Genealogy: Most Popular Hobby? Here are the Stats
I often hear people claim that genealogy is one of the most popular hobbies (or THE most popular hobby) in the world. Certainly from where I sit, I can see the industry is growing. More and more people are getting excited about exploring their roots. Here's an...
AncestryDNA’s Breakthrough for West African Ancestry
AncestryDNA announced last week that it has been able to identify six unique historic populations in West Africa. It's a breakthrough they call a "finer-resolution genetic ethnicity estimate for individuals with West African ancestry." They have even used this...
FamilySearch: Civil Registrations, Military, SSDI and More!
It's hard to keep up with the content constantly being added online at FamilySearch! If you (like me) spent the past month squeezing the last bit of travel and sun from the summer, you may have missed some great new content. Here's a recap: This month, over a half...
Family History Library Has New Director–New Direction?
The biggest family history library in the world just got a new boss! Diane Loosle is the new Director of the flagship Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the first woman to hold this job. She has exciting ambitions for the FHL and I look forward...
The Burning of the Gipsy – Behind the Scenes of Who Do You Think You Are?
The final episode of TLC's first season of Who Do You Think You Are? came with more than just an extra helping of ancestral drama. Along with the end of the season came the welcome announcement that WDYTYA? will return in 2014 on TLC. First, the final episode recap:...
Disaster Preparedness for Genealogists Part 2: Duplicate the Past
In celebration of National Preparedness Month in the United States, I'm running a four-part post on securing your family history archive and research against disasters. Last week I talked about assessing and prioritizing your original family artifacts, photographs and...
How to Save and Open Genealogy eBooks and PDFs to Your Mobile Devices
Cliona in Ireland's recent email question illustrates the point that not everything on the iPad is straightforward. But I've got an easy answer to her question that will make reading pdfs and ebooks on your iPad and other mobile devices a breeze: "I bought your new...
FamilySearch and Ancestry: Billion Record Deal
Ancestry.com and FamilySearch International, the two largest online providers of genealogy data, just announced an agreement that's expected to put a billion more historical records from around the world within reach online. A billion is a LOT of records. If you...
And the Winner of the Virtual Conference Registration is…
Hilary Gadsby is the winner of our Virtual Conference Giveaway! Hilary lives in the UK, but because this is a virtual online conference, she can attend from the comfort of her own home. Awesome! Hilary reposted yesterdays blog post about the giveaway on Facebook, and...
Second Season of Who Do You Think You Are? Ordered by TLC
According to The Hollywood Report, TLC has ordered a second season of the revived U.S. genealogy-themed TV series Who Do You Think You Are? The current season averaged 1.8 million viewers in first run episodes. And good news: the episode buy medication for gonorrhea...
Today Sept. 10 Only: Virtual Conference Giveaway
I always enjoy being a presenter at the cutting-edge Family Tree Magazine Virtual Genealogy Conference. This time around I'm teaching Best Apps for Genealogy! And today I am giving away one free virtual conference registration to a lucky Genealogy Gems reader. Read...
Disaster Preparedness for Genealogists: Assess Your Assets Part 1
This morning I looked out my window and could see a huge plume of smoke. Across the valley a wild fire is raging that began yesterday afternoon. The hot and very dry conditions have fueled the flames, and homes are starting to be evacuated. It's a grim reminder that...
and the Winners of the New Prestigious Genealogy Award are…
A special Certificate of Recognition has been newly created by the Society of Genealogists to recognize exceptional contributions to genealogy by individuals and institutions worldwide. Else Churchill, Genealogist, Society of Genealogists in London made the...
Ancestry.com Search Features Get an Update
Like anyone else who sells a popular product, Ancestry.com is always tweaking little things to improve the user's experience. They've been working on some updates, some of which you may have noticed on the site over the summer and some of which are rolling out...
Behind the Scenes at WDYTYA on TLC
If you're like me, you were happy to see the return of Who Do You Think You Are? to our TV lineup this past summer. You might have thought to yourself as you watched, "They make it look so easy! I wonder how long it took them to find that record?" Well there have been...
Personal Thoughts from Lisa: What Ashton Kutcher and I Have in Common
On August 15 I posted a compelling video and article on my Facebook page about the importance of hard word and making your own luck, values I am fortunate that my ancestors passed on to me. The speech came from an unlikely source: a young Hollywood actor. In the...
Here’s Where Can You Get Free Genealogy Records this Labor Day Weekend
It's a holiday weekend, so you know what that means? Genealogy record websites that are usually only available by paid subscription open up some of their collections for free. Here's where you can get access to family history resources this weekend: MyHeritage...
Here’s Where You Can Get the RootsTech 2014 Conference Schedule
Registration is now open for RootsTech 2014, which will be held February 6-8, 2014 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Here's all the info hot off the press including links that reveal classes and computer labs plus a coupon code you can use...