The Genealogy Gems Podcast with Lisa Louise Cooke - Your Family History Show

Jump on the sleigh and make the rounds with me to friends of the podcast. We'll making surprise stops at listener's homes, drinking hot cocoa with long time friends of the show and genealogy experts, visiting with the newest member to the Genealogy Gems team, and my Grandson Davy will even make a guest starring appearance!

In this episode we discuss the latest genealogy news, one listener's fabulous use of Google Alerts, and Maureen Taylor's new history film project. NEWS: Google Earth 7Google as just released Google Earth version 7. Google Earth is an amazing tool for genealogy so new enhancements are always welcome! This new version enables you to explore a number of cities around the world in 3D, from Long Beach, California, to Rome, Italy. The 3D imagery uses the enhanced modeling capabilities, previously found on only mobile devices. In my video CD Google Earth for Genealogy Volume II I go into detail about 3D models and even give you resources for how you can get your own 3D models of everything from your house, to your ancestor's home. Download the new Google Earth 7 and get even more 3D imagery. You'll find comprehensive and accurate tours of more than 11,000 popular sites around the world, including our growing list of cities where new 3D imagery is available. A big change with this new version is the tour guide feature which serves as sort of a virtual local expert that suggests places nearby that you might want to explore and providing you with background information on the location. You'll find the tour guide along the bottom of the screen, and it looks like sort of a film strip of thumbnail images representing various tours that are available. These change based on where you are on the Google Earth globe. List of updated Google Earth imagery What's new in RootsMagic 6 VideoAnd there a favorite genealogy program that just got a new fresh update. RootsMagic 6 is now available, and you can see what's new in the newest version of the genealogy database program in a brand new video they've published on their website at http://www.rootsmagic.com/webinars/ In the video you will see new features in action such as: Online Publishing Find Everywhere feature Live Timeline View WebTags CountyCheck Explorer If you are a current paid user of RootsMagic, you can upgrade for just $19.95. New users may purchase RootsMagic 6 for only $29.95. Order online at http://rootsmagic.com/RootsMagic/ Special Holiday Offer Now through Dec. 20, 2012 Order gift copies of RootsMagic 6 for just $19.95 (plus shipping). You can also order other RootsMagic products at that same $19.95 price. Order the special holiday at http://www.rootsmagic.com/holidayoffer or order by phone at 1-800-ROOTSMAGIC (1-800-766-8762). The next item here is that the Family Tree Service coming soon to FamilySearch.orgAccording to a FamilySearch press release, "Within the next few months, FamilySearch will make Family Tree available to everyone on its website. The first of many updates planned for FamilySearch.org, Family Tree will provide a free and engaging way to discover, preserve, and share your family history. Family Tree will also offer specialized tools to make temple work for your ancestors even easier and more convenient. Watch an Introduction to Family Tree that shows 7 reasons to be excited about Family Tree. Family Tree will enable you to: Save family information into a genealogy tree Edit and delete incorrect data, including relationships Connect and collaborate with others on shared family lines Show where information came from Link to online photos and documents If you have questions about what Family Tree will be like or how it will work, you can log in to a special training website that offers online courses, how-to videos, informational handouts, and step-by-step training. Get started with Family Tree today by watching the introductory video or reading about it on the training website. Family Tree will be open to everyone in the next few months. Ireland - National Archives launches new websiteThe National Archives of Ireland has launched a new genealogy website at http://www.genealogy.nationalarchives.ie/ which will initially host the 1901 and 1911 Censuses, Tithe Apportionment records from 1823-37, and Soldiers' Wills from 1914-17. New at ScotlandsPeople Scottish wills and testaments from 1902-25 now online at the ScotlandsPeople at http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ Millions of Old Newspaper pages added to FindMyPastfindmypast.com has just published millions of pages of historical newspapers from not only England, but also across Wales and Scotland as well. This collection contains local newspapers for the period 1710-1950. More than 200 titles are included. Go to http://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/newspapers Ancestry.com launches newspapers.com On November 29, 2012 Ancestry.com Inc., announced the launch of Newspapers.com, a web site designed to offer a collection of more than 800 U.S. newspapers dating from the late 1700s into the early 2000s. Comprising more than 25 million pages, Newspapers.com offers a historical and present-day newspapers ranging from the New York Times to small town and local newspapers throughout the United States. According to Ancestry's press release "The search capabilities on Newspapers.com are specifically designed for newspapers enabling users to easily search by keywords, location, time period and newspaper name." The yearly subscription rate is $79.95 for subscribers and $39.95 for Ancestry.com or Fold3.com members. Newspapers.com also offers a 7-day free trial that can be activated at www.newspapers.com. Ancestry has launched a new Community Support site at Ancestry.comYou can access Community Support by clicking on "Get Help" at the top of the Ancestry.com homepage. Once on Online Help, you will see a button for "Ask the Community" on the right hand side. That link will take you directly to Ancestry's new Support Communities. MyHeritage Buys Geni.comMyHeritage have just bought our long-term rival Geni.com - and also raised $25million in new funds. As a larger community, the users of MyHeritage and Geni.com will now receive matches with the other website family trees, and MyHeritage's Record Matching, will benefit Geni's users, who will get access to historical records never available before on Geni.com. MAILBOX: Jessica has a new blog and a question about photo storage: "…after about the 10th podcast in a row where you encouraged us to start our own blog, I finally got the message. I started my very own "geneablog" a couple of weeks ago. I only have three posts so far, but I'm pretty proud of it. Please check it out and let me know what you think. I'd love you to let your listeners know too, because that would be even more feedback! I am writing my blog from the perspective of my relentless quest to better understand the life of one particular ancestor of mine, William Park. I call it "Knowing William" and it writing it really makes me happy." Visit her blog at http://williamparkfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/ "I recently listened to episode 119 where you talked to Michael Katchen from 1000memories. I went to the site, signed up, and uploaded pics to my first shoe box. In the interview I remember words like "social networking", "memorials", and "genealogy". I am confused. All I saw on the site was my shoe boxes and some not-very-informative FAQs. I know it has been a while, but have they changed the whole premise of the website in less than a year?" Lisa's Answer: Congrats on your new blog! Remember posts can be short and sweet, and pack them with searchable keywords so other researchers can find you in Google Search. RE: 1000Memories. They have indeed changed up the website since the interview. I agree with you, it seems watered down now, and not as obvious as to how to make the most of it. They seem to be focused on "simplicity." Barbara Shares A New Use for Google Alerts"My Great Grandfather, Edmund Charles Clark, was a builder in Bendigo, and many of his houses still stand in Wattle Street Bendigo today. I spent a lovely day photographing them, but I cannot go up and knock on all the doors however! So I have a cute way of finding out just what those houses look like today especially on the inside. I have an alert in Google for "Wattle Street, Bendigo" and it works a treat. Every so often one of the homes goes up for sale or rent, and one of the real estate websites has pictures of both inside and outside. These come up on my search and I get to see inside the homes that are still standing. One is up for rent at present and here are the pictures from Realestate.com.au of 172 Wattle Street. Isn't it lovely? It is still much in original condition. The Google alert function is really useful for genealogy, and I first found out about it from Genealogy Gems – so thank you very much for the gem." GEM: Maureen Taylor's new gig – bringing revolutionary war history to filmPamela Pacelli Cooper, President, Verissima Productions Maureen Taylor, Author of The Last Muster Revolutionary Voices: A Last Muster Film, Directed by Maureen Taylor with Verissima Productions New Gem for Premium Members! Sign in to your Membership and go to Premium Videos to view the brand new video Genealogy on the Go with the iPad (and tablets too!) The iPad is built for hitting the road and is ideally suited for family history due to its' sleek lightweight size, gorgeous graphics and myriad of apps and tools. In this class I will teach you "the tablet mindset", the best apps for the tasks that genealogists want to accomplish, and my Top 10 list of iPad Tips and Tricks. By the end of class you will be able to turn your iPad into a family history powerhouse! Become a Premium Member Here

In this episode I've got another blast from the past for you. We have reached deep into the podcast archive and retrieved episodes 5 and 6. In Episode 5 we touch on using the video website YouTube for genealogy, and then I walk you through how to Bring Sites Back From the Dead with Google. Then we wrap things up with a cool little way to Spice Up Your Genealogy Database. In episode 6 I have a gem for you called Cast a Shadow on Your Ancestors, and we cover the free genealogy website US GenWeb Episode: # 05 Original Publish Date: March 25, 2007 MAILBOX Email this week from Mike O'Laughlin of the Irish Roots Cafe: "Congratulations on your podcast! I am sure it will help many folks out there. I was glad to see the fine Irish families of Scully and Lynch on your latest show notes!" GEM: You Tube Follow Up Note: The Genealogy Tech Podcast is no longer published or available. YouTube in the news – the concern was raised by Viacom this month about YouTube benefiting from their programming without compensating them, which could mean copyright infringement. While the course of YouTube could change depending on the outcome of this suit, the attraction for family historians remains strong because of the nature of the content. Software mentioned: Pinnacle. Final Cut for MAC. Limits with Movie Maker I posted 2 videos – A Nurse In Training Part 1 & 2 Genealogy Gems YouTube Channel Click the Subscribe button to receive notification of new videos GEM: Bring Sites Back From the Dead with Google When you get a "File Not Found" error when clicking on a link, it doesn't mean the information is always gone forever. You may be able to find it in the Cache version. Google takes a snapshot of each page it examines and caches (stores) that version as a back-up. It's what Google uses to judge if a page is a good match for your query. In the case of a website that no longer exists, the cache copy us a snapshot of the website when it was still active hidden away or cached. Practically every search result includes a Cached link. Clicking on that link takes you to the Google cached version of that web page, instead of the current version of the page. This is useful if the original page is unavailable because of: 1. Internet congestion 2. A down, overloaded, or just slow website - Since Google's servers are typically faster than many web servers, you can often access a page's cached version faster than the page itself. 3. The owner's recently removing the page from the Web Sometimes you can even access the cached version from a site that otherwise require registration or a subscription. If Google returns a link to a page that appears to have little to do with your query, or if you can't find the information you're seeking on the current version of the page, take a look at the cached version. Hit the Back button and look for a link to a "cached" copy at the end of the URL at the end of the search result. Clicking on the "cached" link should bring up a copy of the page as it appeared at the time that Google indexed that page, with your search terms highlighted in yellow. If you don't see a cached link, it may have been omitted because the owners of the site have requested that Google remove the cached version or not cache their content. Also, any sites Google hasn't indexed won't have a cache version. Limit: If the original page contains more than 101 kilobytes of text, the cached version of the page will consist of the first 101 Kbytes (120 Kbytes for pdf files). Really looking for an oldie but a goody? Try the Wayback Machine It allows you to browse through 85 billion web pages archived from 1996 to a few months ago. To start surfing the Wayback, type in the web address of a site or page where you would like to start, and press enter. Then select from the archived dates available. The resulting pages point to other archived pages at as close a date as possible. Keyword searching is not currently supported. GEM: Spice up your database Search Google Images, then Right click and save to your hard drive. Use Silhouettes Find something that represents what you do know about that person. It really does help you see them more as a person and less as an entry in your database – their occupation, a reader, a sport, etc. Episode: # 06 Original Publish Date: April 1, 2007 You can learn more about Jewish roots at the 350 Years of American Jewish History website JewishGen, The Home of Jewish Genealogy GEM: Cast a Shadow on Your Ancestors In the episode #5 I shared a little gem that would spice up your genealogical database – adding silhouettes and artistic images to the file of an ancestor when you don't have a photograph. Probably the most famous silhouette these days are the silhouettes used by Apple for advertising the iPod digital music and audio player. It may surprise your teenager or grandchild to learn that the first silhouettes were done hundreds of years ago. Back then silhouettes (or shades as they were called), they paintings or drawings of a person's shadow. They were popular amongst English royalty and the art form quickly spread to Europe. A silhouette can also be cut from black paper, and was a simple alternative for people who could not afford other forms of portraiture, which, in the eighteenth century, was still an expensive proposition. The word took its name from Étienne de Silhouette, but it's uncertain as to whether his name was attributed because he enjoyed this art form, or as the story goes because the victims of his taxes complained that they were reduced to mere shadows. Either way, the popularity of Silhouettes hit new heights in the United States where they were seen in magazines, brochures and other printed material. But they faded from popularity as Photographs took over in the 1900s. As a follow up, I want to share with you a simple technique for creating your own silhouettes. You can use ordinary snapshots to create a visual family record. Take a photo of a person in profile against a neutral background. Blanket the photo background with white acrylic or tempera paint Fill in the image with a heavy black permanent marker, curing the shoulders down for a classical pose. Add fun details like cowlicks, eyelashes, hats, and jewelry that express the person's personality with a fine felt-tip pen. Photocopy the doctored photos onto quality art paper. Since glossy papers work print best, you could also use your computer scanner to scan the image into your hard drive. From there you can add it to your database, or print it out onto glossy photo paper for mounting. To represent folks in your family tree, create a silhouette of your father to represent his Great Great Grandfather, and add a farmer's hat and rake to represent his profession of farming. Chances are dad has inherited some of his profile anyway. Have fun with it and be creative. But of course be very sure to label to silhouette appropriately as a creative interpretation rather than a literal rendering. You can also do silhouettes of your family including extended family and arrange the portraits together on a wall. Use black painted frames in a variety of shapes and sizes and hang in a way that represents the family tree / relationships. Check out the Art Café Network website for a Short History of Silhouettes by Katherine Courtney. For More detailed how-to information, they have additional pages on cutting. 2 Silhouette books to turn to: Silhouettes : Rediscovering the Lost Art by Kathryn K. Flocken Old-Fashioned Silhouettes (Dover Electronic Clip Art) (CD-ROM and Book) GEM: GenWeb Pages Last year the website celebrated its 10th Anniversary. The USGenWeb Project consists of a group of volunteers working together to provide Internet websites for genealogical research in every county and every state of the United States. The Project is non-commercial and fully committed to free access for everyone. Organization within the website is by state and county. You can go to the homepage of the website and click on the state of your choice from the left hand column. From the state page you can select the county you wish to search in. However, when I know they name of the county I want to search in, I've found it's often quicker just to search at google.com and do a search like "genweb sibley county mn" The choice is yours. Remember to use the Google search gem that I gave you in episode one (see episode #134 http://www.genealogygemspodcast.com/webpage/episode-145-a-blast-from-the-past ) to quickly search within the county website. Many don't have search engines of their own, and so that's when I first really started using that search technique. These county sites are often very rich though, and after a focused search, it's rewarding just to wander the site. It will help you become more familiar with the county! You'll likely find databases of Births, Deaths, Marriages, townships histories, plat maps, surnames, and a host of other topics. Because each county has its own volunteer coordinator, the information you will find varies from county to county. And as always, info is being added regularly, so you need to book mark them and return on a regular basis to see what's new. Be sure and share your resources as well. That's the power behind the GenWeb project – volunteers. Volunteering your county resources will enrich other's experience and will likely lead to connections that will continue to further your own research. Book Mentioned in this episode: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Online Genealogy, Second Edition by Rhonda McClure

Today's gem focuses on a challenge that we all face as family historians – getting organized, archiving all of our stuff, and digitizing materials an d photos. I know that's biting off a big chunk, but it's such an important one. And in this episode I'm going to start to break it down for your with the help of the Family Curator, Denise Levenick who has written a book called How to Archive Family Keepsakes. She's got lots of practical advice to share. NEWS: FamilySearch recently announced that their U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Community Project is Half-way to its 2012 Goal of 30 Million Records In August of this year, FamilySearch announced its next major U.S. community project-U.S. Immigration and Naturalization. The project will create an extensive, free, online collection of U.S. passenger lists, border crossing records, naturalization records, and more-invaluable to genealogy researchers. See what U.S. Immigration and Naturalization projects are currently underway, or check on their status at FamilySearch.org/immigration. You can join the community of online indexers and arbitrators helping to make passenger lists and naturalization records freely searchable on familysearch.org. Current and Completed Projects To view a list of currently available indexing projects, along with their record language and completion percentage, visit the FamilySearch indexing updates page. To learn more about individual projects, view the FamilySearch projects page. Canadian Military Records Ancestry.ca has also announced that they have launched some New Canadian Military Records Collections Read about it on my Blog: Limited Time Free Access to Canadian Military Records, and New Records Online Google recently announced that Google Maps just got the biggest Street View update ever, doubling the number of special collections and updating over 250,000 miles of roads around the world. Google has increased Street View coverage in Macau, Singapore, Sweden, the U.S., Thailand, Taiwan, Italy, Great Britain, Denmark, Norway and Canada. And they are launching special collections in South Africa, Japan, Spain, France, Brazil and Mexico, among others. . They've also recently updated the Google Earth satellite imagery database. This refresh to the imagery has now been updated for 17 cities and 112 countries/regions. So Google Earth has never been better for genealogy research. And of course if you would like to learn more about what Google Earth can do for you as a genealogist, check out my free YouTube videos which show you what you can learn in my video CD series called Google Earth for Genealogy which is available at the Genealogygems.com store. Google Earth for Genealogy Digital Video Series Genealogy Gems Premium Membership Update I'm happy to let all of you Premium members know that I've put together a quick little video that will walk you through the process of setting up your Premium podcast feed in iTunes.You'll find a link on the premium episodes page once you've signed in that will take you to the video and instructions for setting up your Premium iTunes subscription. I have also added a video recording of one my most popular classes to the Premium Videos collection. It's called How the Genealogist Can Remember Everything with Evernote. From Premium Member Kelly: "Thank you so much for your podcast on Evernote. I've been on YouTube watching videos about it but they were hard to follow and more advanced or to techie. Your podcast was easy to follow and went over the basics and I really appreciate that. I think I finally ready to try it." If you would like to be able to watch the Evernote class from the comfort of your own home please join us as a Genealogy Gems Premium Member which you can do at www.genealogygems.com MAILBOX: From Patience: "I have noticed in your podcast, other's podcasts, blogs, and at workshops I have attended that there is a concern about the next generation. I do understand, but I wanted to share with you my experience in hopes of easing everyone's worries. I am 23 years old, and let me tell you I stick out like a sore thumb at workshops as I usually am the youngest by at least 30 years. That being said when I started researching I met one of my cousins on ancestry.com, and we really hit it off we have all the same interests, and are like long lost twins. For a while I assumed that she was retired, and much much older than I, but after several emails I found out she is only two years older than me!!! I too worry about my generation, but I think after some maturing, most will at least have an appreciation for the past, and everything it has to offer, or at least I hope...But all I know is that there are two very pretty twenty something girls thousands of miles apart that would rather research and learn that go to parties...so that seems pretty hopeful I think." Jennifer Takes the iPad on the Road "Kudos for turning me on to a nifty iPad shortcut. Your latest book has some tips in the back, which is where, of course, I skipped to after dutifully reading the first three chapters or so. The tips about swiping the comma/exclamation point to create an apostrophe, and the other shortcut for quotation marks, are so great! I will no doubt find many other useful items when I return to reading. Honestly, your books are so full of wonderful information, I have to take a break before my head explodes (not pretty)." Pat Oxley, a Genealogist on Facebook posted her review of my new book on Facebook last week. "Despite another day of coughing and basically feeling yuk, I bought and downloaded Lisa Louise Cooke's new book "Turn your iPad into a Genealogy Powerhouse." It is FABULOUS! I worked my way through the book, taking notes and then downloaded and played with some of the apps she suggested! Thank you Lisa Louise! I will say it's a terrific book even if you're NOT a genealogist. Many of her suggested apps could be applied to many different hobbies and interests. You can buy it through Lulu.com." Get the updated book: Mobile Genealogy GEM: Interview with author Denise Levenick, The Family Curator Archiving, organizing and digitizing family treasures is one of the greatest challenges for genealogists. In her book How to Archive Family Keepsakes: Learn How to Preserve Family Photos, Memorabilia and Genealogy Records, Denise Levenick presents a game plan that breaks down the steps and provides a clear picture of the end goal. The worksheets and checklists provide the kind of practical advice I look for in "how to" books. No fluff, just common sense, and usable information that lead to success. Get your copy of Denise's book How to Archive Family Keepsakes: Learn How to Preserve Family Photos, Memorabilia and Genealogy Records and start getting organized now! Denise May Levenick is a writer, researcher, and speaker with a passion for preserving and sharing family treasures of all kinds. She is the author of How to Archive Family Keepsakes and creator of The Family Curator blog http://www.TheFamilyCurator.com, voted one of the 40 Best Genealogy Blogs in 2010 and 2011. Gem: One More ThingFrom Tina in the UK: "Your recent blog post about items found when clearing out a house reminded me of my most significant find in my stepfather's attic. He died in July 2009 and my mother wanted to clear out and sell their big house and move to a retirement flat to be near the family in Bristol. I should explain that my mother and father divorced when I was a baby and my stepfather was like a father to me. We threw out masses of stuff - he never did, EVER! - but this was mostly correspondence, company reports for all his shares etc which we sifted through without much of note being found. Then, in the attic there were two extraordinary finds: (1) a box full of the small notebooks he kept from his schooldays till a few years before he died…early ones and especially the ones of his years in the Army in India and Burma…The later notebooks are a record of his expenses - with dates, items and expenses which brought back many memories (eg doll for Tina - bought in New York on holiday in 1958 - I remember it well, it was a sort of pre-Barbie!). Every ice-cream he ever bought us - there was a LOT of ice-cream (he loved it)! (2) my grandfather's old attache case - full of letters from my stepfather's mother between about 1978 and her death in 1993. There were hundreds of them - and yes, I read every single one and they have formed the basis of the story of her life (yes, she also left a small diary, a collection of her own recipes of family favourites, and a very simple family tree), which I am now writing…what VERY little there was seemed to be in answer to some of his questions...It just shows how the smallest things can provide clues." Thank you Tina for sharing this – it certainly does remind us that clues can come from anywhere. But it also reminds us of something else – that while it's wonderful to have our history recorded so it can be remembered, sometimes it's the smallest things that are remembered most: Like ice cream. I think I'm going to sign off now and take my grandson Davy out for a cone. I hope he remembers it, because I know I will. Who will you invite out for a an ice cream and spend your precious time with today?

In this episode you will hear how one man's passion for geography and history were saved from destruction, and you'll find out what a portable scanner can do for your genealogy research and mobility. My Latest Travels I wrapped up my recent round of travels last week with a trip to Sumner, Washington where I spoke at the Autumn Quest Annual Seminar sponsored by the Heritage Quest Library. It was a packed room and we spent the day talking about how to find your family history in newspapers, using Google Earth for Genealogy, how to find living relatives and most importantly how to save your research from destruction. There seemed to be a bit of serendipity involved in this particular speaking engagement, which was booked many many months ago. Recently Bill's mom made the big move to a lovely retirement home and she really wanted her kids to get together and go through the house and pick up the items they wanted to keep, and then prepare the house to be rented out. As it turned out, amazingly enough, this was the ideal weekend to corral all four kids together to do that before the renovations on the house started. So after Saturday's seminar, on Sunday we all got together and although my mother in law was very happy to have moved and really wanted to the kids to do this, it was just hard to get started. Since I didn't grow up in the house it was a little easier for me to see the task at hand from more of a practical point of view, and I was sort of nominated to guide the process. And it actually worked out really well. Everyone was very comfortable with how the remaining items were divided up, and there were lots of family photos to go around. I was fortunate enough to receive my mother-in-laws father's original Royal Typewriter. I think it's probably from about 1910 and is in pristine condition. It's all cleaned up and in my studio now inspiring me to continuing writing and blogging. And I also received a small journal with the handwritten life stories of her parents. So I have my work cut out assembling the stories and photos and I hope to get some coffee table books printed as well as do a video that the family can enjoy. We'll see if I can get that done in time for Christmas. I'm sure many of you listening have also gone through this process of closing down a parent's household. If you have an interesting story, or came across an unexpected gem email me or call and leave your story on the voice mail line at 925-272-4021 and I might just share it on an upcoming episode. Geographic History Saved Now I mentioned to you that I taught the class Save Your Research from Destruction, and though that title may sound a bit over dramatic, time and time again it proves accurate. One example is a story I recently came across originally in the LA Times Quote: "I think there are at least a million maps here," he said. "This dwarfs our collection — and we've been collecting for 100 years." Thank goodness there are folks like Matthew Greenberg, who came to the rescue of a century of old maps. He's my hero! Click Here to See it for Yourself GEM: Interview with Gordon Nuttall of Couragent, Inc. and the Flip-Pal I've been a longtime fan of the Flip-Pal portable scanner and I use mine all the time. You've probably heard me mention it before on the show, and I often have specials on the Support the Podcast page on my website where you can save money, and at the same time your purchase helps to support this free podcast. Over the years I have received questions from many of you who are trying to decide if it really makes sense to get a portable scanner, and wanting to better understand what it can do for you and how to use it. So I decided it is about time to get all the answers together for you in one podcast gem. And who better to get those answers from than the inventor himself, Gordon Nuttall, CEO of Couragent, Inc., the company behind the Flip-Pal. Use this link to Flip-Pal Flip-Pal with Wifi Thank you for helping make the free Genealogy Gems Podcast possible! Just a Few More Things Internet and Computer Prediction video Premium Episode 93 – Evernote Premium Video: How the Genealogist can Remember Everything with Evernote

Have you ever wondered how the Internet works? I mean, how data from your computer actually makes to another computer somewhere else around the world? I found a very cool video that really manages to explain a very complex process that happens in a matter of seconds in a way that actually makes a lot of sense. And yet while it made sense, after I watched it it was almost harder to believe that it really works at all because it's so amazing. Even if you are typically a person who doesn't bother to click on videos, you have got to check out How Does the Internet Work in the newest of edition of the free Genealogy Gems Podcast email newsletter. Go to www.genealogygems.com and enter your email to sign up. NEWS: RootsTechRootsTech 2013 Promo Video Ancestry Read Lisa's blog post: Money Growing on Trees: Ancestry Buying and Selling While the world's largest online family history resource, Ancestry.com, awaits a possible buyout, they are keeping busy buying other companies. Reuters reported that Permira Advisers LLP has emerged as the front-runner to take Ancestry private in a deal that could exceed $1.5 billion. (Read more about the possible acquisition at PEHUB) Ancestry also released the following press release about the company's latest acquisition, San Francisco based 1000Memories. You can learn more about 1000 Memories by listening to my interview with Michael Katchen, Director of Business Development at 1000Memories in Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 119. Job Opening SAR Operation Ancestor Google Books Google Books and Publishers Reach Settlement over Digitization Learn more about using Google Books for genealogy in my book The Genealogist's Google Toolbox. New Premium Episode 92 Old maps can tell us a lot more than just where our ancestors lived: They put events into geographic context, reveal surprising genealogical clues, and can be incorporated into Google Earth for analysis and storytelling. In the newest episode (#92) of the Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast I'll tell you about a terrific example of a website that has set the goal of have every image they possess (allowable by copyright) digitized and on their website by early 2013 I'm also going to tell you about something pretty shocking that happened to me recently while speaking at an international genealogy conference. I was really taken by surprise, and received some unexpected questions. I will share those with you as well as some solid answers. It's another packed episode. If you are a member sign in now to start listening. Become a Member today. MAILBOX Stephanie also wrote in with an opinion about Ancestry Trees "So here are my "2 bits". I am new to all this and honestly never considered my public tree as published. I have used the Ancestry tree as a if were my workbook, just as if it were a software package like Roots Magic. Because I consider it a workbook I add names as I find them and work the family as a group to document the information AFTER I add them. It simply never occurred to me that others would see this as complete, documented information. I have kept my tree open since I want to be open to contacts. When I see hints from other trees I simply avoid the un-sourced ones. The Ancestry hints have moved me along much faster than I ever could have before. I truly hope others who get angry could see my point of view. Thank you so much for teaching us, you have made this journey so much more enjoyable and effective!!!" From Loretta: Ancestry Trees "I've had a little different reaction towards the "polluted" online trees... sarcasm. At the beginning of the year I started a blog, Barking Up The Wrong Tree. I post on Tuesdays and Fridays. Both days could be considered tips for beginners but Tuesdays are examples of what NOT to do. All the examples are actual online trees and because of the propensity of newbies to mindlessly copy other trees most examples are not just on ONE tree. It makes for a lot of head meets desk moments but I'm enjoying it. Hope you and some of your listeners will too." Ricky in Birmingham, Alabama asks about citing sources and paper and file organization <A HREF="http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?rt=tf_mfw&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fgenegemspodc-20%2F8001%2F57c224a1-85ab-43d7-9fb9-1175aa0b4fc7&Operation=NoScript">Amazon.com Widgets</A> GEM: New Family History Bloggers Family History blogging is hotter than ever and the ideal way to get your research out on the web where others working on the same family lines can find you through Google searches! Many of you have been taking advantage of free blogging services like Blogger at Mom Cooke's nagging here on the podcast, and reaping some rewards. So let me highlight a few listeners who have turned in their "Round To It" for a "Gitter Done!" First up is David Lynch who started a blog on his St. Croix research "I recently started in my genealogy and find your show both entertaining and helpful. My 200 Years in Paradise The reason I'm writing is that sometimes we forget that the world wasn't homogeneous throughout the 1800s. Right now, I'm writing a series on illegitimate births on the island of St. Croix from 1841-1934. From my research, it seems that over 77% of the children born were to unmarried households. Typically they formed stable family units, but just didn't marry. In fact, in my personal family history, I have a set of ancestors who had 16 children and got married after their 12th child was born. In the US at the same time, only about 4% of the children were illegitimate." Jennifer shares her blog "Just wanted you to know that I've started my own blog, based largely on the encouragement in your podcasts. What appealed to me was that it's a medium where I can share information, but not in a way that's an online family tree. This will prevent readers from copying and pasting family tree branches, without slowing down to learn some context. It also allows me a forum to correct some gigantic errors floating around out there about my ancestors. I finally woke up to the fact that I've moved to the head of the line in the experience department. I've placed a lot of tags on the entries, so the information is easily located in Google." http://jenongen.blogspot.com/ Sonja Hunter wrote in to share her blogging success First, I would like to thank you for putting together your podcasts!...I only became a listener about a year ago, but have been working my way through old Genealogy Gems podcasts as well as the Genealogy Made Easy podcasts, mostly while gardening. I also wanted to let you know you inspired me to start blogging. I rang in the New Year by starting a blog about doing genealogy in my hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan. One primary goal is to highlight helpful area resources. I imagine this will be most helpful to those new to conducting family history research in the area. In addition, I am trying to include Kalamazoo area or Michigan history items that I think are interesting. One example is an article I found in the local paper describing what Kalamazooans from 1884 imagined life would be like in 1984. I've also written about poisonous cheese in the 1880s, diphtheria and the case of my gg-grandfather's brother-in-law who may or may not have committed suicide by slitting his throat. I consulted Paula Sassi for that case and plan to blog about her handwriting analysis in the future. Thank you for inspiring me to embark on this project! I'm learning a lot. And keep up the good and valuable work you do on your podcasts! Bushwahacking Genealogy Kalamazoo and Beyond John Harrigan: Who Done It? (With Handwriting Analysis by Paula Sassi) From John in Maryland: "I want to thank you again for everything you do to inspire people to be enthusiastic about their family history. I learn so many "Gems" within all of your resources and put many of them to practice. You are the family history "Go-To" person in my book. I recently started a blog for the primary reason of documenting my findings so that I wouldn't forget what I've been discovering. The blog also appears to be a good way to share my success stories with others that may be interested. I credit you for introducing the idea of using a blog in Family History: Genealogy Made Easy podcast. When I first listened to the podcasts about blogs, I didn't think it was something that was applicable to me, as I felt I had no new information to share with others since many experts like yourself already handle this. However, I'm giving it a try and enjoy it so far. I really like how I'm able to place images within the text to help convey my information." http://recordetective.blogspot.com/ And finally Shannon Bennett has really made a blogging splash. She writes: "I have been hemming and hawing on writing to you and finally took the plunge to do it. Last spring a friend of mine told me about your podcasts (yes all of them) since I had just started into family research. She thought I would like it, and boy was she right! I have taken you on my iPod to drop my kids off to school and pick them up again, cleaned house, grocery shopping as well as everywhere in between. The wealth of information I have gathered from your podcasts have been very helpful, and I have loved all the interviews and tid-bits that have come along the way as well. There is no way that I could just pick one out of so many to be my all-time favorite. Maybe a top 10 list would cover it. However, I do have to blame you for the latest adventure in my life, which is why I am writing. Listening to you tell us, in almost every episode, about the importance of having a family blog finally sank in. The first couple of times I heard you say it I thought to myself "there's no way I would/could ever do such a thing, I barely have time to keep up with my Live Journal account." A few weeks went by and the thoughts began to change to "hmmm…maybe I could do this." Then after 4 months of thinking about it I started to do some research into how to run a successful blog." Shannon took the plunge and applied to Family Tree University to write for their Family Firsts Blog. "I come to find out that they are looking for their second blogger. I sat…I thought…I clicked the application button. Yes, on a whim I entered because I thought I had nothing to lose. You see I never win these types of things. A month goes by, and I have given into the feeling that well it was a good try but of course I didn't get it.…then later on that week I find out I won it! So thank you, I never would have entered let alone thought about creating my own blog less than a year into my family research, without you and your wonderful podcasts." Trials and Tribulations of a Self-Taught Family Historian Family Tree Firsts Blog

In this episode we are pulling back the curtain on the Antiques Roadshow, as well as talking a bit about what to include and not include in your family tree. I'm just back from Odessa Texas where I presented a full day seminar at the Permian Basin Genealogical Society. I got to enjoy a big dose of Texas hospitality and had an absolutely wonderful time. Next up I'm heading to Kelowna British Columbia for the Kelowna & District Genealogical Society Harvest Your Family Tree 2012 Conference where I will be again doing four presentations as well as a Meet the Speakers panel. MAILBOX: Family Tree Magazine Digital Subscriptions from Kathy: "I subscribe to Family Tree Magazine. Can I download my print subscription to my iPad....as you can with other subscriptions? Or do I need to pay for each issue that I download? Family Chart Masters helped me with my Family Tree Chart. It was beautiful and was a hit at our Family Reunion. Janet was so helpful. Thank you for the recommendation. Love your podcasts." Lisa's Answer: The Family Tree Magazine digital subscription is separate from the print subscription, unless you have purchase their VIP Subscription. So you can either purchase individual digital issues from the Shop Family Tree Store, or you can purchase a separate annual digital subscription. I think they keep it separate because not everyone wants both. Click here for a $10 off coupon for ShopFamilyTree and when you use that link it also supports the free Genealogy Gems Podcast. Thank you! Get Lisa's Book: Mobile Genealogy Paperback Replacement for RAOGK From Mary in Iowa: "In Podcast #139, Ricky asked about a successor to the Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness website. There are actually three Facebook groups (not pages) carrying on the task of looking up genealogy information and other requests. They are RAOGK, RAOGK - USA, and RAOGK - International. You need to be a member of the Facebook group to post a message or request, but most requests for membership are granted quickly." Generous Genealogists Gen Gathering Scott from Oakland Maine: "I am in need of some advice regarding an un-cooperative family member. My father's brother wants nothing to do with our family, and in years past once referred to himself as the "black sheep". He has absolutely no interest in genealogy and is not at all willing to be a part of the family story that I am putting together. My question is, how do I reference this character in my tree." Lisa's Answer: I imagine every family has a tough nut on a branch of the family tree! I'm a firm believer in the truth, and what I would do if it were me is to include basic data (that is publicly available) on him on my private, personal family tree. On trees and other info you make available publicly, (such as an online family tree) I would list him and his immediate family only as "Living" and whether they are male or female. In the end you have to do what seems right for you. From Glenn: "Just wanted to say a quick thanks for both podcasts you produce…I've been interested in the Family History for some time…Recently my interest has arisen again, of course I have made classic mistake in not documenting everything, and just collecting names, dates and so forth. So in the last 6 months I've been citing sources and updating the database. One of the quandaries I have is when do you stop, not so much vertically, but how wide do you go, in relation to cousins, second cousins and families? Probably the main question I have is trying to decide whether to get a subscription to Ancestry.com or not, I feel I'm at that stage where online document will help out, in filling in the leaves on my branches." Lisa's Answer: Go as wide as you want and are interested in. I would recommend adding basic info for someone you find who you won't be pursuing, so that if down the road you run in to a brick wall and you need to do some cluster research or reverse genealogy, you will have new leads to follow. RE: Ancestry - I think you will find that Ancestry membership is a very cost effective and time saving way to do your research. Mine has been invaluable. See if you can find a 7 day free trial to check it out and confirm they have the kinds of records you need. GEM: Diane Haddad Pulls Back the Curtain on The Antiques Roadshow Diane Haddad is the Managing Editor at Family Tree Magazine. Music in this segment: The Antiques Roadshow Remix By The Elusive MrHatchard Available on the SoundClick.com website GEM: Halloween History Tidbits Halloween Mason Jar Lanterns Vampire Hunting Kit from the 1800s Follow Lisa on Pinterest GEM: Newspaper Milestones On September 15, 1982, USA Today began publishing On September 18, 1851, the New York Times issued its first edition On September 25, 1690, the first newspaper in America was published for one day in Boston before being shut down by British authorities unhappy with its content. Get Lisa's Book How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers Paperback

Published Sept 11, 2012 Enjoy a Blast from the Past with Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 140. You'll hear episodes 3 and 4 from 2007. Show Notes EPISODE 3 - Originally Aired March 11, 2007 A big thanks to Bill Puller of the Genealogy Tech Podcast, for mentioning the Genealogy Gems Podcast in his March 7 blog. New to Podcasting? How to Subscribe to this podcast for FREE GEM: GOOGLE ALERTS & EBAY FAVORITE SEARCHES (aka eBay Alerts) GOOGLE ALERTS: Check out Bill Puller's podcast Episode #8 of the Genealogy Tech Podcast You can create a thousand! (Idea: Start with those items you highlighted in your family journals (See episode #2 below) EBAY FAVORITE SEARCHES: How to create a Favorite Search in eBay: Enter keywords in to the "All Items" SEARCH box click SEARCH (Consider clicking the Search title and description box to insure you are getting everything) Once you get the search refined to give you good results, click "Add to my Favorite Searches" (just below the search line on the right side of the screen) This opens a window where you can elect to create it as a new search, or replace one of your existing searches. Usually you will just be creating a new search. Make sure the "Email me" box is clicked so you will receive email notifications when new items are listed. You can choose how long you want to receive emails. (This can be modified at any time through My EBay) Click SAVE SEARCH You'll probably receive your first emails tomorrow morning! Examples: LARSON screwdriver SPORAN – San Joaquin Cotton Oil bale of cotton GEM: FAMILY HISTORY DISPLAYS Shadow Box "L J Larson" Diana's Wall Display EPISODE 4 - Originally Aired March 17, 2007 HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY 19 Presidents of the United States have claimed Irish heritage. One-third to one-half of the American troops during the Revolutionary War 9 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were Irish Americans. Today, approximately one in four Americans can trace their ancestry in part to Ireland. A Tribute to My Irish Roots-"Michael Lynch came to America first, and bought his land in Wisconsin in 1857. He then wrote to a friend still in Ireland, and asked him to find him an Irish wife. Margaret Scully was 16 at the time and agreed to go. She traveled with her brothers Dan & Tom Scully in 1860. They were married April 10, 1860 in Stillwater, MN." Michael's land was covered in timber. He cleared all the land with oxen. Margaret was very afraid of the Indians. There were terrible Sioux Indian uprisings in the area at the time. Family she would not stay in their cabin alone while Michael was clearing the land. So she would take the children and hide in the woods." Margaret (nee Scully) Lynch Born July 17, 1839 in Limerick, Ireland She died at the age of 87 and left behind 7 of her 8 children, 40 grandchildren and 34 great-grandchildren. Find your Irish ancestors now with this book: In Search of Your British and Irish Roots: A Complete Guide to Tracing Your English, Welsh, Scottish, & Irish Ancestors [Paperback] Buy through our Amazon search box and support the free podcast. Angus Baxter wrote a terrific book about finding your German ancestors which I found invaluable. "In Search…" will take you step by step back to Britain and Ireland, even if you are new to family history research. From the MAILBOX: Kay Alderman saying that she's enjoying the podcast and has added Genealogy Gems to her new genealogy blog called Another Amateur Genealogist. (Update: no longer available) DVD Gem: Berkeley Square My eldest daughter and I have been glued to this DVD since we started it. We are both HUGE Pride & Prejudice fans (The A&E version) and are thrilled to find a serial of the same caliber. Berkeley Square follows the intertwining lives of three London nannies at the turn of the 20th century. Each episode (and there are 10 – yummy!!) is packed with romance, intrigue, and plot twists that have kept us glued to the couch. We'll be watching these nannies over and over in the future just as we do Lizzie and her sisters! Buy Berkeley Square through our Amazon search box and support the free podcast. GEM: YouTube.com YouTube.com lends itself beautifully to family history research by offering a very creative method for not only sharing family photos and videos, but really telling your families story. What is it? YouTube is an online video streaming service that allows anyone to share videos with others by uploading them to the site. In addition, it allows member to view the videos of others. The website address is youtube.com Sign up is easy and free:(Update: If you have a free Google account that will be your YouTube account) To become a member of YouTube, go to the "Signup" page (http://www.youtube.com/signup), by clicking SIGN UP in the top right corner of the home page. Choose a user name and password, and enter your information. Click the "Sign Up" button and you're done. Caution: Be aware that there is objectionable content on YouTube. Nonetheless, it is a powerful medium for genealogists to use, and I predict it will go by leaps and bounds when it comes to family history and history in general. Videos I found relating to my family's history: Der Deutsche Osten - Ostpreußen/The Germ.East: East Prussia This video was a photo montage set music. The villages are part of Poland today, but the video shows them as they were before World War II. A video walk through Tunbridge Wells… South East England old film A nine minute film made up of very old film footage from the 1920s offering a tour of Margate, England and surrounding villages. (Update: no longer available) Subscribe to The Genealogy Gems Channel Get this book and max out the potential of YouTube yourself: YouTube for Dummies. Buy through our Amazon search box and support the free podcast. Remember, www.YouTube.com isn't just for teenagers anymore! "Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Published August 29, 2012 Let's get ready to go back to school - family history school! And I've got some exciting new to tell you about! Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode #139 brought to you by two times Grandma Lisa Louise Cooke. Yes, indeed my second little Grandson was born on August 15, 2012 about 2 ½ weeks early, and he and his mommy my daughter Vienna are doing marvelously. His name is Joseph, and we'll all be calling him Joey which I absolutely adore, and even better his middle name is Cooke. Life is good, and being a Sha Sha as Davy calls me is heaven on earth that's for sure. Genealogy News: This month Ancestry announced that it has completed the records indexing process for the 1940 U.S. Federal Census, which you can find at www.ancestry.com/1940census. Since the initial release of the 1940 U.S. Census by the National Archives in April, Ancestry.com has progressively published information state by state. But now, no longer will you have to look up enumeration districts. Now all 134 million records are now searchable for free by name, date, place of birth and other key information recorded in the census. You'll also be able to make corrections or update information that is incomplete, leading to a better overall database of information. Assisting you with navigating the 1940 U.S. Census is Ancestry.com's Interactive Image Viewer, which enables users to browse document pages with simple graphical overlays. The viewer adds highlights, transcriptions and other functionality directly on the Census page. This enables users to access small census fields by scrolling over them and getting a pop up that magnifies the information that was recorded by census takers. In the 1940 census you find information on whether your ancestor's owned or rented their home, the value of the residence and how many people lived there. For the first time, census takers in 1940 also asked questions specific to income and education. And you may be surprised what you will not find, like details on military service, whether they could read or write, and whether they spoke English which were all questions that were asked in prior censuses. You will find the 1940 census in its entirety at www.ancestry.com/1940census FamilySearch Volunteer Opportunity: US Immigration & Naturalization Genealogy Project FamilySearch also has indexed the 1940 Census with the help of more than 160,000 volunteers, and they are launching a new volunteer opportunity. Now they are turning their attention to the U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Community Project, an indexing effort to make passenger lists, naturalization records, and other immigration related records freely searchable online. Hundreds of thousands of North American volunteers are expected to contribute over the next 18-24 months, focusing initially on passenger lists from the major US ports. If you of your genealogy society wants to pitch in you can visit familysearch.org/immigration for all the details. Read more about it: Indexing Volunteers Invited by FamilySearch to Join new US Immigration and Naturalization Community Genealogy Project Bids to Buy Ancestry Reported by Reuters to be Lower than Hoped In my last Premium podcast, I mentioned that Chronicling America, the Library of Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov Congress' historical newspaper website, sent out a newsletter on using Civil War maps printed in the New York Daily Tribune. I just have to share more on this with everyone! Civil War Maps for Genealogy Available in Online Newspapers And finally, here's something fun from George Mason's University's History News Network website: If you have teens in your family then chances are you have heard the phrase OMG which stands for oh my God. But have you ever wondered who started it? You may have thought it was Alicia Silverstone in the 1995 movie Clueless, but actually you have to dig much further back in history to find its origins. All the way back to 1917 in fact. Read the rest of the story MAILBOX: Amy in Santa Rosa, CA posted the following question on the Genealogy Gems Facebook Fan page: "On your podcast, I hear you recommend Roots Magic for genealogy software, but I have a Mac and as far as I can tell, it only works with PCs. I thought at one point you mentioned you were starting to use a Mac, so I'm wondering if you use different software on the Mac or if you use a PC for your genealogy software. I used to use Family Tree Maker before my PC crashed, but thought I'd do some research before buying software for the new Mac …Just thought I'd get your opinion, since I value your expertise on the podcast. It is probably just as well that my PC crashed because I never did any source citations (didn't know about it when I started genealogy and now it just scares me!), so I'll be learning how to do that as I add names back in..." Lisa's Answer: While I use both Mac and PC, I only do genealogy on the PC which I prefer. I did publish a series of segments on comparing genealogy programs for the Mac starting with Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 51. Go to www.genealogygems.com and click PODCAST in the menu to get to them. Amy has one more question: "Do I include the grandpa I grew up knowing on my family tree or the biological grandfather. I'm inclined to include the biological one, that feels right. How do others in this situation do it? Wouldn't it be "blood" lines, not "fake" lines? My father really wants to know about his biological father, whom sadly never knew he existed. He died in a VA hospital, would that be a good place to contact for information? I have his birth and death certificates and his mother's death certificate. The only people I know anything at all about in that family are my biological grandfather and his parents." Lisa's Answer: In regards to your other question, I'm afraid you may not have much luck with the VA hospital. Hospitals are notorious for closed records, although in my interview with author Steve Luxenberg, he talked in episodes 120 and episode 121 about how he worked around some of those challenges. Stick to proven genealogy methodology to find out more about him. Start with his death and move backward in time. I would look for a newspaper obituary, census records (if he was alive prior to 1940), general ancestry.com searches, and military records. As for the family tree in your database, adoptive parents are just like step parents (which are included on our trees) and can, and I believe should, be included. RootsMagic forum explaining how many users have accomplished this. It's perfectly ok to have 2 sets of parents because that was the reality of the situation. And it only seems right as adoptive parents do the actual parenting. I can't imagine leaving them out. I hope that helps. Good luck and thanks for listening to the podcast! Brandt has a question about place names "In going through some of my records, I've come across a few where the records were created here in the States, but name places back in Europe or elsewhere. The place names are often spelled phonetically, and sometimes I can't figure out what they were trying to say even with a Google search. Do you have any tips on figuring out how to find misspelled foreign place names" Lisa's Answer: Gazetteers are always great resources, but when I'm really stuck I often (not surprisingly) turn to Google. Type the location name (to the best of your knowledge) and run a search. Google will do it's best to suggest the closest matches to names it can find. It's even better if you can include an additional key word or two to help Google narrow it down. So if the place name is a village in Germany, type the village name in, and add the keyword Germany. If you have a surname associate with it you could even try adding that as perhaps there are people today in the location with that surname. With a few tries you might just get the answer. And consider running the search in Google Earth since it is geographic in nature. It's the same Google Search engine. Ricky in Alabama also has two questions "I'm still working my way through your genealogy gems podcasts. One thing I'm curious about. I have gone to a library and found obituaries on microfilm. I print the image, then scan it when I get home. So it saves as a .jpg. When I save it to my database (FTM right now but I just got roots magic5) it saves just like a photo. Should I create a word document and insert the image making it a document? Same for death certificates I've saved from microfilm." Lisa's Answer: I just save them as jpeg, and make a note in the source citation in RootsMagic. No point in creating extra work. If you want more detail attached to the image, consider going into your computer files and adding data into the Properties of the image. On On the PC: 1. Open Windows Explorer and locate the image on your hard drive 2. Right click on the image 3. Select Properties 4. Click the DETAILS tab 5. Enter keyword tags and details about the image To keep jpegs and other files organized and coordinated with your genealogy database, check out the Hard Drive Organization video series that is part of Premium Membership. Ricky's second questions: "I was listening to an older Genealogy Gems podcast recently, and I heard mention of the web site Random Act of Genealogy Kindness…is this site back online. If not, are there any sites similar to it??" Lisa's Answer: With Social Networking sites so abundant now, my first stop would be Facebook. Many genealogists befriend genealogists around the country and put out a request when looking for help. And you can search for friends by location. If you're not active on Facebook, I would recommend going to the www.usgenweb.org and going to the state and then county website for the county where you need the help. Many county sites have LookUp help and ways to connect with those in the area who can be of help. And of course if you are looking for help with obtaining a photograph of a grave, try www.findagrave.com or www.billiongraves.com This time of year everyone is heading back to school, and it's a good reminder that not only could we benefit from continuing to pursue our own genealogical education, but in an effort to foster an appreciate for our family history and ensure its survival we really need to be educating the children in our families about family history, what it means, why it matters and even how to learn more about it on their own. Earlier this year at the National Genealogical Society conference that was held in Cincinnati, Ohio a young mom approached me and told me she just published some books on how to teach your children about genealogy. And this wasn't just a book but rather a curriculum. Branching Out Curriculum by Jennifer Holik Branching Out: Genealogy for High School Students Lessons 1-15 (Volume 1) Branching Out: Genealogy for 4th - 8th Grade Students Lesson 1-15 (Volume 1) Branching Out: Genealogy for 1st - 3rd Grade Students Lessons 1 - 15: Lessons 1-15 (Volume 1) Engaging the Next Generation: A Guide for Genealogy Societies and Libraries If you're not quite ready to jump into a curriculum, maybe you're just not sure that your kids could actually really get interested you've got to check out the Chart Chick blog by my friend Janet Hovorka. Janet has been sharing her personal genealogy journey with her kids, and she calls it like it is. You'll be inspired and entertained and you'll pick up some great gems along the way for working with kids on family history . Google Earth for Genealogy digital video series Read my Family Tree Magazine Facebook Interview: http://www.familytreeuniversity.com/qa-lisa-louise-cooke Exciting New Book In this episode Lisa mentions: Turn Your iPad into a Genealogy Powerhouse by Lisa Louise Cooke The updated book is called Mobile Genealogy: How to Use Your Tablet and Smartphone for Family History Research and is available here in the Genealogy Gems Store.

Published August 8, 2012 In the last episode we took a big bite of food family history, and in today's episode I've got part 2 of my interview with Gena Philibert Ortega, author of From the Family Kitchen: Discover your Food Heritage and Preserve Favorite Recipes. MAILBOX: From Alvie in Lakeland Florida: "Would it be possible to share the recipe for the cookie - was it a sour cream cookie? The one your husband loves. My wife loves to bake cookies to share and she has all sorts of recipes and folks rave about her cookies." Lisa's Answer: You'll find the sour cream cookie recipe that I talked about in the interview at the bottom of a blog post that I did a while back called "Family History Never Tasted So Good" You'll see a picture there of my husband with his Nanna, and at the bottom of the post just click the image of the cook book page and it will be large enough to read the recipe. http://lisalouisecooke.com/?s=sour+cream From Tina: "I've just been watching your video about the Toast-tite. I remember we had something similar (although it wasn't called a Toast-tite) when I was growing up in Brazil - except that it was square (kind of makes more sense when the bread is square ...) and it made simply the best toasted cheese sandwiches ever! And when I went back to Brazil in the mid-1980s, you could STILL buy them! I wish I still had one - they were far better than the electric toasted sandwich maker that I bought later on ... I love foodie memories!" From Laurie in Ridgefield, WA: "I want to share with you a craft project that I created for my two grown sons. I didn't realize at the time that what I created fit into the topic you have discussed about how to get the family involved in history. At the time I not even created a family tree yet! As I am sure you are aware we pass down recipes within a family and as it grows and moves away those tastes of "home" are often missed. It could be Grandmas bread baking or an aunts cookies. Memories etched deep in our senses. Both of my boys have called me from the grocery store to ask how to cook a favorite dish. This got me to thinking close to the holidays about a homemade cook book filled with family favorites. I scoured the old copy of the church fund raiser, a cookbook my mother in law submitted recipes too. Digging up more favorites from my recipe box and contacting family members asking them for a favorite recipe along with any story that went with it. I then purchased blank cookbooks in a binder style. Transcribed onto the computer as documents printed to PDF, each recipe has its own page that lists the person's name and any story & tips. This gift turned out to be the highlight of the day and they poured over it and then I heard them talking about the food and memories. Now, my boys tell me when I cook something new and very good… that's one for the book. It has turned out to not be just a book on a shelf but one they use often." From Carol in Flagstaff, AZ: "I have several interesting cookbooks pertaining to my history. One is a Joy of Cooking, published during WWII, which includes a section on meal planning during rationing. The other is from a Norwegian heritage society in Seattle…What would be good ways to share this information with other Family Historians? (I could scan portions of the books.)" Lisa's Answer: Be sure to check the copyright of the old cook books you have. Do a Google Search on "copyright guidelines" for more information. I think a great way to share them would be to blog about them. And if you want a quick and easy way to start blogging for free watch my How to Blog Your Family History Videos at the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/genealogygems Blogging is not only a great way to share with your family and friends, but your articles will be searchable by Google which means other folks out there who are interested in the same things can find your blog and comment. And chances are you could possibly use brief excerpts of the books in an editorial fashion in a blog, but again just read through some of the copyright guidelines available online. You could also create a book where you share the original recipe, then include "your take" on the recipe, and include photos of you making the dish and old family photos that tie in. I have a series of Premium Podcast Episodes with videos that show you how to use print on demand services to create your book quickly and easily online, and affordably. The beauty of print on demand is that you only pay for exactly the number of books you want. There's no minimum order number. And if your family and friends want a copy than can buy it right from the website rather than you having to be the middle man, which is especially nice for folks who live across the country from you. From Sean: "I enjoyed that episode and it got me thinking of our cookbooks. I've got a recipe box that came to us via my wife's grandmother that I'll be taking a closer look at this weekend. As for me, my first cookbook was a copy of The Joy of Cooking that my parents bought me when I first left for college. Although as the family chef I haven't made a lot of markings in it yet, we have pressed many leaves and flowers between its pages (within wax paper between the book's pages). Several of the leaves and flowers are still there, but now with our 20th wedding anniversary tomorrow, I'm going to take some time with Jennifer to see if we can identify where and when those artifacts were saved." Lisa's Answer: I think it would be great if you starting making notes in the margins – like that a recipe is someone's favorite dish, or the first time you make it – I think we could all do some of that to share a little more with our descendants. GEM: Culinary Family History with Gena Philibert Ortega Part 2 In this gem I'm going to welcome you back to the warmest room in the home, the kitchen. Here amongst the pots and pans we are going to meet back up with my friend Gena Philibert Ortega, author of the book From the Family Kitchen: Discover your Food Heritage and Preserve Favorite Recipes. In the last episode #137 we talked old cookbooks, where to find them, and what they can tell us about our family history. In the final part of this interview I get to turn the table on Gena a bit and ask her some food family history questions that she encourages her readers to ask in their families. When you click this link to buy Gena's book you are helping to financially support the free Genealogy Gems Podcast at no additional cost to you. Thank you! Get the book here. Watch the Companion Interview Video at the Genealogy Gems YouTube Channel (Please be sure to click the SUBSCRIBE button while you are there!) BONUS VIDEO: Gena and I hit the kitchen to make a blast from the past. Watch the video at the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel. Be sure and leave a comment, "Like" the video, and pass it along to your friends! Genealogy Gems App users will find the video in the BONUS CONTENT for this episode. Cool Cooking iPad Apps (click images below:) I really hope you've enjoyed this look at family history and food, and that it's inspired you to rummage through the back of the cupboards, and ask around the family for those recipes, cookbooks, memories and even old cooking utensils so that you can bring your family's culinary history back to the forefront and preserve it like a Ball jar of good peaches. And one last little gem for you: If you enjoy reminiscing about the food of days gone by I want to recommend a video series to you that I have enjoyed for years. It's called Clara Cooks and I've added a few of my favorite episodes to my Food and Family History Playlist at the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel. Just go to www.youtube.com/genealogygems and scroll down and you'll find the playlist in the column on the right. And there you'll also find my video interview Gena and our little cooking in the Cooke kitchen segment. Bon Appetit! GEM: Getting the Scoop from the Genealogy Gems Facebook Fan Page From Kat on Facebook: "Love Genealogy Gems :) I just listened to the podcast that was talking about adding pages to your news feed up in the like button option. I am not convinced that your feed stays visible with just saying show in the news feed since Facebook is constantly changing things. Another tip for seeing pages on Facebook: On the home page of your news feed, on the far left column you will see pages and groups that you recently visited. If you hover your mouse over that address a little edit icon pops up and then you can add that page or group to your favorites. These favorites stay pinned to your left column and when people make comments or the page updates a little number shows up next to the page link. I hope this helps someone here :)" Join us at the Genealogy Gems page at Facebook:www.facebook.com/genealogygems