More Books We Love: How-To Genealogy Books

How to Genealogy LOGOWe often mention fantastic how-to genealogy books on the Genealogy Gems podcasts and website. Here we’ve compiled a list of these, a checklist for your own genealogy reference bookshelf.

(Our favorite pleasure reading picks, fiction and nonfiction, are on The Genealogy Gems Book Club webpage.)

Thank you for purchasing any books through our affiliate links. Your purchases help keep the Genealogy Gems podcast FREE.

State Census Records by Ann S. Lainhart. It’s got everything you need to know about U.S. censuses taken by states and territories. From this guide, you’ll learn what is available in each state (year by year, often county by county), where it is available and what’s in these records. Though it lacks current online resources for state censuses, once you know about them, you can Google them to find any online records and indexes! Find this book referenced in a blog post about state census records here.

 

From the Family Kitchen: Discover Your Food Heritage and Preserve Favorite Recipes by Gena Philibert Ortega. Food is an important ingredient in every family’s history! This three-part keepsake recipe journal will help you celebrate your family recipes and record the precious memories those recipes hold. Listen to Lisa’s 2-part conversation with the author in the Genealogy Gems podcast episode 137 and 138.  Watch a free video, “Food Family History,” with both of us on the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel.

How to Archive Family Photos: A Step-by-Step Guide to Organize and Share Your Photos Digitally by Denise Levenick. The Family Curator’s approach is so practical and forgiving: start where you are. Start small. Take your time. Do a few at a time. Use a consistent and simple file naming and digital file organizing scheme! Click here to listen to Lisa’s interview with her on the free Family Tree Magazine podcast.

 

 

The Library of Congress Illustrated Timeline of the Civil War by Margaret E. Wagner quotes vivid first-hand accounts. You’ll read about the smells of war, from baking to bodily functions. You’ll learn about the women behind the scenes whose lives were in constant upheaval and uncertainty. Comments from hospital workers describe the mighty effects of war on the wounded. Intermingled are the stories of free blacks, those being emancipated and black women and men who supported the Union effort as soldiers, nurses and more. It’s a fascinating blend of story and picture, told in a timeline format to help family historians put their ancestors’ experiences in context. For those of us who don’t have firsthand account by our ancestors, these voices help bring to life events and experiences our relatives may have faced. Also available in for the Kindle.

Memories of MeMemories of Me: A Complete Guide to Telling and Sharing the Stories of Your Life by Laura Hedgecock. This book helps you put the stories of your own past on paper and share them with loved ones. Genealogy Gems Premium members can listen to an interview with the author about the challenges and rewards of writing your life story in Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast episode 116.

 

 

Tracing_Italian_190Tracing Your Italian Ancestors by Mary Tedesco. This 84-page guide has two important parts. There’s a section on using U.S. records to learn essentials about your family, and then a section on researching in Italian records. Click here to watch an interview with Mary Tedesco, a host of the popular U.S. television show Genealogy Roadshow.

 

 


unofficial guide to ancestrycom
The Unofficial Guide to
Ancestry.com: How to Find Your Family History on the No. 1 Genealogy Website by Nancy Hendrickson. Click here to listen to Lisa’s interview with the author on the Family Tree Magazine podcast.

 

 

 

Zap the Grandma Gap: Connect with Your Family by Connecting Them to Their Family History by Janet Hovorka shares tried-and-tested activities for using family history to connect with children and grandchildren. Span the generation gap with these great games and ideas! Meet the author, see more of her kid-friendly family history titles and hear her suggestions in the free Genealogy Gems podcast episode 162.

 

 

 

 

Genealogy Gems Book Club Genealogy Family HistoryFind more fantastic titles as well as discussion and exclusive author interviews at the The Genealogy Gems Book Club.

German Newspapers in America: Read All About Them!

custom_classifieds_12091Do you have German roots in the U.S.? Have you ever looked for them in newspapers?

The folks who run Chronicling America, the most comprehensive free collection of digitized U.S. newspapers, have published a new article on historical German newspapers. Here’s an excerpt:

“For decades, Germans were the largest non-English-speaking immigrant group in America. Between 1820 and 1924, over 5.5 million German immigrants arrived in the United States, many of them middle class, urban, and working in the skilled trades, and others establishing farming communities in the West. Their numbers and dedication to maintaining their language and culture made Germans the most influential force in the American foreign-language press in the 1880s – the 800 German-language newspapers accounted for about 4/5 of non-English publications, and by 1890, more than 1,000 German newspapers were being published in the United States.” (Click here to read the whole article, which includes fascinating facts about how they retooled OCR technology to read Fraktur.)

Chronicling America currently includes 23 German-language titles from 9 states. You can search German newspapers in America (or other foreign languages) by going to the Advanced Search page. Under Language, select German (or another language):

Chronicling America Search by Language

Are you interested in learning more about newspaper research, online or offline? Read Lisa’s How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers, available as an e-book or in print. Or ask for it at your local library (if they don’t have it, they may be willing to purchase it–librarians are always looking for new titles their patrons want).

Write Your Family History: A Printed Book or Digital Archive?

print v digital archive write your family historyIt’s time (maybe past time!) to write your family history. Should you write a book or throw everything into a digital archive?

Recently Joyce attended a genealogy conference I taught that was sponsored by the Central Arkansas Library System. She wrote to us that she went home with a newly-resolved plan for how to write her family history:

“I thoroughly enjoyed hearing you speak. I learned a lot also. There was a question asked at the conference that I had also thought a lot about: how to leave your legacy to your family. With technology changing every day, I have decided that the old-fashioned way is probably the best. Technology will not change the fact that we can sit down to a paper book. So I will keep my CDs, DVDs, and flash drives; however, I will print out books for my family to have, whether they have access to the computer or not.

 

A Combination Approach

I certainly agree that paper and books are certainly a solution for genealogical information being accessible for generations to come. I like a combination approach. Since paper can deteriorate and become damaged like anything else, having a cloud back up service (I use Backblaze) and digital items like flash drives is also a good plan.

Part of leaving a legacy also involves finding ways to share that help the next generations (particularly those not interested in research) understand the value of the family tree. That’s where a Google Earth “family history tour” or other innovative sharing comes into play. If you can click click, copy, and paste, you can create an exciting multi-media story that looks like a video game that will captivate the next generation!  (Learn how to create a Google Earth family history tour in my 2-volume Google Earth for Genealogy CD). The combination of sharing the info in fascinating ways and preserving the info in reliable multiple formats is a comprehensive strategy for the future!

Resources

How Cloud Backup Helped One Genealogy Gem Get Closer to Living a Paper-Free Life

Recommended File Formats for Long-Term Digital Preservation

Why I Use and Recommend Backblaze Cloud-based Computer Backup Service

email thisReady to make your own plan to write your family history and preserve it digitally? Share your resolve–along with this post–with someone else! Use the handy icons at the top of the page to share on Facebook, Pinterest or your favorite social media site, or email the link to this article to a friend. Thanks!

Season Five

The Genealogy Gems Podcast Episodes
2009 Season Five

Scroll to the bottom of each Podcast Show Notes Page and click the episode mp3 file to download the episode for listening.  It will take a minute or two for the episode to download, and it will open in your computer’s audio program (for example: Quicktime or Windows Media Player.)

Episode 81 Listen & Show Notes
Lisa’s special guest is Lisa Kudrow star of the hit TV series Friends, and the new genealogy themed television series Who Do You Think You Are?

Episode 82 Listen & Show Notes
News, Listener email, Interview with genealogist Irene Johnson (part 2) on the Family History Library.

Episode 83 Listen & Show Notes
Answers to your questions.  Special Guest:  Sally Jacobs, the Practical Archivist.

Episode 84 Listen & Show Notes
News and Listener Email.  Special Guest:  Bryce Roper Product Manager for FamilySearch, Tribute to Fess Parker

Episode 85  Listen & Show Notes
New and Listener Email.  Special Guests: Susanna de Groot, Windmill Genealogy Services on Dutch research, and Janet Hovorka of Generation Maps.

Episode 86 Listen & Show Notes
Special Guest: Kendall Wilcox, The Generations Project

Episode 87  Listen & Show Notes
Special Guest: Mark Tucker, the Think Genealogy Blog on Scouting Your Ancestors.

Episode 88  Listen & Show Notes
Lots of Genealogy News, New Listener blogs, Criminal Records, New Features on Google Search, and a Musical Surprise

Episode 89  Listen & Show Notes
News, Mailbox, Forensic Linguistics for Genealogy with
Dr. Robert Leonard, Ph.D. Part 1

Episode 90  Listen & Show Notes
News, Mailbox, Forensic Linguistics for Genealogy with
Dr. Robert Leonard, Ph.D. Part 2

Episode 91  Listen & Show Notes
Podcast Episode Recorded Live at the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree. Guests: Maureen Taylor, Suzanne Russo Adams, and Chris Haley.

Episode 92  Listen & Show Notes
Canadian Research with Author Dave Obee

Episode 93  Listen & Show Notes
News, Mailbox, Interview with Genealogy Blogger Craig Manson, Locust History

Episode 94  Listen & Show Notes
News, Mailbox, Interview with Janice Nickerson Project Genealogist for Who Do You Think You Are? on the CBC in Canada.

Episode 95  Listen & Show Notes
Learn how to save your stuff with Preservation Expert Scott Haskins.

Episode 96  Listen & Show Notes
Scanner options, Photograph History, and why a listener became a genealogy blogger.

Episode 97  Listen & Show Notes
News & Mailbox, More Scanner options, Military Family Research, and Recording Interviews

Episode 98  Listen & Show Notes
The Journey Takers with Leslie Albrecht Huber, an exciting sweepstakes, and Liquid Galaxy for Google Earth.

Episode 99  Listen & Show Notes
Recorded LIVE at the California Family History Expo in Pleasanton, CA in Oct. 2010.  Features The Shades of the Departed Online Magazine with special guests Craig Manson and Sheri Fenley.

Episode 100  Listen & Show Notes
A Celebration of the first 100 episodes!

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