Fort Worth Genealogical Society End of Summer Seminar this Weekend with Lisa Louise Cooke

by | Sep 5, 2017 | 01 What's New, Conferences

Recharge your genealogy research at the Fort Worth Genealogical Society End of Summer Seminar this Saturday, September 9, 2017. Genealogy and technology expert Lisa Louise Cooke will help you to discover, organize and share your family history more effectively.

Fort Worth Seminar 2017

If you’re in or near Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, you’re invited to attend the Fort Worth Genealogical Society ‘s End of Summer Seminar this Saturday, September 9, 2017.

To celebrate their 60th anniversary, the Society has invited internationally-renowned genealogy and technology expert Lisa Louise Cooke for a full day of genealogy fun and inspiration. She’ll be presenting four sessions packed with simple yet powerful strategies, how-to’s and examples that will help you discover your family history more effectively online, organize what you learn, and share it with attention-getting style.

THIS SATURDAY: Fort Worth Genealogical Society Seminar Details

Here’s what’s happening:

What: 2017 End of Summer Seminar
Where: Trimble Tech High School, 1003 W. Cannon Street, Fort Worth, TX
When: Saturday, September 9, 2017, 8:45 am – 4:30 pm (doors open at 8:15 am for registration)
Hosted by: Fort Worth Genealogical Society

Lisa will be teaching some of her most empowering classes–the ones that give attendees immediate action items to help them take the next steps in their own genealogy research. Three of the four classes are entirely new in 2017. Here they are:

1. Google Books: The Tool You Should Use Every Day! Over 25 million digitized and searchable free books are at your fingertips with Google Books. Learn how to make the most of this goldmine chock full of historical data. (This was a BIG hit at Rootstech,)

2. Create a Free Google Earth Map Collection for Your Research. Learn how to find free digital maps for your ancestral locations, add them as permanent overlays to Google Earth, and then organize them into your personal map reference collection. You’ll learn best practices for keeping them organized and enriching your research.

3. Making Evernote Effortless. Learn the best strategies for making Evernote a breeze to use for your genealogy research. Shave time off your note-taking with quick keys, shortcuts, saved searches, search operators, Reminders, note sharing, source citation, and building Evernote into any browser you use (including mobile devices). (Evernote is one of the world’s top free organization tech tools: click here to learn more about it.)

4. 7 Awesome Apps that Eliminate Eye-Rolling! Eliminate your relative’s bored eye-rolling and captivate them with compelling stories and imagery! We’ll cover seven easy-to-use and free mobile apps that will help you tell your family history stories in a riveting way.

More Learning Opportunities with Lisa Louise Cooke

If you can’t make it this weekend, you can still get the benefit of Lisa’s expertise and inspiring teaching style.

First, head to her Seminar schedule to see if she’ll be headed to a town near you!

Then, check out her books and quick guides. They are packed with her signature approach to technology: she shares creative ideas and simple, step-by-step instructions for using powerful, mainstream and mostly free technologies for family history.

  • The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox (2nd edition) is a must-have for all family history researchers who work online (and that’s just about everyone). Find detailed instructions and explanations for making your Google searches more effective, along with entire chapters on using Google Earth, Google Books, Google Scholar, Google Alerts and even YouTube for genealogy.
  • The Evernote for Genealogists quick reference guide (available for Windows and Mac users) is a handy cheat sheet you’ll want to keep close at hand. It takes you from the “getting started” level quickly into navigating Evernote to maximize and organize your research note-taking.
  • Mobile Genealogy: How to Use Your Tablet and Smartphone for Family History Research will help you put your iPad, tablet and/or smartphone to work for your genealogy research. This expanded second edition of her original, groundbreaking book on mobile genealogy goes into greater depth with more apps and is loaded with tips and tricks that make your mobile device a genealogy powerhouse.

4 Tips for Getting the Most out of Ancestry.com

by | Sep 5, 2015 | 01 What's New, Ancestry

When you invest your money in a genealogy website, you want to ensure that you’re getting the most value possible. Here we share tips for getting the most out of Ancestry.com.

how to get the most out of Ancestry

I noticed recently that Ancestry subscribers’ attitudes run the same gamut as attitudes of big-box retailer shoppers. Some people {heart} them unabashedly: they’ll spend hours strolling the aisles and share every great find on social media. Others dash in and grab just the items they can’t live without.

Whatever your stance toward the site, Ancestry is still the big-box retailer most genealogists need at some point. Take your cue from top big-box store shopping strategies for getting the most out of Ancestry.com:

1. Grab first what you can’t get anywhere else.

Learn what exactly you want from Ancestry versus other sites, the same way you’ve learned whose house brand of spaghetti sauce you like and who carries your favorite protein bars.

A few examples for U.S. researchers:

  • Ancestry has the most U.S. census non-population schedules online. (They’ve padded HeritageQuest Online with several of these but they didn’t give them everything.)
  • Ancestry’s collection of digitized U.S. city directories (over a BILLION) is second to none.
Norman Rockwell in the Berkshire City Directory

Beloved illustrator Norman Rockwell in a city directory. (Massachusetts Berkshire 1959 Berkshire, Massachusetts, City Directory, 1959)

2. Stock Up on Items that are Easy to Reach

While your subscription is active, stock up on easy to find items.

One way to do that is with Ancestry’s hints. Ancestry’s hinting system taps the most popular Ancestry collections (about the top 10% of the most popular collections). Watch your Ancestry tree for hints and check them all. When you first log in, note whether anyone new has taken an interest in your tree (if it’s public)–and see if they are relatives worth contacting.

 

3. Watch for New Products! 

We’ve written about Ancestry updates that have stopped us in our tracks, like the recent U.S. Wills and Probates and Social Security Applications and Claims databases and the AncestryDNA Common Matches Tool.

We also update you regularly on new records collections that go online throughout the genealogy world: Ancestry databases are often among them.

You can also sort by “Date Added” in Ancestry.com Card Catalog. This is a great way to see the collections most recently added. Look for the green “NEW” tag. 

New Records at Ancestry.com sorted by Date Added

4. Avoid the Parts of the Experience that are Frustrating

Those who hate battling lines avoid big stores on peak shopping days and during the after-work rush. I avoid returning things at certain stores because their customer service desk is not worth the hassle.

Similarly, if the way Ancestry handles photos, sources, or Life Story timelines drives you nuts, ignore as much as you can except for your direct ancestors and closest relatives.

Perhaps you simply download each record you find and work with photos and timelines on your family history software (Lisa recommends RootsMagic–click here to read why). Or use Evernote’s newly updated web clipper (you can even make notes on top of your screen captures!) and store all your sources there.

Resources

Want to learn more about how to get the most out of Ancestry? Here are two additional resources:

Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast Episode 125: Using Ancestry Library Edition and other tips from a public library genealogist (available to Genealogy Gems Premium members only)

3 Things This Gems Follower Loves About the New Ancestry Site

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