by Lisa Cooke | Oct 11, 2015 | 01 What's New, Gifts, Heritage Scrapbooking, Holidays, Oral History, Publishing, Writing Family History
This 3-step project will help you capture a relative’s life story in plenty of time for the holidays!
Reconstructing the life stories of our ancestors can sometimes feel like squeezing water from a stone. By comparison, gathering the life stories of the living can be like turning on a tap. All you have to do is direct and catch the flow.
Turn your family history interviews into a beautiful book–just in time for holiday sharing–with this three-step project. Simplify it or doll it up, depending on your time, talents and what you have to work with. Just do it! Write your family history! Here’s the basic outline:
1. Record an interview. Invite a relative to chat with you about his or her life stories. Decide together what the relative WANTS to talk about: childhood memories? Stories about a certain loved one or a particular time period? A little of everything? Consider using a list of life story questions or memory prompts like those you can find in my book, My Life & Times: A Guided Journal for Collecting Your Stories
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Before you begin, be clear that your goal is to write these stories up for the family. Meet in person, over the phone or by Skype (click here to learn how to record a Skype conversation). With permission, record the conversation. Ask plenty of follow-up questions, but otherwise keep your own comments to a minimum. For more interviewing tips, listen to this free Family History Made Easy podcast episode.
2. Transcribe the interview. After you’ve finished your chat, go back and type up the interview. Give yourself plenty of time: this takes longer than you think. Consider asking a fast-typing relative to help or hire a transcription service (here’s one option). Type things just as you hear them, incomplete sentences and all. Don’t include anything your loved one wants to keep “off the record.”
3. Print the transcript. Save an unedited copy of the typescript in your permanent files. Edit it a little to make it “reader-friendly” if you want to. Print it out. Add any extras, like family tree charts or copies of photos. Bind it however you prefer. (Genealogy Gems Premium website members can check out Lisa’s 3-part Premium podcast series on self-publishing: episodes 52-54). Share copies with loved ones: they make great holiday gifts.
Here’s a page from a sample project I did. It’s a simple stapled book, printed in landscape (sideways) format on regular-sized paper. I left the narrative in the format 
of a simple Q&A, just like it was spoken. I did edit slightly for clarity and flow. My questions are in italics and the speakers are identified (I was interviewing a husband and wife together). I added a few photos.
I shared copies of this book with every family member as holiday gifts a few years ago. Now everyone has a special legacy gift featuring this couple: their children, their grandchildren and even their great-grandchildren.
Now is the time for you to write a portion of your family history, and I’m here to help and support you. I will be conducting a fun and productive one-week workshop called the Genealogist’s Essential Writing Workshop at Family Tree University starting October 19. You can do this and I’m here to help!
Additional Family History Writing Resources from Genealogy Gems
Disclosure: This article 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 Genealogy Gems!
by Lisa Cooke | Apr 2, 2015 | 01 What's New, RootsMagic, Trees
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 master tree on your own software rather than just in an online tree (click here to read why). From the RootsMagic press release:
“We have released a new update for RootsMagic 7 users, version 7.0.5.0. This update includes the option to automatch with FamilySearch when doing WebHints, as well as a number of small bug fixes.” Click here to see a list of what is new and fixed. “If you haven’t already downloaded the update, look for the “Update Available” indicator in the lower right corner of your RootsMagic 7 program screen, and click on it.”
A Note About RootsMagic Help
“While we try our hardest to make our software as easy to use as possible, we also realize that a program with as many features as RootsMagic can sometimes seem intimidating. That’s why we try so hard to provide as many ways to get help as we can.
On the other hand, we are a small company (yes, we try to look big) and can often get buried with the amount of support calls and emails we receive. But the one thing we don’t have a shortage of is great customers who are willing to help each other.
Way over half the support requests we receive are answering “how-to” and “can the program do this” kinds of questions. Did you know that we have message boards, mailing lists, and other ways to talk to other RootsMagic users to get answers to a lot of these questions? We also have online classes (webinars) and tutorial videos (RootsMagic TV) to help you learn how to use the features of your software. We have an entire knowledge-base of answers to frequently asked questions.” To see all the different ways you can get help with RootMagic software, click here.
We are proud to have RootsMagic as a sponsor of the free Genealogy Gems Podcast.
by Sunny | Mar 12, 2018 | 01 What's New, Canadian, Conferences
This Canadian genealogy conference is one of western Canada’s largest. Coming this fall to British Columbia, it features 3 days of learning from 11 acclaimed speakers and a Marketplace to explore new genealogy products. Canadian genealogy conference coming up...
by Lisa Cooke | Nov 12, 2015 | 01 What's New, Records & databases, Research Skills, YouTube
Get inspired in Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast episode 129! You’ll hear about church records and YouTube for genealogy, locating hard-to-find records and–even 
better–locating ancestors’ parents.
How many ways can you think of to find family history? Lisa Louise Cooke can think of a lot–and she packs as many of them as possible into the newly-published Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast episode #129.
In this members-only podcast, Lisa starts off with a rundown of some great new genealogy records online. I particularly enjoyed the back story she shares on the 1939 Register recently released by Findmypast for England and Wales.
Then Lisa tackles a tough two-part question that a listener sent in. We follow along with this listener’s progress in trying to track down an elusive record type. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t pan out. (Sound familiar?) So then it’s back to the drawing board with some follow-up Genealogy Gems advice and great feedback from yet another listener! I love how this show segment shows the inside process of multi-step research problems.
A segment on YouTube for family history follows. Lisa is so great at figuring out how to use everyday buy adhd medication online technologies and online resources for family history, and YouTube is no exception. I admit I was a bit skeptical the first time I read about searching YouTube for ancestors in Lisa’s book, The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, but I have since found some amazing things on YouTube. Don’t miss these tips!
Two guests join the show today. First is an exclusive Gems interview 
with Sabrina Riley, a Library Director at Union College. Sabrina oversees an archive of Seventh-Day Adventist church records and gives us great tips on using these (and other denominational records) for genealogy.
Then Diahan Southard chimes in with an insightful DNA commentary on when our DNA circles don’t necessarily result in family connections.
What a great lineup! If you’re a Genealogy Gems Premium website member, sign in and then click here and start listening. If you’re not, click here to learn more about the benefits of Genealogy Gems Premium membership. Listening to this exclusive podcast episode is just ONE of MANY benefits you’ll receive for an entire year!
