Premium Podcast Episode 193
Updates and Listener Questions and Comments
Download the audio file mp3
Download the show notes handout
Elevenses with Lisa live episodes exclusively for Premium Members
Watch this short video about How to watch the monthly live Premium show and get the show notes: https://lisalouisecooke.com/live-premium-show-tutorial/
Highlights:
- Monthly on the first Thursday of the month.
- Time: 11:00 am CT
- Length: typically 45 – 60 min.
- Announced in the Genealogy Gems weekly newsletter the week prior to the show.
- The live show will be featured on our home page starting Wed. before show day. Log in to your membership and then click the show image to go to the show notes and video watching page. (Another way to find the most current show is to click LEARN in the menu. It should be the first item listed.)
- Prior to the live show, there will be a show image where the media player will appear. Show Notes section will say “coming soon.”
- Refresh the page on show day to get the media player and show notes (typically available about an hour prior to the show.)
- A 1 minute waiting room video will play before the show begins.
- Download the PDF handout on show day from the show notes page.
- After the live show ends it will automatically be available as a video replay on the show notes page on our website.
- The live chat is only available during the live show. However, you can join the conversation by leaving questions and comments in the Comments section at the bottom of the show notes page.
About Live chat: The chat feature displays underneath the video on our show notes page. Currently it’s only viewable on computers (not mobile).
During the live show you can click the video player to view it on a members-only page on YouTube where you participate in chat alongside watching the video.
About Premiere Videos: The rest of the Thursdays in the month we will publish shorter vides on the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel. Each video will be a live “Premiere” at 11:00 am CT featuring a live chat. After the Premiere ends it will automatically be available as a video replay on our channel. The show notes and video player will also be available on our website.
New Website in the Works
Our new website will feature new searching filters making it easier for you to find the content you want. Stay tuned for more information to come.
Listener Questions and Comments
From Beverly W.: On Thursday, Oct. 14, you mentioned in the Elevenses episode that you don’t sync your online tree but add little bits to it. However, you do keep everything on your computer, as do I. Can you tell me why you don’t sync? The last time I tried to sync my Family Tree Maker with Ancestry, it was taking forever but did not finish uploading. If I don’t sync it, how can I save sources that I find on Ancestry to my program? I love the show and it has helped me tremendously. Even though I have been working on my tree for 25 years, there is still so much that I do not know.
From Lisa: Good question. I touch on this in Elevenses with Lisa episode 71 and the Premium video Take Control of Your Family Tree.
I don’t sync with an online tree for a few reasons, but mainly because my genealogy software is my “brain” of the operation and I don’t want to run the risk of syncing inaccurate information. By downloading documents and entering the information into my software, I’m doing a double-check that it’s the right document and the right ancestor and I have created exactly the source citation I want. Automation can introduce errors, and sometimes, as you mentioned, doesn’t work that well. I also don’t maintain a tree online that covers every single person in my database. My trees (multiple) are for targeted research on particular branches.
Another reason is that software and websites continually evolve and release new versions. That has the potential of a bug or inconsistency to be introduced where all of a sudden sync isn’t working the way you thought it was. I don’t want to run the risk of discovering it after much damage has been done.
In the end it’s a personal choice. The most important thing is to do whatever you’re going to do accurately and consistently 🙂
From Cindy G.: Hi Lisa. I was with you last night at your speaking to TVGS. I wanted to share with you but wasn’t sure of the appropriateness since my share did not focus on google. On one of your past podcasts you and a guest talked about the ancestry.com CARD CATALOG, so I bit-the-bullet and went in! And it was there during my first try that I broke through to my 4x great grandfather Samuel Cunningham on the western frontier of Pennsylvania and that crazy county Yohogania. Using PA archives of land records and wills and collaboration/FAN and ‘county genealogies’ of their formations, I was able to put the puzzle together. I was so proud of myself for listening to you two, that in my writing of his Life Story I included my journey to locate him. And of course I shared it with my three kids and everyone I bumped in to. I’m sure that there are a fist full of people out there who shook their heads as I did my Proudly Happy Dance!! By the way, I’m also the editor for the TVGS newsletter . I listen to you at FTM podcast as well as Gen Gems podcast. I have become a more efficient and more rewarded genealogist because if you.
From Lisa: Wow, that’s fantastic!! I’m so glad the podcast played a small part in helping you bust that brick wall! Thank you so much for writing in and sharing.
From Rebecca C: This morning I was watching your Elevenses with Lisa program. It was the episode about using Google books and as I was listening I was trying a couple of searches just to see what I could find. You mentioned looking for county histories, so I typed in ‘Goroke’ (a small town in Victoria, Australia). This is the town that my grandfather’s family came from. On the weekend I had been entering some data into my software program about a wedding in Goroke and I was having difficulty reading the name of one of the witnesses. So, I was going through the list of books that came up from the search and the very first book I opened was a gazetteer and went straight to a list of the councilors for the county that Goroke is in. You wouldn’t believe it but the man whose name I had been unable to read was one of the councilors! I know you probably get lots of emails like this but I just wanted to share. Thanks for your show. I love all the little (and big) treasures of information you share.
From Lisa: Thanks for sharing a great example of how we don’t have to have famous ancestors for them to appear in books and other print publications. Learn more about using Google Books for genealogy with this Premium video: Google Books: the Tool You Should Use Every Day
Got a Question or Comment?
Email me at genealogygemspodcast@gmail.com Put “Premium Member” in the subject line.
Need help with your Premium Membership?
Email us at service@genealogygems.com
Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 232
Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 232
with Lisa Louise Cooke
August 2019
Listen now, click player below:
Download the Show Notes PDF in the Genealogy Gems Podcast app.
Please take our quick podcast survey which will take less than 1 minute. Thank you!
In this episode:
- Exploring what you can do to go deeper in your genealogy research for a more accurate family tree with Elissa Scalise Powell
- Irish genealogy podcaster Lorna Moloney, a professional genealogist with Merriman Research, discusses Irish genealogy.
Mailbox
Marcia Finds Treasure on eBay
“I recently remembered your idea of searching for family related things on eBay.
My grandfather and his brother both worked as agents for the Wrought Iron Range Co. of St. Louis. They sold excellent quality wrought iron stoves and my great uncle did very well there as a supervisor.
I did a search for the Wrought Iron Range Co on eBay and immediately pulled up a history of the company, an advertisement for the range and a metal they gave away. I bought them all!
However, the best goodie which I am still bidding on is a “salesman’s sample Wrought Iron Range stove about 12 inches tall and 14 inches long in color and with all working parts.
(Photo: The stove Lisa inherited from her grandmother.)
I may not win the bid, but I am thrilled with what I found.
This will bring my grandfather’s occupation to life for my great nephews!!!!”
More eBay Research Strategies on Genealogy Gems:
- Learn more about eBay alerts in Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 140.
- Genealogy Gems Premium episode 76
- Genealogy Gems Premium episode 16
- Learn more here about Genealogy Gems Premium Membership
Steve Shares a New German Translation Resource
“I came across a new site that you might like to inform your listeners about. It is very new and just getting started, so I know they would appreciate a mention.
The name of this new site is “German Letters in Letters” [germanletters.org]. What they are doing is trying to collect letters written between German immigrants to the US and their relatives back home in Germany.
You can very easily submit scanned copies of any letters you have and the really neat thing is that they will post them at their site. Once they post them, they are asking for translations by any volunteers. So, this is an excellent way to have any letters in your possession to be translated….. for FREE!
I was given about 30 letters written to my GG grandfather, Johann Bernard Husam, who immigrated to Adams Co., Illinois about 1855.
They are from his siblings, nieces, and a nephew back in Germany. They range from 1866 to the early 1900s.
I scanned them and they are now on this site. I was given these letters by great granddaughter-in-law [my aunt] who spoke German as she had grown up in the Sudetenland area of Czechoslovakia. She had escaped Czechoslovakia at the end of WWII before the Russians invaded. She, thankfully, had translated all of the letters.”
Resource:
Learn more about German research from these articles at Genealogy Gems.
What Ann Likes About the Podcast
Hi, Lisa, I’d love to say that your podcast has helped me with a genealogy brick wall but at this point I’m only a “drop-in genealogist,” figuring that I’m the only one in the family interested at this time (working on one grandson though, because I think he’d be a real asset) in finding and preserving family stories.
I do research in fits and starts. But, I do love your podcasts. I’m catching up on back episodes now and recently listened to one that started with you describing a granddaughter’s first Christmas coming up.
It reminded me of one of the best things about your podcasts – it’s like you’re sitting in my living room with me, having a cup of tea, discussing your stories and tips and tricks to help with mine.
Thank you so much for all the information, and for your casual, personal, yet professional style!”
Kristine is No Longer a “Cooke-Cutter” Researcher
“I just retired and guess what is first on my list of things I WANT to do? 🙂 I jumped in with both feet listening to your Premium podcasts and realized a few times that I am the ‘cookie-cutter’ researcher. But, no more. You are the Captain of my ship now. Thank you!
After binging on your podcasts the last two weeks, the first bit of advice I took was changing the way I searched on Newspapers.com. My family’s everyday life’s treasures were buried in the pages of the local news! You made me take a second look after I dismissed the possibility of ever reading about them.
Thank you so much for your dedicated work on behalf of all the genealogists. My Premium subscription will NEVER run out. When a family member says “I don’t know what to get you” I’m prepared to solve that dilemma!
Warm regards,
A listener for life”
Resource:
Read Lisa’s article called A Shocking Family Secret and 3 Powerful Newspaper Search Tips
This podcast is sponsored by:
GEM: Overcoming Shallow Research with Elissa Scalise Powell
About today’s guest:
Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL, is co-director of the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP); past-president of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, and 2017 She won the Association of Professional Genealogists Professional Achievement Award. She is a Certified Genealogist®, and Certified Genealogical LecturerSM. You can reach Elissa at Elissa@PowellGenealogy.com. (Thank you to Elissa for contributing notes for this episode.)
The Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS)
The Genealogical Proof Standard was created to help genealogists gain confidence in their research conclusions by providing criteria that can be followed. A genealogical conclusion is considered proved when it meets all five GPS components.
The 5 Components of the GPS
- Reasonably exhaustive research – This type of research emphasizes original records that provide the information for all evidence that might answer a genealogist’s question about an identity, relationship, event, or situation
- Complete, accurate citations to the source or sources of each information item contributing—directly, indirectly, or negatively—to answers about that identity, relationship, event, or situation
- Tests—through processes of analysis and correlation—of all sources, information items, and evidence contributing to an answer to a genealogical question or problem
- Resolution of conflicts among evidence items pertaining to the proposed answer
- A soundly reasoned, coherently written conclusion based on the strongest available evidence
Resource
The book Genealogy Standards by the Board for Certification of Genealogists provides a standard by which all genealogists can pattern their work.
About Sources
Some sources are considered “Low-hanging fruit.” They can be described as:
- straightforward research
- easily accessible
- record type is easily understood
- document states the fact desired
Many times, genealogists will need to stretch and reach for harder to find sources. These types of sources are:
- not straightforward
- possibly unknown to you at this time
- not easily accessible
- time-consuming to explore
- take study to understand it
- not self-explanatory
Elise’s Examples of the Pitfalls of Shallow Research
- Believing that family stories have been accurately passed down in all details.
- Believing that official documents are always correct.
- Believing that published records, especially transcriptions or abstracts, are faithful representations of the original.
- Premature conclusions can come back to haunt us.
- Disregarding ill-fitting evidence can create brick walls.
- Careless citation practices do not give us the tools we need for analysis.
- Researching and understanding historical context is crucial to solving problems.
- Barriers requiring expertise beyond our own should not hamper the research process.
- Assuming there is only one record and suspending research when the first one is found.
- Assuming that details are unimportant, or not noticing them at all.
Elissa also points out that when we do shallow research, we can actually do more harm than good. Shallow genealogical research:
- Doesn’t allow our ancestors to reveal themselves or their reasons for actions
- Puts them in the wrong time and place
- Can create wrong kinship ties
- Misleads future researchers
- Causes brick walls
- Wastes our time
- Does a disservice to our current family and descendants
GEM: Irish Genealogy with Lorna Moloney of Merriman Research
While speaking at THE Genealogy Show conference in Birmingham England in June of this year I got a chance to sat down for the first time with Lorna Moloney host of The Genealogy Radio show which is produced at Raidio Corcabaiscinn. It airs live on Thursday at 4p.m. and is podcast (click here for episodes). Lorna runs Merriman Research which is dedicated to bringing educational solutions and resources to a wide audience.
Lorna’s website: www.traceyouririshroots.com
Photo: Lisa and Lorna at THE Genealogy Show in Birmingham, England in 2019.
Premium Episode 19 – Genealogical Cold Case Strategies Part 1
Premium content
How to Find Images Online for Family History: Free Video Tutorials
Images make your family history more vivid. But how can you find just the right pictures to illustrate your family stories? These short, free video tutorials help genealogists find images online for family history.
When it comes to sharing your family history, pictures are not only worth a thousand words: they’re priceless. A single image can convey an ancestor’s physical appearance, mood or attitude, living or working conditions, social environment, and more. Pictures catch the eye whether they are on coffee tables, hanging on the wall in frames, or shared with loved ones on social media, where they are oh-so-clickable.
So I was happy to get this email from Phyllis, asking for some tips on how to find images online for family history:
“Hi Lisa, I know you’ve told us before what some great resources are for locating historical photos and images. I’m looking for some from the Ragtime era (1895-1918). I don’t find much at the Library of Congress. Can you send me a few links to some of your podcasts that delve into where to find images? Thank you for all the hard work you do for the genealogy world.”
How to Find Images Online for Family History
Most recently, I shared some tips for finding images in the free Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 194. But I also recommend this series of short video tutorials, which show you exactly how to do this.
How to Find Images Online: Use Google Images
The first place I search online for images for family history is Google Images. Watch this brief tutorial video to see how to find images using your Google web browser:
If you want to use your tablet or smartphone to find images for family history, here’s another short tutorial just for you:
How to Find Images Online: Image Search in Google Books
When I am looking for pictures of people, places, buildings, historical events, maps, and other images that commonly appear in books, I also search Google Books separately for pictures that haven’t shown up in the main Google search results. You can do that, too! Here’s how:
After you’ve found images via Google Books, you’ll want to save them. Here’s one last quick video to show you how:
Using the tips given in the above video tutorials, I can run a Google search to answer Phyllis’s specific question. I’ll type ragtime era as a keyword phrase and enter the range of years, separated by two dots and no spaces, to tell Google to search for any numbers within that range. Then, as shown below, I’ll click Images to limit the results to pictures:
The Image search results include some fun photos, including a photo of a ragtime band, several sheet music covers, illustrations of “ragtime dress” and even a link to old video footage:
Click on an interesting-looking image to see a larger version and more details about it, including the website that’s hosting it. You’ll also see the options to click through to the webpage on which that image is found (“Visit page”), or to click through to the URL for that image (“View image”):
When I want to use an image, I will take one additional step: Click the TOOLS button and select Labeled for reuse from the Usage rights menu. This generally filters my results down to those that don’t have copyright restrictions on them (although it’s up to me to verify this and cite the image appropriately when I use it). Here’s what it looks like to filter my results to those labeled for reuse:
Unfortunately, in this case, when I do this, all search results disappear. If you want to use images for your own personal use, try the Labeled for noncommercial reuse option. Not all images that are copyright free or in the public domain will be marked, so if you don’t find what you need, go back to your original search results and look at individual images that you like to see whether any of them come from government, wiki, or other websites that commonly offer copyright-free images. Click through to read any image restrictions or use policies posted on the site, or contact the site for permission to use them. In this case, I do find several hosted by libraries, and I will focus on them.
One last tip: filter your search results again for Videos, instead of for Images. An entirely new set of search results will appear, largely from YouTube but also from other websites:
If the spirit and movement of ragtime during this time period is what you’re looking for, watch these videos! They may not work for you if you need static images for a book, but they’re great for sharing on your family history blog or in a social media post. Just click through to the video page, click Share and copy and paste the Embed code onto your site.
The Genealogy Gems YouTube channel is a vast resource. I invite you to visit, explore, and subscribe. In addition to tech tip video demos such as these, you’ll also find interviews with genealogy experts. research tips for maps, newspapers and other record types, how-to series for family history blogging, creating videos, and using Evernote for genealogy, family history craft tutorials and more! Here’s a tip: Use the search box to find what you’d like to watch. (Google search operators work in YouTube searches, too. Use them to zero in on the video or podcast episode you want.)