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

Are you ready for Christmas yet? If you would like to help out the podcast while you shop, just click the box below... ...to access the Amazon site and look for your first item. When you do that Genealogy Gems will get credit for anything you buy while you're on the Amazon site - and you don't pay anything extra! Thank you! NEWS: RootsMagic, Inc. announced the immediate availability of RootsMagic Essentials, free desktop genealogy software based on their award-winning RootsMagic 4 system. RootsMagic Essentials contains many core features found in its namesake that allow the public to easily start tracing their family trees. FAMILYSEARCH: The folks at familysearch have added some new record collections which can be searched for free at the FamilySearch.org Record Search pilot (click Search Records, and then click Record Search pilot). The new records include: - Brazil Catholic Church Records 1805-1979 update - Massachusetts Marriage Records, 1842â1915 - Mexico, Distrito Federal, Catholic Church Records Spain Municipal Records, 1837â1870 - United States 1920 Federal Census for Texas, Ohio, and Iowa Footnote.com recently released "the Native American Collection" of historical records. Genealogy Gem Rhinestone Pin. is no longer available MAILBOX: Crystal writes in with an update on her family search Liz Pidgeon wrote in about Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 74 featuring Joe Bott of the DeadFred website. "There is an Australian equivalent called Photo Rescue though no way as big at: http://www.members.optushome.com.au/lenorefrost/photorescue.html and I know that people also post "unknown" photos to Flickr groups.â AC has been diving into his family history and wrote in with a neat story of what it can mean to an older relative when we spend time with them and ask about family history. www.generationivory.com Read his article about podcasts. Susan shared a fun free website that features the music of yesteryear Upchucky Radio Hits of the 1940s Jukebox page Profile America: 1810 census Learn more about the 1810 census GEM: Part 2 - David Rencher on Family Search David Rencher is the Head Genealogist at familysearch and in today's episode you"ll be hearing part 2 of my interview with him on the past, present and future of familysearch.org. Profile America: Automobile Update: The Genealogy Gems Toolbar has been discontinued.

New to the Podcast? Click the media player on the right to begin listening or subscribe to the podcast for free in iTunes. (Click here to learn more about how to download and subscribe to podcasts in iTunes. Click here to watch a video tutorial) News: Attend one of Lisa's classes: Lisa will be speaking at the Family History Expo in Mesa, Arizona on January 22 & 23, 2010 Genealogy Gems Store Archived Premium episodes are now included in Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning Membership. 2013 Update: The Genealogy Gems Toolbar has been discontinued. MAILBOX: Listener Megan Kyser asks if the Family History: Genealogy Made Easy podcast might have a DNA episode someday? and she adds, "My whole family listens in the car on trips- yes; even the 5 and under crowd! Lisa covered DNA in Episode 29 of The Genealogy Gems Podcast She will also be interviewing a DNA specialist for the November episode of The Family Tree Magazine Podcast which will be out later this month. And Lisa recommends a fun website for her under 5 fans! Listener Rhonda Schneringer of South Dakota and says-"in this podcast, you mention a class you teach called "Sharing the Joy". You describe it as projects anyone can do to share your genealogical information with family members who aren't "into" genealogy yet. Can you tell me where I can find information about these projects?" The details of the projects Lisa covers in the presentation can be found in her Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning video Sharing the Joy. The projects featured in the class included: Decoupage Plate - Chapter 11 Sweet Memories Candy Bars - Chapter 20 (this is a big favorite!) Family History Wall Displays - Chapter 3 Publishing Your Own Family History Book - Chapter 13 A four part video series is available at the Genealogy Gems TV Channel at YouTube for the Family History Christmas Wreath project: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 GEM: Interview with David Rencher, Head Genealogist at Family Search David discusses the digitization for FamilySearch, how research has changed, the future of the Family History Library online catalog, and the opportunities that technology offers the genealogy world. It's a rare opportunity to hear from the decision maker himself about the records that impact your research. This podcast is sponsored by:

Sit back and enjoy this episode about a Gem of a web site: www.DeadFred.com Founder Joe Bott tells us what drove him to create the site and some amazing and inspiring stories of Ancestors found! Here's a link to the photograph of Gustavo Hammel that Karen Hammel found on the DeadFred web site. Our Dog Howie was featured in BARK! magazine (below)

NEWS: Lisa covers digitized newspaper records recently posted at the Library of America's Chronicling America web site As well as news from Ancestry.com including new records, the new social networking with records feature, and updated to their Member Connect Feature. Watch Lisa's 2 part video series on Member Connect with David Graham of Ancestry. Go to the Genealogy Gems TV Channel at YouTube and Click on the Videos section. Become a fan of The Genealogy Gems Podcast at Facebook. Add Lisa as a friend on Facebook MAILBOX:Lisa stops by Mike O'Laughlin's Irish Roots Cafe to ask the Irish research expert for some advice for listener Maria Romano about her Hickson and Carey ancestors from Clanmorris, County Kerry, Ireland. Mike has some great leads for Maria and anyone with Irish ancestors. Then Lisa shares some advice from German Genealogist Baerbel Johnson of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City on German research in response to listener Teri Chaffin's question about her Matzdorff family. Danny from Baltimore wrote in to comment on Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 69 and the story about the man who found his family history book digitized on Google Books. "Copyright infringement and plagiarism is always a topic near and dear to every genealogist. A discussion on "fair use" typically results in a heated debate but to assume that since a library has a copy of a book and that an arrangement between the library, a company (Google) and various literary organizations permitting the digitalization of the library's collection automatically implies the granting of digital rights to that collection is flabbergasting.â Danny from Baltimore Web sites mentioned:Authors Guild Original article (9/3/09) about Google books from the BBC Tina Kelly writes to say how excited she was to be able to get some of the archived Premium Episodes from the Genealogy Gems store at Lulu Premium Episodes now on Lulu:Premium Episodes 2 through 7 And more episodes are coming soon! Limited Time Savings: Save 14.92% on your order (up to $25) with coupon code PINTA Sale Ends Oct. 12, 2009. And Russ Karr writes to share the highs and lows of his research, and his curiousity about an ancestor that died in an Insane Asylum in San Jose in 1920. Resources mentioned by Lisa:The Suitcase Exhibit Online Diane Haddadâs post on The Genealogy Insider Blog Attend Lisaâs classes:Family History ExpoRedding, CaliforniaOctober 16 & 17, 2009 Listener and Premium member Pat Dalpiaz shares how she proudly wears her new Genealogy Gem Rhinestone Pin whenever she has a new discovery, and shares two of her most recent discoveries generated by working on her family history blog. $11.95 + $1.50 shipping to the Continental U.S. Designed personally by Lisa Louise Cooke and made with high quality Czechoslovakian and Austrian crystals, this custom rhinestone pin is bound to generate genealogical conversation when worn. Measures approximately 2" x 1", secured with pin back. Limited quantities!

News: Read Lisa's Blog post "Google Books Revolutionary Next Step" How to Order Key Civil War Records by Tamie Dehler, Tribune-Star Mailbox: A listener writes in to share her experience with Genealogy Wise Join the Genealogy Gems Podcast Group at Genealogy Wise. Check out the free program Transcript 2.0 that listeners are raving about. GEM: Probate Records with Jana Broglin, CG How to Find Probate Records: Research the local jurisdiction Find where wills are filed Look in Index of Testators or General Index to Wills Request the packet Jana's Tips: Don't overlook Vouchers / Receipts Ask for numerous short pages to be photocopied onto one page Just because you find a guardianship record, don't assume both parents are deceased. Visit Jana's Web Site GEM: Sorting your bookmarks alphabetically in Safari (Mac) Thanks to listener Eiya Loki How to Sort Bookmarks: 1. On the top of your screen click on Bookmarks 2. In Bookmarks drop down menu click on Show All Bookmarks3. In the left pane under Collections click on Bookmarks Menu 4. click on any bookmark in the right pane 5. Go directly up to Edit at the top of your screen and click on it 6. Click on Select All from the drop down menu 7. Open up Finder and make a folder on your desktop called "bookmarks" 8. Double click on the folder to open it up. 9. Then on your keyboard press Command-J. This will open a little window.10. About in the middle of this window you will see the words Arrange By: with a drop down menu right next to it, click the drop down menu option Name.11. Now go back to Safari and drag a third of Safari's window out of screen 12. Position the finder in the empty half of the screen. 13. Go back to the Bookmarks Menu 14. Click and drag all of your bookmarks in the Finder window. 15. There the will be automatically sorted even the bookmarks inside folders! 16. Go back to Safari and re Select All to your bookmarks just as you did before but this time after you have all you bookmarks highlighted 17. Go back up to Edit & click Delete in the drop down window. 18. Go back to the Finder window and Select All just as you did before 19. Drag the bookmarks back into Bookmarks Menu in Safari.

And at this conference I am debuting a brand new item that I've been working on for months and it's ready, and it will be available for the first time at the Expo. It's actually inspired by you - you know you are all such gems to listen in to the show, and I was thinking about that, and it just seemed to me that there ought to be something wonderful to wear that shows off what a real genealogy gem you are. So this weekend I'm making available for the first time the Genealogy Gem rhinestone jewelry pin My grandmother always wore sparkling costume jewelry and I was fortunate enough to inherit it, and this pin fits right in with all the wonderful vintage pieces. So if you would like your very own pin to declare to the world that you are someone you care about is a genealogy gem, be sure and stop by the Genealogy Gems booth in the exhibit hall. Pin is sold out and no longer available. MAILBOX: Russ from Tucson, AZ wrote in to ask about how to locate some Californians in his family tree, and a very happy outcome followed: Well the "little angels" were in my court because the same day I emailed you I was listening to your old archives in the premium member section when I heard you mention the "acts of random kindness" which I emailed the same day, well someone who lived near the cemetery was able to get a hold of a record of my great grandfather's burial date but said there was no date of death. Using that date, I manually went into the Oakland Tribune obituary archives and went back a few days before the burial date and there was his obituary! Kay wrote in to share her experiences with Member Connect on Ancestry. Email your comments to Lisa GEM: Member Connect with Ancestry Part 2Interview with David Graham, Director of Product Management In this episode, we wrap our personal tour of Ancestry's new Member Connect feature. GEM: Family History Thoughts with Lee Drew In this gem I am happy to feature another wonderful blog post from genealogy blogger Lee Drew called "Choices and Consequences." LineageKeeper blog Fam Hist Blog I'm going in for some surgery in early September and I know that recovery may take around 4 weeks, so you may not be hearing from me as regularly as usual, but I hope that you stay in touch and be patient until I'm up on my feet again. I'm going to try to get some things wrapped up before hand, so hopefully you Genealogy Gems Premium members won't notice any difference in the regularity of premium shows and videos. And actually I'm having a blast with this new video series coming up and I know you'll love it. I appreciate your understanding and patience and really canât wait until I can get back to the microphone with more genealogy gems. Thanks so much for listening friend, I'll talk to you soon!

Family Tree University Google announced last week that it has quadrupled its searchable archive of historical news articles, many of which are free to access.From the Genealogy Insider Blog The National Archives just announced that it has launched what it calls a Narations blog. The new blog is going to focus on online public access to records of the U.S. National Archives MyHeritage.com, has announced the release of Family Tree Builder 4.0. The Family Tree Builder software is available for free download Read the article about Google's new improved search BBC News MAILBOX:Sean shared his recent discoveries and then had some questions about the 1930 census and the Office Use Only columns. GEM: IPUMS USA website The site is described as "Census microdata for social and economic research". It's an excellent and little known web site that is dedicated to collecting and distributing US census data. Its goals are to: Collect and preserve data and documentation Harmonize data Disseminate the data absolutely free 1850 - 1950 Enumerator Instructions 1930 Enumerator Instructions But as the column implies, the census taker was instructed not to write in column 26D so in this case the instructions can't help much. Column 26D was filled in by the staff at the census bureau after the census taker completed the task. The codes written in the column were to assist them in tabulating statistical information which they reported to Congress. Unfortunately these numbers really don't provide additional information because they just reflect what was written in the Occupation columns by the census taker GEM: Tools for Occupation CodesBut if you have a curious streak and would like to see exactly what the codes meant I've got a gem for you. Steve Morse the author of the One Step Tools shares your curiosity and he created a page on his website called "Deciphering Language and Nativity Codes Appended to the 1930 Census in One Step." You can learn what the occupation codes in Column 26D mean by visiting this page: "Deciphering Occupation Codes Appended to the 1930 Census in One Step." GEM: Agricultural Census (Non-Population Census)Farm # - It refers to the Special census called the Farm ScheduleListen to Family Tree Magazine podcast #12 Census secrets with Curt Witcher for more information. Non-population census at the National ArchivesAgricultural censusWhere to find the records at the National Archives GEM: Member Connect with AncestryDavid Graham. Director of Product Management at Ancestry.com gives us a tour of the new Member Connect feature. This episode is sponsored by Rootsmagic

NEWS: For the month of August 2009 Footnote.com is providing free access to the 1930 census images. To get the free access just go to www.footnote.com/1930census/ and register with your email address. Genealogy Insider Blog by Diane Haddad at Family Tree Magazine. National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMUC) is celebrating it's 50th year. National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections is a free Library of Congress program. Information about the manuscript collections of participating US libraries is being entered into the WorldCat library catalog search engine. Family History: Genealogy Made EasyEpisode 38 - Features the Footnote Maven Randy Seaver's article on the Genea-musings blog Footnote Maven's post about the episode Episode 39 of the Family History podcast features the very gifted writer Denise Levenick who write the Family Curator blog, and also has an alter ego known as Penny Dreadful who writes occasionally for the Footnote Maven's Shades of the Departed blog. And you get two bloggers in this episode because it also features my interview with Schelly Talalay Dardashti who writes the Tracing the Tribe blog on Jewish genealogy. Both these ladies are very experienced bloggers and will give you great tips on blogging, including dispelling the myth that you have to be technically inclined to blog! Google Books: Read Lisa's blog post on the subject Books Rights Registry So what do you think about this? Have you published your family history? Does it matter to you who owns the digital rights to your work? I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. Email Lisa or call the voice mail line at 925 272-4021 to have your thoughts included on the show. GEM: Profile AmericaAugust 1 - First US Census GEM: Tony BurroughsTony Burroughs is an internationally known genealogist, author, and former adjunct genealogy professor at Chicago State University. He lectures throughout the United States and Canada on all aspects of genealogy. He is the author of the book Black Roots: A Beginners Guide to Tracing the African American Family Tree published by the Fireside Division of Simon & Schuster and I recently had a chance to sit down and talk with Tony about his work and his approach to the research process. Tony was so much fun to talk to and has so much knowledge about such a variety of subjects. If you'd like to see my interview with Tony that was filmed at the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree you can view it in it's entirety at the Genealogy Gems YouTube Channel. GEM: My Mother Was A Quilter by Lee Drew Lee's Website his FamHist Blog and his Lineagekeeper blog GEM: Profile AmericaAugust 2 - The First News Reel Sign up for the free Genealogy Gems e-Newsletter: To stay up on everything going on at Genealogy Gems be sure and sign up for the free e-newsletter. Just go to the website and click the Sign up button in the column on the left and when you do that youâll get the 20 page e-book on Google Research strategies as a thank you gift. See Lisa in person: Family History Expo Sandy, Utah just outside Salt Lake City August 28 & 29, 2009 Email Lisa with your questions and comments

NEWS: The Genealogy Guys are going to be at the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference in Little Rock, AR Sept 2-5 2009 recording their show before a live audience on Sept 3 at 3:30 pm. Listen to Drew Smith interview Lisa on the Genealogy Guys Podcast Episode 177 The Library of Congress has launched "The Library of Congress on iTunes U, featuring historic video and sound recordings. Download iTunes Lisa discusses the start up and rocky road of the new social networking website for genealogists called Genealogy Wise by familylink.com Paul Allen's Apology to Terry Thornton So where do we go from here? Well, I still wholeheartedly encourage genealogists to network Friend Lisa on Facebook Join the Genealogy Gems Podcast facebook group Where Are Paper of Record's Records?It"s all still pretty murky. But it seems to be a pretty unanimous decision that Paper of Record was really a terrific newspaper website and though Google and WVR so far are not offering the same kind of search capabilities, they both seem to have some of the content. So my recommendation is to check Google News Archive first - which is free, and then check to see if WVR has the newspaper you're looking for. Lisa's Video on the Google News Timeline (Update: The Timeline has been discontinued.) Become a Premium Member Today. If you have information about the progress being made with the paper of records content I'd love to hear from you so I can update everyone here on the show. Email me or call the voice mail line at 925-272-4021 to leave a message that I can play on the show. GEM: Profile America40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing - July 20 Visit NASA's website's Apollo 40th Anniversary pages Watch the Launch- as you would have seen it on July 16, 1969, at 9:26 AM EDT T-minus 00:5:59 and counting GEM: Interview with Geneablogger Thomas MacEnteeThomas talks about how to do genealogy blogging, his own numerous blogs, and some tips for you to get started blogging about your own family history. Watch the video version of this interview at the Genealogy Gems TV Channel at YouTube Thomas MacEnteeâs Blogroll: Geneabloggers Grandma Austin's Diaries Bootcamp for Genea-Bloggers Destination: Austin Family And I Helped! Lowville Obituaries Lowville Long Ago The Graveyard Rabbit of New York Rural Cemeteries A Catskill Christmas GEM: The July 2009 Family Tree Magazine Podcast EpisodeSnippet of my interview with Eric Grundset, Library Director at the DAR Library Eric's fave collection: GRC National Index 2 Volume - Vital Records of Americans in China and Korea Mark your calendars: Join Lisa at the Family History Expo in Sandy, Utah just outside Salt Lake City August 28 & 29, 2009.

For more info on next year's Jamboree: Southern California Genealogical Society Read Lisa's Blog Posts about this year's Jamboree: Tukufu Zuberi Wows Researchers at Jamboree Listen to Lisa's one on one interview with Tukufu in Episode 63 Top 10 Things I Noticed At The Geneablogger Dinner NEWS: Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning Members can watch the webinar Finding Your Family In Old Newspapers in the members-only area. Lisa's article called Grave Transformations appears in the September 2009 issue of Family Tree Magazine on news stands now. Watch the Grave Transformations video for step-by-step instructions. GEM: Interview with Randy Seaver, Genealogy Blogger Randy's Blogs: The Geneaholic Blog The Genea-Musings Blog