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How to Make Family History Story Videos – Episode 14 Elevenses with Lisa

How to Make Family History Story Videos – Episode 14 Elevenses with Lisa

Episode 14 Video and Show Notes

Live show air date: July 2, 2020
Join me for Elevenses with Lisa, the online video series where we take a break, visit and learn about genealogy and family history.

Today I want to help you create videos. This may not be really high on your to do list currently, but perhaps it should be. Short compelling videos can have real impact on your family, helping them to understand and appreciate the family history. Videos shared can also elicit unexpected additional stories from viewers in your family. And a video leaves a beautiful legacy behind of your genealogy research.

In last week’s Elevenses with Lisa show, you saw a short video I created for Doris using the story she sent me in an email and a few photos and documents. This week you’re going to hear from another viewer, Kathy Nielsen, a Children’s Librarian in Monterrey, CA, a genealogist, and a new Grandma. We’re going to talk about her experience creating a short family history story video. I think hearing her experience will help give you an overview of what’s involved, and how really doable it is. Then I will follow up with an overview of the basic video creation process and tips help you be successful in your efforts.

Video Creation Process Notes

Select the Story

  • Sometimes what is interesting to us are not interesting to a wider audience.
  • Keep your audience in mind.
  • Family, who are not genealogists are used to video entertainment.

A few story examples:

  • A couple’s meeting and marriage
  • An ancestor’s military career
  • Why a family immigrated to America

Try creating a video that:

  • strives to grab the viewer’s attention
  • touches them emotionally
  • focuses on one story

“You need to have some kind of emotional hook” Kathy Nielsen
Ask yourself: “Why am I so fascinated with this story?”

3 Key Questions

  1. Who will watch? (Friends, relatives? Ages? Genealogy interest?)
  2. Where will they watch? (Online, social media, email, offline DVD?)
  3. How long would they watch? (Suggestions: 1 min. for social media, 3 min. for YouTube/website, and 10 min. for family gathering)

What is the right length for a video? Generally speaking, keep it short! Kathy says, “An hour is too long. You lose the interest of your group.”

Set an achievable goal: 3 minutes

Write the script

  • Shorten it to make it a little more powerful
  • Practice and Record the Audio
  • Practice reading your script, then record it.
  • Pacing is very important.
  • Try recording your script a few times. Edit as needed.

Keep in mind, not every video needs narration. You may not be comfortable recording your voice, or even writing a script, and that’s OK. Simply create an outline and use text titles to move the story along where needed. Videos that aren’t narrated are perfect candidates for adding music.

Collect the Content (Digitized photos and videos)

Listen to your voice recording and that will jog ideas for images that would fit well. Copy old family photos, documents etc. into a project folder on your computer.

You can fill in the blanks for content you don’t have. You can use public domain images. This week’s Genealogy Gems newsletter included a tip for using the free images at the Library of Congress’ Free to Use and Reuse Sets web page. Sign up for the free Genealogy Gems Newsletter here

Internet Archive has copyright-free images. You can also google for copyright-free images as well as filter an image search down by usage. (See the chapter on Image Search in my book The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox.)

When in doubt about your rights to use an image, request permission from owners.

Digitize your old home movies and incorporate them. I use Larsen Digital. They can handle all types of media formats and offer special discount for my viewers and readers. They are returned as MP4 digital files that can then be cut into shorter clips using a video editing program. Click here for special Larsen Digital discount only for Genealogy Gems. 

Editing

“Sometimes what you leave out is as important as what you leave in.”  – Lisa Louise Cooke

Videos are really layers of content: audio, music, graphics (photos and videos)

The Ken Burns effect that Kathy referred to is effective to create movement with static images and elicit emotion. (Zooming in and out.) The animation and movement can help bring out the emotion of the story. It can help you guide your viewer to what really matters and move that story forward.

Video Creation Tools

Videos Tools in Many Shapes and Sizes: mobile apps, web-based tools, and software. You can create slideshow type videos, or fully produced movie-style videos that include video and customized features.

Kathy used We Video. Monthly or annual subscription $8/month billed annually ($96)

I recommend Camtasia because you pay one fee, and you own it. It has all the tools you need and loads of templates, music and other media assets.  Software like this takes longer to learn how to use, but Camtasia offers many free tutorials.  ($249 – students and teachers discounts are available.) Click here to learn more. When you use our links we are compensated at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting the free Elevenses with Lisa show!

You can also use free apps like Adobe Spark Video. (website and mobile app) We will talk about Spark Video more in depth in an upcoming episode.

You may want to start with a free app, and as you gain confidence, graduate to software.

How much time Kathy spent on her video:

  • Script writing and editing (3 hours)
  • Time referencing her genealogy software (about an hour)
  • Collecting photos (1 hour)
  • Time spent finding photos to fill in the blanks (variable)
  • Time to learn the video creation program (variable)

Select the Music

  • Music included in video editing tools has already been cleared for use.
  • YouTube has copyright-cleared music in the Audio Library (See the chapter on YouTube in my book.)
  • If you upload a song, be sure you have rights to use it.

Idea for Getting Started

Try following the format of George Ella Lyon’s poem Where I’m From. Listen to Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 185 featuring Ms. Lyon.

Check out this article on the Genealogy Gems website featuring another video version of the poem by a Genealogy Gems Podcast listener: A “Where I’m From” Video and More from Our Poetry Contest

More from my guest in today’s episode, Kathy Nielsen

If you have California roots, visit the Monterey Public Library California History Room: https://www.monterey.org/library/History-Room

Watch Kathy’s webinar “Searching for Your Roots at the Library.”  This is a get started webinar on how to use library resources.  

Resources:

video magic

This video tutorial series by Lisa Louise Cooke is part of Genealogy Gems Premium Membership.

3-part Genealogy Gems Premium Video Series: Video Magic by Lisa Louise Cooke. Click here to learn more about becoming a member. 

In Part 1 you will learn:

  • The various types of videos
  • key questions you need to answer when preparing your video
  • the importance of story and character
  • how to create videos your family will want to watch through focus and structure

In Part 2 you will learn:

  • how to identify content for your video
  • the different types of video editing programs available
  • how to select the right program for your project

In Part 3 you will learn:

  • how to find free music to use in your video
  • understanding copyright issues
  • using storyboarding as a video creation tool
  • the special details that will make your video memorable
  • how to share your video

Live Chat PDF– Click here to download the live Chat from episode 14 which includes my answers to your questions. 

Show Notes PDF – Genealogy Gems Premium Members can click here to download the show notes PDF for this episode. (Log in required.) Become a Premium Member here

DNA Kit Sale 

The sale mentioned on this episode has ended. 

I Want to Hear from You

Please leave a comment below and let me know if you enjoyed this episode. Outline your first video story this week and then leave a comment or question about the process and your experience. Also, when it comes to creating videos, what would you like to learn more about? 

Also, I appreciate your help in spreading the word about Elevenses with Lisa. You’ll find social share buttons on this page or simply copy the URL and paste in a Facebook post. Thank you!

 

 

How to get better Google search results faster – Episode 13 Elevenses with Lisa

How to get better Google search results faster – Episode 13 Elevenses with Lisa

Episode 13 Video and Show Notes

Live show air date: June 25, 2020
Join me for Elevenses with Lisa, the online video series where we take a break, visit and learn about genealogy and family history.

Today’s Topic: How to get better Google search results faster.

Our Goal: Up to 90% reduction in the number of search results, and higher quality results on the first few pages.

In this session we discussed:

  1. Identifying what you already have, (the “searchables”) and
  2. using Google Tools to flesh out the details
  3. so that we can tell a richer, more complete story.

Start broad and then analyze your results to determine if you need to narrow your search by adding more details and search operators.

Reviewing your initial search results will possibly reveal alternative spellings you may want to explore.

The search operator we used in this episode was quotation marks.

Example: “Washington McClellan”

Quotation marks can be used on single words or phrases. They tell Google that:

  • all search results must include in word or phrase,
  • the words must be spelled exactly as you spelled them,
  • the words in phrases must appear in the order your typed them.

You can have multiple words and phrases in your query.

Example:  “mcalister” “harness” shop “logan utah”

If you discover an address during your searching, you can plot it in Google Earth. Search for it in the search box. Click the placemark button in the toolbar (the yellow pushpin icon) to mark the location.

(Learn more about using Google Earth in episode 12 of Elevenses with Lisa available here.)

Time Saving Tips:

  1. When reviewing large webpages, quickly find your keywords (“searchables”) by doing a Find on Page: Control (PC) or Command (Mac) + F. Type the words in the pop-up box to jump directly to them on the page.
  2. On the search results page, click Image results in the menu. This allows you to quickly spot sites with images that appear to be applicable to your search goal. Click the image to visit the site.

 

Google Genealogy

Use the quotations marks search operator in all of the free Google tools.

 

Learn More with These Resources

Book: Cooke, Lisa Louise, The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, Genealogy Gems Publications, print.
Video Series: Cooke, Lisa Louise, Google Earth for Genealogy digital video download series, Genealogy Gems Publications,
For a limited time use coupon code EARTH11 to get 25% off both of the resources above at the Genealogy Gems Store here.

The Genealogist's Google Toolbox Third edition Lisa Louise Cooke

Use code EARTH11 to get 25% off

Answers to Your Questions

Gwynn: If I have a My Google Map and pin on those will they show up on the google maps desktop version or do I have to redo them? For example, I have a map of Ohio with ancestor dates and locations.
Lisa: Google has recently added a button to the toolbar that will take you to Google Earth on Chrome. So, if you are looking at your placemark on the map and you click that button, it will open the same general location in Chrome, but currently it will not bring the placemark with it. I would not be surprised at all though if we see that functionality in the future.

Ceirra: I ​played with Google Earth from last week but couldn’t get back to even 1937???
Lisa: If you mean there were no Rumsey Maps (in the Layers panel) in a particular area, that’s not uncommon. That’s where pulling maps from other sources like the David Rumsey website can help. He has 100,000 maps digitized, searchable and downloadable that you can then use to create an overlay in Google Earth. And there are many, many other online sources for old maps. Read: The Best Way to Find Old Maps for Genealogy at the David Rumsey Website

Cynthia: If we have something from our relatives, what is the best way to put it on the internet to share with others?
Lisa: I really think posting on your own blog is the best way to share. It also provides a vehicle for being found by other researchers interested in your family when they Google. I have videos on the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel explaining how to set up a free Blogger blog.

MargtheCar: Are quotation marks case sensitive?
Lisa: No.

Steve: ​If you had two different spellings of a name, do you run separate searches for put both spellings in one search?
Lisa: You could run this search: “washington mcclellan” OR “Washington mcclelland”

Kelli: I ordered google toolbox 3. I have the first two. Are they worth sharing – or have things changed enough that I should just toss them? Shelf space, you know :).
Lisa: They are worth sharing if you warn them may encounter some things that no longer work or have changed. Search has some of the biggest changes. The Google Earth section hasn’t changed  much since the last edition of the book.

K M Vaughan​: Can we legally use the image from the library?
Lisa: Check the website for terms of use, or contact the library for permission.

Gwynn: Lisa, what do you think of the new google books viewer, Im not a fan because I cant see the source.
Lisa: It takes getting used to, I agree! But I think the overview page is actually quite an improvement. I’m publishing a newly updated version of my class Google Books: the Tool I Use Every Day in Premium membership that features the new viewer.

Karen: Can you use – minus?
Lisa: Yes indeed. Here’s an example of combining quotation marks and minus sign in the same query:  “Richard Lincoln” -abraham – president

Robyn: I don’t find that the 1850..1880 works for me. What could I be doing wrong
Lisa: Problems could include:

  • Running the search on mobile
  • You have a space in the string – no spaces
  • There are no available results that include those numbers
  • Using more or less than 2 periods

K M Vaughan​: Can your Google tools on mobile
Lisa: Yes, all the tools (such as Google Books, Scholar, Patents, etc.) can all be used on mobile, however you may find some minor differences, and some search operators may not work.

Cynthia: ​I have been trying to find the marriage certificate of my grandmother and her 3 husband, in 1953 and cannot find anything. What can I do to marrow the search
Lisa: Without the benefit of seeing the specific situation, I would recommend focusing your search on the record collection you need rather than the names of individual ancestors. I go into detail on this strategy in the book.

Carolyn: What did you use to make the video?
Lisa: I used Camtasia which I LOVE. Stay tuned, because next week we’re going to talk about making videos and some of the my favorite free tools as well.

Doug: What tool do you use to create the entries in Google Earth for the presentation (the autoplay part)?
From Lisa: I used Camtasia. Stay tuned, because next week we’re going to talk about making videos!

Genealogy Gems Premium Member Resources:

Log into your membership here on the website. (Learn more here about Genealogy Gems Premium membership.) In the menu under Premium click Premium Videos and then click the Google topic tile. There you will find videos with downloadable handouts: 

  • The Google Search Methodology
  • 5 Google Search Secrets
Video Classes by Lisa Louise Cooke

Google Video Classes by Lisa Louise Cooke

Today’s Teacup

 Blenheim Palace Grand Cabinet china. Learn more about Blenheim Palace, the home of Winston Churchill, at the website.

Blenheim Palace

Garden-side tea time at Blenheim Palace

 

From You

The best part about teaching is when I get to hear back from you about what resonated with you, and how you used what you heard to make a wonderful discovery. Doris has been a Genealogy Gems premium member since 2015 and she wrote to say “I’m finally listening to the Elevenses series! Just watched Episode 1 and wanted to share a find.”

Doris explained how she used my tip on being sure to turn the page of passport application records to ensure you don’t miss additional pages. She made quite a discovery!

Thank you to Doris for sharing her story. I sent her the video I created and the photo that I enhanced and colorized at MyHeritage. 

Enhance and colorize your photos at MyHeritage

Enhanced and colorized old family photo – learn more here at MyHeritage.

Click here to try enhancing and colorizing photos for yourself!

Resources: 

Live Chat PDF– Click here to download the live Chat from episode 13 which includes my answers to your questions. 

Show Notes PDF – Genealogy Gems Premium Members can click here to download the show notes PDF for this episode. (Log in required.) Become a Premium Member here

I Want to Hear from You

Did you give this Google search operator a try in your genealogy searching this week? Please share your experience.  And of course I’m always interested in your questions and feedback. Please leave a comment below. This is your chance to join our community’s conversation!

 

 

 

 

Ways to Use Google Earth for Genealogy – Elevenses with Lisa Episode 12

Ways to Use Google Earth for Genealogy – Elevenses with Lisa Episode 12

Episode 12 Video and Show Notes

Live show air date: June 18, 2020
Join me for Elevenses with Lisa, the online video series where we take a break, visit and learn about genealogy and family history.

The first 4 minutes of the video is the “Waiting Room.” This welcomes viewers and counts down to the start of the live show. This week’s Waiting Room features a Google Earth tour of about 100 Elevenses with Lisa viewers who have commented in the Chat forum during the YouTube Live show.

The Google Earth discussion begins at the 5:15 mark.

Today Topic: Ways to Use Google Earth for Genealogy

Google Earth Pro is now free and simply known as Google Earth. It’s available in three forms:

  1. Google Earth Web (in the Chrome browser),
  2. the Google Earth app,
  3. and downloadable desktop computer software which offers the most robust set of tools.

This session focuses on the desktop software.

Google Earth provides a 360-degree, 3-dimensional way to view your ancestor’s world! It’s a tool that can be used for solving genealogical questions as well as visually telling the stories of your ancestors’ lives.

 

From You:  

From Lynnette: “I love spending time with you on Elevenses. I was especially thrilled to view the google earth for genealogy segment on Episode #11 especially because San Francisco is my hometown (although I grew up in Menlo Park).

All of my great grandparents came to San Francisco in the mid-late 1850’s. So, I decided to jump into Google Earth and see if I could find the homes of my family.

There definitely is a learning curve for Google Earth but I am wading through all of the help you have on your website! I just ordered your toolbox book also. I was thrilled to see that you will be doing Google Earth on June 18 on Elevenses.

My great grandparents, George and Sarah Atkinson’s home was located 1876 15th Street, SF. I entered the address into Google Earth and up popped their home. AMAZING! 

George Atkinson's home. Google Earth for Genealogy with Lisa Louise Cooke

Compare this photo with how it appears in Google Earth today in episode 12. (Photo courtesy of Lynnette Bates. )

Very few changes have been made since they resided there about100 years ago. It is incredible!

My grandfather’s shop was at 1785 15th Street and they had previously lived at 11 Clementina St. Neither on theses places exist now but I have located all of the places on the David Rumsey 1915 SF map although I have not figured out how to add it to Google Earth I have wonderful large photos of all of these places.

Lynnette's family

Lynnette’s family in front of their home. (Courtesy of Lynnette Bates)

My family actually did not live far from yours. Google Earth has added a new dimension to my desire to preserve and share my family history. Thanks again for all of the fantastic hints, inspiring stories, and wonderful ideas and encouragement that you provide! Happy grandmothering!  (We have 38 grandchildren!)”
Lynnette B.

After watching this episode Lynnette followed up on her progress.

“It was fun to see my information on your Elevenses this morning!  I really want to put this all together.  I have added the 1915 SF map and pinned the home on Clementina and the home and shop on 15th Street.  I have added a description but can’t figure out how to add the actual old photo to the description!  Will keep working on it! (Note from Lisa: See Chapter 18, page 201 in my book The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox.)

George Atkinson was a wood turner.  He exhibited at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.  I had fun looking at YouTube videos last night of the fair.  You are just giving us too many great ideas!  Thank you. (Lisa’s note: Read my article How to Find Family History on YouTube in 5 Steps.)

I also found some other interesting information on your website.  The article and map of shipwrecks around Ireland was fascinating. (Note: She is referring to my article 5 Free Online Historical Maps for Genealogy.) I actually located the site where my great uncle George Henry Flack died on the shipwreck of the Alfred D Snow in 1888. You never know what can be found even after an exhaustive search!”

Getting Started with Google Earth

Download the free software by following these steps:

  1. Go to http://www.google.com/earth/download/gep/agree.html
  2. Click the blue download button
  3. Read the Terms and Conditions
  4. If you agree to them, click the Agree and Download button
  5. Follow the installation guide
  6. When complete click Run Google Earth (Your computer must be connected to the Internet.)

 

Navigating Google Earth on the Desktop

The Google Earth software is comprised of the following components:

3-D Viewer
View the globe and its terrain in this window. Use the navigation tools in the upper right corner to zoom in and out and view the map from different perspectives.

Toolbar
The toolbar above the 3-D Viewer provides one click access to Google Earth tools such as placemarks, polygons, overlays, paths, tours, historical imagery, emailing, printing, and more.

Search Panel
Locate a geographic location by typing the address, latitude and longitude coordinates, or names of the location (ex. Library of Congress) in the search box.

Places Panel
Save, organize, and revisit your placemarks and maps in the Places Panel. These are your private files, stored on your computer.

Layers Panel
Access a collection of points of geographic interest that can be displayed on the 3-D Viewer. Includes features such as roads, cemeteries, churches, and historical maps.

 

Cemeteries in Google Earth

You can use Google Earth to search for cemeteries in the areas where you ancestors lived. Start by searching for the name and town in the Search box. Google Earth can also show you where cemeteries are. It’s fairly comprehensive but of course may not include all tiny privately family cemeteries.

 

How to Find Cemeteries and Houses of Worship with Google Earth:

  1. In the Layers panel click to open More
  2. Click Place Categories
  3. Toward the bottom of the list click the small arrow to open Places of Worship
  4. In the nested menu click Cemeteries. Small cemetery icons should appear on the map. If you don’t see them right away, try zooming in or out depending on how close to the ground you are.
  5. In this list you can also click to turn on a variety of places of worship such as churches and synagogues.
  6. Hover your mouse over an icon to reveal the name.
  7. Click the icon to reveal the pop-up box which may contain more information including a website link or photo.

 

Rumsey Historic Maps

How to Find and Turn on History Maps:

  1. In the Layers panel, click to open (Click the small arrow next to Gallery to open the nested menu.)
  2. Click the box for Rumsey Historic Maps.
  3. You should see Rumsey icons appear on the screen. If you don’t, zoom farther out until you do.
  4. Click the desired Rumsey icon on the map.
  5. Click the map thumbnail image in the pop-up box to overlay the map.

How to Download More Rumsey Maps:

  1. Click any Rumsey icon
  2. At the bottom of the pop-up box click the link that says Download links to all Rumsey historical maps.
  3. This will download a file containing several hundred more historic map overlays to the Temporary folder at the bottom of the Places
  4. Drag and drop the file onto MyPlaces at the top of the Places
  5. Save your work in the menu: File > Save > Save MyPlaces. 

Search for and download more free historic maps from the David Rumsey website. The features nearly 100,000 historic maps. Read my article The Best Way to Find Old Maps for Genealogy at the David Rumsey Website for instructions on finding and downloading free maps from the David Rumsey website.

Placemarks are the Containers for Your Content

You can use placemarks to mark locations on the map. They can be customized with a variety of icons and can be colored coded. Placemarks can include photos, images, text, website links and HTML code.

How to Create a Placemark:

  1. In the PLACES panel click the tour folder once to highlight it
  2. Zoom to the location where you want to add content
  3. Click the PLACEMARK button in the Google Earth toolbar
  4. Name the placemark and add a description of what it will include if you wish
  5. Click OK to close the placemark dialogue box
  6. Now the placemark appears in your tour folder and on the map.
  7. To edit the placemark so you can add additional content, right-click the placemark in the PLACES panel and select PROPERTIES
  8. When done click the OK button at the bottom of the placemark dialogue box

Resources

Cooke, Lisa Louise, The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, Genealogy Gems Publications, print. www.ShopGenealogyGems.com

Cooke, Lisa Louise, Google Earth for Genealogy digital video download series, Genealogy Gems Publications, www.ShopGenealogyGems.com

Use coupon code EARTH11 to get 25% off both of these resources.

The Genealogist's Google Toolbox Third edition Lisa Louise Cooke

Use coupon code EARTH11 to get 25% off

Genealogy Gems Premium Member Resources:

Log into your membership here on the website. In the menu under Premium click Premium Videos and then click the Geographic topic tile. There you will find 6 videos with downloadable handouts: 

  • Google Earth for Genealogy (Beginner) 
  • Create a Free Google Earth Historic Map Collection 
  • 5 Ways to Use Old Maps for Genealogy
  • Best Websites for Finding Historical Maps
  • Time Travel with Google Earth (Intermediate) 
  • Finding and Using Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps

Today’s Teacup

I picked up my mug a few years ago while on the road to one of my speaking gigs. We stopped by the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home & Museum in Mansfield, Missouri and toured the famed author’s beloved Rocky Ridge Farm. 

Laura Ingalls Wilder's Rocky Ridge Farm in Mansfield MO

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home & Museum

From the Website:

The Historic Farmhouse

 “As visitors make their trek to the historic Rocky Ridge Farm, the first sight they’ll see is Laura’s and Almanzo’s beloved farmhouse. It remains as it was in 1957 and stands as an official project of the Save America’s Treasures National Trust for Historical Preservation. 

Laura, Almanzo and daughter, Rose, arrived in Mansfield from South Dakota, August 30, 1894. They purchased a forty-acre farm, which had a one-room log cabin near the spring and ravine. After living in the log cabin through the first winter they built a room onto the side of it in the spring of 1895. The next spring (1896) they moved the new room to the present historic house location, where it is now the kitchen. A second room, with an attic space above it, was added to create a two-room house with an attic bedroom for Rose.”

Stay smart and stay brave! Thanks so much for watching friend. I’ll talk to you soon.

Next Episode of Elevenses with Lisa

Episode 13 will air Live on June 25, 2020 at the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel. Set your reminder now here at the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel.

Resources: 

Live Chat PDF– Click here to download the live Chat from episode 12 which includes my answers to your questions. 

Show Notes PDF – Genealogy Gems Premium Members can click here to download the show notes PDF for this episode. (Log in required.) Become a Premium Member here

I Want to Hear from You

At the end of the episode I suggested that you try and map out your own story starting by setting a placemark in the location where you were born. Did you give it a try? What other projects are you excited to get going on? And of course I’m always interested in your questions and feedback. Please leave a comment below. This is your chance to join our community’s conversation!

 

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