Pinal County Workshop Report: There were nearly 200 in attendance, and it seemed as if all classes were well received. The committee meets today to discuss evaluations and begin planning next year's event!
Germanic Genealogy Journal: Did you visit the "freebies" room at the workshop? I picked up a stack of these journals produced by the Germanic Genealogy Society based in Minneapolis. These publications are very well done with articles on all facets of German research. As soon as I finish reading them, I'll be sharing them at our workshops.
Legacy Weekly Webinar: Nicka Smith will be presenting "Photography for Genealogy" on Wednesday, February 1. This is a beginner class where you will "learn the basics of photography and ways you can creatively incorporate it into your existing genealogy or family history project." Visit www.familytreewebinars to register to watch in real time. Remember that these webinars are free to view for about a week following the original presentation.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Monday, January 30, 2017
RootsTech 2017
RootsTech is an annual genealogy conference that used to concentrate on the technical aspects of genealogical research. This year the conference is scheduled for February 8-11 in Salt Lake City. There are more than 200 sessions dealing with different genealogy topics.
If you choose not to travel to Salt Lake City (in the middle of the winter) for the annual RootsTech 2017 Conference, there is good news. You can stream many of the sessions FREE on their website.You can find the entire live streaming schedule at: https://www.rootstech.org/live-stream-schedule.
Learn more about the conference itself at www.rootstech.org. Live streaming will appear on their main website.
Thanks to Rick for the blog suggestion.
Friday, January 27, 2017
Wiki, Wiki, Wiki!
The above was the title of the video we watched at Tuesday's workshop. The Wiki is part of the FamilySearch website and there is much more content than when it was begun several years ago. Find the Wiki in the drop down "Search" menu. The Wiki is used for location and topic lookups, not surnames.
The presentation first provided a look at what was available for Germany, showing maps, language translations, and handwriting helps. There are separate pages for every province, many with links to online record sources.
Moving on to Indiana, the presenter gave examples of how he found biographies of ancestors because there were links directly from the Wiki to county histories.
In the final demonstration the name of a ship was used in the search box and the entire story of a voyage from New York to San Francisco by a group of Mormons was there to be read.
Note that there is a direct link to Family Search in our menu to the right.
The presentation first provided a look at what was available for Germany, showing maps, language translations, and handwriting helps. There are separate pages for every province, many with links to online record sources.
Moving on to Indiana, the presenter gave examples of how he found biographies of ancestors because there were links directly from the Wiki to county histories.
In the final demonstration the name of a ship was used in the search box and the entire story of a voyage from New York to San Francisco by a group of Mormons was there to be read.
Note that there is a direct link to Family Search in our menu to the right.
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Tuesday Thoughts
Steve Packer, last week's speaker, was unable to join us due to illness. We hope to reschedule at some future date. Instead we viewed "Visiting an Ancestral Village," Annie's report on a 2008 visit to Germany and Switzerland.
Since the Welcome Home event was postponed because of weather concerns, we had to cancel our planned genealogy table for Saturday. Too many of our members will be attending the annual Pinal County Genealogy Workshop.
Tonight's workshop will feature the FamilySearch Wiki, where one can find information on locations and topics of genealogical interest.
This week's Legacy webinar is called "Playing Nice in the Genealogy Sandbox." Thomas MacEntee is always an entertaining speaker. His topic is on a beginner level and he will be talking about "the best ways to connect with other family historians and share resources including research, documents and research strategies." He will also mention various methods of locating other researchers. Visit www.familytreewebinars.com to register for the January 25 webinar or to learn more about it.
Since the Welcome Home event was postponed because of weather concerns, we had to cancel our planned genealogy table for Saturday. Too many of our members will be attending the annual Pinal County Genealogy Workshop.
Tonight's workshop will feature the FamilySearch Wiki, where one can find information on locations and topics of genealogical interest.
This week's Legacy webinar is called "Playing Nice in the Genealogy Sandbox." Thomas MacEntee is always an entertaining speaker. His topic is on a beginner level and he will be talking about "the best ways to connect with other family historians and share resources including research, documents and research strategies." He will also mention various methods of locating other researchers. Visit www.familytreewebinars.com to register for the January 25 webinar or to learn more about it.
Monday, January 16, 2017
Genealogy Club News
Our speaker this week is Steve Packer, who comes each year to educate us on a different subject. This year he will talk about German Research, one of his favorite topics. He tells me that he has updated the presentation, and the handout is a great list of websites.
For any Scandinavian researchers: Family Tree Magazine produced a "Cheat Sheet" for Scandinavian research, including the suffixes and spellings used for surnames in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. There is a list of online resources for each country, language terms found in parish records, and keyboard shortcuts for those odd alphabet letters used in Scandinavian countries. The article will be placed in our Scandinavian binder.
Legacy Webinars (www.familytreewebinars.com) for the week:
Tuesday, January 17: "Writing Up Your Research" by Michael J. Leclerc. Michael says he will talk about different ways of writing and publishing, from blogs to books. This presentation is suggested for intermediate level researchers.
Wednesday, January 18: Lisa Louise Cooke will present "Create a Free Google Earth Historic Map Collection for Your Research." Lisa says, "Learn how to find free digital maps for your ancestral locations, add them as permanent overlays to Google Earth, and then organize them into your personal map reference collection." Her presentation is appropriate for intermediate and advanced researchers.
For any Scandinavian researchers: Family Tree Magazine produced a "Cheat Sheet" for Scandinavian research, including the suffixes and spellings used for surnames in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. There is a list of online resources for each country, language terms found in parish records, and keyboard shortcuts for those odd alphabet letters used in Scandinavian countries. The article will be placed in our Scandinavian binder.
Legacy Webinars (www.familytreewebinars.com) for the week:
Tuesday, January 17: "Writing Up Your Research" by Michael J. Leclerc. Michael says he will talk about different ways of writing and publishing, from blogs to books. This presentation is suggested for intermediate level researchers.
Wednesday, January 18: Lisa Louise Cooke will present "Create a Free Google Earth Historic Map Collection for Your Research." Lisa says, "Learn how to find free digital maps for your ancestral locations, add them as permanent overlays to Google Earth, and then organize them into your personal map reference collection." Her presentation is appropriate for intermediate and advanced researchers.
Friday, January 13, 2017
Tuesday Workshop Report
This past week we focused on efficient ways to explore both Family Search and Ancestry. Using a narrow approach (restricting searches to census, vital records or a specific state or country) rather than a "global search" will produce better results. Knowing more about the database, using various forms of names and being critical of online family trees will also help in your research.
This is the final week to register for the Pinal County Genealogy Workshop scheduled for January 28 for the low price of $20. If you don't get the registration postmarked by January 14, the cost rises to $25. www.pinalctyazgen.com.
Thanks to members who volunteered for the Craft Fair Genealogy Table this month: Ray, Jim, Royal, Maureen, Tom, Nancy and Deenie.
This is the final week to register for the Pinal County Genealogy Workshop scheduled for January 28 for the low price of $20. If you don't get the registration postmarked by January 14, the cost rises to $25. www.pinalctyazgen.com.
Thanks to members who volunteered for the Craft Fair Genealogy Table this month: Ray, Jim, Royal, Maureen, Tom, Nancy and Deenie.
Monday, January 9, 2017
Legacy Webinars
Legacy offers two webinars this week--both of them aimed at beginners. Of course, many of us could benefit from either of them! Register or find more info at www.familytreewebinars.com.
Wednesday, January 11: Shannon Combs-Bennett will present "Tips and Tricks for Organizing Your Genealogy."
It's difficult to tell from her description whether she is going to talk about paper or computer organization. Here's what she has to say: "Most researchers admit that organizing and keeping up with their "stuff" is one of the most challenging aspects of research. Learn several techniques to keep you organized and on top of your files so you know exactly where everything is."
Friday, January 13: Geoff Rasmussen, who hosts the Legacy webinars, will present "Legacy Family Tree for Complete Beginners." So if you have recently purchased the Legacy software or have questions after using it for some time, be sure to tune in for this topic.
Wednesday, January 11: Shannon Combs-Bennett will present "Tips and Tricks for Organizing Your Genealogy."
It's difficult to tell from her description whether she is going to talk about paper or computer organization. Here's what she has to say: "Most researchers admit that organizing and keeping up with their "stuff" is one of the most challenging aspects of research. Learn several techniques to keep you organized and on top of your files so you know exactly where everything is."
Friday, January 13: Geoff Rasmussen, who hosts the Legacy webinars, will present "Legacy Family Tree for Complete Beginners." So if you have recently purchased the Legacy software or have questions after using it for some time, be sure to tune in for this topic.
Friday, January 6, 2017
Genealogy Club Meeting Report
Our year began with an interesting presentation on the FindAGrave website. Nancy Archibald gave a demonstration of the site, which is used as a resource for cemetery research all over the world. Nancy has a "virtual cemetery" for her ancestors, which makes it easy for someone with a family connection to contact her. Thanks, Nancy, for pointing out some very useful aspects of the FindAGrave website.
Nancy also wrote an article last spring on her cemetery research for the Alberta Genealogy Society bulletin. If you visit our May 30, 2016 blog entry, there is a link to that article.
You can also link directly to FindAGrave from the website list at the right of our blog.
Nancy also wrote an article last spring on her cemetery research for the Alberta Genealogy Society bulletin. If you visit our May 30, 2016 blog entry, there is a link to that article.
You can also link directly to FindAGrave from the website list at the right of our blog.
Monday, January 2, 2017
Legacy Webinar
James M. Baker will present the first Legacy webinar of 2017 on January 4. The title: "Strategies to Find the Most Challenging Ancestors with Autosomal DNA Data." The topic is listed as appropriate for intermediate and advanced genealogists. The following is the description of the program:
"Case studies are used to illustrate the best strategies to use to find the ancestors you need to fill in gaps in your family tree in the 6th and 7th generation. Class members learn how to mix and match the use of Ancestry DNA, FTDNA, and GEDmatch to accumulate DNA evidence while efficiently sorting through the many possible matches."
Register to watch in real time at www.familytreewebinars.com. Or you will be able to watch on your own for about seven days after the presentation.
"Case studies are used to illustrate the best strategies to use to find the ancestors you need to fill in gaps in your family tree in the 6th and 7th generation. Class members learn how to mix and match the use of Ancestry DNA, FTDNA, and GEDmatch to accumulate DNA evidence while efficiently sorting through the many possible matches."
Register to watch in real time at www.familytreewebinars.com. Or you will be able to watch on your own for about seven days after the presentation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)