Episode 218 – It’s All About You

by Lisa Cooke | Jun 13, 2018 | 01 What's New, Genealogy Gems Podcast, Military

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 218

with Lisa Louise Cooke

In this episode, Lisa answers your questions and shares your comments. Hot topics on your minds that are covered in this episode:

discovering new records online,
working with other people’s online trees,
hard-to-locate military records;
and getting help with early Pennsylvania research

NEWS: GOOGLE EARTH STORIES COMING

“Google Earth to let users post stories, photos in coming years” at DNAIndia.com

Lisa’s FREE Google Earth video class: How to Use Google Earth for Genealogy

The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, 2nd edition and Google Earth for Genealogy Video Series

Try Google Earth for Chrome (you must use the Chrome browser to access)

Download the free Google Earth Pro software.

The Genealogist's Google Toolbox Third edition Lisa Louise Cooke

Available in the Genealogy Gems Store

Video series available at the Genealogy Gems store

NEWS: FAMILYSEARCH REACHES 2 BILLION IMAGES

Why you should have a free FamilySearch account and use it!

How to use the FamilySearch Catalog (it’s free! Everyone should use it!)

Best strategies for accessing content at FamilySearch.org (special podcast episode on the end of microfilm lending)

GEMS NEWS: LISA’S NEW COLUMN IN FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE

Purchase the May/June issue in print or digital download format

Subscribe to Family Tree Magazine: print format, digital download format or get a great price for both!

StoryWorth for Father’s Day: Invite your dad to share stories with loved ones every week, and then get them all bound in a beautiful hardcover book at the end of the year. Go to http://www.storyworth.com/lisa for $20 off when you subscribe. This Father’s Day is actually a gift for you, too!

BONUS CONTENT for Genealogy Gems App Users

If you’re listening through the Genealogy Gems app, don’t forget to check out your bonus content for this episode! The Genealogy Gems app is FREE in Google Play and is only $2.99 for Windows, iPhone and iPad users.

MAILBOX: SARA’S FRIDAY RECORD POST DISCOVERY

Click here to view several recent Friday records posts and see what new records have appeared online lately!

Tell Lisa Louise Cooke about your “Friday records post” discoveries or anything else at genealogygemspodcast @ gmail.com or call the podcast voicemail at 925-272-4021.

MAILBOX: ONLINE FAMILY TREE MATCHES

Reviewing tree hints at Ancestry.com

MAILBOX: BACK TO RESEARCH AFTER 10 YEARS!

Lisa’s recommendations to a new Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning member for getting back into the swing of research:

Watch the Premium video, “Take Control of Your Family Tree” (Premium eLearning membership required)

Listen to the Family History: Genealogy Made Easy podcast by Lisa Louise Cooke. It’s a great series for learning the research ropes and well as refreshing your skills.

Listen to Lisa’s other podcast

Lisa Louise Cooke uses and recommends RootsMagic family history software. Visit www.RootsMagic.com

Lisa Louise Cooke uses and recommends RootsMagic family history software. From within RootsMagic, you can search historical records on FamilySearch.org, Findmypast.com and MyHeritage.com.

Keep your family history research, photos, tree software files, videos and all other computer files safely backed up with Backblaze, the official cloud-based computer backup system for Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems. Learn more at https://www.backblaze.com/Lisa.

MAILBOX: MILITARY DRAFT REGISTRATIONS

Click here to read about finding military draft registrations

INTERVIEW: JIM BEIDLER ON PENNSYLVANIA RESEARCH QUESTION

James M. Beidler is the author of The Family Tree Historical Newspapers Guide and Trace Your German Roots Online. Learn more Pennsylvania research techniques in his on-demand webinar download, Best Pennsylvania Genealogy Research Strategies.

Click here to read a summary of some of Jim’s tips AND find a collection of links we curated to help you find more Pennsylvania birth records online.

MyHeritage.com is the place to make connections with relatives overseas, particularly with those who may still live in your ancestral homeland. Click here to see what MyHeritage can do for you: it’s free to get started.

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Lisa Louise Cooke, Host and Producer
Sunny Morton, Editor
Hannah Fullerton, Audio Editor
Lacey Cooke, Service Manager

Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting this free podcast and blog!

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Resources

Download the episode
Download the show notes

Google Scholar for Genealogy? Here’s Why to Try It

by Lisa Cooke | Mar 4, 2015 | 01 What's New, Google, Listeners & Readers, Maps, Records & databases, Research Skills

Recently I heard from Sue Neale, whose story offers a compelling reason to use Google Scholar for genealogy research! Read it below–then I’ll tell you a little more about Google Scholar.

“I’ve been using computers for genealogy research (among other things) for about 30 years and am pretty good at finding most anything on the internet whether it pertains to genealogy or something else. It’s a continuous learning experience because computer, the internet and genealogy on the internet are always changing and updating.

[After hearing your seminars at RootsTech 2015], I tried out a couple of Google searches for my husband’s 3rd great-grandfather Silas Fletcher. Silas lived on Indian Key in the Florida Keys in the early 1820s.

My husband and I and our son visited Indian Key several years ago and the young lady who took us out in the boat had actually written her college thesis on Silas! Of course, we didn’t think to get her name or any other information. So I Googled “scholar paper Silas Fletcher’ and the first item on the search turned out to be her thesis!

I also found a second thesis on Indian Key and a research paper a third person had written–and they both contained information on Silas. In the footnotes I found references to deed books (book number and page number) that contained statements written by Silas, his wife Avis, their daughter Abigail and Mike’s 2nd great grandfather William H. Fletcher about their lives and movements in the Florida Keys.

With that information I went to Familysearch.org and found the deed books I needed for Monroe County. I was able to go find their statements very easily instead of having to ‘browse’ through the books on the off-chance I would find something (which I do if I don’t know the exact book where the record would be).

I can hardly wait to try out the rest of what I learned at your seminars to see what else I can find!”

Sue’s experience is a great example of using Google to dig for your family history. One little-known feature on Google is Google Scholar, which would help Sue and anyone else more easily find material like what she describes: doctoral dissertations, theses, academic papers and more. Your keyword searches in Google Scholar will target results from academic publishers, universities, professional societies and more.

Though scholarly literature gets a bad rap sometimes for being boring or highbrow, they do something genealogists love: THEY CITE SOURCES. Sue cleverly read the footnotes of the materials she found and they led her right to a key source she needed.

Here’s another resource she could find using the details found on Google Scholar in a Google Image search: a map of his community!

My newly-updated, revised book The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox has an all-new chapter on using Google Scholar. Among other things, I show you advanced search strategies and how to use Google Alerts with Google Scholar for continuous updates on your favorite search results. Click here