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Premium Episode 86 – Go from a Good Site to a Great One with Similar Sites

Date Published: March 28, 2012

Click here to download the Show Notes pdf

NEWS:

Premium Member Kim sent me: Google Gives Search a Refresh from the Wall Street Journal

Over the next few months, Google’s search engine will begin providing more than a list of Web links on the results page. You’re going to start seeing actual more facts and direct answers to your queries at the top page thanks to technology called “semantic search.”

Watch my interview with Dave Barney on the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel

 

Part 2 of the interview with Dave Barney

FamilySearch
New indexed records:

 

MAILBOX:

Pam on AZ wrote about my interview with Martin Sheen

Thanks for an interesting episode–Martin Sheen is talking. He does not own a computer?????????????????????????????? Amazing!!!!!!

I wrote a blog article about it back when the episode aired: Does Martin Sheen Search on Ancestry?

 

MAILBOX

Victoria in Montreal recommends the iTalk app for recording:

“I am very happy with an app called iTalk. It’s easy to use, provides excellent volume and clarity using the built-in mike on the iPhone or iPad, let’s you pause and restart, and lets you send the recording to Dropbox or attach it to an email.”

iTalk Recorder (free) http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/italk-recorder/id293673304?mt=8

iTalk Recorder  ($1.99) iTalk Recorder premium app ($1.99)

iTalk now offers file sharing with iTunes  In order to use the Dropbox feature that Victoria mentioned you’ll need to upgrade to the paid app but again it’s only $1.99, and for the quality of the recordings, I think it’s well worth it for family interviews!

Recordings you create with iTalk will be saved in AIFF format which is a non-compressed format and lossless. They are larger files than mp3 and used professionally.  I had no trouble importing it into a free audio editing program called Audacity and editing it or exporting it as an mp3.  Thanks Victoria!

Audacity (free) http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Cookie writes:|
“I just recently heard about you and your podcasts. I’ve been listening to your podcast, joined as a premium member, and purchased your newspaper e-book.  I love everything I’m learning.

I was hoping to be able to color code my FOLDERS, however, I haven’t figured out if there’s a way to do that.  Do you happen to know???  If not, I’m thinking about coding the folders something like BURKETT [Green]; does that make sense, or do you have another suggestion?

Over the years I’ve purposely collected information that doesn’t necessarily link up with my family members yet… would you recommend putting these folks into a separate folder other than Surnames Researching???”

How to change a folder to an icon in Windows Explorer:

  1. Right-click on the folder
  2. Select PROPERTIES
  3. Click the CUSTOMIZE tab
  4. Click the CHANGE ICON button
  5. Select an icon from the list
  6. Click OK to close icon window
  7. Click OK to close folder.

You can also add custom icon images by saving them to your computer, and then using the BROWSE button to navigate to select the custom icon.  With a bit of effort that means you could create or find a small icon (ex. a square, circle, etc) and duplicate it with each one being a solid color that corresponds with your color coding system.

However, there is a freeware program available online called Folder Marker at www.foldermarker.com that looks like it would do the trick. Of course with all online downloads, you download at your own risk, but this looks good to me. There is a very basic free version, and more sophisticated versions for sale.

As for unconfirmed data, I created a “pending” folder for each surname where I store items not yet confirmed and sourced.  You could take further and have a Pending folder inside each of the various categories (i.e. Census -> Pending Census)

Great question and thanks so much for taking the time to write in!

And finally I have a bit of Eric is feeling Inspired.  He writes:
“I figured I’d answer your call for “stories of things you may have overlooked in your genealogy research”. It also provided the little bit of motivation I needed to share with you my recent work.

For my father’s birthday I decided to create my own family history book for his side of the family. I started by importing my family tree GED file into Family Tree Maker and running a report using their “smart stories” feature. It by no means wrote the book for me, but it did organize a timeline of events for each family member I wanted to include (giving me a great starting point). From here I copied everything into Microsoft Word and started forming my stories and filling in the blanks. I’ve got to tell you, nothing motivates you to inspect every record with a fine tooth comb like trying to piece together a coherent and cohesive story about a couple’s lives…It took me almost 4 months, but I finished the book just in time for my father birthday. I used Blurb.com and their BookSmart program to build and order my book and I think it turned out quite amazing.”

“Thank you for all your inspiration and hopefully this will help inspire others :)”

Eric’s family history book

Eric’s “The Family Archaeologist” Blog

 

GEM: Similar Websites

When it comes to finding what you are looking for online, there’s a good chance you are working too hard!  Before you start a search from scratch, consider revisiting those website that have already paid off in your family history research, and then leveraging them to quickly find similar websites that also offer what you need.

Watch to Video: Common Surname Search Strategies

Google’s RELATED search begins at the 28:34 mark on the video

Example:  RELATED:http://www.greatwebsite.com

Google’s Chrome browser’s Similar Sites button:
Look up in the top right hand corner of the Chrome browser, right next to the monkey wrench button is a button that looks like a stack of blue lines with a wavy line on the top.  Hover your mouse over it and you’ll see that it is the Google Similar Pages button.  All you have to do is go to a website that has the content of content you are looking for and then click that button and Google will serve up 4 more pages that most closely match the kind of webpage you are looking at.

www.similarsites.com offers  a free plug-in for Internet explorer, Safari and Firefox

Similar Sites is an add-on for Firefox, IE, Chrome or Safari that recommends websites again based on the ones you’re already using.

  1. Go to www.similarsites.com
  2. download and install the button for the browser you use
  3. Surf to a great web site
  4. Click the SimilarWeb button to display additional websites featuring very similar content.

If you’d rather not install the button, or if you would like to get a larger list of similar sites:

1. Bookmark www.similarsite.com

2. Copy the url address for the original website

3. Go to similarsites.com

4. Paste the url in the search box.

5. Click search and you’ll get a longer list of websites that most closely match the original.

So the next time you find a great site that features the kind of genealogical content you need, whether it’s old maps, a site about a particular family, or location, or other type of resource, take advantage of search and run the site through these similar site tools. You may find even more of what you’re looking for.

 

Premium Episode 50 – Interview with Tom Jones

Date Published: July 8, 2010

Click here to download the Show Notes pdf

iGoogle Themes: Google has discontinued 

NEWS:

Dan Bucatinsky, executive producer of Who Do You Think You Are? will be accepting the DAR Media Award on behalf of Is or Isn’t Entertainment, the production company he founded with Lisa Kudrow which produces the series.

FAMILSEARCH

The popular Knowles Collection from FamilySearch is a free database connecting Jewish records of 115,000 people in 30 countries.

  • The Jews of the British Isles                (82,000 names)
  • The Jews of the Americas                   (10,300 names)
  • The Jews of Europe                             (18,697 names)
  • The Jews of the Caribbean                 (2,200 names)
  • The Jews of Africa and the Orient      (367 names)

The entire collection is now linked electronically as families and fully searchable on FamilySearch’s Community Trees project. Researchers can also download GEDCOM versions of each collection from www.familysearch.org

MAILBOX:

Premium Member AC Ivory wrote in and offers another way for Mac users to view the bottom of the iGoogle Theme formatting screen:

PC

Zoom Out = Press the Control key and minus key

Zoom In = Press the Control key and the plus key

 

Mac:

Zoom Out = Press the Command key and minus key

Zoom In = Press the Command key and the plus key

 

GEM:  Common Surnames – An Interview with Tom Jones

Thomas W. Jones, Ph.D., CG, CGL, is the editor of the NGS Quarterly and has been a certified genealogist since 1994. He is a professor of education at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., He is a genealogical educator who speaks and writes frequently on genealogical evidence, proof, and problem solving.

Tom emphasizes:

  • Focusing on identities rather than names and dates
  • Using a Research Worksheet (Tables and Timelines)
  • Uncommon names where you live could be common in the “old country.”
  • Staying Organized – download Lisa’s free research worksheet and sample worksheet from Episode 23 of the Family History: Genealogy Made Easy podcast show notes webpage:

Uncommon Elements To Look For:

  • Tax Records (particularly in the South)
  • Census
  • Any kind of name list
  • Look at the people around them
  • Court Records

Understand the Context – The #1 mistake genealogists make is to focus too narrowly.

Tom says you need to understand the rules and customs around the records.  What was your ancestor’s motivation for creating the record?  Understand the law.

TIP:  Newspapers carry legal notices and didn’t burn in court house fires!!

(Be sure and watch the recorded premium member webinar: Getting the Scoop on Your Ancestors in Old Newspapers!)

Tom provides a quick overview of common law and it’s affect on genealogy research – It’s evolution and variations by locale.

Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England

Download Lisa’s FREE Research Worksheet and Sample Worksheet at the show notes for Episode 23 of the Family History: Genealogy Made Easy podcast.  Listen to episode 23 for a refresher on using the worksheets.

PROFILE AMERICA:  Marine Corps Band History

The U.S. Marine Corps Band was established by an act of Congress on July 11, 1798.

The Genealogy Gems Toolbar has been discontinued.

Premium Episode 51 – The Census and Enumeration Districts

Date Published: July 27, 2010

Click here to download the Show Notes pdf

IRISH RECORDS:

Kimberly Powell at the About.com blog is reporting that there are new Irish Church Records Online for FREE

Irish Genealogy

http://www.irishgenealogy.ie/

“…has added a number of new church records of baptism, marriage and death to their free Web site. This brings the total to over 2 million church records from Dublin City and counties Kerry and Carlow, plus a subset from Roman Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Cork & Ross.”

FAMILSEARCH

Online Volunteers Index a Whopping 100 Million Records Already This Year

FamilySearch Indexing has announced that volunteers have completed 100 million records in the first half of 2010, and is on track to complete a targeted 200 million by the end of the year. Search the completed indexes and images at pilot.familysearch.org.

Interested volunteers can start helping any time by registering at FamilySearch Indexing and selecting a project.

Millions of Historic Documents from Microfilms Now Emerging Digitally Online

FamilySearch’s microfilm conversion initiative is beginning to sail. Over 12 million digital images from thousands of microfilm, representing 8 countries, were published online for free viewing this month.  Go to FamilySearch’s Record Search pilot (FamilySearch.org, click Search Records, and then click Record Search pilot)Beta.FamilySearch.org

GOOGLE EARTH

Google Earth Images Update as of July 14, 2010
Sweden: Northern part of the country
United States: Ohio (Cleveland)
Utah (Salt Lake City, Sandy)
Fort Worth  and Abilene TX
New York:  Chappaqua, and the NYC Outer Boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island, Ellis, Liberty, Roosevelt, Governors Islands etc.

3D Google Earth
Seville, Spain – VIDEO
Hawaii – http://3dhawaii.com/
Napa, CA – Try searching for the Beazley House in Napa and looking at that surrounding neighborhoodTurn on the 3D Buildings feature in the Layers panel

MAILBOX:
“I thought you would be interested in checking out the Niagara Falls TV ads (update: no longer available) – especially the theme music use for many of them. It’s the same as your Family Tree Magazine podcasts so when these ads come on TV I’m expecting to hear your voice!”
Ian Hadden at www.ianhaddenfamilyhistory.blogspot.com

Bookmarks and Favorites
“Thanks for doing such interesting and helpful work – the podcasts are informative and fun.  I learn something every time I listen.”  Teresa
Bookmark iGoogle Gadget
Google’s Bookmark Gadget

UPDATE: Editing your iGoogle Bookmark Gadget:  As it turns out, the Edit Settings feature no longer allows for editing the title of the gadget.  However, by clicking on the title BOOKMARKS you will be taken to an edit page where you can easily manage your bookmarks. 

Lisa’s Guide for Bookmarking:
High Priority Websites = Separate iGoogle Gadget
Medium Priority Websites = Listed in Bookmark Gadget
Low Priority Websites = Saved to traditional Browser Bookmarks / Favorites list. 

Review Lisa’s Organize Your Hard Drive Video

 

GEM: THE CENSUS AND ENUMERATION DISTRICT

Melissa Brown writes: “First let me say thank you. I LOVE your podcast!! I have an hour drive to work and it makes the ride so much easier….too bad I usually want to pull over to take notes. 😉 as soon as I get to work I practically run inside so I could pull up one of the newest things you talked about on the show. I’ve been jumping around some of the episodes as I come to a wall in my search, now I’m going back and listening in order to the ones I missed.” 

Melissa’s Questions:
1) Is there a way to determine the enumeration district for that street to help find the census record?
Lisa’s Answer: It depends on the census year.  I recommend focusing on people you find listed in the City Directory who live nearby your ancestors and search for them in the census.

2) if I have a census record that doesn’t list a street name, but lists city, township, district, and enumeration can I use that to determine the general area in the city my ancestor lived?
Lisa’s Answer:  Again it depends on the year.  I would check to see if there are any city directories available anywhere and work the two record types in tandem.

3) Do the districts, enumeration districts change over time?
Lisa’s Answer: Yes, enumeration districts changed over time.

Lisa Lier had some questions about the maps:
“I know there are maps to track or compare the census records/enumeration schedules.  The problem is that I can’t find them and have searched here and there to no avail.  I think I’ve heard that there are some online.  Can you point me in the right direction?” 

Lisa’s Answer: Census enumeration district maps can be very useful and I have a few gems for you to help you track them down. 

Example of Enumeration District Maps at NARA

The US GenWeb Census Project

ED descriptions pertinent to the federal population schedules are in “Descriptions of Census Enumeration Districts, 1830-1890 and 1910-1950” (T1224). A roll listing in the NARA Microfilm Research Room provides additional details, including those pertinent to post-1890 censuses. All the rolls in T1224 may be purchased from the NARA.

Census Enumeration District Guide Picks at About.com

TIP:  Do a google search for enumeration maps specifically for the county you are researching as there may be another website that has digitized them.  Do a Line Drawing search to facilitate your search.

Online References:
Obtaining the 1930 Enumeration District in One Step

From Member Tim Cox: Measuring America: The Decennial Censuses from 1790 to 2000 (PDF)
Overview and Table of Contents

PROFILE AMERICA:  Paperback History

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