www.adobe.comFamily Tree Makerhttps://www.mackiev.com/ftm/SmugMughttps://www.smugmug.comForeverhttps://www.forever.comAncestryhttps://www.ancestry.comWe would love to see you over at our Facebook page www.facebook.com/diyphotoorganising and our Instagram page www.instagram.com/diyphotoorganising.If you’d like to learn more about us, go to:www.diyphotoorganising.comFiona Staff’s website: www.photohelper.com.au orChantal Imbach’s website: www.photosinorder.com.auIf you are not in Melbourne, Australia and you need to find a personal photo manager closer to home, please have a look at The Photo Managers at https://thephotomanagers.com to search for help in your area.AuthorFiona Staff and Chantal Imbach

Blog post title: RLP 14: Getting Organized One Paper a Time category: podcast tags: organization, conferences   For today's podcast we are sharing our keynote address from the Tucson Family History Fair on February 2, 2019. We talked about Diana's story of receiving a suitcase full of unorganized genealogy papers from her father and her system of dealing with each paper one at a time. We talked about choosing personal genealogy software, and even compared our favorite programs to cars recommended by my son! Which program do you think we compared to a Tesla? We also shared some ideas for using Google Drive, Bakcup and Sync, and a helpful tip for putting files in multiple ancestors' folders. How do you organize your folders and name your files? We we discuss that also, and even dive into using your papers as evidence, and when it's ok to throw papers away.   Links Tucson Family History Fair 2019 - post about our classes including the presentation slides for "Getting Organized One Paper at a Time" The Suitcase: Getting Organized One Paper at a Time, article by Diana Personal family tree software programs: RootsMagic, Legacy, Ancestral Quest, Family Tree Maker, etc. Google Backup and Sync Google Drive Dropbox Locality Filing System:BYU-Idaho handout - Organizing Genealogical Research and Note Files by Jill Crandall OneNote Evernote Using Evernote for Genealogy Research, article by Diana Create Your Own Genealogy Reference Center with Evernote Evernote Web Clipper Research Like a Pro: A Genealogist's Guide by Diana Elder with Nicole Dyer on Amazon.com   Thank you   Thanks for listening! We hope that you will share your thoughts about our podcast and help us out by doing the following:   Share an honest review on iTunes or Stitcher. You can easily write a review with Stitcher, without creating an account. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and click "write a reveiw." You simply provide a nickname and an email address that will not be published. We value your feedback and your ratings really help this podcast reach others. If you leave a review, we will read it on the podcast and answer any questions that you bring up in your review. Thank you! Leave a comment in the comment or question in the comment section below.   Share the episode on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest.   Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or your favorite podcast app. Sign up for our newsletter to receive notifications of new episodes.

The news includes: MyHeritage announced that its Family Tree Webinars are now closed-captioned. The book There is Something About Edgefield is an Award Finalist in the 2018 Best Books Award in the category of History-United States. We reviewed the book in Episode #339. Congratulations! Findmypast announces a trial of a revolutionary new newspaper search. They also announced records of the Cheshire Diocese of Chester Parish Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials. Scan-a-Thon, a 72-hour scanning marathon, will take place on 11-14 January 2019. For more information, contact Eowyn Langholf at eowyn@wikitree.com. FamilySearch was awarded the PRSA Silver Anvil Award for its historic Freedmen's Bureau Project. Drew recaps the latest in FamilySearch's new images and indexed records. The Guys describe a great evening with Kenyatta D. Berry at the John F. Germany Public Library in downtown Tampa. A review of her new book, The Family Tree Toolkit: A Comprehensive Guide to Uncovering Your Ancestry and Researching Genealogy, can be viewed on the Genealogy Guys Blog 15 December post. Listener email includes: Kudos to George on his post at the Genealogy Guys Blog titled My Parents Married Twice! on 13 December 2018. Thomas commented on the discussion about DNA beneficiaries in Episode #352. Hugh asked questions about RootsMagic's interface with Ancestry.com called TreeShare. Lisa had questions about managing media in Family Tree Maker for Mac. Lili is working on lineage society applications and wants to know specifically how many sources for each fact are required and/or acceptable. Roger asks about DNA testing on a lock of hair from his great-great-grandmother. Betsy is seeking resources about people who went west in the early 1860s to participate in the gold rushes there.

In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss ideas for organizing genealogy papers, documents, electronic files, and more. We'll talk about how to choose a personal family tree software program and how to create backups of your research so they don't get lost or destroyed. Diana is going to talk about her story of receiving a suitcase full of unorganized genealogy papers from her father and how she dealt with that. We'll talk about favorite tools and what which tools we actually use, then ideas for additional methods that others use. Links The Suitcase: Getting Organized One Paper at a Time, article by Diana Personal family tree software programs: RootsMagic, Legacy, Ancestral Quest, Family Tree Maker, etc. Google Backup and Sync Google Drive Dropbox Locality Filing System:BYU-Idaho handout - Organizing Genealogical Research and Note Files by Jill Crandall OneNote Evernote Using Evernote for Genealogy Research, article by Diana Create Your Own Genealogy Reference Center with Evernote Evernote Web Clipper Research Like a Pro: A Genealogist's Guide by Diana Elder with Nicole Dyer on Amazon.com Thank you Thanks for listening! We hope that you will share your thoughts about our podcast and help us out by doing the following: Share an honest review on iTunes or Stitcher. You can easily write a review with Stitcher, without creating an account. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and click "write a reveiw." You simply provide a nickname and an email address that will not be published. We value your feedback and your ratings really help this podcast reach others. If you leave a review, we will read it on the podcast and answer any questions that you bring up in your review. Thank you! Leave a comment in the comment or question in the comment section below. Share the episode on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or your favorite podcast app. Sign up for our newsletter to receive notifications of new episodes.

The news includes: AncestryDNA released new ethnicity estimates for all its DNA users. MyHeritage now supports uploads of 23andMe v5 and Living DNA data files. MyHeritage has partnered with British retailer WHSmith to sell DNA kits in their stores in Europe. RootsTech announces plans for an international RootsTech in London, England, 24-26 October 2019 at the ExCel London Convention Centre. David Rencher, Chief Genealogy Officer at FamilySearch, has been appointed Director of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The Federation of Genealogical Societies announces leadership changes. The Association of Professional Genealogists announces the three winners of the 2018 Young Professional Scholarships. Findmypast has released new Irish records, Wiltshire registers and records, Westmorland registers and records, Nebraska births, Electoral Registers, Jersey German Occupation Identity Cards, and Jersey German Occupation Prosecutions. Drew summarizes the new and updated collections at FamilySearch. As follow-up to the discussion about organizing browser bookmarks on Episode #345, George announces publication of his article, "Use Bookmarks to Cluster Your Resources", in the September 2018 issue of the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly. Listener email includes: Julienne wrote to express how much she enjoyed Drew's interview of Amy Johnson Crow (Genealogy Connection episode #46). Linda replied to Kelly (Episode #349) on the subject of why someone would have a massive online family tree. She explains her extensive research of family from the 1600s and the links she has made to build and successfully research her lines. Teresa asks about genealogy software programs, Family Tree Maker and RootsMagic. Hugh discusses finding vintage photos and secondhand postcards at flea markets and other venues. Judy provides two very important tips for researchers: Don't assume the ethnicity of people who settled an area as you might miss excellent documentary sources. The Library of Virginia has made indices and images of Chancery Court records for many counties available online at http://www.lva.virginia.gov/chancery/. Laura wrote to describe the “mess” she found as a result of DNA testing, particularly with people whose fathers were revealed as not their fathers. She asks about the ethical issues involved with revealing such findings. Listeners are encouraged to share their opinions and experiences.

The news includes: MyHeritage has recently released a new component of its DNA section: Ethnicities Around the World. MyHeritage announces an exclusive offer to Family Tree DNA customers who are not yet MyHeritage subscribers: a 50% discount on the MyHeritage Complete Plan for $125 per year, with a Price-Lock Guarantee for as long as you keep your subscription. The Utah Business Magazine has recognized Legacy Tree Genealogists president, Jessica Taylor, with its prestigious Forty Under 40 Award. The Utah Genealogical Association (UGA) honors Paula Stuart-Warren, CG, FUGA, FMGS, with the Award of Merit. The Genealogical Institute on Federal Research Alumni Association has announced the recipient of the Richard S. Lackey Scholarship for 2018, Linda MacIver of Boston, Massachusetts. Findmypast has added resources to its Suffragette Collection, and new records for its Devon Baptisms, Banns, Marriages, and Burials and for its Yorkshire Banns, Marriages, and Burials collections. The National Genealogical Society (NGS) has named Alison Hare, CG, and Nancy A. Peters, CG, as co-editors of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ), effective with the March 2019 issue. They succeed retiring editors Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL, FASG, FNGS, FUGA, and Melinde Lutz Byrne, CG, FASG. Drew shares updates from FamilySearch's recent records additions. George reviews a new book, Manorial Records for Family Historians, by Geoffrey Barker. (St. Agnes, South Australia: Unlock the Past Publications, 2017) http://www.unlockthepast.com.au/unlock-past-publications Drew reviews a new book, There Is Something About Edgefield: Shining a Light on the Black Community through History, Genealogy & Genetic DNA by Edna Gail Bush and Natonne Elaine Kemp. (Takoma Park, MD: Rocky Pond Press, 2017) Listener email includes: Ricky writes to inquire about MyHeritage.com's content offerings as compared to those of Ancestry.com. Drew responds to emails from Cassandra and Wendy concerning his interview with Angie Bush (Genealogy Connection #36). He first described the DNA Painter tool by Johnny Perl (based on Blaine Bettinger's work) at http://dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4. The tool allows you to enter the shared centiMorgan value from a DNA match and calculates possible relationships. He also clarifies that MyHeritage DNA does provide a notes field, but that this wasn't available when he interviewed Angie Bush. Drew responds to Molly who asked about Angie's comments about a DNA cluster worksheet. Angie responds that the worksheet is an internal company worksheet document. Drew asks listeners to share any information about a similar tool that they might know of. Jenny asks for suggestions to shrink the size of her Family Tree Maker for attached media. Drew refers her to MacKiev and to FTM user groups on Facebook. Marcia asks about the viability of using her Mac for genealogy work with RootsMagic. Robin asks for suggestions about capturing communications in messages on Facebook and making the data available in text formats, including in Evernote.

The news includes: MyHeritage adds a significant collection of New York immigration records (1820-1957) with unique content and using its SuperSearch technology to search the never before indexed data. MyHeritage has made a significant update to its mobile app. Find A Grave will be updating its website with a new interface that improves searching and makes it an effective tool for all mobile devices. The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society led an impressive effort to halt New York's intended stringent limits to birth and death records. They presented a large petition at a hearing on 24 October 2017, and the hearing was attended by a large group who presented arguments against the proposal. The General Register Office in England has launched a pilot program that facilitates researchers ordering BMD records for England and Wales and receive them electronically in PDF files. Findmypast has added records to the Greater London Burial Index, Kent Archdeaconry baptisms, banns, marriages, and burials, some new newspapers, and Britain Registers of Licenses to Pass Beyond the Seas (1573-1677). Drew shares updates from FamilySearch's recent records additions. Listener email includes: Ryan asks whether to record the people's events in his database using the locations as they existed at the time or the current location. Christine asked about the availability of the to-go feature in the Mac version of the RootsMagic software. Donna has acquired an album with photographs and other memorabilia for a Jewish family who lived in New York City and Newark, New Jersey, and some who migrated to Detroit, Michigan. She asks for suggestions for an appropriate repository where these materials can be placed. Margie references the Genealogy Connection interview with Laura Prescott, and reminds us that The Source and Ancestry's Red Book are both available in full-text versions at the Ancestry.com Wiki. Missi in Maine has been listening to older episodes, and she notes that the Frappr website no longer exists. Dawn asks whether she should combine several large family trees into a single tree, and suggestions for the best method. She uses Family Tree Maker software. Laurie asks The Guys to include more content concerning beginning DNA research.

Josie McKade-  Jocie is an award winning, Amazon bestselling author of romantic comedies, humorous mysteries, historical fiction, and non-fiction works.  Besides writing fun fiction, Jocie pens articles for national publications such as Elks Magazine, Family Tree Maker, Dog Fancy, RWA University, RWA Reports, Lake Erie Living, Fate Magazine, Chronicles of the Old West, and Family Motor Coach. The senior news editor for a reader's news blog, she is part of an award winning production team where she writes video scripts, press releases, and blog posts. Plus, she grows amazing tomatoes. About the Series The South is on the rise and the North is on the march in this humorous mystery where Alabama belle Emme Mayson meets Boston proud Jackie Dickson. Two women - complete strangers - summoned by a cryptic letter to Washington, D.C. With  a family history that seems to include spy parents, that fact they may be sisters, a house caretaker that is way more then he appears to be, and an FBI agent that won't quit until he knows who they really are, Mayson and Dickson are going discover where the  Line is Drawn - and cross it.   Sheila English- Writing has always been a dream for Sheila. She’s written plays, journal articles, news articles, copy, scripts, short stories and books.  Living that dream is a passion she follows daily as a script writer, an author and news reporter. We'll be talking about two of her books. Keeper of the Dead, the second book in her Faither Healer's Daughters trilogy and Adam Frankenstein: Short Stories.

The news includes: MyHeritage announces a new feature, SuperSearch Alerts, that repeats previous searches and seeks new results in new and updated collections. Jay Verkler has been appointed as Interim CEO at Findmypast. APG has named Annette Burke Lyttle as the coordinator for the 2017 APG Professional Management Conference. A new website called Open Archives (https://www.openarch.nl/?lang=en) provides access to records (information and scans) of civil registry, church registry, military and personnel administrations kept by Dutch archives. Findmypast has added U.S. Naturalization Petitions and U.S. Passport Applications and Indexes to their site, as well as additions to their English monumental inscriptions collection. Listener email includes: Jean King shares information about her blog for the West Hempstead [NY] Public Library at http://genealogy.whplibrary.org. Jenny wrote concerning Gus' search for sources related to the Settlers of Beekman Patent in New York and advises that the books are available online at the NEHGS website at AmericanAncestors.org (http://www.americanancestors.org). Carolyn asks about moving a GEDCOM-format file from Family Tree Maker to RootsMagic. Ron is researching his Massachusetts ancestors Jeduthan Taber and Mary Pope, and welcomes help from listeners. Arnon Herskowitz advised us that that the Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, an international, peer-reviewed academic journal, has just published a Special Issue on Genealogy & Family History. “This is a huge step in the long journey towards academization of genealogy, and I'm very proud to be part of it as the SI Guest-Editor.” You can read the journal online at http://www.jmrpublication.org (Volume 8, Number 1, via the left menu). The Guys discuss their recent research trip to South Carolina, in particular their visits to five (5) cemeteries and the different goals for visiting each one. They visited the Hal Kohn Memorial Library and its genealogical holdings in Newberry, South Carolina, got together with family and friends, and visited the Carter and Holmes Orchids greenhouses (and bought a couple orchids, too). Visit the Aha! Seminars, Inc., website at http://ahaseminars.com for Our Speaking Schedule and join us at conferences across the United States.

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 188 Highlights from this episode include: RootsTech news and resources for everyone; New records online for Ireland and the United States; Two inspiring emails from listeners who unravel family mysteries with determination, skill and Google sleuthing; Motivating thoughts on organizing your family history research; A  update with more thoughts on the featured title  by Tara Austen Weaver and book recommendations from RootsTech attendees; A critique of a recent NPR article on genetic genealogy by Your DNA Guide Diahan Southard; and A great conversation with Cindy Cochran and Sabrina Riley of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Genealogical Society Library at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. NEWS: Findmypast creates new partnerships During RootsTech, .com announced new partnerships with RootsMagic, Legacy Family Tree, FamilySearch, Family-Historian, Puzzilla, Billion Graves and RootsCity. A press release stated that “Findmypast will make its vast record collection of more than 8 billion records available to customers via these partners. The rollout of these partnerships will begin in 2016, with exact dates to be detailed later….Customers using these various family history products will benefit from having Findmypast's record collection embedded within the actual product in ways that each partner determines will benefit their customers most.” NEWS: More on the Family Tree Maker Roller Coaster On February 2, Ancestry.com announced an agreement with RootsMagic to connect their family history software with Ancestry.com by the end of 2016. Hooray for being able to continue to sync your online tree with your master tree at home in your own control, your own software, where Ancestry says you'll also have access to Ancestry hints and searches. On the same day, Ancestry also announced the acquisition of Family Tree Maker software for both Mac and Windows by a company called Software MacKiev. According to Ancestry, “This new agreement means you will receive software updates and new versions from Software MacKiev, and have the ability to purchase new versions of Family Tree Maker from Software MacKiev as they are released.“ Ancestry hopes to have both these solutions fully functional by the time Family Tree Maker software stops being supported at the end of this year. NEWS: New Genealogy Records Online IRELAND CENSUS RECORDS. MyHeritage.com has added to its site “over  from the 1901 and 1911 censuses [which record every household member]. Both collections are completely free and contain images.”   IRELAND PARISH RECORDS. Findmypast.com subscribers now have access to an  to the National Library of Ireland's free online collection of  from 1000 parishes, with over 10 million baptisms and marriages.    (US) DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH RECORDS. Ancestry.com has added a new collection of  from 14 states and has updated a separate but similar collection of  (1639-1989).   US MARRIAGES. Findmypast has just released an enormous collection of . “Containing over 450 million names from 1650 to 2010…the US Marriages collection will, when complete, include over 100 million records, 60% of which have never been published online before.” A third of the data are already online. NEWS: MyHeritage Audio Recordings : Use to interview relatives right from their profile in your family tree, where you'll now find an audio icon that looks like earphones. Tap it to create a new recording or to access recordings you've previously saved. Listen to the recording anytime, download it to your own computer (which you should definitely do to store as your master file) and share it with anyone who is a member of your family website on MyHeritage.com.   Audio Recordings is free and available on the latest version of the MyHeritage mobile app on the  and .   NEWS: RootsTech Follow-Up Live-streamed RootsTech 2016 sessions by Lisa Louise Cooke: , with top tips and strategies taken from her book The Genealogist's Google Toolbox. The lectures below were streamed live from the Genealogy Gems theater in the RootsTech Exhibitor Hall. Click to watch them: give the video a few seconds to adjust to the proper orientation. by Lisa Louise Cooke, a followup lecture to the one above : this 30-minute lecture was streamed live by Lisa from the Exhibitor Hall. for that lecture.   MAILBOX: Here's the news article Cathy sent in along with her email about learning more about her grandfather's death. Inspired by the Genealogy Gems about Googling for coroner's records to solve mysterious deaths, she went looking for coroner's records online, too. “Well, I still haven't found the Coroners' Records but I did find a couple of newspaper articles - & apparently the body was indeed found on 21st December - but he had been missing since June!” MAIL: Trisha finds Railroad Retirement Board Records (redirects inquiries to The National Archives, which has an entire  dedicated to its Railroad Retirement Board records. Additional railroad history and genealogy suggestions: (see individual chapters)   BACKBLAZE NEWS  article on cloud-based computer backup service: “When it comes to backing up your precious data, investing in an online backup service is one of the smartest things you can do.” However, if you ever DO need to restore your hard drive, it's not so easy to download the massive amounts of files you probably have. The solution has generally been to ship an entire hard drive to a customer, but that can cost $100 or more on top of regular backup service fees. The article gave  two thumbs-up for its new solution: the . It refunds the cost of those hard drives they send you when you return them within 30 days after restoring your data. It's a $99 refund for USB flash drives and $189 for USB hard drives, so it essentially makes this a free service. Other leading cloud-based computer backup services either won't ship hard drives at all or continue to charge large fees for it. Other online magazines-- and —gave similar reports.                     INTERVIEW: Lisa talks to Cindy and Sabrina at Union College Cindy Cochran of and Sabrina Riley of Union College on the What's in their collection? Originals and copies of some government records; some of these exist on microfilm but are not online Local and regional historical materials that meet their own research priorities—they can refer you to other repositories as needed Reference materials and plenty of local expertise!   BOOK CLUB: Update from Book Club Guru Sunny Morton We hope you've gotten to savor by Tara Austen Weaver, the current featured book of the Genealogy Gems Book Club. You'll love her mouthwatering descriptions of food; fascinating insights into gardening; and touching descriptions of how we nurture and harvest our family relationships in ways not so different from gardening. In the next episode of the free Genealogy Gems podcast, you'll hear a snippet of our interview with Tara Weaver in the free Genealogy Gems podcast. Next month, will be able to hear the entire interview with Tara on the Premium podcast. Additional books that were recently recommended at the Genealogy Gems Book Club Open House at RootsTech 2016: by Julienne Osborne-McKnight , a memoir by Paula Williams Madison about the author's journey into her family history, which resulted in a documentary by the same name , a novel by the international best-selling author Kate Morton about a woman who learns a shocking secret about her own past and has to comes to terms with it—a story inspired by Kate's own family history by Sandra Dallas, the story of a midwife in 19th-century Denver, Colorado, in the Rocky Mountain frontier   DNA GEM: Diahan Southard Comments on NPR article Recently NPR published an article entitled “DNA, Genealogy, and the Search For Who We Are.” This sounds like exactly the kind of article that I would want to read, considering that I am, after all, Your DNA Guide. However, after only the first two sentences of this article, I stopped reading. I could already tell this was one of those articles, you know, the kind meant to sensationalize and not to communicate accurate information. I closed the browser page. I just don't have time to read information that is meant to incite, and not to inform. But then I read some comments from some friends that had read it, and then Lisa asked me to review it for you, so I read it in its entirety. It was difficult to get through, even though it wasn't very long. There are just so many things that are wrong with the presentation of this material. Let's take three big ones. First of all, the “facts” are taken out of context. Yes, it is true, your genetic pedigree is not the same as your genealogical pedigree. Your genetic pedigree can only contain a finite amount of information while your paper pedigree can contain limitless amounts. In general, our personal set of genetics will only connect us to half of our fourth cousins, and it is true that if we go back far enough we will have zero DNA from some of our ancestors. The author implies that this kind of incomplete information is unacceptable and should be discarded. What he is missing is that by genetically connecting me to my fourth cousin, that fourth cousin is genetically connected to another fourth cousin, who I might not share DNA with, but through the testing and the genealogical research, I can confidently identify as kin. One of the powers of DNA is that it allows you to create networks with living people who can work together to verify and expand our knowledge of our ancestors.  Secondly, this author claims that DNA testing and traditional research are mutually exclusive. He claims, “…family and family history are one thing, and DNA-based ancestry is another.” I don't think I even need to comment on that. That is just wrong. Genetic genealogy is just one more tool in our toolbox to help us answer family history questions. Before I go on, I think we do need a little perspective about where this author is coming from. As US citizens, many of us have enjoyed the rapid growth and general acceptance of the genetic genealogy industry. The author of this article gained much of his content from sources in the UK. Unfortunately, the UK has seen a stream of less-than-reputable companies hawking genetic genealogy-like products that are frankly a scam. So, from that perspective, caution when entering a genetic genealogy experience should be exercised.   That background knowledge, provided by my colleague Debbie Kennett in the UK made me feel a little sheepish about my initial hostile reaction to the article. But then I read again where the author states, “It is family that matters — and family is relationship, not DNA,” and I am back on my soapbox. Perhaps this author did not pay attention in 7th grade biology. DNA is family. That's how this works. I have heard so many stories from so many of you reporting how it was this very DNA stuff that led you to a discovery about your family. Just yesterday I received an email from a woman who recently reconnected with a relative she found through DNA testing. She said, “Spent a week with Carolyn and her husband out in Colorado this Fall and the time spent together is beyond words.  It is as if we had known each other our whole lives.  But then again on a different level, I am sure we have known each other.” To me, that is a story worth telling, a story that is every bit as real as one that is discovered using only paper research methods. DNA deserves a spot in your family history research. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.   PROFILE AMERICA:  

This New Year's episode is packed with fresh energy and perspective!  We welcome the  to the podcast. Judy takes on a Genealogy Gems listener's fantastic question about the bounty land his War of 1812 ancestor never claimed. Also: The latest on life after Family Tree Maker software; A fresh look at why family history software is still relevant today; New strategies for using Google to answer your genealogical research questions; The new Genealogy Gems Book Club title; Why I'm so excited about RootsTech 2016, which is coming right up; New records online and up-to-the-moment emails with questions, tips and inspiring successes. NEWS: Family Tree Maker Software Discontinued Here's the announcement and my initial comments that reached nearly 30,000 people on Facebook (at press time):   NEWS: New Records Online AUSTRALIA CIVIL REGISTRATIONS. A new browse-only collection of  (1839-1938) is now online at FamilySearch.org. It includes district registers, counterfoils of marriage certificates and some church records. ENGLAND PARISH AND ELECTORAL. Significantly-updated indexes of Kent  and  (both dating to the 1500s!) are now online at FamilySearch, as Lancashire  to 1538 and another collection of  back to 1603 that include Lancashire, Cheshire and Yorkshire. ITALY CIVIL REGISTRATIONS: More indexed images continue to be added regularly to the free collection at FamilySearch.org! for the current list. PHILIPPINES (MANILA) CIVIL REGISTRATIONS: More than have been added to an existing collection of Philippines civil registrations at FamilySearch.org. WALES ELECTORAL REGISTERS. Over 1.6 million indexed names from  for Glamorgan and West Glamorgan, Wales (1839-1935) are now searchable at FamilySearch.org. BONUS AUDIO ON THE APP: BRITISH IN INDIA. Findmypast has published new record collections relating to British overseas travelers, workers and expatriates. The  includes “British people who either lived, worked or travelled in India from as early as 1664 up to 1961 with an index of births, marriages, divorces and deaths compiled by the Society of Genealogists.” There are also new collections from the India Office:  and . DIGITAL BOOKS. A new FREE collection of 150,000 digitized books is searchable at . Among the titles are family, local and military histories; city and county directories; school and university yearbooks and church and congregational minutes.   GEMS NEWS: RootsTech 2016: February 3-6 in Salt Lake City, Utah Here's the schedule for my official RootsTech lectures and those of our regular Gems contributors: Wednesday: 3:00 YDNA Testing for Every Surname in Your Pedigree, Diahan Southard Thursday: 4:30 Proven Methodology for Using Google for Genealogy, Lisa Louise Cooke Friday: 11:00 Soothe Your Tech Tummy Ache with These 10 Tools, Lisa Louise Cooke 1:30 Proven Methodology for Using Google for Genealogy, Lisa Louise Cooke Saturday: 11:00 Soothe Your Tech Tummy Ache with These 10 Tools, Lisa Louise Cooke 1:30 What's Special About US Special Census Schedules? Sunny Morton If you've been to my booth at a major conference in the past few years, you already know about the “Outside the Box” mini-sessions I've presented along with some of my partners in the past. These sessions have been SO popular that people end up lining the walkways around our booth, several deep, crowding the exhibit hall aisles in to listen and sign up for the free handouts. This year, I'm planning an even richer class experience at the Genealogy Gems booth. There will be 20 sessions, some of them shorter and some longer, taught by myself and my dynamic partners at Genealogy Gems and Family Tree Magazine. I have quadrupled the size of our booth so we can invite many more of you to come in, have a seat and hear these sessions in comfort, without having to stand in the aisles. Here are the FREE classes we're teaching at Genealogy Gems booth #1230 in the RootsTech exhibit hall: Remember, if you , you'll save a LOT on registration (you'll pay $169 instead of $249 for the full 4-day event). Come by and say hello at our booth!   GEMS NEWS: “Where I'm From” Winners: Everyone who entered will receive a year of Genealogy Gems Premium Website Membership! In this episode you'll hear Beverly Field's wonderful poem, and you'll hear from more winners in coming episodes. MAILBOX: Where I'm From Picture books by George Ella Lyon recommended by Katharine: Mama is a Miner Come a Tide Cecil's Story    MAILBOX: Family Tree Maker Sue's email: she decided to use family history software and, following my suggestion, signed up for . to read a blog post that answers Charles' question about why not to continue using Family Tree Maker after it “expires.” to read about specials for Family Tree Maker users and what I do with my master family tree. to access Moving your tree from Family Tree Maker to Reunion, for Reunion 11 (for Mac) software, as recommended by Bill to read which family history software I recommend and why for more Family Tree Maker questions and a couple of bonus questions about keeping Ancestry.com subscriptions or transferring to MyHeritage, which does offer free desktop family history software that syncs with its online trees.   MAILBOX: GOOGLE SEARCHING CORONER'S RECORDS to read a detailed answer to Lydia's question on Google searching coroner's records is available through the store on my website at www.genealogygems.com.     INTERVIEW: Judy Russell Robert from Covington, LA wrote in with this excellent question! Here's the full question and an accompanying image: “We have a copy of our great great grandfather's Warrant from the War of 1812. This has never been redeemed. I expect that the time for redeeming has long since expired but can't find confirmation of this anywhere. I have an affidavit from my grandmother dated 1911 stating the grant was lost or destroyed when she was a little girl being raised by her grandmother, the widow of one of the two brothers listed on the certificate. Her husband, one of those two, died before 1850 and therefore his will has no mention of the Land Grant. The certificate I have is a copy of a re-issue by the Commissioner of Pensions dated 1917. From the wording on the note the Commissioner scribbled on the copy he sent, it appears he hand copied the information on file onto a blank certificate and certified the copy.  I have attached a copy of the certificate we have (above) and a copy of what I have been able to fill in for what is not too legible (below). I have blanked out the family names and certificate number since it is not clear to me if it is or is not redeemable and I don't have any control where this information may end up once committed to the internet. My main interest now is whether or not the certificate could still be good or if these grants have all “timed out” and none could therefore still be redeemable. I spent about a half day researching on the internet but could not find any information indicating grants were still redeemable after all this time.” Listen to the podcast to hear Judy's advice about researching laws or statutes relating to our genealogy questions—and to hear how she answered this fantastic question.   Genealogy Gems Book Club: A New Book! by Tara Austin Weaver Tara Austin Weaver's Tea & Cookies blog: Tara's recipe for Orchard House is one part food, one part gardening and two parts family drama, liberally seasoned with humor and introspection. The “book jacket” summary of Orchard House, from the publishers: “Peeling paint, stained floors, vine-covered windows, a neglected and wild garden—Tara can't get the Seattle real estate listing out of her head. Any sane person would see the abandoned property for what it was: a ramshackle half-acre filled with dead grass, blackberry vines, and trouble. But Tara sees potential and promise—not only for the edible bounty the garden could yield for her family, but for the personal renewal she and her mother might reap along the way. So begins Orchard House, a story of rehabilitation and cultivation—of land and soul. Through bleak winters, springs that sputter with rain and cold, golden days of summer, and autumns full of apples, pears, and pumpkins, this evocative memoir recounts the Weavers' trials and triumphs, what grew and what didn't, the obstacles overcome and the lessons learned. Inexorably, as mother and daughter tend this wild patch and the fruits of their labor begin to flourish, green shoots of hope emerge from the darkness of their past. For anyone who has ever planted something they wished would survive—or tried to mend something that seemed forever broken—Orchard House is a tale of healing and growth, set in the most unlikely place.” In March, we'll play an excerpt from an exclusive interview with Tara Austen Weaver in this podcast. will be able to listen to the full interview in March's Genealogy Gems Premium podcast. RootsTech Book Club Open House: Thurs, Feb 4, 10am-11am at the Genealogy Gems booth #1230 in the Exhibitor Hall. Stop by and chat about books or family history or both! Free bookmarks, display copies of featured titles a win chance to win a great Book Club prize just for suggesting a book.   PROFILE AMERICA:

The Guys announce that Drew's new book, Organize Your Genealogy, to be published by Family Tree Books, will be released on 1 July 2016. It is available for pre-order at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. The news includes: · RootsMagic has released an update to its RM7 software to facilitate migration of Family Tree Maker (FTM) data. · MyHeritage offers its Family Tree Builder for PC and Mac with tree-syncing capabilities with their online tree. · MyHeritage announces the addition of a huge and diverse free collection of over 150,000 digitized books relevant to family history. · Findmypast has recently added new materials, including additions to the British Newspapers and a quarterly update to the Periodical Source Index (PERSI). · FamilySearch, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), and the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) have announced exciting milestones in the historic Freedmen's Bureau Project (DiscoverFreedmen.org). · Drew recaps recent additions and updates to FamilySearch. · The National Institute on Genealogical Research has announced that the institute's name was changed on 22 December 2015 to the Genealogical Institute on Federal Records (Gen-Fed) and its website is now located at http://www.gen-fed.org. Listener email includes: · Discussions continue about Ancestry.com's retirement of its Family Tree Maker desktop genealogy software. Opinions are expressed about whether to change to another software program, remain with the existing program, or migrate to a cloud-based family tree facility. The Guys discuss their upcoming genealogical research goals and projects for 2016. They also want to hear about yours!

In this themed episode, George and Drew discuss desktop genealogy software. The episode begins with Drew's quoting from the Ancestry.com announcement about retiring Family Tree Maker. George and Drew discuss what programs they have used over the years, and Drew provides a history of the Family Tree Maker product. Drew and George explain what GEDCOM means and why it is useful, and discuss issues involving syncing of any kind of data. Finally, the Guys make recommendations as to what genealogists can do going forward.

Fisher opens this week's show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org.  David congratulates Fisher on a special award he recently received.  Listen to the podcast to hear what it's about.  David also talks about his ancestral discovery linking Moby Dick author Herman Melville with historian Nathaniel Philbrick, as well as Fisher's wife and David himself!  It all ties into the newly released movie, "In the Heart of the Sea."  David notes that a new Revolutionary museum will be opening in 2017.  Listen to find out where!  David also notes the discontinuation of Family Tree Maker by Ancestry.com, and clues you in on another free user database from NEHGS.David then returns for segment two to talk to Fisher about how genealogy hooked him as a seven-year-old.  Both then provide insight on how you can get your children and grandchildren on fire about family history, and history in general.  Better listen up, because some of these tips have to do with the holidays!Then, self-proclaimed "Jersey Girl," Sue Wynne, talks about an astounding find she made concerning her fourth great grandmother, also from New Jersey.  She'll reveal the sources and how it came to be that her ancestor was viewed upon her death in 1845, and then again four years later!  Only in family history!Tom Perry, the Preservation Authority from TMCPlace.com returns to talk about audio problems after a video digital transfer.  It's a common problem, and Tom has several ideas on things you can do, and things that only professionals can do to save your overall video.  Tom also talks about a "wowy" new 3D printer you'll want to hear about!That's all this week on Extreme Genes, America's Family History Show!

    Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 180 with Lisa Louise Cooke   Welcome to episode 180 of the Genealogy Gems podcast! Today we're talking about big names, like Ancestry and Google and FamilySearch. We're talking about big numbers—the possible price tag for Ancestry at auction—and small numbers: a handheld computer for under $100. We're also talking about road trip tips, an important online Civil War database, a leading Canadian digital archive and EXCLUSIVE tips for using FamilySearch's free digitized book collection, which now tops 200,000 titles. And because I've gotten so much demand for it, I'm sharing tips for backing up your data at Ancestry—not just your tree but your sources and DNA, too. Mixed in with all this news and how-tos is an assorted cast of listeners-with-questions and an inspiring story about long-lost siblings reunited by radio. Let's get started! NEWS Certainly some of the biggest news buzzing around the genealogy world is the possible sale of Ancestry. Reuters that the buyout firm that owns most of Ancestry has hired investment bankers to put the company up for auction. The price tag, they say? Between $2.5 billion and $3 billion. So what could this mean for customers? Of course, it's far too soon to say. Ancestry currently delivers over 15 billion genealogy records to over 2 million subscribers. Their current trajectory includes acquiring even MORE records pretty aggressively, which we love. But as I'm sure we've all experienced at one time or another, though, when any type of company gets sold, things can change. Or we could continue to see business as usual at the shaky-leaf genealogy giant. Mybest advice to those of you whose master family trees are on Ancestry is to download and backup your data. I'm not being alarmist or saying the sky is falling here! This announcement is simply a good opportunity to do something we routinely recommend anyway. I'll have specific advice for downloading your tree, checking your source material and getting your raw DNA from Ancestry later in the podcast. In another piece of news, have you notice that Google is now answering the questions you google instead of just giving you search results with the keywords in your questions? Say you Google the question, “What county is Chicago in?” Google will respond at the top of your search results with a big, fat “Cook County” headline followed by some key facts about the county. Google's also creating a bit of a stir with its new Chromebit; it's a Chrome OS full size computer about the size of your hand, and it plugs into an HDMI on our computer. This sounds like a great option for on-the-go genealogical computing! A lot of folks aren't fully cloud-based and they really don't ever plan to be: they like to work from a hard drive or desktop of some kind. So this offers them a portable way to do that. You could plug in at a public terminal--say at a library--or at someone else's home computer, or even a television so that you could share pictures on a big screen. And best of all the Chromebit is as affordable as it is portable!  reports that Google says the Chromebit will be less than $100! MAILBOX Recently we heard from Jennifer, who is taking a little road trip, as many others of us in the northern hemisphere are contemplating in June. She asks a great question: “I'm tagging along on my husband's thesis research trip to Columbus, Ohio. I have some ancestors from other parts of Ohio. I was wondering what exactly I could look for in a state's capital city's collections and archives? I was thinking that the state capital may have a “gem” that I couldn't find elsewhere, or even duplicated information [from local repositories].” Jennifer is definitely thinking along the right lines! Here's our advice: At the state government level there are often two key resources: the state library and the state archives. These might be combined. One might be called the state historical society. You just have to look for each state. In Ohio, the serves as the state historical society and official state archives. But there is also a that serves as a repository for government documents and a resource for other libraries. Each has resources for genealogists, online and in-house. Look for some links to these in our show notes. In addition, public libraries of major cities often have excellent local history and genealogy collections. This is definitely true of the in Ohio's state capital! We suggest you contact librarians before you go and ask what they have that can't be found anywhere else, both on a state level and for locales you are researching. Often times that will include photograph collections, materials on old businesses, and newspapers on microfilm. If you can formulate specific genealogical questions that you want to try and answer and share those ahead of time with the librarian that will help her guide you toward the unique gems. Every state library and archive is unique, so consulting by phone with the reference librarian is the best way to go. Recently Tom wrote in with a question about a Civil War veterans database: “I've been a listener of your podcast for quite a long time. Great job. (Thanks, Tom!) “We have a grass-roots group trying to locate and document . Is there a good website where I can enter a name and unit identification and get results of the person's [Civil War] service?  I'm having a really hard time finding US Navy sailors.” It sounds like Tom is conducting a very worthwhile project! An excellent resource–but still in progress for sailors with only about 20% of them–is . The site describes its resources as a “database containing information about the men who served in the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War. Other information on the site includes histories of Union and Confederate regiments, links to descriptions of significant battles, and selected lists of prisoner-of-war records and cemetery records.” This is an excellent resource for soldiers. As far as sailors go, the site says, “The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System currently contains [only] the records of approximately 18,000 African American sailors, though additional records will be added in the future. The information in the Sailors Database is derived from enlistment records and the quarterly muster rolls of Navy vessels." A Howard University research team is behind this stellar effort, using muster rolls to fill in missing data or correct apparent misinformation. to an article from the National Archives about African-American servicemen in the Navy during the Civil War. If a Navy ancestor isn't among those already listed, my first instinct is always to turn to Google searches first. I ran a search in Google Books for free digitized books meeting the criteria “civil war” “sailors” and there are some resources there as well. I'll put a link to these results in the show notes. Just one example? , which appears to be a published list of those who served from Manchester, N.H. You can learn more about Google searching for “niche” topics like this in the fully-revised and updated 2nd edition of my book, . Finally, we heard from Alexis with this energetic note about her ”genealogy podcast marathon:” “I just had to email you and say thank you for all you do!  I am 23 and finding that I am obsessed with family history.  No one around me seems to understand why but I love it.  And I was thrilled when I found your podcast!  Though still pretty young, I've been behind on some technologies like podcasts but now I'm addicted to those too.  It makes work so much better. Though I wish I didn't have to work at all so I could just research and apply what you teach us instead. Wouldn't that be great?!  I have been on genealogy podcast marathons. I'm still quite behind on genealogy gems since I just found you now in 2015 but I'm working through it!  And I started a blog of course. I just mentioned you in my last post as well. It's called Geneaholic Confessions at . It's just getting started but I really want to be a part of the geneablogger community ‘cause it sounds like you guys have tons of fun! Thanks for all you do!                 GEM: PROTECTING YOUR ANCESTRY DATA Okay, I promised you some tips for protecting your data on Ancestry, which you should do regularly whether the site is under threat of new management or not. First, download your current tree(s) to GEDCOM files onto your computer. Under the Trees tab, choose Create and Manage Trees. For each tree you have, choose Manage Tree, then Export Tree. At this point the green button should say “Download your GEDCOM file.” Just click on it and it will download. If you're having difficulty, click “download tips” underneath the green button. I've heard that some of you have had difficulty downloading your trees to specific software, like Family Tree Maker or RootsMagic. For Family Tree Maker, read on syncing your updated online tree to your Family Tree Maker software. RootsMagic users should watch on importing your Ancestry tree into RootsMagic. Consult if you still need help. Next, check your sources! The Ancestry help section states, “Any pictures, charts, books, views, or similar items found in the original file will not be included in the [downloaded] GEDCOM. Vital information, notes, and sources are usually retained after conversion.” Check your GEDCOM to see whether your source notes are intact. Then make sure you have copies of documents, videos, photos and other items you may have attached to your tree. You don't want them to disappear, should there be a hiccup (or worse) in service. Finally, if you have used AncestryDNA, download a copy of your raw DNA data. to show you how. We especially recommend this step! These tests are expensive. Tests for loved ones who are now deceased can't be repeated. And Ancestry when the company has switched directions. (Again, I'm not trying to be alarmist about this, just cautious.) If you have relied on Ancestry or any other cloud-based service to host your only or master family tree, I recommend you do some homework and consider keeping your master tree on your own computer, and a backup file with all your other backup files. We here at Genealogy Gems use Backblaze as our backup service and we love them (visit for more information).           GEM: TIPS FOR USING FAMILYSEARCH'S DIGITIZED BOOK COLLECTION So here's another tip for you. Google Books, which I mentioned before, isn't the only place to find digitized family history books online. Another free and growing resource is .  They've reached a milestone 200,000 titles! This collection began 8 years ago and includes "family histories, county and local histories, genealogy magazines and how-to books, gazetteers, and medieval histories and pedigrees,” according to the landing page. Digitally-archived volumes like these are so valuable because they are immediately accessible and because they are keyword-searchable. Here are three search strategies to use for these: ·         Look for only a surname (in case the first name is written different ways or a different relative is mentioned). ·         In addition to surnames, search for the name of a neighborhood, street, church, school, business, type of work or other keywords that pertain to your family. ·         Use the Advanced Search feature to focus your search, like for a keyword in a title, or a type of publication like a periodical. Once you're reading a book, you can click on the info icon (a circle with an “i” in it on the upper right) to see more information about the book, including source citation and copyright information. We were curious about how well FamilySearch's digital book Viewer interfaces with mobile devices. So we asked FamilySearch. Turns out, this is still a work in progress and in fact some browsers work better than others. Dennis Meldrum at FamilySearch told us that “Safari does not work well with the Viewer.” Neither do mobile devices like the iPhone or iPad. “The Viewer works best with IE or Firefox. It also works with Chrome, but the Adobe Tools do not work. We are aware of the limitations of the Viewer and are working to replace it by the end of the year." GEM: CANADIANA DIGITAL ARCHIVE Speaking of digital libraries and archives, I've got a great one to share with you. If you have Canadian roots, you should be searching Canadiana () regularly for family history information. Recently described Canadiana as “a digital initiative of extraordinary scale,…a joint effort of 25 leading research institutions, libraries and archives working together with the goal of creating Canada's multi-million page, comprehensive online archive.” Its digital collections chronicle Canada's past since the 1600s and most of its content is free. For example, the free “aims to digitize, preserve and make accessible Canada's archival materials for Canadians and the world." Their large collection of genealogy materials so far includes immigration records, church records, land records, family histories, voters' lists and more. Military history, government documents and aboriginal records are also well-represented. Check back often! More is coming, like and records of the Another part of Canadiana is . This gateway to digital collections from 40 repositories points to 65 million pages! Sample subjects include  Ontario genealogy and War of 1812 campaigns. This portal is also free to use. One part of the site that's awesome but NOT free? , with 5 million images already and expected to grow to 16 million. A subscription will run you $10/month or a year for $100, says that site, I'm assuming in Canadian currency. This is “a full-text collection of published documentary material, including government documents and specialized or mass-market periodicals from the 16th to 20th centuries. Law, literature, religion, education, women's history and aboriginal history are particular areas of strength.” The site describes itself as “the most complete set of full-text historical content about Canada, including books, magazines and government documents.” Tip: scroll down on the home page to click the Genealogy and Local History portal, but don't ignore the rest of the site! GENEALOGY GEMS BOOK CLUB This month we feature a meaty excerpt from our interview with Nathan Dylan Goodwin, author of . Genealogy Gems Premium subscribers can access the full interview in this month's podcast episode. He tells us how he got started; we talk about the plot and characters and the challenges of creating genealogical mysteries with dangerous consequences for the present and more!   DNA GEM: INTEGRATING GENETICS AND GENEALOGY TOOLS Our very own Diahan Southard, Your DNA Guide, joins us now. She talks about how the ideal genetic genealogy interface creates a seamless transition between genetics technology and genealogy research. AncestryDNA, she says, is really pioneering the integration with its newest product update. Read more about it PROFILE AMERICA Here's a this-month-in-history from . Ninety-one years ago this June, "Congress passed — and President Coolidge signed — the Indian Citizenship Act, which stated 'all noncitizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby declared to be, citizens of the United States: Provided that the granting of such citizenship shall not in any manner impair or otherwise affect the right of any Indian to tribal or other property.' "Prior to this act, about two-thirds of American Indians were already citizens by other provisions. Universal voting rights lagged until 1957, as various state laws were amended. Today, there are over 2 million single-race American Indians possessing this full citizenship and 566 federally recognized tribes." Wow, I had no idea there were so many federally recognized tribes! I close today with a story Contributing Editor Sunny Morton recently read about long-lost relatives who were reunited. We hear lots of stories like that now, relatives who rediscover each other online or through DNA tests. But this story happened in 1926! Sunny found the story in a newspaper article. The children of a man named Alonso Jones were sitting around one day listening to the radio. Then they heard the announcer say, "Alonso Jones, wherever you are, listen...Your sister wants to see you at Worthington, Ohio. She has not seen or heard from you in forty years. You were born at Antiquity, Meigs County, Ohio, at the time of the Civil War...." "You were reared by Captain William Roberts, an Ohio River flat boat man. You went with him on a produce boat when you were a boy and ran away while the boat was lying at the bank in Arkansas." The article reports that the man telegraphed his sister and arranged to meet her. All because she'd had a dream that the radio could help her find her brother, and she tried it, and it worked. What an inspiration! It reminds me of the value of thinking outside the box, of using all available technologies, and of never giving up when we are looking for family. Forty years after she lost her brother, she still thought of him, and she finally figured out how to find him.  Click below to visit our YouTube channel: