Video: Italian Genealogy Research Tips with Mary Tedesco
Do you have Italian ancestors? Did you recently discover Italian heritage in your DNA ethnicity results? Don't miss this exclusive interview with Mary Tedesco of Genealogy Roadshow! She's here to talk about her top tips for Italian genealogy research, as well as share...
Love Finding Old Maps Online? Help “Index” Them!
Recently I've seen two calls for volunteers to help "georeference" old maps. Basically, you're tagging the maps in a way similar to tagging photos of people on social media sites. This makes finding old maps online easier and more accurate. It also allows sites to...
WorldCat for Genealogy: 40 Million Records and Digital Gateway
The 40 millionth record has been added to WorldCat, the enormous multi-library catalog that helps people find library materials all over the world. Even cooler, that 40 millionth record was harvested to WorldCat through the WorldCat Digital Collection Gateway. This...
Google Scholar and ProQuest Team Up!
This just in! Google Scholar and ProQuest are teaming up to provide a publicly-accessible index to all of ProQuest's scholarly journal content. Google Scholar already delivers search results on your favorite genealogy keywords (names, places and records) from...
Free Scandinavian Genealogy Webinar
MyHeritage is a leading resource for Scandinavian genealogy research. Now they are offering a free webinar for those researching Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish and Icelandic ancestry. On Wednesday, April 15, Mike Mansfield, MyHeritage Director of Content and...
Interview with Christina Baker Kline: Genealogy Gems Book Club
As part of our Genealogy Gems Book Club, author Christina Baker Kline joined us on the Genealogy Gems podcast to talk about her international best-selling novel, Orphan Train. Orphan Train explores what happens when your own back story is swept out from under you, and...
NEW Evernote for Genealogy Video Series
Using Evernote for genealogy yet? I hear from people all over the world who are harnessing this free software to finally organize their family history research FOR GOOD! Evernote users can easily import online research finds--along with the URL and other important...
Female Census Enumerators? Check Out These Backstories!
There's a story behind every census record. In fact, there are as many stories as there are names on each census page. This is true not just for people being enumerated, but also for the census-takers themselves. I was reminded of this by Joanne, author of the...
BillionGraves for Genealogy: YouTube Video Interview
Using BillionGraves for genealogy research has never been easier. BillionGraves aims to document and preserve the world's cemeteries. They provide a platform for volunteers around the world (and their smartphones!) to capture headstone images and their GPS locations....
Land Ownership Maps: New Online Property Map Tools for U.S. Genealogy Research
Do you ever find it difficult locate U.S. property owned by your ancestors? Two online resources for land ownership maps are available by subscription at HistoryGeo.com, which might just prove helpful! The First Landowners Project aims to map out the original...
We Dig These Gems: New Genealogy Records Online
Each Friday we share a list of selected new genealogy records online. Watch for records in which your ancestors might appear–and get inspired by the kinds of records that may be out there waiting for you to discover. This week: Australian cemetery records, British...
Knowles Jewish Genealogy Collection Has Over a Million Entries
Looking for an online resource of Jewish family trees? "The Knowles Collection, a quickly growing, free online Jewish genealogy database linking generations of Jewish families from all over the world, reached its one-millionth record milestone and is now easily...
RootsMagic Update And Free Support for Users
Recently I heard from my friends at RootsMagic about a new version of their excellent family history software, as well as tips for getting help using it. I'm a huge fan of RootsMagic software--click here to read my RootsMagic review. I'm also huge fan of keeping your...
View-Master Toys are Going Virtual Reality
Did you have a View-Master toy as a kid? Using these stereoscopic viewers (long before kids had cameras of their own), children could see pictures of any topic from Disney to dinosaurs to the 1958 World's Fair in Brussels. According to a collector, whose image is...
Walka walka walka: New Google PAC-Maps!
It may not help with genealogy, but Google Maps just got a lot more fun! Yep, it's PAC-Maps, and with this latest update you can find where NOT to go! Google has added imagery of "dangerous virtual beings, starting with Pinky, Blinky, Inky and Clyde. When navigating...
Recent Ohio Adoption Records Now Open
Recently Genealogy Gems Premium member Katharine Ott wrote in this with newsworthy gem: "Recent adoption records are being released in Ohio. Such an exciting time for those adoptees yearning to connect with their bloodlines! Before the bill took effect, they allowed...
Can Google Help Me Search Digitized Newspaper Pages?
Can Google help you search digitized newspapers you find online? Recently I heard from Garth in Ontario, Canada with a question like that. Here's what he asked and here's what I told him: "A friend found a digitized newspaper article by clicking on this link and going...
DNA Helps Scientists Identify Homeland of Caribbean Slaves
Did you hear what has been discovered about the remains of three Caribbean slaves found on the island of St. Martin? Scientific techniques identified them as two males and one female, all between 25 and 40 years of age, who were buried around the mid-to-late-1600s....