National Archives and Digital Public Library of America
The National Archives announced recently that it will help with the first pilot project of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA).
According to the National Archives’ press release, “The DPLA is a large-scale, collaborative project across government, research institutions, museums, libraries and archives to build a digital library platform to make America’s cultural and scientific history free and publicly available anytime, anywhere, online through a single access point.
“The DPLA is working with several large digital content providers – including the National Archives and Harvard University – to share digitized content from their online catalogs for the project’s two-year Digital Hubs Pilot Project. This pilot project is scheduled to launch on April 18-19, 2013 at the Boston Public Library, which will host an array of festivities, including presentations and interactive exhibits showcasing content from the DPLA’s content partners. The DPLA will include 1.2 million digital copies from the National Archives catalog, including our nation’s founding documents, photos from the Documerica Photography Project of the 1970’s, World War II posters, Mathew Brady Civil War photographs, and documents that define our human and civil rights.”
If you’re like me, you’re wondering what genealogically-interesting documents will have a home on the DPLA. There’s a great blog post on the DPLA site that talks about partnerships with state and regional digital libraries, including the Kentucky Digital Library, which has more than 800,000 pages of newspapers, and over half a million pages of “books, photographs, archival materials, maps, oral histories and pages of other paginated publications.”
NOW we’re talking! The DPLA will certainly be a resource worth watching!
How to Use the FamilySearch Catalog: Your Ultimate Portal to Free Genealogy Records
Every genealogist should know how to search the FamilySearch Catalog, a portal to nearly 750 million FREE historical record images you won’t find anywhere else on the site! These digitized records are being updated DAILY by camera teams who are digitizing...Season Nine
Genealogy Gems Podcast Episodes
2013 – 2014 Season Nine
Episode 161
I was so impresssed with Yngve Nedrebø, the Chief archivist at Riksarkivet (National Archives of Norway) who I recently interviewed for the Family Tree Magazine podcast that I’m publishing an extended version of that interview here on the Genealogy Gems Podcast. This is a “must hear” for those with Norwegian heritage. In this episode you’ll also hear from a fellow listener and get a chance to see his family history tour that he created in Google Earth using the techniques I teach in the Google Earth for Genealogy video CD series. And we’ll get a taste of the history of coffee.
Keywords: Norway, Norwegian, Google Earth, Family History Tour, Death Certificate, Coffee
Episode 162
Wondering how to get your kids and grandkids engaged in family history? Looking for worthwhile activities for the kids over the Christmas break? In this episode author Janet Hovorka provides answers. Our children are the future of our families, and there’s no better time to help them engage, explore and enjoy their family history! Special Guest: Janet Hovorka.
App Users: Be sure to check out the audio Bonus Content in the Genealogy Gems App!
Keywords: Kids, Grandkids, Zap the Grandma Gap, Contest Winner, Blog, Pinterest
Episode 163
Get ready to flip out with me over Flipboard. It’s a free app and web tool that you have to see to fully appreciate. In this episode I’ll take you behind the scenes at Flipboard in the Silicon Valley and talk to the folks who create the product that helps you enjoy the online content you love. I’ll also share a little discovery I made about family history when I threw my back out over the holidays (there’s got to be an easier and less painful way to do family history research!) and get you up to date on all the genealogy news.
Keywords: Flipboard, Pinterest, Rootstech, Family Health History, Magazine
Episode 164
In this episode you’ll hear what you’ve been missing and how to get it from the Ancestry Wiki. Also how to do a very specialized type of Google search you may have never tried, a French-Canadian genealogy resource, a living relative dilemma, and much more.
Keywords: Ancestry Wiki, Google Earth, Top 10 List, French Canadian, Purple Heart Video, Jamboree, DNA Swapped, BillionGraves, Evernote
Episode 165
A Blast from the Past: Revisit the remastered episode 13 (recorded back in 2007) which features World War II Service Records, and how to create a Family History Book your non-genealogist relatives will actually read.
Keywords: Print on Demand, Writing, Military
Episode 166
This episode is loaded with genealogy news, ideas, and tips. We focus on you, the listeners, and here some incredible stories of genealogical success!
Episode 167
Colonial American Genealogy with Beth Foulk. Also new online newspaper collections, NGS 2014 wrap up, and why you do research your family history.
Episode 168
This episode is all about DNA. First we’ll discuss Ancestry’s closure of some of their DNA tests, and then you’ll meet Your DNA Guide, Diahan Southard, a new regular contributor to Genealogy Gems.
Episode 169
Catch a glimpse of the silent movie era and how it was an integral part of your ancestors’ lives. In this episode, I find out more about the silent movies my grandmother cataloged in her diary, and how they molded a generation. Interview with Film Historian Sam Gill of the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum.
Episode 170
Lisa Kudrow, Executive Producer of the TLC television show Who Do You Think You Are? is back to the podcast for another visit. Lisa shares her enthusiasm and feelings about the show, and her hope for its future. Also in this episode, Lisa Louise Cooke shares some incredible successes she’s experienced in her own family history journey lately.
Episode 171
Storyteller Ron Ploof discussed Project Lizzie, and sharing your family history stories with others. Other topics: A strategy for coping and excelling in the face of technological change, Online Seniors and a bit of reminiscing about party lines, a new feature for finding the genealogy topics you need at Genealogy Gems, A newspaper research tip that pays off big, family history jewelry, and the history of the first U.S. federal loan.
Episode 172
The official launch of the exciting news Genealogy Gems Book Club, a cool free online map tool British research, Google Translate, stories of inspirational finds, DNA for genealogy, and a Star Trek take on the innovations of yesteryear!
Episode 173
We all need a little inspiration now and then, and in this episode I’ll bring you some inspiring books to read, motivating comments from other listeners, and some new ideas to try. And a report on using Autosomal DNA for genealogy.
Episode 174
In this episode I’m going to share a personal story from my own family history just recently uncovered, and pull from it 3 powerful strategies that you can start using right away to further your own genealogy research in newspapers. We will also hear from author Emma Brockes in our Book Club, and Your DNA Guide will be here to explain the latest updates at AncestryDNA.