The Guys will be at the Ohio Genealogical Society Conference on May 1-3, 2014, at the Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio.

George thanks Lora of Little Switzerland, NC, for the kind email about his article in the December-January issue of Internet Genealogy titled “Tracing Frances Lamb Mims WIlson: A Case Study.”

The news includes:

•  RootsMagic’s newsletters include articles about: Do I Still Need a Desktop Genealogy Program?; and Importing an Ancestry[.com] Family Tree into RootsMagic.
•   WIkiTree announced the Global Family Reunion on 6 June 2015, organized by A. J. Jacobs.
•   The Federation of Genealogical Societies has launched their 2014 Webinar Series with a new webinar presented by Jen Baldwin.
•   Drew shares highlights of updates of almost 19.8 million records at the FamilySearch website.
•    MyHeritage announced that it has added to their site The Jewish Chronicle newspaper archive, the world’s oldest continually published Jewish newspaper which dates back to 1841, with more than 200,000 pages and millions of names.
•    MyHeritage also announced a pro bono global initiative with BillionGraves to preserve every cemetery and gravestone in the world and to provide the content online, for free. Click here to view a great short video about the project.

Listener email includes:

• Brian poses an interesting and timely question about copyright on a family genealogy book published in 1993. The author is dead, so is the book still under copyright.
• Roy Hemmat of Crafted Knowledge in San Diego shared links to sites devoted specifically to immigration to the USA in the 19th century:

o   http://www.ukimmigrants.org

o   http://www.famineships.info 

o   http://www.russianimmigrants.org 

o   http://www.polishmigration.org 

o   http://www.finnishimmigrants.org 

o   http://www.italianimmigrants.org 

o   http://www.germanimmigrants1850s.com 

o   http://www.germanimmigrants1860s.com 

o   http://www.germanimmigrants1870s.com 

o   http://www.germanimmigrants1880s.com 

o   http://www.germanimmigrants1890s.com 

• Beverly is considering creating a family website and is looking for suggestions regarding software and free hosting possibilities. The Guys ask listeners to share experience and ideas. 
• Marcie has questions about WWI draft registration cards and the physical descriptions of registrants.
•  John suggests that attendees to the 2014 Ohio Genealogical Society Conference also consider visiting the nearby Ohio Veterans Home (http://dvs.ohio.gov/VETERANS_HOMES/Sandusky_Home) and the museum (http://www.shoresandislands.com/what/12384/Ohio-Veterans-Home-Museum).
•  A friend of The Guys shares a story about unexpected ethnicity as revealed by a DNA test leading to difficult family questions, and asks for suggestions for continuing his search.
•  Sue in Tasmania asks for suggestions about locating a family diary sold to a U.S. museum.
• Judy wants to know why there are not more records digitized and indexed from the 18^th and early 19^th centuries.

The News includes:

 

·      Halvor Moorshead, founder of Family Chronicle, Internet Genealogy, and History Magazine, passed away on March 7, 2014.

 

·      Moorshead Magazines has just published “Tracing Your Ancestors: Beginner’s Guide,” a new title in their Tracing Your Ancestors series. It is available in the Internet Genealogy online bookstore at http://internet-genealogy.com/Books.htm. It is available in both print and PDF format.

 

·      MyHeritage.com’s CEO, Gilad Japhet, undertook a personal search to identify and reunite artwork seized from Jews by the Nazis during WWII. His story is published in the New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/02/arts/design/a-reporter-in-france-helps-to-return-art-taken-by-the-nazis.html

 

·      MyHeritage.com has added a new feature to its site that allows you to add new profiles to your tree directly from historical records.

 

·      MyHeritage.com has added 815 million U.S. Public Records to the MyHeritage SuperSearch.

 

·      MyHeritage.com has also partnered with BillionGraves.com in a global initiative to digitally preserve the world’s cemeteries. A new BillionGraves camera app for iPhone and iPad is available to help expedite the cemetery recording process.

 

·      The Michigan Department of Education issued a press release announcing that the Library of Michigan is expanding its library hours to include opening from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on the second Saturday of each month.

 

·      FamilySearch International (online at FamilySearch.org) has announced collaborations with a number of commercial genealogical companies to partner in digitizing, indexing, and making available the records images they hold in one generation.

 

·      FamilySearch’s catalog records have now been fully integrated into WorldCat.

 

·      The American Society of Genealogists has announced that applications are being accepted for its annual ASG Scholar Award until September 30, 2014. Details can be found at http://fasg.org/awards/asg-scholar-award/.

 

·      RootsMagic has released its new mobile app for the Android.

 

·      Find A Grave, a subsidiary of Ancestry.com, has just released a new iOS mobile app for the iPhone and iPad at the Apple Store.

 

·      The National Archives (U.K.) has spent almost 20 years digitizing the Manorial Documents Register and getting the MDR online. Melinda Haunton’s TNA blog posting of 3 February 2014, titled “To the manor born?,” at http://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/manor-born/ discusses the process and the how the documents can be used.

 

·      HistoryGeo.com is a family history software subscription service that links old maps for your genealogical research. Learn more at http://s3.amazonaws.com/hg_media/press/HistoryGeo_Release_2014_Jan_28.pdf.

 

·      Findmypast.com.au has announced the addition of 2.5 million records for the British in India.

 

·      Findmypast.com.au has also announced over 640,000 convict records that are sure to be of interest and help to the estimated 20% of Australians who possess convict ancestry.

 

·      A new national database, ForgottenAshes.com, has just been established to help reunite the cremains of individuals with their families.

 

·      The Bureau for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) has just published its new standards manual, Genealogy Standards: Fiftieth Anniversary Issue.

 

 

 

The Guys reviewed two new products from Genealogical Publishing Co.:

 

·      The new Genealogy at a Glance reference titled Court Records by Wendy Bebout Elliott, PhD, FUGA.

 

·      Finding Your Irish Ancestors in New York City by Joseph Buggy

 

 

 

Listener email includes:

 

·      Chris recommends the film negative and slide scanner by Wolverine, model F2D20.

 

·      Arvind Nangia writes to tell us about the Pic Scanner app for iOS devices, that can scan up to three photographs simultaneously, saves them individually, allows them to be cropped, and they can be organized into digital albums. The Guys would love to hear your feedback.

 

·      Matt shares a tip for listener Dianne who said in December that she needed help tracking down her grandfather’s town of origin in the Alsace-Lorraine area. He suggests http://www.auswanderer-bw.de. We describe his instructions in the podcast.

 

Enjoy an interview conducted by Genealogy Gems podcaster Lisa Louise Cooke as she asks Drew about the Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques book and some other related genealogy topics!

Drew shares his second and final set of interviews that he conducted at RootsTech 2014, including:

• Anneliese Van Den Belt, CEO of DC Thomson Family History, whose best known genealogy-related brand is FindMyPast
• Matthew Hovorka, a young genealogist who spoke as part of the RootsTech Youth Track
• Mike Davis, CEO of StoryPress
• Kim Harrison, a Senior Institutional Account Executive for Ancestry.com, on the topic of her Educational Grants. 

Drew shares the first set of interviews that he conducted at RootsTech 2014, including:

• Dennis Brimhall, CEO of FamilySearch
• Michael J. Leclerc, Chief Genealogist of Mocavo
• Ed Thompson, developer of Evidentia

SALT LAKE CITY—RootsTech, the world’s largest family history and technology conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah, February 6-8, 2014, announced today that 15 of its popular sessions will be broadcast live and complimentary over the Internet. The live broadcasts will give those unable to attend in-person worldwide a sample of this year’s conference content. Interested viewers can watch the live presentations at RootsTech.org. The fourth-year conference has attracted over 10,000 registered attendees in-person, and leaders expect over 20,000 additional viewers online.

The streamed sessions include a sampling of technology and family history presentations. Following are the broadcasted sessions and speakers. All times are in mountain standard time (MST):

Thursday, February 6

10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Top 10 Things I Learned About My Family from My Couch by Tammy Hepps

1 p.m. to 2 p.m., FamilySearch Family Tree: What's New and What's Next by Ron Tanner

2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Intro to DNA for Genealogists by James Rader

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Genealogy in the Cloud by Randy Hoffman

5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Sharing Your Family with Multimedia by Michael LeClerc

Friday, February 7

10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Storytelling Super Powers: How to Come Off as Your Family's Genealogy Hero by David Adelman

1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., Tweets, Links, Pins, and Posts: Break Down Genealogical Brick Walls with Social Media by Lisa Alzo

2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Getting the Most Out of Ancestry.comby Crista Cowen

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Finding Family and Ancestors Outside the USA with New Technologies by Daniel Horowitz

5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Do It Yourself Photo Restoration by Ancestry Insider

Saturday, February 8

10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Become an iPad Power User by Lisa Louise Cooke

1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., Information Overload: Managing Online Searches and Their Results by Josh Taylor

2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., A Beginner’s Guide to Going Paperless by Randy Whited

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., How to Interview Yourself for a Personal History by Tom Taylor

5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Five Ways to Do Genealogy in Your Sleep by Deborah Gamble

About RootsTech

RootsTech is a global family history event where people of all ages learn to discover and share their family stories and connections through technology. The first annual conference was held in 2011, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Hosted by FamilySearch and sponsored by leading genealogical organizations, the conference includes hands-on demonstrations and forums to provide a highly interactive environment and accelerate learning. Content is geared to young and old, beginner to advanced levels.

Ancestry needs your help!! We're looking for Ancestry enthusiasts to provide feedback on some new concepts on the ancestry.com website experience.

Member feedback has always been vital to our product development and Ancestry has recently expanded its User Research team, and we want to talk to you! Based in both Provo and San Francisco, sessions would typically last an hour either online or in person if you’re local. We are happy to get your input on existing and new experiences across both the website and mobile.  Participants will have a few different incentives to choose from, such as the latest edition of FTM for Windows or Mac! 

If you are interested in applying for participation, please drop us a line at User-Research@ancestry.com.

We have some in-person opportunities at RootsTech to kickoff this expanded initiative.

ROOTSTECH

Starting this February at RootsTech, we will be conducting sessions on Thursday (2/6) and Friday (2/7). There are two ways you could participate:

·         One of two, 90 minute focus groups from 4:30 – 6:00 PM each day, where we will look specifically at the Profile Page of people in your tree to understand both how you currently use it and what new features that you'd love to see incorporated. You will be asked to pull up interesting people in your tree and share with the Research team and the 4 or 5 other subscribers in the group.

·         A 50 minute, one-to-one interview session with a member of the Product Research team who will walk you through some new concepts and get your input. We will be conducting 7 sessions at different times during the day on Thursday and Friday. Follow the link below to select your preferred times.

To participate in either RootsTech research session type, you need an active ancestry.com account with a tree. To be considered, please fill out this survey, so that we can confirm your participation and set up scheduling.

http://ancestry.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_2gGn6AJi7S0LFJj

Thank you,

Lisa R. Handalian, Senior User Researcher | Ancestry.com Product Team

The news includes:

·      RootsMagic announces that their webinars are now indexed and that their Android app is coming soon.

·      Family Tree DNA and MyHeritage have teemed up to integrate DNA tests into the MyHeritage customer base of 75M users.

·      Findmypast announces that they are making improvements to their website and will be adding records more frequently.

·      GenSoftReviews announces the Top Genealogy Software Awards for 2013.

·      AmericanAncestors.org (NEHGS) has debuted their blog, Vita Brevis, at http://vita-brevis.org.

·      FamilySearch announces their new indexing website at https://familysearch.org/indexing/.

·      Ancestry.com and FamilySearch announce an expansion of their collaborative agreement to make more than 1 billion additional records from 67 countries available on Ancestry.com.

·      Drew highlights new record additions at FamilySearch.

·      There are news reports that indicate that Pope Francis will open the Vatican’s archives covering Pious XII and his pontificate of World War II and the role he played in supporting/facilitating the Nazi regime’s activities. (See http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=20240.)

 

The Guys talk about upcoming conference appearances.

 

Listener email includes:

·      Neal shared a website called American Radio History at http://www.americanradiohistory.com with over 1M page of magazines, periodicals, yearbooks, directories and more that can provide information about ancestors in the broadcasting industry and insights into your ancestors’ entertainment.

·      Karen asks questions about Family Tree Maker 2014.

·      Noi asks questions about rescuing family photos and documents.

·      Sam ask questions concerning DNA testing advances.

·      Joshua ask questions about the FamilySearch family tree facility and whether data submitted might be used by the LDS for baptism by proxy.

 

Drew discusses the Arthur G, Dozier School for Boys and the role that the University of South Florida (and himself) are playing in researching the abuse and deaths of boys committed to the school. (See http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/students-skeletal-remains-uncovered-infamous-florida-school-boys-article-1.1448534 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_School_for_Boys.

The news includes:

·      The Genealogy Guys have been interviewed by Marian Pierre-Louis on episode 72 of her podcast, Fieldstone Common, at http://www.fieldstonecommon.com/george-morgan-drew-smith.

·      Restrictions placed on access to the Social Security Death Index.

·      Keynote speakers at RootsTech 2014.

·      News about 23andMe and its genetic genealogy testing service.

·      Matthew Batchelor is appointed as the new Chief Technology Officer at DC Thomson Family History, owner of Findmypast.com and Genes Reunited.

·      The National Archives in the UK has announced a series of six webinars, beginning in January 2014 They will be held at different hours that help assure most people all over the world can enjoy them live. The schedule and topics are available at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/webinars.htm.

·      RootsMagic has released a new update to Version 6, is working on the beta test of the Android app, and has a great collection of free recorded webinars online and videos about RootsMagic.

·      FamilySearch continues to add hundreds of thousands of new records each week, and Drew summarizes some highlights from December 2013.

·      MyHeritage announces a huge initiative into the Nordic countries and the addition of millions of names and records.

·      Ancestry.com has announced the release of Family Tree Make Mac 3.

·      Betty Kreisel Shubert’s landmark book, Out-of-Style: A Modern Perspective of How, Why, and When Vintage Fashions Evolved, has been named by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Books of 2013.

 

Listener email includes:

·      Russ Worthington, in his October postings in “A Worthington Weblog,” discusses how he files his digital images.

·      William asks about the proper way to record surnames that were changed due to adoption or “Americanization” by immigrant ancestors.

 

The Guys discuss how they are using technology and the hardware, software, and apps that they are using the most as of the beginning of 2014.

The news includes:

·      The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) announces the results of their elections.

·      Drew shares the latest FamilySearch collection releases at their website.

·      Aha! Seminars, Inc., reminds listeners that George and Drew are available for webinars for societies. Visit the website for presentation topics and descriptions.

·      George has a new article in the December 2013/January 2014 issue of Internet Genealogy. It is a case study, performed almost exclusively on the Internet, and includes complete source citations.

·      A television series in Ireland called Tar Abhaile is available at http://www.tg4.ie/en/player/tg4-player.html?id=2841564288001&title=Tar.

·      Drew will be an Official Blogger (Podcaster) at RootsTech 2014. Visit https://rootstech.org/ for details about the conference. (And email us with the names of people you want Drew to interview!)

 

Book reviews include:

·      Hiding the Past, a genealogical mystery by Nathan Dylan Goodwin

·      International Vital Records Handbook, 6^th edition, by Thomas Jay Kemp

 

Listener email includes:

·      Gus has prepared a Podcast Kit for those who want to start their own podcast. You can request a copy from him at gusmarsh1774@gmail.com.

·      Larry asks about the use of information found in other people’s online family trees.

·      Matt asks for suggestions about how to determine who is buried in each plot of his family plot where the graves are currently unmarked.

·      Dianne asks for suggestions concerning naturalization records and tracing her grandfather’s town of origin in Alsace-Lorraine.

The Guys have several announcements:

• Genealogical Publishing Company has just published a new Genealogy at a Glance laminated reference guide. This one is titled “Ancestry.com Research” and is written by George G. Morgan. You can order it from GPC or at the Aha! Seminars, Inc., website.

• All of George and Drew’s publications can be ordered at the Aha! Seminars, Inc., website, and the links there take you to the best pricing available.

• The company that purchased Ancestry Publishing’s business several years ago has published the second edition of The Official Guide to Ancestry.com in Kindle format and Nook format. That book was published in 2008 and is extremely outdated. In addition, the current publisher has not paid any royalties to this author for more than two years. Therefore, George strongly recommends that you do not purchase either ebook version of this book.

• Drew will be an Official Blogger at RootsTech 2014.

The news includes:

• Ancestry.com announced the Fold3 Honor Wall at Fold3.com. They also announced the addition of man new record additions to the Ancestry.com site.

• DC Thomson, owner of findmypast.com and Genes Reunited, and formerly known as brightsolid online publishing, has announced a deal with FamilySearch.org to make billions of records available online.

• MyHeritage has announced a strategic partnership with FamilySearch.org to make billions of records available online.

• Drew covers major additions from mid-October to mid-November by FamilySearch.org to its collections of records available online.

• MyHeritage announced a partnership with BillionGraves to add 5.5 million gravestone records and with Tributes.com to add 3.5 million obituaries to their site.

• MyHeritage announced an enhancement to their site that allows users to extract information form historical records into multiple profiles on your family tree.

Listener email includes:

• Lee asks about Family Tree Maker 2014. He also provides information about the Ohio Genealogical Society’s important library holdings.

• Matt Miller discusses genealogical proof in the attempt to demolish a brick wall in his blog at http://matthewkmiller.blogspot.com/2013/10/what-constitutes-proof.html.

• Maria Northcote, producer of the Genies Down Under podcast in Australia, wrote to thank us for our review of Betty Kreisel Shubert's book, Out of Style, in our March 2013 podcast.

• The Guys shared information from an article from the New York Public Library about “Why Your Family Name Was Not Changed at Ellis Island (and One That Was).”

• Ben wrote about name changes at Ellis Island as well.

• Mike asked if there is an equivalent of the SSDI in other countries, specifically Italy.

• Mac writes that she believes that the suggestion that silhouettes and clip art in family trees was made by genealogist Lisa Louise Cooke in her Genealogy Gems podcasts.

The Guys reviewed a number of books in this episode:

• Applications for Enrollment of Chickasaw Newborn Act of 1905, Volumes 1, 2, and 3, transcribed by Jeff Bowen. Printed for Clearfield Company by Genealogical Publishing Company.

• Without Indentures: Index to White Slave Children in Colonial Court Records [Maryland and Virginia], by Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D. Published by Genealogical Publishing Company.

• Sustainable Genealogy: Separating Fact from Fiction in Family Legends, by Richard Hite. Published by Genealogical Publishing Company.

• 19th Century Photos Kwik Guide: A Step-by-Step Guide to Identifying and Dating Cartes de Visite and Cabinet Cards, by Gary W. Clark. Published by PhotoTree.com.

Note: It appears that there are problems with the audio quality in portions of this episode, causing one of the two stereo tracks to drop out at random times.  We apologize for this.

The news includes:

• Ancestry.com has acquired Find A Grave.
• Ancestry.com and FamilySearch have formed an agreement to make a billion global records available online.
• RootsMagic has added more tutorial videos at RootsMagic TV
• Drew shares highlights from the last month's record additions at FamilySearch.
• FamilySearch announced that it has received its one millionth photo on the new Family Tree Photo Preservation Service.
• Findmypast.com has several announcements: Findmypast.com.au has added a further 2.5 million Irish Petty Court records to its site. Findmypast.com has launched its Irish Newspaper Collection, making almost 2 million historical Irish newspaper articles available for searching. The company's survey reveals America’s most popular celebrity families.
• Ancestry.com makes scientific breakthroughs in West African ethnicity that can help researchers determine the geographical origin of their ancestors.
• The Society for One-Place Studies has been launched to help individuals and societies advance their work on specific geographical locations.
• DNA testing was sought after two headstones were found for the same woman in a Kentucky cemetery.

Listener email includes:

• Jenny asks about English and Welsh BMD digitization; joining a local genealogical society; the Clooz software program; and the sync feature on Ancestry.com family trees and Family Tree Maker software.
• Ed talks about downloading our podcast and about his experiences with RootsMagic software.
• Cris discusses the Social Security Death Index (SSDI), also known as the Social Security Death Master File.
• Richard discusses his use of Legacy Family Tree software, Ancestry.com family trees, and publishing his tree on RootsWeb.com.
• Cheryl raises the topic of how to name and label photographs, and Drew discusses metadata.
• Marina has a suggestion for Noi about place names in Germany, and suggests the book series Map Guide to German Parish Registers.

The news includes:

• The Guys’ new book, Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques, is now available in softcover and Kindle formats.
• George received an award on 23 August 2013 from the Association of Professional Genealogists, the 2013 Excellence in Writing Award, for his articles in the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly (APGQ).
• The Genealogy Guys Podcast has been named by Family Tree Magazine as one of the 101 Best Web Sites of 2013.
• RootsMagic announced new tutorial videos at RootsMagicTV on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/RootsMagicTV.
• MyHeritage has announced a new global photo archive at http://www.myheritage.com/photos.
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies has released a new mobile app for year-round information and annual conferences. The iOS version for iPad and iPhone is available at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fgs-app/id689433117?ls=1&mt=8 and the Android version is available at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fgs.fgsapp.
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies and FamilySearch have announced that they will be holding a joint conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 12-14 February 2015. The conference will include RootsTech 2015 and the FGS 2015 Conference, with separate registrations.
• Ancestry.co.uk has added nearly 900,000 digitized and indexed records of the Clandestine Marriage and Baptism Registers 1667-1754. These include Fleet Prison, King’s Bench Prison, The Mint, May Fair Chapel, and others.
• Ancestry.ca has added the newly released 1921 Census of Canada in browsable format, with indexing promised soon.
• Ancestry.com has announced the release of Family Tree Maker 2014 for PC. You can purchase it at a 30% discount through 9 September 2013. At http://www.ancestry.com/cs/apps/products.
• Wills of English World War I soldiers have been indexed and are available online at https://www.gov.uk/probate-search.
• FamilySearch has released another huge set of records at its website, and Drew mentions highlighted collections.
• Findmypast.com has recently added 200 volumes of digital books about Canada to its website. Information dates back to the 1600s in more than 71,000 pages.

Listener email includes:

• Jenny discusses, English and Welsh BMDs, joining a local genealogical society, Clooz software, and using Family Tree Maker to sync with the online family tree she has uploaded to Ancestry.com.
• Michelle updates us on her success in obtaining NARA Railroad Retirement files from Atlanta.
• Katie discusses access to cemeteries, and provides an excellent example of the Congressional Cemetery (not associated with the U.S. federal government) and its excellent preservation and information access. Visit their site at http://www.congressionalcemetery.org.
• Mac reminds us that this is the time of year, with back-to-school deals at office supply stores, to purchase your genealogical office supplies at sale prices.
• Jenny wonders why people are adding icons and decorative graphics – non-photos – to their family trees at Ancestry.com. This causes unnecessary “hints” to be generated and wastes space on Ancestry.com’s servers.
• Mike asks about DNA testing, and asks what are the best types of tests to have performed.
• Timothy asked for an update on the project concerning the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. Drew discusses the funding of the project by the State of Florida, the start of the exhumations of remains, and more details.

While at the FGS Conference, George interviewed Rick Kincaid, Project Manager for Operation Ancestor Search, and Kim Harrison of Ancestry.com. They discuss this collaboration between the Sons of the American Revolution and Ancestry.com, involving the Veterans Hospitals in the U.S. You can reach Rick Kincaid at rkincaid@sar.org or (502) 588-6147 to learn more and to get involved.

The news includes:

• Information about the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference and the Illinois State Genealogical Society Fall Conference.
• WikiTree has added a DNA feature.
• Findmypast.com.au has released new content for the Royal Naval Division service records (1914-1920).
• Findmypast.com has announced that it will be adding the Periodical Source Index (PERSI) to its site in coming months.
• Findmypast.com.au has secured the rights to publish all of the registered wills from New South Wales from 1800 to 1952.
• Drew provides a recap of highlights in the newly released images at FamilySearch.
• RootsMagic has released an update to RootsMagic 6 that introduces Problem Alerts.
• RootsMagic has a YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/RootsMagicTV at which you will find shorter training videos. These supplement the Webinars/Online Classes at their website under the Learn tab.
• Megan Smolenyak has announced that one of The Guys' Down Under: Florida video episodes, about the Flying Zacchinis, has been re-released and is available at http://megansmolenyak.posthaven.com/584139.
• Origins.net has released many more older records at its website.
• Saving Memories Forever has announced a strategic partnership with the Association of Personal Photo Organizers (APPO).

The mail includes:

• Susan asks if The Guys' new book, Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques, will be available in digital form. It is now posted at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in electronic formats and those will be available when it is released in September. Preordering is already available.
• Melody asks for guidance on how to download the podcast from our website.
• Stephanie has a question about Polish Armed Forces records for those persons who escaped Poland after Hitler's invasion in 1939 and who fought with the Allies. George cites a good Wikipedia article titled "Polish Armed Forces in the West" at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_armed_forces_in_the_west.
• Lisa asked about the Facebook group that deals with organization. Drew points her to "The Organized Genealogist" group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/organizedgenealogist/.
• Connie asks about SSDI records at Ancestry.com that add place of death from the "Last Benefits" field of the online records.
• Elaine asks questions about how and where we store our digital photos and about how we share those photos with others.
• Elizabeth LaPointe has developed an e-booklet titled The 1921 Canada Census User Guide that will be available when that census is publicly released. Its price is $5.95 CDN and copies can be reserved by sending an email to GenealogyCanada@aol.com and including "1921 Census" in the subject heading.
• Jenny has a question about linking Family Tree Maker trees at Ancestry.com.
• Mary asks about the expression "first generation American."
• Noi has some questions about locating a German place name for Noi's great-great-grandfather.
• Steve asks about how to locate information about his grandfather who he thinks was a census enumerator in Chicago for the 1940 U.S. federal census.

Drew also discusses the Family History Information Standards Organisation.

The news includes:

• Drew has been appointed as Chair of the Family History Information Standards Organisation (FHISO).
• RootsMagic is now Share+ Certified by FamilySearch.
• Early Bird Registration for the 2013 Federation of Genealogical Societies' Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on August 21-24, 2013, ends on July 1st.
• Canada's Heritage Minister asks the Library and Archives Canada to reconsider restoration of funding to help museums preserve local history.
• The 1921 Census of Canada will be made available to researchers in the near future.
• A new season of Who Do You Think You Are? will begin on TLC (The Learning Channel) on July 23, 2013.
• The Digital Public Library of America has been launched.
• findmypast.com provides free access to its Irish Records Collection from June 27-30, 2013.
• findmypast.com has updated its Irish Petty Session Court Registers with 2.5 million new records.
• Drew tells listeners about DNA research that has identified the potato blight responsible for the Irish Potato Famine, using leaves from an herbarium.
• findmypast.com added 3 million baptism, marriage, and burial records from Westminster in London.
• findmypast.com has added 23 million records and 121 million newspaper pages from around the world.
• Drew shares information about major collections added to FamilySearch, including 5.7 million images to the New Massachusetts Land Records Collection (1620-1986).
• Moorshead Magazines has announced the publication of a new title, Tracing Your Colonial American Ancestors.
• Geni.com continues to enhance its offering with the addition of Record Matching and Smart Matching tools.
• Synium Software has released MacFamilyTree 7 and MobileFamilyTree 7, with special pricing for new and existing users through July 31, 2013.

Drew reminds listeners how to subscribe to the podcasts.

Listener email includes:

• Richard provides a suggestion for how to learn to pronounce names.

George discusses meeting someone on Facebook who was able to photograph wills in the Maryland Archives of his fifth- and sixth-great grandfathers in his Alexander line.

Drew shares his three remaining interviews from RootsTech 2013:

• Elissa Scalise Powell, President of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, discusses BCG's upcoming 50th anniversary celebration and what genealogists might want to know about becoming certified.
• Janet Hovorka, The Chart Chick, tells Drew all about her newest project, Zap the Grandma Gap, a book, workbook, and website that helps connect children and their families to fun genealogy activities.
• David Pogue, a well-known technology writer and presenter, provides an entertaining interview that ranges from discussing apps to playing a virtual ocarina. But even Drew can surprise David with an app he's never heard of!

Drew shares three more interviews from RootsTech 2013:

• Alec Tritton and Else Churchill describe an upcoming genealogy conference in the UK: Exodus: Movement of the People.
• Lisa Louise Cooke, host of The Genealogy Gems Podcast, talks about using iPads and other tablets for genealogy, which she covers in detail in her latest book Turn Your iPad into a Genealogy Powerhouse.
• Syd Lieberman, a renowned storyteller and one of the keynote speakers for RootsTech 2013, shares his ideas about the importance of stories.

The Genealogy Guys celebrate their 250th episode!

They discuss a wide variety of subjects, including:

• George's organizing projects to date this year
• The Guys' forthcoming book, Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques, to be published in September 2013. The book is available for pre-order at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. 
• Upcoming conferences at which The Guys will be speaking this year.
• Drew is providing research assistance on a project concerning the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys.
• Drew is working on the Boddie/Bodie surname with the Guild of One-Name-Studies.
• He also discusses FHISO, the Family History Information Standards Organisation. 

The Guys enthusiastically thank their sponsors and the thousands of listeners around the globe for their dedication and support over all the episodes.

George is out of town speaking for the North Carolina Genealogical Society, so Drew hosts this episode, beginning with the following news items:

• British Origins adds South London burials to its London collection.
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) announces a new partnership with its German equivalent, the German Association of Genealogical Associations (DAGV).
• FamilySearch indexing volunteers reach the 1 billion record milestone.
• Houstory thanks The Genealogy Guys for their previous coverage of their Heirloom Registry product.
• Ancestry.co.uk adds Wiltshire Church Records and Wiltshire Quaker Birth & Death records to its collection.
• AncestryDNA makes it easier to communicate with people who match, improves its website for mobile users, and provides the ability to download raw DNA data.
• Tim Sullivan, CEO of Ancestry.com, makes several important announcements at RootsTech 2013, including the new partnership with FamilySearch to digitize 140 million pages of U.S. probate records; spending $100 million to digitize, index, and put online new content; the availability of AncestryDNA for $99 for everyone (not just Ancestry subscribers); the increase in size of the AncestryDNA database; the update to the Ancestry.com iOS app; and the significant percentage of younger users coming into Ancestry.com using mobile devices.
• FamilySearch adds significant new collections for such areas as Georgia and Washington county marriages; civil records for Bologna, Italy; and court records for Trumbull County, Ohio

Drew shares 3 interviews from RootsTech 2013, including:

• Judy G. Russell, who blogs at The Legal Genealogist
• Chris van der Kuyl, CEO of brightsolid (provider of FindMyPast.com)
• David Adelman, CEO of ReelGenie

The news includes:

• The Family History Library's Saturday hours will change on April 13, 2013, to 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
• FamilySearch announces the additions of new collections, including the addition of indexing projects in process or completed.
• Findmypast.com has released 2.5 million UK criminal records covering the period 1770 to 1934.
• Ancestry.com announces that, for a limited time, users can buy Family Tree Maker 2012 and receive Photo Explosion Album, a photo editing software package for free.
• An international genealogy conference in the UK, Exodus: Movement of the People- The story of migration to, from, and within the British Isles - will be held September 6-8, 2013, at the Hinckley Island Hotel in Hinckley, Leistershire, UK. For more information, visit http://www.exodus2013.co.uk.

George provides reviews of some excellent materials:

• How to Archive Family Keepsakes by Denise May Levenick
• The Heirloom Registry, by Houstory Publishing (See more details at http://www.heirloomregistry.com.)
• A Week of Genealogy: Things to Know and Do Online and Offline by Dr. Margaret M. McMahon, Ph.D.
• Out-of-Style by Betty Kreisel Shubert

Listener email includes:

• Stan provides an excellent website called FileRight for Genealogy and Military Records, which includes many great military and naturalization links, at http://www.fileright.com/naturalization-family-roots-military-records.html.
• Beverly wanted to know why she can't locate 1820 U.S. federal census records for Montgomery County, NC.
• Tom asks about the future of DNA testing.

Drew talks about the resources he is using in two research projects in which he is participating.

Drew, an official RootsTech 2013 blogger, reminds listeners that Early Bird Registration for RootsTech 2013 ends on February 15th. Drew invites our listeners to email us at genealogyguys@gmail.com with suggestions for interviews while he's at RootsTech 2013.

Other news includes:

• RootsMagic announces a free viewer app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
• BillionGraves has been acquired by Otter Creek Holdings.
• Findmypast.com adds 21 million new Irish birth, marriage, and death records.
• The "Find My Past" TV show from the UK, seasons 1 and 2, is available for viewing online at http://www.findmypast.com/articles/find-my-past-tv/series-two.
• Ancestry.com has updated the 1850 and 1940 U.S. federal censuses online.
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies has launched a new blog for the War of 1812 fundraising at http://www.preservethepensions.org/blog/.
• MyHeritage has launched a special campaign offering deep discounts on DNA tests through Family Tree DNA. They also have released a new version of the free MyHeritage app that allows you to "edit on the go."
• The Suzanne Winsor Freeman Grant Committee has announced that applications are being accepted for the 2013 student grant. Contact Denise Levenick at swfgrant@gmail.com for more information.
• Saving Memories Forever announces the first community outreach by starting a fundraising campaign on February 11, 2013, on behalf of the American Widows Project.
• OCLC and FamilySearch have announced a combination of resources. FamilySearch's catalog will be incorporated into OCLC's WorldCat and WorldCat will be linked into the FamilySearch catalog.
• Drew discusses the FamilySearch announcements of new records added to their site.
• Family Chartmasters has announced announced a new book, Zap the Grandma Gap: Connect with Your Family by Connecting Them to Their Family History. The book is available at https://zapthegrandmagap.com.
• Drew suggests using Blogtrottr to notify you when there's a new episode of the podcast. Add the RSS address and an email will be sent to your mailbox.

Listener email includes:

• George provides more information about locating Boer War records to Jane, a follow-up to the discussion on episode #246.
• Michelle asks for advice about obtaining Railroad Retirement Board records.
• Rich identified an interesting site, WhatWasThere at http://www.whatwasthere.com.
• Ann recommends Google Picasa for organizing digital photographs.
• John makes multiple copies of the same digital photo and stores a copy with each person's record.
• George has bought a new CanoScan scanner and is busy digitizing all his documents and photographs.

The news includes:

• The Federation of Genealogical Societies announced the creation of a new society to promote the preservation of records in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The Society of Preservation Patriots recognizes donors of $250 or more to the Rabbi Malcolm Stern-NARA Gift Fund of the Preserve the Pensions initiative.
• The Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) announced its new blog, SpringBoard: News and Notes.
• The Newberry Library's Dr. William M. Scholl Center for American History and Culture announced the release of a new historical web resource, the Chicago Foreign Language Press Survey, a collection of translations of approximately 50,000 newspaper articles from the 1860s to the 1930s from 22 ethnic newspapers.
• MyHeritage has released a new version of the MyHeritage app (v2.0) that lets users "edit on the go."
• The Blog Book Tour brings new books and authors directly to users' computers January 10-26, 2013.
• WikiTree announced free comparisons of GEDCOM files.
• Mahlon discusses Oklahoma death records available at http://oklahomadeathindex.blogspot.com.
• FamilySearch announced the addition of 7 million new records on January 15, 2013.

Listener email includes:

• Jane asks for pointers to record resources for the Boer Wars in South Africa
• Lori asks about problems obtaining SS-5 forms from the U.S. Social Security Administration.
• Carole describes her frustration at trying to obtain SS-5s.
• Shawn asked about the military pension records discussed in the December podcast at fold3.com.
• Ashley talks about her Slovak family.
• Anne purchased a Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 and is very pleased with it. (Learn more at http://scanners.fcpa.fujitsu.com/scansnap11/s1100.html.) She also discusses how she solved a handwriting interpretation problem.
• Virginia asks for guidance for how to enter a family scandal into her genealogy database.
• Jonathan is seeking a genealogical researcher for his Scottish Cameron emigrant ancestor. (Visit the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) website, the ICAPGen website, the Association of Professional Genealogists website, and the Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS) website.
• Kelly asks about naming conventions for digital photos.

The news includes:

• Ancestry.com's sale to Permira Advisors, LLP, was concluded on December 31, 2012.
• Findmypast.com announced the release of of significant records from 1790 to present for the U.S., the UK, Ireland, and Australia.
• Findmypast.com announced release of records concerning "The Green Redcoats" and more.
• RootsTech has announced the addition for its 2013 conference of Story@Home with a full selection of classes and workshops.
• The Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRC) has announced that it has released a new search engine for their AID (All Israel Database). While each database is presented in the language of the material found, the search engine can understand both Hebrew and English, thereby making the search more effective than ever.
• The North Carolina Genealogical Society announces its first full webinar, Tarheels in the Family Tree, presented by Helen F. M. Leary, CG Emeritus, FASG, FNGS, to be released on the NCGS website. It is free to all from 18 to 20 January 2013. It will be available after that to NCGS members for free.
• The North Carolina Genealogical Society and the Caswell County Historical Society are hosting an all-day seminar on 6 April 2013 in Yanceyville, NC, with speaker George G. Morgan.
• FamilySearch.org continues to add millions of digitized records.

The listener email includes:

• Carolyn provides a number of suggestions to Evan in South Africa for his search as described in our 26 September 2012 episode.
• Timothy asks if there are any widespread problems or gaps within the 1940 census. He is having difficulty finding his grandfather, Eugene Langford Padgett (b. 1894). He also asks for suggestions concerning source citations for vital records materials found in his family's possession.
• Matthew shared information about a new application under development called "Storied" at kickstarter.com.
• Tom discusses errors that result and are perpetuated from people accepting without question information on online family trees. He urges the use of "critical thought and evaluation" before accepting such information as definitive.

The news includes:

• FamilySearch.org has contributed $250,000 to the Federation of Genealogical Societies' War of 1812 Pensions Digitization Project.
• RootsMagic has just released Version 6 of its family tree software program. A new video is available at their site, and the software is on sale through December 20, 2012.
• MyHeritage.com has announced its purchase of Geni.com.
• Origins.net announced 169,100 burial indexes (1560-1909) and 140,000 baptism indexes (1538-1882) covering Middlesex and London.
• Ancestry.com has announced the launch of its new newspaper site, Newspapers.com.
• The University of Indianapolis is teaming up with Ancestry.com to encourage students to explore and reflect on their family history.
• Ancestry.com has announced the launch of two new collections at their website: U.S. Headstone Applications, 1825-1963 and U.S. Burial Registers, Military Posts and National Cemeteries, 1862-1960.
• Ancestry.com has announced a new Community Support site at its website.
• WikiTree announces "Cousin Bait" Toolkits.
• FamilySearch.org continues its digitization and indexing projects. Learn more on the podcast.
• The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) has announced their election results.
• The New England Historic Genealogical Society has announced that their organization has won the 2012 Society for the Study of American Women Writers (SSAWW) "Edition Award" for its book Reminiscences and Traditions of Boston by Helen Mather Crocker, edited by Eileen Hunt Botting and Sarah L. Houser.

George reviews three new publications:

• Family History Library Research (At a Glance sheet) by Carolyn L. Barkley
• Birth, Marriage & Death Records: A Guide for Family Historians by David Annal and Audrey Collins
• Marriage Law for Genealogists: The Definitive Guide by Rebecca Probert

Drew mentions his upcoming appearance at the FGS-sponsored lunch at RootsTech 2013, and discusses a new Google+ facility called Communities.

Listener email includes:

• Jonelle responds concerning her poor experiences with obtaining records assistance from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
• David updates us on the passage of legislation in Northern Ireland to bring access to its BMD registers in line with the practice in Scotland.

The news includes:

• Ancestry.com agrees to a $1.6 billion buyout by Permira Advisors LLP.
• The governor and secretary of state of Georgia have announced that funding for the Georgia State Archives has been reinstated for the remainder of this fiscal year.
• FamilySearch continues to digitize and index millions of records and The Guys give an update.
• FamilySearch has been recognized for its "continued dedication and support" of African-American family history at the 2nd International Black Genealogy Summit held in Salt Lake City on October 18-20, 2012.
• WikiTree has announced the release of "MatchBot", a new automated matching tool.
• Origins.net has announced the addition of the first 25 of 176 Irish directories to its service.
• The Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) has announced its new Board of Trustees, and additions of a one-hour video about certification and testimonials to its website.

Listener email includes:

• Mac tells us that he was able to obtain records from the U.S. Veterans Administration's Freedom of Information Office for an ancestor who was a Spanish-American War veteran. They conducted a BIRLS (Beneficiary Information and Records Locator Search).
• Doug discusses Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK).
• Sharon tells us that the search for Ellen Chance (discussed on a previous episode) should have included both Ancestry.com and findmypast for both passenger lists and departure records.
• Brad asks for advice about his large genealogy publishing project.
• Jane shares information about Merchant Marine records, and particularly about a list published by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service.
• Dennis discusses Reunion 9 and MacFamilyTree.
• Helen asks about possible resources for tracing an ancestor who may have been slain by Native Americans in Iowa in 1858.

The Guys are very pleased to welcome a new sponsor for the Podcast, findmypast.com

The news includes:

• WikiTree announces the re-opening of member registration.
• Mocavo has acquired ReadyMicro in a move to help the company and other organizations holding genealogical information digitize more content for genealogists.
• Origins.net announced that they have added two new collections to their National Wills Index: Lancaster Wills Index (1457-1748 and 1793-1812) and Surrey PCC Will Abstracts (1736-1812).
• Ancestry.com has acquired 1000Memories, Inc.
• Early Bird Registration is now open for RootsTech 2013, and Drew is one of their official bloggers.
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies has announced it's 2003 FGS Conference to be held in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
• Our new sponsor, findmypast.com, is offering a 20% discount on its world subscription. Check out their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/findmypastus. They are posting a genealogy tip each day of October in celebration of Family History Month. They also have 84 ancestry family history badges on their Facebook page that you can display and share. Here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/findmypastus#!/media/set/?set=a.446586192058898.124787.302628856454633&type=1. In addition, click on the image of the flag and crown to take the “Are You Related to The Queen” 7-question quiz.
• George discusses his terrific experience at the Detroit Public Library and a behind-the-scenes tour of some incredible items in the Burton Historical Collection!

The listener email includes:

• Mike asked for advice about a family story. An ancestor, Ellen Chance, supposedly did not sail on the Titanic, but took another ship to the U.S. in August, the RMS Campania. The Guys did some research and share their results.
• Lee asked for clarification as to which Veterans Affairs location he should contact regarding a Civil War pension file that was closed after 1929. Records for ancestors and surviving spouses who received pension benefits and died in 1930 and later are likely still held by the national Veterans Affairs.
• Blaise shared a fabulous link at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-19487335 for seven monarchs’ missing graves.
• Paul, who lives in Germany, asks whether his English translations of German records can be copyrighted.
• Jeryl asks about Reunion 10 software.
• Rick has recently purchased both the 2^nd and 3^rd editions of George’s book How to Do Everything: Genealogy. He talks about his research in South Carolina and in the Clayton Genealogical Library in Houston.

Drew discusses his discovery of some delayed birth certificates at Ancestry.com

The news includes:

• FamilySearch announces that the 1940 U.S. Federal Census indexing project is wrapped up, and that indexing is beginning on the new U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Community Project. Visit http://familysearch.org/immigration for more information and to volunteer. Another indexing project has begun: the Italian Ancestors Project. Visit http://familysearch.org/italian-ancestors for more information and to volunteer.
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies has announced the publication of the new 2nd edition of Bylaws Workbook: A Handbook for New and Established Societies. The book is available through Amazon
• findmypast.com announces major expansions of its U.S. Records Collection.
• findmypast.com also announces a partnership with the Federation of Genealogical Societies to preserve, digitize, and provide access to local records from genealogical societies across the U.S.

Listener email includes:

• Allen asked whether The Guys know anything about the Dutch research site at Genlias. The site will disappear on 1 November 2012, but another site may be taking its place as WieWasWie. The Guys suggest going to that site's blog at http://www.wiewaswieblog.nl, translating it from Dutch to English using a tool such as Google Translate, and reading details about the change.
• Connie and Sharon both wrote about the volunteer photographers in cemeteries as a result of requests made through Find A Grave
• Jim wrote about old small town newspapers that may have published lists of deaths for the week or deaths for the year.
• Carole asked for suggestions about where to locate records of Bronze Star military awardees.
• Thomas asked about using the podcast recordings in local genealogical society meetings.
• Pat asked about merchant ship records.
• Evan asked about an ancestor who left Germany for the United States and then went to South Africa.

George discussed some information received about FamilySearch and its progress in digitizing microfilm. He also discussed current crews acquiring digital images around the world. You can contact tomlinsonkl@familysearch.org to learn about opportunities to become involved.

Drew discussed the formation of the Family History Information Standards Organisation (FHISO) and its plans to develop data standards for genealogy-related data.

Drew also discussed the discontinuation of the group, Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) and his search for other groups forming to take over this volunteer activity.

The news includes:

• RootsMagic announces the release of a new minor update to RootsMagic 5. They also remind listeners that they have more than 40 free online classes available at their website.
• Ancestry.com announces that they will not be releasing a 2013 version of their Family Tree Maker software, but will, instead, release free bonus features to Family Tree Maker 2012.
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies 2012 Conference will be held August 29 through September 1, 2012, in Birmingham, Alabama. Online registration is closed but walk-ins are welcome for single- or multiple-day registration.
• Aha! Seminars, Inc., announces a partnership with LearnSurge to provide live and recorded genealogy webinars by George G. Morgan.

George just received the results of a Y-DNA test from Family Tree DNA. The Guys discuss how Drew (and George) pursued researching all the descendants of one of George’s great-great-grandfather’s sons. The Guys located records for almost 200 new people (descendants, spouses, and their parents) in just a few hours.

The news includes:

• Ancestry.com has announced their completion of the indexing of the 1940 U.S. Federal Census.
• RootsMagic announced a new update to their software, version 5.0.4.0.
• Online registration for the 2012 Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference (August 29-September 1) in Birmingham, Alabama, closes at 7:00 PM CDT on August 17th.
• findmypast.com has officially launched its new site in the U.S. with a special World Subscription at $4.95 per month.
• Unlock the Past has announced their 3rd genealogy cruise in February 2013.

Listener email includes:

• Richard recommends episode 289 at This American Life.
• The Greenoughs thank The Guys and Bill for help locating James Greenough and his wife in Saint John, New Brunswick. Their son has also earned his Boy Scout Genealogy Merit Badge.
• Nancy writes about the Archdiocese for the Military, USA.
• Ed attempted to help another listener seeking Samuel Mansfield in Fayette County, Kentucky.
• Beverly thanks The Guys for recommendations for genealogical education.
• Anne asks how much information should be stored in a genealogical database program and recommendations for how to store it.
• Richard asks about how to find more information about a Hungarian immigrant who is seeking information about her father's parents.
• Roger responds to the discussion about cemetery staff difficulties.
• Rich discusses privacy and security issues.

The news includes:

• FamilySearch.org has completed many states in the 1940 U.S. Federal Census and other projects including South American, U.K., Scotland, Slovakian, Philippines, and Swedish records.
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies announced that a generous donation of $135,000 has been received from the estate of the late Jon Stedman and is designated for the Preserve the Pensions – War of 1812 Pension Digitization Fund.
• The Illinois State Genealogical Society has announced a War of 1812 Pension Fund Challenge in the amount of $10,000.
• RootsMagic has announced the release of two new CDs of RootsMagic webinars, Volumes 3 and 4. The webinars are still available to view online or download, but there have been many requests to bundle the webinars into CDs.
• The Michigan Department of Education and the Department of Natural Resources have agreed to move selected materials of the Family History Collections at the Library of Michigan to the reading room of the Archives of Michigan.
• The 2012 winners of the Suzanne Winsor Freeman Student Grant were announced at the Southern California Genealogical Society Genealogy Jamboree in Burbank. The winners are Elyse Doerflinger and A.C. Ivory. Each received a check for $500. Congratulations!
• MyHeritage.com has announced that the milestone of 1 billion profiles has been reached. In addition, the company announced its new SuperSearch facility.
• The Guild of One-Name Studies announced the publication of a new book, Seven Pillars of Wisdom: The Art of One-Name Studies.
• Ancestry.com has recently added 7 more states’ indexes for the 1940 U.S. Federal Census at its site: CO, NY, OH, PA, TN, VA, VT.
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies announced the appointment of Patricia W. Rand as its treasurer.
• The Florida Genealogical Society (Tampa) has awarded its 2011 Volunteer of the Year Award to George G. Morgan.

Listener email includes:

• Pat suggested additional meanings for the term “NG” that appears in some fields on census records.
• Henry shared several ways to perform and improve free searches on the Internet.
• Neil asks The Guys about the ethics of how to handle potentially damaging information discovered during one’s research.
• Phil reports back on advice The Guys gave him about contacting the Special Collections area of the library at Kent State University. He did so and was able to obtain 105 pages of copied materials from the 19th century for his family. He also contacted a presidential library and obtained some copies of extracted materials!
• Bill has been researching an ancestor, John Greenough. However, in his email, he also discussed the importance of using FamilySearch.org and becoming familiar with the ways that can be used to effectively search their millions of records.
• Richard marked a milestone in his listening to The Guys’ podcast episodes.
• Kyle McWhirter has been working on a tool that provides statistics for surnames in the U.S. It is a Surname/Family Name Popularity Index, and it can be accessed at http://family-names.findthedata.org.
• Richard asked The Guys several important questions about completing a family history started by a distant cousin for the Dimmitt family.
• Mike wrote to discuss “term graves” and his experiences with a Chicago cemetery. The Guys ask for comments and suggestions from our listeners.
• J.T. asks questions about autosomal DNA testing and database sizes.
• Janet wrote with questions about her husband’s ancestors (Mansfield) who moved from Virginia to Kentucky. She is trying to determine the correct Samuel Mansfield.

The news includes:

• The Guys will be at the Southern California Genealogical Society’s Jamboree on June 8-10, 2012.
• RootsMagic announces new webinars and additions to its catalog of recorded webinars.
• FamilySearch announces the addition of millions of new records on its site and the completion of almost half of the 1940 U.S. federal census.
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies announced that its Malcolm H. Stern-NARA Gift Fund has participated with NARA recently in digitizing and making available the records of the Sultana Disaster at the Fold3.com website.
• Ancestry.com announced that it has added its 10 billionth record to its site.
• Ancestry.com announced its AncestryDNA^TM service.

Listener email includes:

• Michael asks about the notation on the 1880 U.S. federal census of “NG” under the birthplaces of an ancestor’s parents.
• Chris sent a link to a fascinating article about using DNA to determine the origin of the Melungeons.(http://news.yahoo.com/dna-study-seeks-origin-appalachias-melungeons-201144041.html) Rich also sent another link on the same subject right after the podcast was recorded. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/24/melungeon-dna-study-origin_n_1544489.html?ref=fb&ir=Black+Voices&src=sp&comm_ref=false#s=1022230)
• Laurie asked about the available DNA tests, and Drew weighs in based on his experience.
• Walter asks whether there is a DNA test available to determine whether his mother and a good friend, who looks like his mother’s twin, are related.
• Susanne asks about genealogy sites that are free.
• Bob talks about the work he and his wife are doing as arbiters for the 1940 indexing project.
• Tom asks when we think an index to the 1940 census will be available, and comments about the indexes not being made available until an entire state is indexed.
• Amy shares information about Titanicat by Marty Crisp.
• Linda writes about resources for the descendants of the Armenian Genocide. She tells us that University of Michigan Professor Fatma Muge Gocek has done extensive research on this issue with other area specialists (one is also here at U Michigan – Ronald Suny in Political Science). If the person who asked the question in an earlier podcast is still trying to find resources that might help her find information on her ancestors, she might send an e-mail to either Professor Gocek (Gocek@umich.edu) or Professor Suny (rgsuny@umich.edu) to see if they know where information on where people were moved or killed and records that might be useful. Gocek, Suny, and another scholar, Norman Naimark at Stanford, co-wrote a book, A Question of Genocide: Armenians and Turks at the End of the Ottoman Empire (http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/HistoryWorld/MiddleEastern/?view=usa&ci=9780195393743) about the genocide. The Guys both recommend checking the University of South Florida’s Holocaust & Genocide Studies Center site at http://lib.usf.edu/hgsc.
• Ann has a question about her husband’s paternal grandfather who was born in international waters while his mother was emigrating from Wales to the United States. In another email, she reports on remarkable files uncovered in the possession of a library.
• Jo wrote to provide some clues and resources to Moshe who is researching a Jewish man named Markowsky.

The news includes the following items:

• Ancestry.com has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Archives.com.
• FamilySearch.org uploaded 14 million new records for 19 countries, and the 1940 U.S. federal census indexing project is in full swing.
• The Southern Genealogist’s Exchange Society in Jacksonville, Florida, is hosting a virtual tea party on Mother’s Day (U.S.) on 13 May 2012 as a fundraiser and as a way to honor female ancestors.
• Drew reviews the book Family Matters by Michael Sharpe.

Listener email includes:

• Jason asks about a program that keeps track of digital source materials and about cloud computing.
• Doug reports that volunteers for the FamilySearch U.S. federal census indexing project can only specify the state for which they would like to index.
• Paul provided us with a fascinating story about two children who survived the Titanic sinking from a newspaper clipping in his great-grandmother’s scrapbook. He provides a link at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Marcel_Navratil for more information. He also shared information about dogs on the Titanic and offers another link at http://www.mnn.com/family/pets/blogs/remembering-the-dogs-of-the-titanic to learn more - including a story of a mother cat and kittens.
• Eric wrote to discuss copyright and fair use, and discusses a research problem involving a colleague.
• Beth Cook of Best Public Relations wrote to share information that Dracula was Irish and not Transylvanian.
• Janet asks for advice about whether DNA testing might help her in her quest for her husband’s ancestor.
• Moshe sent document images and asks for suggestions about his search for a Jewish man, Irving Markowsky.

The news includes:

• FamilySearch continues to add millions of new records online each month. They also state the 10 new digital records are created every second.
• MyHeritage has announced:
  • Introduction of DNA testing
  • Release of cutting-edge personalized family calendars
  • Release of a new app for the iPhone, iPad, and Android
• The Guild of One-Name Studies announced the results of the Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS) 2011 Awards.
• Calico Pie has announced the release of version 5 of Family Historian, its genealogy software program.
• The 1940 U.S. federal census was released by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) on 2 April 2012.
• FamilySearch is indexing the 1940 U.S. federal census records.
• Ancestry.com has made its collection of 1940s-era materials free through 10 April 2012. They are indexing the 1940 U.S. federal census records.
• Findmypast.com is also participating in indexing the 1940 U.S. federal census records. Furthermore, the company has announced that it will search for your ancestors for you as soon as the records are indexed. They will then send you an email when they have located the census record for you.
• The 1940 U.S. Census Community Project has issued a call for more volunteers to help create a free, searchable index to the 1940 U.S. federal census records. It is a joint venture between Archives.com, FamilySearch.org, and findmypast.com

Listener email includes:

• Dennis asks about some of the questions on the 1940 U.S. federal census. George also advises Dennis that the Farm Schedules and Housing Schedules were destroyed, and that 1940 was the last year in which an annual enumeration by Bureau of Land Management Indian Agents of Native Americans on reservations was performed.
• Phil lives and works in Spain, and he is seeking suggestions on how to learn more and access materials that were donated to Kent State University in Ohio in about 1996.
• Laura in Ireland shares a way that she has gotten her eight-year-old daughter interested in looking at the Irish censuses of 1901 and 1911.
• Ben asked about the term “New York-ODM” which he has encountered in looking for records in the FamilySearch.org catalog.
• Emily responds to Avi's question in the 31 January episode, and suggests contacting the cemetery in the event that it still has the transit permit for the body. It will usually indicate the origin of the shipment of the body, and sometimes contains the deceased’s address, age, and cause of death.
• Caroleen shared her genealogy research blog with The Guys, at http://grampsandmamawsgirls.blogspot.com.
• Richard submitted a follow up on his Robert George Jones, along with an impressive profile of his extensive research.

The Guys talked briefly about their own research into the 1940 U.S. federal census records.

Drew shares his third and final set of interviews from RootsTech 2012.  This set features Janet Hovorka of Family ChartMasters and her three children; D. Joshua Taylor of brightsolid; Michael Leclerc of Mocavo; and Elissa Powell (noted genealogical educator and professional genealogist from Pennsylvania). 

Drew shares the second set of interviews that he conducted at RootsTech 2012.  This set includes FamilySearch Senior VP of Product Engineering David Burggraaf, Instructure CEO Josh Coates, FamilySearch Senior VP of Patron Services Don Anderson, and Google Software Engineer David Barney.

Drew shares the first set of interviews that he conducted at RootsTech 2012.  This set includes FamilySearch Chief Genealogical Officer David Rencher, author and speaker Lisa Alzo (an expert on Eastern European genealogical research), past FamilySearch CEO Jay Verkler, and new FamilySearch CEO Dennis Brimhall.

The news includes:

• Who Do You Thing You Are? debuts for its third season on NBC on Friday, February 2, 2012.
• Fold3 announced that it is providing free access to all of its Black History Collection records throughout the month of February in celebration of Black History Month.
• brightsolid is one of the major sponsors for RootsTech 2012 in Salt Lake City this week.
• brightsolid has announced that they have recruited renowned genealogist D. Joshua Taylor as their business development manager and media spokesperson in the U.S.
• WikiTree has announced that they have closed new user registration. New members must now be invited by current WikiTree members.
• Ancestry.com, Behind the Name, and WeRelate have announced a new approach for searching for variant names. Learn more at http://www.werelate.org/wiki/WeRelate:Variant_names_project.
• Ancestry.com is partnering with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to bring more than 300 years of Pennsylvania records online.
• George G. Morgan's new book, How to Do Everything Genealogy, 3^rd edition, has just been published by McGraw-Hill in softcover and in electronic format. George will soon announce how people can order a signed copy.
• Registration is now open for the Federation of Genealogical Society's 2012 Conference on August 29 to September 1, 2012, in Birmingham, Alabama.
• Registration is open for the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree on June 8-10, 2012, in Burbank, California.
• DNA genotyping is being used to help answer the centuries-old mystery of the so-called "Lost Colony" of Roanoke Island on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Learn more at http://the-scientist.com/2012/01/01/lost-colony-dna/.

Listener email includes:

• Joel Weintraub tells The Guys about a collection of One-Step tools for working with the forthcoming 1940 U.S. Federal Census at Steve Morse's website.
• Patricia has a question about her great-grandfather, John A. Hamilton.
• Rob of New Port Richey, Florida, asks about access at the University of South Florida Tampa Library and at the Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library system to records outside of Florida.
• Margaret discusses how she shares family history information with relatives and others using her blog and Dropbox.
• Steve shares information with family members in a similar manner. He also talks about his experiences in transferring data between genealogy database programs, a topic that The Guys discussed in a previous episode.
• Avi asks questions concerning his family members who lived in the area of Troy, New York.
• Phil asks for help because he has discovered that his grandmother had four first names.

The Guys reviewed several new items:

• Family Roots Publishing has a new book by Ruby Coleman titled Genealogical Research in Nebraska. (Order at http://www.familyrootspublishing.com/store/product_view.php?id=1545.)
• Genealogical Publishing Companyhas released three new QuickSheet publications written by Elizabeth Shown Mills. They are:
  • The Historical Biographer's Guide to the Research Process
  • The Historical Biographer's Guide to Finding People in Databases & Indexes
  • The Historical Biographer's Guide to Cluster Research (the FAN Principle)

The news includes:

• FamilySearch ushers in 2012 by adding 119 million new records.
• The New England Historic Genealogical Society announces education programs at its Boston facility.
• The Association of Professional Genealogists has added back issues of the APG Quarterly for 2004-2011 available in the Members Only area of its website.
• Arphax Publishing Co. announces the launch of its historical maps website, HistoryGeo.com.
• GenSoftReviews announces the 2011 User Choice Awards.

Listener email includes:

• Many condolences have been received from around the world for the passing of Fletcher, our dilute calico cat who "spoke" on many podcasts over the years. She died on 8 December 2011 and is deeply missed.
• Carole advises us that the Doña Ana County Genealogical Society in Las Cruces, New Mexico, will be holding its first conference in April 2012. She also discusses the recurrent problem of the accuracy of documentation and the conflicting data that can result.
• Dave recently wrote about his research in St. Croix. Listeners may be interested in reading his blog at http://200inparadise.blogspot.com.
• Mac tells us that if you are going to order any New York certificates, you might also want to cross-reference the databases at italiangen.org.
• Rich asks a fascinating question about how to represent the correct country in his RootsMagic software for Canada at different historical periods.
• Wayne reports that he cannot download the podcast using the latest version of the Ubuntu operating system. The Guys ask other listeners about their experiences with this.
• Maria asks Hank Jones and The Guys about Palatines in Australia.
• Sébastien has had good results with the DNA genealogy study between Coombs and Comeau descendants. He recommends the site at en.comeaunet.org/dna/big-annoucement-regarding-antoine-comeau-2/ to our listeners who may have a Coombs ancestor.
• Joel Weintraub tells us that the discussion on a previous podcast about markings on ships' passenger lists/manifests could also have pointed people to the site at www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/Manifests/.
• Mark shared with us a publication by the St. Louis Post Dispatch that discusses the new National Personnel Records Center facility. The 12-page PDF document is an excellent overview of the NPRC, where many U.S. military service records are stored.
• Noi asks for a recommendation of a good website that compares genealogy database software programs. We recommend going to Wikipedia and searching for the phrase “Comparison of Genealogy Software” for some excellent comparisons.
• Susan asks about whether she should use Family Tree Maker 2012 or RootsMagic. This spurred a detailed discussion by The Guys about the GEDCOM standard and how data is exported from one program and imported to another. They talk about the fact that there will be a need to manually handle some data after the transfer.

The news includes:

• The Guys announce the death of their cat, Fletcher, on 8 December 2011. Fletcher was a vocal contributor to the Podcast over the years and received email and inquiries from the show's listeners. She is very much missed.
• Three leading genealogy organizations, Archives.com, FamilySearch International, and findmypast.com, have announced that they are joining forces to launch a project to index and make available the 1940 U.S. federal census images.
• MyHeritage unveiled an innovative mobile family tree app for iPad, iPhone, and Android.
• MyHeritage has also released the new Family Tree Builder 6.0
• FamilySearch added new records for the U.S., Canada, Estonia, Jamaica, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, and Sweden.
• A new effort called the Genealogists for Families Kiva Project that will make small loans to help those less fortunate.
• Ancestry.com has released two million North Carolina World War II Draft Cards at its site.
• Moorshead Magazines Ltd. is releasing on 1 January 2012 a new publication, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors. They are also carrying Maureen Taylor's newest book, Bonnets and Hats. Visit http://www.familychronicle.com/books.htm for more information.
• 1000Memories provides an excellent place on the Internet to organize, share, and discover the old photos and memories of your family and friends.

George discusses two exciting finds in his genealogy from this month.

Listener email includes:

• Peter asks for ideas about how to share his research with family members.
• Barb discusses how much she likes Family Tree Maker 2012's new sync facility. She also talks about Memeo Autosync (at http://www.memeo.com/autosync.php) and its ability to sync folders on different computers.
• Dave discusses his research on St. Croix and the different family perspective it gives.
• Maria discusses her problematic Northcote ancestor who emigrated from Exeter, Devon, England, to Australia.
• Connie has suggestions for Richard and his North Dakota research, including newspapers from across the state. Visit http://history.nd.gov/archives/whatnewspapers.html for many details.
• Eric wrote that Ancestry.com is requiring the purchase of a copy of Family Tree Maker 2012 to demonstrate the program to others.
• Judy asks for suggestions about how to lay out complicated intermarriage families so that they can be more easily conceptualized and understood.

The Genealogy Guys announce that there have been over 1,000,000 downloads of the podcast since it began on 5 September 2005!

Thanks to all our listeners!!!

The news includes:

• The British Library has announced the launch of the British Newspaper Archive website. It initially hosts more than 4 million pages from more than 200 British and Irish newspapers, primarily from the 18th and 19th centuries.
• RootsMagic has announced the official release of RootsMagic Version 5, the latest version of its award-winning software.
• The Guild of One-Name Studies has introduced flexible membership joining rates in six currencies.
• A new grassroots group called Saving Ours, concerned with preserving our archived materials, has launched a new website at SavingOurs.com.
• FamilySearch has added 18 million new records from 12 countries to its site, including 21 new U.S. collections.
• Ancestry.com has announced a newly upgraded app at the iTunes store.
• Ancestry.com has announced the release of Family Tree Maker software for the Macintosh.

The Guys review the following new print resources:

• Applications for Enrollment of Creek Newborn Act of 1905, Volume I, transcribed by Jeff Bowen. (Clearfield Publishing, 2011.)
• Seminole of Florida, Indian Census 1930-1940 With Birth and Death Records 1930-1938, transcribed by Jeff Bowen. (Clearfield Publishing, 2011.)
• The Guide to FamilySearch Online by James L. Tanner. (Bookmark Graphics, 2011.) Available at Amazon.com.
• English Genealogy Research by Paul Milner, a new QuickSheet publication from Genealogical Publishing Company.

The listener email includes:

• Richard is looking for clues to locating his grandmother's cousin Robert George Jones.
• Vickie is researching her great-great-grandfather, Francis Edward Johnson, a longtime brick wall.
• Susan describes how she copies PDF files between desktop, iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.
• Rich adds to the PDF discussion and uses O'Reilly's free Bookworm services at bookworm.oreilly.com.
• Maria is researching her great-great-grandfather after his arrival in Australia, circa 1866.
• Michael would like to contact Judy to help chart her family tree. [Judy: Please email us again]
• Laura asks if there is a new edition of Professional Genealogy being published.
• Patti is researching the marriage of her great-aunt, who served with the Women's Army Corps, in 1945 in Italy while still in service. She is seeking Italian civil registration records.
• Brad is seeking a professional researcher to help with work in Georgia and Tennessee. The Guys suggested directories at the websites of the Association of Professional Genealogists and the Board for Certification of Genealogists.
• Jason has questions about notations on ships' passenger lists and about the College of Arms and coats-of-arms.

The news includes:

• FamilySearch has announced a new CEO, Dennis C. Brimhall, who will succeed Jay L. Verkler on 2 January 2012.
• FamilySearch has added 2 million records to its U.S. collections.
• A new monthly podcast, the Polish Genealogy Podcast, has begun. You can learn more about the podcast at the FaceBook page at http://www.facebook.com/PolishGenealogyPodcast. The first episode can be downloaded from http://forums.ancestry-world.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1862.
• The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration has awarded Archives.com the hosting of the 1940 U.S. federal census images when they are released on 2 April 2012.
• MyHeritage has announced that it has acquired FamilyLink.com, Inc., owner of FamilyLink.com and WorldVitalRecords.com.
• Ancestry.com and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum have announced that material from four museum collections containing information on more than 30,000 victims of Nazi persecution is now available at Ancestry.com and available at no cost.
• Ancestry.com has added more than 50 million new U.S. birth, marriage, and death records to its U.S. Vital Records Collection.
• Pennsylvania's new vital records bill (SB-361) would set at 50 years when death records and 105 years when birth records become open to the public.
• Britain's Prince Charles has stated that his genealogy connects him to Vlad the Impaler, the 15th-century Romanian warlord.
• "Who Do You Think You Are?," the popular genealogy television series, resumes on Friday, 3 February 2012.

Listener email includes:

• Mac asks whether you need permission to publish screen shots taken at Internet websites.
• Christine asks for suggesions for places to search for information about servants and laborers in Minnesota in the first decade of the 20th century.
• Claire comments on using the iPad and popular genealogical software. She also discusses her participation in the Smith Surname Project.
• Don had a grandfather who would not talk about his past, and the things he once talked about he later denied. Don is looking for suggestions to help him get past his brick wall.
• Mary Ann reminds us that the Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org/) is another excellent place to search for digitized books online.
• Beth is using a program called Bento on her iPad to organize and show off her photographs.
• Judy asked for help in downloading a PDF book from her computer to her iPad and iPhone.

Drew discusses some of his recent research work.

•    

The news includes:

• Footnote.com has rebranded and changed its name to Fold3.com.
• Ancestry.com has released the 1930 Mexico National Census.
• RootsMagic has released Personal Historian, Version 2.
• Ancestry.com has released Family Tree Maker 2012 with TreeSync.
• findmypast.ie has launched online Irish family history forums.
• Arphax Publishing goes online with online maps HistoryGeo.com.
• South Georgia newspapers are now available online at the Digital Library of Georgia.
• The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania will hold its Pennsylvania Family History Day in Exton, PA, on Saturday, November 5, 2011.
• Early Bird registration for RootsTech 2012 in Salt Lake City on February 2-4, 2012, is available until November 30, 2011.
• Ancestry.com has expanded its U.S. School Yearbook Collection.
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies has introduced a new app for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, available through iTunes.
• FamilySearch continues to release massive amounts of new content. Drew discusses some new materials, but be sure to check back at FamilySearch often.
• The 1940 U.S. Federal Census digital images will be available at the National Archives and Records Administration website on April 2, 2012. FamilySearch and Ancestry.com will both have the images at their sites for free. FamilySearch is actively recruiting volunteers to index the records. Ancestry.com, too, will be working to expedite indexing of these important records.

Listener email includes:

• Kevin asks about genealogy software for the Mac, iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.
• Judy asks how to transfer a PDF book to her iPad and iPhone.
• You may want to check out a new site, Storytree, at http://www.storytree.me as a place to capture your family stories.
• Another new site, RestingSpot.com, at http://restingspot.com, seeks to record cemeteries and resting spots and mark them with GPS coordinates in a huge database.
• Brad asks about the availability of grants for genealogical projects.
• Sue recommends a book by Judy Jacobson titled History for Genealogists as a helpful resource for timelining your ancestors' lives and placing them into historical context.
• Jeff asks about the availability of Pennsylvania vital records.
• Judy follows up on her quest for ancestors in Southwestern Virginia in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

The news includes:

• FamilySearch announces the update of its YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/familysearch.
• MyHeritage.com now offers shared group subscription payments.
• Family Tree DNA is now accepting third party transfers of test results.
• Synium Software has released MacFamilyTree 6.1 and MobileFamilyTreePro.
• FamilySearch has released 12 million new records and images for England and Mexico, 1.8 million records to 23 U.S. collections, and 2.3 million images to its Hungary collections.
• Joel Weintraub and Steve Morse announce a new One-Step Tutorial at http://stevemorse.org about the forthcoming 1940 U.S. federal census release in April 2012.
• The Guild of One-Name Studies announces extended membership to new joiners at the NZ Family History Fair in Hamilton on 26-27 August 2011, and for the whole month of August 2011 at www.one-name.org/nzfhf-offer.html.
• WikiTree announced that they have passed 2 million profiles and that they have released a new Relationship Finder. In addition, they have announced that Thomas MacEntee has joined the WikiTree team as their Genealogy Ninja.
• The Admiral Nimitz Foundation has recently created the Society of the Sons and Daughters of World War II Veterans. The Society's goal is to preserve the stories of sacrifice and achievement of America's "greatest generation." They plan to preserve important materials in digital format to preserve them and make them available.

Listener email includes:

• Nancy suggests that Colleen expand her New York query by checking city directories.
• Joseph asked about the existence of a Florida cemetery registry. Drew suggested he contact the Florida State Genealogical Society.
• Sue asked about the availability of software for genealogical societies' websites. The Guys suggested that she contact EasyNetSites which provides modular society software service.
• Russ asked if The Guys were aware of the blog about the Stockton School in East Orange, New Jersey. Drew replied that it belonged to his brother!
• Alan advised that there is OCR software that reads Fraktur. He obtained FreeOCR from http://www.freeOCR.net.
• John asked whether Drew's Twitter feed had been compromised.
• Erin asked Drew about using his iPad for genealogical research vs. using a netbook.
• Melanie asked about a relationship term used in the 1910 U.S. census wherein an ancestor, his wife, and four children have an older widow living with them whose relationship is listed as "companion." Listeners can send in their comments and suggestions about this to us.
• Grace is our new "Marathon Woman." She also asked about RootsTelevision. Megan Smolenyak advised George recently that the site has been taken down. The Guys hope to learn more at the FGS Conference in Springfield, Illinois, next month.
• Carole made some suggestions for Beverly's quandary about Canadian immigration information.
• The Indiana Genealogical Society issued a matching $10,000 grant challenge to help funding for the FGS "Preserve the Pensions" program. See their site at http://www.indgensoc.org/projects/1812_pensions.php and donate to make your dollars grow! And learn more at http://fgs.org/1812.
• Dave installed the new Mac OS X Lion, but was really upset that Carbonite (back up) is not ready to support it!

The Genealogy Guys record this episode in front of a live audience at the annual Summer Institute of the Dallas Genealogical Society, in the Auditorium of the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library in downtown Dallas, Texas. 

This week's news includes:

• Cyndi's List at www.cyndislist.com has launched a new website with a new look, new organization, and improved navigation.
• MyHeritage.com has acquired Bliscy.pl from Poland's Internet publishing company, Wirtualna Polska, expanding its presence in the Polish family history market.
• Anthony Ray, a junior majoring in Music at West Coast Bible College in Lancaster, California, was introduced at the 2011 Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree in Burbank as this year’s recipient of the Suzanne Winsor Freeman Memorial Student Genealogy Grant.
• The Guild of One-Name Studies will be at the Colorado Family History Expo on June 24-25 in Loveland, Colorado, and will offer extended membership to people joining for the first time. The offer is also good at www.one-name.org/colorado-offer.html.
• The "Genealogy Roadshow" currently filming in Ireland will make its debut on RTE later this summer, and it should also be accessible online at http://www.rte.ie/player.

This week's email includes:

• Linda, listening to Episode #222, where George talked about the 1880 U.S. federal census and the Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent schedules, tells us that there is a "Statewide Index to Indiana's 1880 DDD Schedules" available on CD-ROM from the Indiana Genealogical Society. The society also offfers a "Statewide Index to Indiana's 1890 Soldiers Enrollment Lists".
• Margie thanks Bill for suggestions about where to locate more information about the WPA.
• Brandt has questions about source citations for some land records he has come across.
• Charleen asked for advice about very early birth records in New York State.

The Guys review three new books:

• Complete Delaware Roll of 1898, transcribed by Jeff Bowen. (Clearfield Company and Genealogical Publishing Co., 2011)
• Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album by Maureen A. Taylor (Picture Perfect Press, 2011)
• NGS Research in the States Series: South Carolina by Janis Walker Gilmore (National Genealogical Society, 2011)

Drew interviewed Lisa Louise Cooke, host of the Genealogy Gems Podcast, at the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree in Burbank, California, June 2011.  Lisa talks about some of her Google-related presentations and products.

The news includes:

• The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy opened registration on June 4th for its annual institute in Salt Lake City on January 23-27, 2012. More information is available at www.infouga.org.
• Real-Time Collaboration announces AncestorSync, which allows you to seamlessly download, upload, or synchronize your family tree from your online pedigree to your personal computer and back again. Learn more at www.ancestorsync.com.
  
• FamilySearch has recently added millions of records about the U.S. Civil War, and plans much more. See more at familysearch.org/civilwar.
• The Guild of One-Name Studies is offering a special extended membership offer to new members. The offer is available from June 24th through June 26th only at www.one-name.org/yorkoffer.html.
• Big Mountain Productions is currently filming "The Genealogy Roadshow" in Ireland, with host Derek Mooney, and it will begin broadcasting in mid- to late-August.
• The United States Holocaust Museum and Ancestry.com have partnered to launch the World Memory Project at www.worldmemoryproject.org to build the world's largest online resource on Jewish victims and non-Jews who were targeted for persecution by Nazi Germany and its collaborators.
  
• The British Library has announced that it will digitize 40 million pages of its newspaper collection at Collindale.
  
• ProQuest has updated its list of impressive databases that provide genealogists with a wealth of online data.
• The New England Historic Genealogical Society has announced upcoming events, programs, and tours for June through September 2011.

Listener email includes:

• Beverly asks for information about the RSS download address for the podcast.
• Linda made a breakthrough on her great-grandfather's first wife in Kentucky based on a link George provided at the recent NEHGS seminar. Look at "Kentucky Genealogy and History Guide" at http://kentuckygenealogysearch.com.
• Mike advised The Guys that George's book How to Do Everything: Genealogy appears in the movie Little Fockers.
• Chris asks for ideas about what to save and what not to save.
• Karen responded to Drew's challenge about locaing his father's family in the 1920 Newark, NJ census.
• David advises The Guys that The Civil Registration Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 has recently received royal assent. It will allow access to the Civil Registration registers. More information is available at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2011/20/contents/enacted.
• Sheri wrote about the terrible tornadoes in the U.S., and she wants to know if there are resources available online to help people be reunited with photographs, Bibles, documents, and other materials. Listeners are encouraged to email The Guys with their ideas and information.
• Patti asks George about U.S. federal censuses and the Agricultural Schedules.
• Lynda tells about visiting SW Virginia and making contact with Mary Kegley, the author of a number of books about the area. Lynda encourages people to make contact with historical and genealogical societies because they often have unique content that may help your research.
• Ed asks about genealogy software that might work on a desktop computer, a laptop, and on an iPad2. 

The Genealogy Guys travel to Boston, Massachusetts, to the headquarters of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, where they record this episode in front of a live audience.

News stories discussed on this episode:

• The Federation of Genealogical Societies announces that it is beginning a series of online webinars concerning a wide range of society management topics. These are part of their new online education initiative. The first webinar will be held on Saturday, April 30, 2011, from 3:00 to 4:30 PM Central Time (US) with technology expert and FGS board member Thomas MacEntee presenting "Social Networking for Genealogy Societies." There will be one free webinar each quarter open to the general public, and more webinars for FGS members only. All webinars hold up to 1,000 pre-registered participants. All webinars will be recorded and made available in the FGS Members Only area of its website. Registration for the first webinar is available at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/401693254.
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies announced and has launched its weekly live radio program on the Internet called My Society. The weekly programs will be broadcast over the Internet at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mysociety at 1 PM Central Time (US). They will be hosted by a variety of well-known genealogists and FGS board members, and will feature conversations with leaders in the genealogical community and society officers and members. A society will also be spotlighted in each show. The show debuted on Saturday, April 23, 2011, with Curt Witcher, manager of the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Shows will be recorded and archived for later download.
• A new genealogy-specific search engine has been launched. Mocavo (http://mocavo.com) is free and searches free websites including genealogy message boards, family trees, state and local historical societies, the Library of Congress, National Archives, Ellis Island, Find A Grave, the Internet Archive, various U.S. state archives, and many tens of thousands of genealogy sites built by individuals.

The Guys discuss upcoming conferences where they will be speaking in coming months.

George announced that he has begun working on a third edition of his book, How to Do Everything: Genealogy, for McGraw-Hill Professional. The new book will be available at the end of 2011 or early 2012.

Listener email includes:

• Joanne asks how to handle information for individuals about whom you are are unsure.
• Matt asks about the preferred method of long term care and preservation of gravestones and gravesites.
• Melanie updates us about her multiple-choice grandfather (Episode #206), and she asks The Guys about their take on a child being listed in a parent's will after the child is deceased.
• George asks about some snafus in past podcasts.
• Cheryl reports on billing changes at NewspaperArchive.com.
• Beverly asks for suggestions about a quandary she has encounted in Canadian immigration. George suggests visiting the Library and Archives Canada website at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca and searching The Genealogy Centre there at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/index-e.html.
• Gene comments about an image of a Stephenville, Newfoundland, baptismal certificate in George's How to Do Everything: Genealogy, 2nd edition.
• Gavin shares a wonderful story about having requested information from St. Michael's Industrial School for Boys at which his paternal grandfather lived in the 1930s, and the tremendous treasures he received.<
• Mac asks about U.S. Agricultural Census Schedules online at Ancestry.com and how to correctly read them. George shares details on the types of information to be found on these census schedules and how they can be used to place your ancestors into context of their activities on their farms.
• Shaun comments on the Flip-Pal portable scanner and the fact that he uses an Eye-Fi memory card which can automatically transfer scans to a computer.
• Lynda asks about conflicting vital records, as in the example of a discrepancies in the name of her great-grandmother's name.
• Kenneth writes to comment again about the tintype he had sent in earlier and the colorization and gilding on it.

The news includes:

• The New England Historic Genealogical Society, together with the Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts and the American Jewish Historical Society of New England have made available for the first time online acess to a growing database that currently includes 13 Massachusetts Jewish cemeteries, with more added each week.
• Genealogist Anthony Ray of Palmdale, California, has been named the recipient of the 2011 Suzanne Winsor Freeman Memorial Student Genealogy Grant.
• WikiTree announces that it has reached 1 million profiles.
• The California Genealogical Society will host a family history day with Ancestry.com on 4-5 November 2011 at the Hyatt Embarcadero in San Francisco.

George extends a special thank you to Miriam in Spokane, Washington, for taking photos of a tombstone there and for locating and sending a copy of the obituary.

Listener email includes:

• Russ enjoyed the episode in which Drew unpacked a box of family materials that his brother sent to him.
• Lee has enjoyed the interviews that Drew conducted at RootsTech, but suggests that RootsTech provide a quieter venue for such interviews next year.
• Bill reports that NARA will hold its annual genealogy fair on 24 April 2011 in Washington, DC. One of the main themes is WPA records. View the schedule at http://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/know-your-records/genealogy-fair/2008.html#schedule
• Judy is seeking advice on researching her mother's family in Southwest Virginia.
• Mark in Plymouth, UK, asks about the availability of apps for the iPhone, Android, Windows Phone 7, and Blackberry phones.
• Sean reports on the status of RootsMagic's work to import freeform source citations and place them into formatted source citation templates.
• Gordon provides excellent advice for flattening curled or rolled up paper by humidifying it. He also strongly warns that photographs should not be treated this way. He suggests a more detailed discussion in Photographs: Archival Care and Management, by Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler and Diane Vogt-O’Connor published by the Society of American Archivists.
• Cheryl provides the pricing at NARA for copies of military files.
• Michelle thanks The Guys for their help in making contact with her Irish cousins. It's a real success story.

The Guys review and recommend a number of great genealogy books:

• Our Daily Bread, German Village Life, 1500-1850, by Teva J. Schee, is published by Adventis Press. It sells in softcover for $19.95. It is also available in eBook format for Kindle for $9.95.
• The Last Muster: Images of the Revolutionary War Generation, by Maureen Taylor, is published by The Kent State University Press. It retails for $45 but is currently listed at Amazon.com for $29.70.
• The Ultimate Search Book, 2011 Edition, by Lori Carangelo, is published by Genealogical Publishing Company for the Clearfield Company. It sells for $39.95.
• Revolutionary War Pensions (Awarded by State Governments 1775-1874, the General and Federal Governments Prior to 1814, and by Private Acts of Congress to 1905), by Lloyd de Witt Bockstruck, is published by Genealogical Publishing Company. It sells for $89.50.
• The Family Tree Sourcebook: Your Essential Directory of American County and Town Records, from the editors of Family Tree Magazine, is published by Family Tree Books. It also provides a 30-day free membership to http://www.familytreemagazine.com. It sells for $34.95.
• Online State Resources for Genealogy, by Michael Hait, is published at Lulu.com as an eBook. It sells for $15.00 and is delivered electronically.

Drew gives George one more week off by making this another all-interview episode (the remaining 3 interviews that Drew conducted while attending RootsTech 2011 in Salt Lake City in February).  The interviews were with:

• Tami Glatz, President of the Second Life chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and genealogical lecturer;
• Paul Nauta, Manager of Public Affairs for FamilySearch;
• Audrey Collins, Family History Specialist at The National Archives, UK.

Drew gives George the week off by making this an all-interview episode (3 of the interviews that Drew conducted while attending RootsTech 2011 in Salt Lake City earlier in the month).  The interviews were with:

• Louise St Denis, Director of the National Institute for Genealogical Studies (www.genealogicalstudies.com), an educational organization affiliated with the University of Toronto.  NIGS has just acquired the social networking site Genealogy Wise.
• Brewster Kahle, Chairman of the Internet Archive (www.archive.org) and long-time Internet entrepreneur and activist.
• Anne Roach, Chair of RootsTech 2011 (rootstech.familysearch.org).

The news includes:

• Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, nationally known author, editor, instructor, lecturer, researcher and much loved friend in the genealogy community, died on 17 February 2011.
• Ancestry.com marks Black History Month with the addition of 250,000 new African-American records.
• Moorshead Magazines has published a new issue of Family Chronicle with a new article by George.
• The Guild of One-Name Studies extends a special offer to attendees of the Who Do You Think You Are LIVE show in Olympia, London, England this coming weekend, and also to anyone else unable to attend. The latter offer is available at http://www.one-name.org/specialoffer.html for one week from the beginning of the show on 25 February 2011.
• Real-Time Collaboration, Inc., acquires Ohana Software LLC to help extend compatibility of genealogy collaboration.
• The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) announced that the dates of next year's institute will be January 23-27 at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City. The RootsTech 2012 conference will be held there the following week, February 2-4, 2012.
• The Tri-City Genealogical Society has concluded a vast indexing project of photographs from South Central Washington State. You may search the indexes at their website.
• GeneaPress is a new site that publishes press releases/announcements for the genealogy community. The Guys have alse embedded a link in their website. Check it out!

The Guys discuss Drew's experiences at the GenTech conference in Salt Lake City. Interviews from the conference will follow in forthcoming podcasts.

Listener email included:

• Margie asks for guidance about where to locate materials about the WPA concerning the area around Springfield, Massachusetts.
• Carole asks for guidance about migrating from one genealogy database program to another, and what to do with free-form source text and formal source templates.
• Steve commented on episode #215, and he also has just ordered the Flip-Pal scanner.
• Kenneth was fortunate that he has inherited 17 photo albums and his mother's journals. He has been scanning these items, and he shared a wonderful, restored timtype of his great-grandfather in Union Army uniform.
• Karen asks about why we should save of our own records and artifacts for future generations.
• Melanie has some rolled up documents that she would like to flatten but not frame.
• Marcie asked us to always include the year in the dates of events we mention in the podcast.
• Maureen is looking for software to handle records for the National Orphan Train Complex in Concordia, Kansas.
• Gus is seeking guidance about how to enter names of royal personages into his database. Calling all listeners to provide feedback and suggestions!

The news includes:

• The Suzanne Winsor Freeman Memorial Student Genealogy Grant has been established and will be awarded to a student attending the 2011 Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree. Application deadline is March 1, 2011. For more information, contact Denise Levenick at dmlevenick@gmail.com or at 626.688.8974.
• NBC launches the second season of "Who Do You Think You Are?" on Friday, February 4th.
• Ancestry.com has announced the discontinuation of its Expert Connect service.
• Moorshead Magazines, publishers of Family Chronicle, Internet Genealogy, and History Magazine, have a special offer. Buy two books, Life During the Civil War and Tracing Your Civil War Ancestors, and pay shipping for just one.  Visit Family Chronicle at http://www.familychronicle.com for more information and to order these books.
• MyHeritage.com has announced a major upgrade on its Smart Matching (tm) technology at its website.

The Guys open one of the boxes of family materials that Drew's brother, Jeff, sent him in December. Drew explores the wealth of new materials he has received and he and George describe and discuss them in detail. Photographs, letters, certificates and diplomas, V-mail, letters, and more are included. Here are links to two pages:

Drew's Mother and Friend beside Jeep (ca. 1943) Marriage Card received by Drew's Parents

The news includes:

• GenSoftReviews announced its 2010 Users Choice Awards. Our sponsor, RootsMagic, was awarded first place.
• Ancestry.com announced the release of Family Tree Maker for the Macintosh. They also announced new and updated collections, including Swedish Church Records and Maine births, marriages, and deaths collections.
• The Illinois State Genealogical Society announced the unveiling of their new website at http://www.ilgensoc.org, using EasyNetSites.
• A new genealogy site has been announced. It is Tpstry at http://tpstry.com.

Listener email includes:

• Questions about the downloads of the Podcast.
• Donna asked about the Federation of Genealogical Societies' Save the Pensions! fund and its place in the Stern-NARA Fund at FGS.
• Tim writes about Drew's connection to the Perry-Boddies lines.
• Samuel asks about DNA testing to locate relations to males in Ireland.
• Victoria wants to know the reasons behind two couples in England (1851 and 1893) whose marriage registers show living at the same address at the time of their marriages.
• Ken asks about using Dropbox with his Family Tree Maker files.
• Mary asks how to shorten a rediculously long URL. George suggests the use of TinyURL and Drew suggests using bit.ly.
• Tim asks about free vs. pay information.
• Victoria relates a funny story about quirky genealogists.
• Another Victoria tells us about Shakespeare's genealogies in his plays.
• Gus tells us about obtaining military records.
• Donna asks George about differences between RootsMagic and Reunion.

George tellss everyone that there are several new book reviews coming.

 

 

 

 

This week's news includes:

• NBC announces that season two of "Who Do You Think You Are?" premieres on Friday, February 4th.
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies has appointed Matthew Wright as the new Editor of the FGS FORUM electronic magazine. He succeeds Sandra Hargreaves Luebking who has worked on FORUM for the last 25 years.
• The 1910 Census for Norway is online at http://www.digitalarkivet.no. An English version of the site is available at http://www.digitalarkivet.no/cgi-win/WebFront.exe?slag=vis&tekst=meldingar&spraak=e.
• The New England Historic Genealogical Society (at http://AmericanAncestors.org) announces 4 upcoming events:
  • New Visitor and Welcome Tour - January 8
  • Using AmericanAncestors.org - January 12
  • Dom's, An Odyssey - January 19
  • Winter Weekend Research Getaway: Effective Use of Technology - January 19
• The revamped ScotlandsPeople is up and running
• The Ontario Genealogical Society announces the appointment of Elizabeth Lapointe as editor of its journal, Families
• The new book, Atlas of East and Coastal Georgia Watercourses and Militia Districts, by Paul K. Graham, has been published. Visit http://pkgraham.com/atlas for more information.
• WikiTree announces a host of new widgets at http://www.wikitree.com/articles/draft-widgets.html.
• Moorshead Publishing has released its new book, ttracing Your Civil War Ancestors, by David A. Norris. For more informaation, visit http://www.familychronicle.com.
• Genealogical Publishing Company (http://www.genealogical.com) has issued its new laminated "Genealogy at a Glance" reference sheet for Scottish Genealogy Research.

This episode's listener email includes:

• Claire shares how she can best clean up family trees and copy people from one tree to another using RootsMagic.
• Judy attests to the fact that the book we recently reviewed, Shaking the Family Tree, by Buzzy Jackson, is a great read.
• Chris has military woes, and asks questions about obtaining copies of military records.
• Barbara wrote to tell us about an article in American Ancestors magazine from Fall 2010 about the article titled "Tracing the Origins if Joseph Herbert," and recommends it for the way the sources are cited.

The Guys discuss the use of CrossOver, and George tells about how simple it was to relink all the graphics for his ancestor research using RootsMagic.

Drew discusses his personal research and the fact that his brother has sent him two new boxes of materials.

The news includes:

• Ancestry.com unveils Family Tree Maker for the Macintosh.
• Ancestry.com and The Genealogist in the UK have announced an agreement with The National Archives (UK) to acquire and publish online the 1911 England and Wales Census.
• Ancestry.com has reached an agreement with National Geographic Digital Media, part of National Geographic, in which the latter will host a new family history experience related to the Genographic Project Online.
• Ancestry.com has just launched a major enhancement to its online search templates, the new "Add an Event" facility.
• Moorshead Magazines Ltd., publishers of Family Chronicle, Internet Genealogy, and History magazines, announces a new book, Tracing Your Civil War Ancestors, available on 1 January 2011. More details are available at http://www.familychronicle.com.
• The Muskogee Phoenix reports that the Cherokee Nation has begun development of a Virtual Library of Cherokee Knowledge and expects to complete the project in Spring 2011.
• MyHeritage has announced that it can generate a wide variety of pre-defined famiy tree charts easily. High resolution export of charts is free and these can be shared via email and printed in PDF format on home computers. The company has also added a professional poster printing service.
• The National Genealogical Society has announced the appointment of a new board director, Jordan Jones, of Raleigh, NC, to support information technology and solutions.
• The New England Historic Genealogical Society (at its new web address at http://www.AmericanAncestors.org) will host a Winter Weekend Research Getaway - Effective Use of Technology on 27 to 29 January 2011 in Boston. Visit the website for more information.
• The Kansas City Star posteed an article at http://www.kansascity.com/2010/11/08/2409249/search-for-kc-potters-fields-documents.html?story_link=email_msg concerning searches for three large potter's fields.

 

Ideas for holiday gifts include:

• The New England Historic Genealogical Society (http://www.AmericanAncestors.org) offers its Family Discovery Package for $99 and an annual membership to NEHGS for $75.
• Ancestry.com is selling NEW subscriptions to its databases.
• The Technology Tamers have produced an Everyday Genealogy 2011 calendar. It is available in a desk pad format from http://www.everydaygenealogy.com for $12.59 with a genealogy tip for every day of the year and as an app for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch from the iTunes store for $3.99.

 

The Guys review the following books:

• Sto Lat: A Modern Guide to Polish Genealogy by Cecile (Ceil) Wendt Jensen (See http://mipolonia.net for details and ordering information.)
• Cherokee Citizenship Commission Dockets, Volume II, 1888-1884 and 1887-1889 by Jeff Bowen (Clearfield Company, 2010)
• The Journey Takers by Leslie Albrecht Huber (2010) (See http://www.thejourneytakers.com for details and ordering information.)
• Shaking the Family Treeby Buzzy Jackson (Touchstone, 2010)

 

Listener email includes:

• Mac asks about his scan wand. (And George talks about his Flip Pal scanner.)
• Eric responds about Mitch's problem reading the 1852 California Census for Placer County.
• Brandt has questions about researching adoptions.
• J.T. shares information about another alternative to Parallels, VMWare Fusion, and CrossOver as software that allows Mac users to run Windows programs. He suggests Wine (http://www.winehq.org) - a free open-source program that needs your configuration.
• Tim has three items for The Guys:
  • He suggests the wealth of digital materials online at Georgia's Virtual Vault (http://cdm.sos.state.ga.us/index.php).
  • He asks about copyright ownership for digitized U.S. census images at Ancestry.com, and sourcing them.
  • He has questions about how to greate effective source citations for indexes, books, and other materials.
• Peter McCracken shares information with The Guys about ShipIndex.org, a site at which you can research specific ships to determine where information is available in books, journals, CD-ROMs, websites, and more. The free area contains more than 140K citations and the premium database contains more than 1.5M entries.
• Michael suggests the use of website http://www.library.illinois.edu/hpnl/newspapers/historical.php at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. There is a vast collection there, and there are links to many other newspaper resources.
• Richard reminds us that another great website to post one's genealogical material to is the Free Pages at http://freepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com.

This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the annual conference of the Florida State Genealogical Society, held at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota.  (Note: At one point during the episode, Drew tries to recall the name and URL of the national program that manages the archiving of local newspapers.  After the recording, a helpful audience member let Drew know that it was the United States Newspaper Program.)

This week's news includes:

• Ancestry.com has announced that it will acquire iArchives and therefore acquire Footnote.com.
• Ancestry.com has added the 1852 California State Census to its U.S. collection.
• Ancestry.co.uk has added "England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1861-1941" to its collection.
• Genealogy Gems has announced that the second installment of the Google Earth for Genealogy video series has been released at www.GoogleForGenealogy.com.
• The Ontario (Canada) Genealogical Society has issued a call for papers for its 2012 Conference, to be held in Kingston, Ontario, on June 1-3, 2012. Email conference2012@ogs.on.ca for a copy of the Call for Papers document.
• Leland Meitzler has announced that Thomas MacEntee will join the 2010 Salt Lake Christmas Tour. More information is available at www.SaltLakeChristmasTour.com.
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies has announced that it is accepting applications for the position of Editor of its electronic quarterly magazine, the FGS FORUM. Interested parties may request a copy of the position description and submissions details by emailing application@fgs.org. Applications are being accepted through November 1, 2010.
• The Association of Professional Genealogists has announced that it is accepting applications for the position of Webmaster. Interested parties may request more information from Kathleen Hinckley, Executive Director, by emailing admin@apgen.org. Applications are being accepted through November 1, 2010.

Listener email includes:

• Marilyn advises us that TelGen Limited has released "Families," an app for the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad that works with Legacy Family Tree. It is available at www.telgen.co.uk/families for $14.95.
• Marina asks for advice about cleaning up her family history data file.
• Patty is seeking a place online where she can upload her family history file, documents, photos, and more.
• Karyl is looking for suggestions about handling situations like "Great Grandma was adopted" or "discoveries that two of the ten kids of Uncle Bud were actually his granddaughters but there are no clue as to who the mother(s) might have been."
• Tom asks whether, when faced with literally hundreds of names going back that far in a printed [family history] volume, does a family historian or genealogist actually obtain all the original documentation? Birth, marriage and death records?

The Guys discuss a product from CodeWeavers called CrossOver Mac for Macintosh OS X ($39.95) that "allows you to install many popular Windows applications and games on your Intel Mac. Once installed, your application integrates seamlessly in OS X. Just click and run your application directly from the OS X Finder. Clicking a Windows file or document — including email attachments — will launch the appropriate Windows program, allowing you to work on the files. Best of all, you do it all easily and affordably, without needing a Microsoft operating system license." The Guys are now running RootsMagic on their Macs instead of using VMWare Fusion or Parallels software and without buying an expensive Windows operating system license.

More listener email includes:

• Colleen asks about the annual Ancestry.com survey and their statement that they add "millions" of historical records each week. The Guys respond that, with nine national collections of data, they believe that the averages probably work out to millions of new and updated records each week.
• Mitch asks for suggestions for how to gain better access to a legible copy of the 1852 California Census. (See notes for Episode #209 and listen to the podcasts for more details.)
• JoEllen asks for more information about organizing and storing her vast collection of materials. George suggests two sources for archival safe storage materials: Light Impressions and Gaylord. (He drew a blank remembering Gaylord.)
• Eric has questions about military records for his grandfather who served before World War I in the infantry of the State of Florida.
• Jim shares two digital newspaper archive collections with everyone: the California Digital Newspaper Collection and Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.
• Pat shares the results of a very successful on-site research trip.

Drew discusses his blog, Rootsmithing at http://rootsmithing.com.

The news includes:

• Ancestry.com has added to its website more than 1,700 recorded oral history interviews from immigrants who arrived in the U.S. through Ellis Island.
• FamilyLink has partnered with Historic Map Works and will soon provide access to the world's leading historical map collection.
• Ancestry.com has launched the largest searchable online yearbook collection with more than 60,000 yearbook records.
• James R. Benn, B.A., M.L.S., has become the new director of the Godfrey Memorial Library in Middleton, Connecticut.
• Ancestry.com has released Family Tree Maker 2011 with more than 100 enhancements to the software.
• Sirius Genealogy 2.0 has announced that it has completed their transformation from a simple blog, into a complete online community for Amateur & Professional Genealogists. Membership is free. In addition to the general community atmosphere, SG2 has developed numerous Google Gadgets, Web Tools and other services to assist genealogists in their mission. Many more exciting tools are on their way!
• "Rare colour footage" of the London Blitz has been discovered in an attic. It has digitised and made available online at http://www.westendatwar.org.uk/category_idtxt__place.aspx.
• RootsTech, A New Genealogy and Technology Conference, will be held on February 10-12, 2011, in Salt Lake City. Learn more at http://www.rootstech.familysearch.org.
• ICAPGen will host a family history conference titled "Becoming an Excellent Genealogist" on October 22-23, 2010, at the Downtown Radisson Hotel in Salt Lake City. For more information and to register, visit http://www.icapgen.org.
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies 2011 Conference, "Pathways to the Heartland," will be held September 7-10, 2011, in Springfield, Illinois. More information will be available in coming months at the FGS website at http://www.fgs.org.
• The International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE) has announced its annual Excellence in Writing Competition for 2011. Details and an entry form are available at their website at http://www.isfhwe.org.
• Paul Larsen has released the fourth edition of his book, Crash Course in Genealogy. It is available in print and in an advanced digital eBook format (CD or instant download). Visit http://www.crashcoursebook.com to learn more or to purchase the book or download it.
• A recent article in the Toledo [Ohio] Blade at http://www.toledoblade.com/article/20100916/NEWS16/9150359 provides an update to the story of the Clyde, Ohio, cemetery that was struck by vandals. Repairs and restoration are under way.

Listener email includes:

• Mitch is looking for details about his 3rd great-grandfather and hopes our listeners can help. He believes his ancestor appears on the 1852 California State Census for Placer County, Page 60, Line 28. However, the digitized image at Ancestry.com is so dark that he is having difficulty reading the first initial. He is hoping that the original census page or a better copy of the microfilm exist and can help him discern the intial. Can anyone visit the California State Library and personally check the microfilm for Mitch?
• Bill suggests that The Guys regularly report on what they are researching and the resources they are using.
• Walter commented on the discussion in the podcast from the FGS Conference in Knoxville, Tennessee, concerning which is the older U.S. public university: the University of North Carolina or the University of Georgia. He reports that, while Georgia was chartered first, UNC was the first to accept students and begin classes. William & Mary is older but was originally a private university.
• Dan suggested to Drew that he work with Newark City Directories for 1920 in his quest to locate his grandparents at that time.
• Karl followed up on our interview with Dr. John Philip Colletta, Ph.D., that was aired in February. Dr. Colletta discussed the use of "the Federal Cases" books for federal court research. Karl indicates that these books have been digitized and are available at the Internet Archive site at http://www.archive.org. He states that Volume 30 is the index, accessible at http://www.archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.fedcases.30_2. This will help you use Volumes 1-29.
• Clive asks for Drew's opinion about getting the most from a Y-chromosome DNA test, and whether he also needs results from the mtDNA test.
• Ann asks about viruses and phishing with the iPhone and iPad.
• Kay says hello and comments on how very much she enjoyed the FGS Conference in Knoxville. She is hooked and plans to attend other national conferences.
• Michael shares his method of storing information in the form of metadata with his JPEG images.
• Denis provided a link to the French version of Wikipedia for information about the town of La Clayette. (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Clayette)
• Jenna asks Drew about the iPad and whether Legacy or RootsMagic 4 can be run on that device. She also asks about Dropbox.
• Audrey Collins from The National Archives in the UK reports that she is enjoying her iPad and accesses books from Google Books and the Internet Archive, and that she uses the GoodReader app. She also enjoyed George's "Carolina French." She shared copies of French marriage documents in TNA's collection so that Drew can practice his French.
• Dan is using an iPad app called Traces of the Past, a genealogy app. Drew will check it out and report on his experience with it.

This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the 2010 annual conference of the Federation of Genealogical Societies in Knoxville, Tennessee. 

The news includes:

• Announcements about the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference in Knoxville, Tennessee, on August 18-21, 2010.
• ALERT: The IRS has reviewed non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporations and is planning to revoke non-profit status on October 15, 2010, for those that still have not complied with their reporting. Details can be found at http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=225889,00.html and The Guys strongly urge you to check your society's status on the respective state reports.
• The Guys provide an update about the situation on the Library of Michigan, both from Tom Koselka and from an article in Library Journal.
• Family Tree Magazine is hosting a Giveaway Sweepstakes at http://win.familytreemagazine.com through August 31, 2010. Enter the sweepstakes every day to win your choice of hundreds of genealogy books, CDs, and DVDs.

Drew reads a question from Jim about a French puzzle. Drew will respond on this after he has a chance to review the details.

The Guys discuss technology, including the iPhone and Drew's new iPad and a number of applications - apps at the iTunes store and on the Web:

• E-reader apps (at iTunes)
• Wikipanion (at iTunes)
• GoodReader (at iTunes)
• iSpeak (at iTunes) to translate languages
• Dropbox(on the Web at http://www.dropbox.com and a free app at iTunes)
• Evernote (on the Web at http://www.evernote.com and a free app at iTunes)
• Skype(on the Web at http://www.skype.com and a free app at iTunes)
• Google Docs (on the Web at http://www.google.com)

The news includes:

• Ancestry.com completes its acquisition of Sweden's Genline.se.
• Ancestry.com has added U.S. Revolutionary War pension and bounty-land warrant application files (1800-1900), U.S. County land Ownership Maps (1860-1918), and a broad collection of Canadian City and Area Directories (1819-1906)
• Tom Kosalka of the Michigan Genealogical Council reports that Gov. Jennifer Granholm has issued a press release concerning the genealogical and historical collections at the Michigan Library and Historical Center. The press release can be accessed at http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168--240954--,00.html.
• Arphax Publishing announces new paperback editions of its Family Maps and Texas Land Survey Maps series. Visit their website at www.arphax.com.
• Findmypast.co.uk announced fully indexed U.K. and Wales birth records (1837-2006) at their site.
• The Newberry Library in Chicago has recently completed a new, free online resource, the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. The database covers every day-to-day change in county boundaries - from 1634 to 2000. You can access this tremendous resource at publications.newberry.org/ahcbp. 
• Archives.com (http://www.archives.com) has just turned one year old and urges our listeners to visit their site and enjoy a 7-day free trial.

The guys discuss their upcoming travel plans:

• George will be speaking at the Midwestern Roots Family History and Genealogy Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 6 & 7, 2010, at a pre-conference session on August 5th. Learn more at http://www.indianahistory.org/our-services/family-history/midwesternroots/midwestern-roots.
• Drew will be in Göteborg, Sweden the week of August 9th to present a paper at the 2010 IFLA World Library and Information Congress.
• George and Drew will be in Knoxville, Tennessee from August 16-21, 2010, for the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference. You can still register at http://fgs.org/2010conference/registration, and you can learn everything you need to know before you attend the conference at the FGS Conference Blog at http://www.fgsconferenceblog.org.

Listener email includes:

• Kim asks about how to determine if a specific genealogical researcher is legitimate or not.
• Ed responds to Jennifer's court record question. He recommends two online resources for California genealogical research: SFgenealogy.com and the "Early California Population Project" at the Huntington Library and is accessible at http://www.huntington.org/information/ECPPlogin.htm.
• Mike offers a compelling reason for sharing your genealogy information on the Internet.
• Russ asks for suggestions on how to flatten folded documents while using a digital camera.
• James asks for information about how to download our podcasts.
• Spencer has created a new app for the iPhone/iPod called Research Logger and is asking for feedback. Visit http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/research-logger/id379266906 for more information.
• Gus shares the story of how he sent out letters in 1995 seeking information about his DeNoble line research, and how a response was just received.
• Melanie asks for help with her "multiple-choice grandfather."
• Pat responds to Jennifer's legal case transcripts research. She offers four very important suggestions. (You must listen to these!)
• Bill shares a story about a "misplaced birthplace" in Canada for his father.
• Lynda is seeking guidance for locating ancestors in Denmark and Germany.

 

 

The news includes:

• FamilySearch has announced the addition of another 26 million new names.
• The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) will celebrate Independence Day on Sunday, July 4th, with its annual ceremony, its first ever National Independence Day Parade float, and a brand new logo.
• EasyNetSites (http://easynetsites.com) announces the availability of its products to create a customized website for genealogical societies, individuals, and small businesses. You don't need to know anything about HTML, XHTML, or other programming languages in order to use it.

Listener email includes:

• Drew reads an item sent to him in French (and realizes after the podcast that the unusual word was actually a proper name!).
• Mike thanks Deborah effusively for her great help in opening up new research avenues for him!
• Clive asks for advice about DNA tests in the UK.
• Carla asks about her Afican-American and American Indian ancestry, and DNA results that suggest Ukranian ancestry.
• Steve and Patrice both wrote in to Drew to suggest the use of Newark, New Jersey, city directories for locating his Smith ancestors. Steve suggests the directories at Footnote.com and Patrice recommends working with the Newark Public Library.
• Louis Kessler is suggesting a new Genealogy Software and Internet site for users to handle FAQs. It needs 60 followers to make it permanent. Visit the site at http://tinyurl.com/LKessler.
• Try out a computational search engine at WolframAlpha.
• Network World published an article about the digital preservation of the WWII Enigma messages. See the full article at:
  • http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/060510-archive-project-will-digitize-wwii.html
• Tim wrote to report that he has received court transcripts from NARA of a federal court case in 1895 for his great-uncle.
• Tina addresses the issue of Ancestry.co.uk's high prices to order BMD records from the General Register Office (GRO) for you.
• Melanie asks about the correct way of recording events.

George and Drew discuss three books:

• Abstracts of the Testamentary Proceedings of the Prerogative Court of Maryland: Volume XXIV: 1744-1746, compiled by V. L. Skinner, Jr. (Clearfield Company/Genealogical Publishing Co.)
• The First Parish Register of Belize 1794-1810 and the First Four Censuses 1816-1826, compiled by Sonia Bennett Murray (Clearfield Company/Genealogical Publishing Co.)
• Who Do You Think You Are? by Megan Smolynak Smolenyak (Viking)

Our listener email includes:

• Mitch recently discovered a great video, Ken Burns' Horatio's Drive. He also wants to know if other listeners know of other movies or documentaries that are historically educational.
• Jennifer is seeking court transcripts of a murder trial in Harford County, Maryland, and a federal trial in the Baltimore Circuit Court in 1922-1923.
• Gary asked for information about census enumerators' instructions for listing names on censuses. George points to the Minnesota Population Center's IPUMS site at http://usa.ipums.org/usa/voliii/tEnumInstr.shtml for 1850 to 1950 instructions. He also asks for information about the availability of census Enumeration District maps.
• Jeff asks for advice about how to handle birth date discrepancies where the Kentucky records list one date and family tradition insists it is another date.
• Richard has started his first blog at http://yehlegenealogy.blogspot.com, and he has posted some photos and postcard images from La Plata, Argentina. He hopes people will see his blog and recognize locations and people shown.
• Gus asked for guidance about the dictionary of first names that Drew spoke about in a previous episode. The book is the New American Dictionary of First Names. Please see last week's show notes for title and author details.
• Judy responds to Drew's challenge to locate Chambers Street in the 1920 census. She also suggests that Drew check the WWI Draft Registration cards for his William H. Smith. (He did after the podcast and found some good information.)
• Helen Shaw has published an article about the Maine Legislature's actions concerning limiting access to that state's vital records. Check this link.
• Chris asks for advice about how common are name spelling and birth/death date errors from the 1800s and early 1900s.
• Marily asks for help with tracing her great-great-grandfather who died in the Civil War.
• Tim is seeking details on his great-grandfather who was orphaned in Oklahoma. He has located Dawes papers and wants suggestions on how to continue.

George reviews several books this week:

• Genealogical Proof Standard: Building a Solid Case by Christine Rose
• Scots-Irish Links - Part Eight by David Dobson
• Chickasaw by Blood Enrollment Cards, 1898-1914 - Volume III - transcribed by Jeff Bowen
• The Surnames of North West Ireland: Concise Histories of the Major Surnames of Gaelic and Planter Origin by Brian Mitchell
• Defenders of the Plantation of Ulster, 1641-1691, compiled by Brian Mitchell

The news includes:

• The British Library has announced plans to digitize millions of historical newspaper pages in partnership with brightsolid.com.
• The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) has announced that it has more than 2,000 members.
• The Michigan eLibrary (MeL) has  announced the lauch of Michigana, Sources in U.S. History Online. It can be accessed at http://mel.org/michigana.
• The Digital Library of Georgia and the Cuba Archives of the Breman Museum have announced the expansion of the Southern Israelite Archive at http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/MediaTypes/Newspapers.html. 
• GenSoftReviews announces that it now has reviews of more than 500 genealogical software programs at its site.
• The Florida Genealogical Society (Tampa) will hold its annual Fall Seminar on Saturday, September 18, 2010, and the speaker will be Curt B. Witcher, the manager of the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. More information will be available at the society's website at http://fgs.org. 
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies has announced the extension of its Early Bird registration for its 2010 FGS Conference on August 18-21, 2010, in Knoxville, Tennessee. The date has been extended to June 21, 2010. Complete details and online registration can be found at http://fgs.org/2010conference. 

Our listener email includes:

• Jennifer asks about mentors for her work in becoming a Certified Genealogist. George points her to the Board for Certification of Genealogists.
• Steve discusses his great-grandfather's birth records, and he asks about how to best borrow microfilmed records from Augusta County, Virginia - through the Library of Virginia or through the local LDS Family History Center.
• Teri discusses the impportance of source citations.
• Drew discusses the derivation and meaning of first names, and cites a book, The New American Dictionary of First Names, by Leslie Dunkling and William Gosling.
• Pat shares an important collection of New York State digitized historic newspapers at http://www.fultonhistory.com.
• Michael asks about The Guys' use of DNA in research. He also asks for tips for first-time conference attendees. George points him to a webinar he did for the Southern California Genealogical Society titled, "How to Get the Most out of a Genealogy Conference." The webinar can be seen at http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/RootsTV.htm.
• Tammy asks about the key database collections at Footnote.com.

 

The Guys discuss their recent trips, including a great visit to Salt Lake City for the NGS Conference.

This week's news includes:

• Ancestry.com made several announcements at the NGS Conference:

1. A new search engine facility allows for better searching, including wildcard search at the beginning of names and the ability to drill down to all database results for a specific area.
2. A new wiki at Ancestry.com includes all of their two great books, The Source and Ancestry's Red Book, and will allow continuous additions and updates.
3. Ancestry.com announced a new version of its Family Tree Maker coming later this year for the Macintosh.

• FamilySearch.org announced the addition of 300 million new names to its site.
• Randy Riley, the Special Collections Manager at the Library of Michigan, received the prestigious Filby Award for Genealogy Librarianship at the NGS Conference on 30 April 2010. Congratulations, Randy!

George discusses his meeting at NGS with Gary Gibb and Chad Milliner of Ancestry.com to discuss problems with the new images for the 1860 U.S. federal censuses at their site. George explains the cause and that Gary is evaluating possible corrective actions.

Listener email includes:

• Barbara discusses her findings that some census pages are imaged two to a page and that "missing" families may be further down the screen. Drew comments that missed areas can often be found at the end of an enumeration district's census pages.
• Kaye has heard George on both this podcast and the Genealogy Gems Podcast. She also asks George about family Bibles for the Alexander families of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, from which they are both descended.
• Claire is a relatively new listener and only 25 years old. She is working as a probate genealogist for International Missing Heir Finders and is studying to become a Certified Genealogist.
• George shares that there are videos at YouTube of early San Francisco. One shows the city prior to the 1906 earthquake at http://tinyurl.com/SF1905-1905A and another shows the damage after the earthquake at http://tinyurl.com/2a7q55p.
• James asks for an explanation of dower rights with regard to U.S. land transactions. He also asks for suggestions for how to determine the right "Edith" in his English research.
• Dave shares the fact that he discovered in the 1930 U.S. census that his grandparents were neighbors. He also asks for advice about recording of place names listed in census records.
• Margaret in Dublin, Ireland, offers details for Cheryl regarding her County Tyrone ancestor.
• Angie provides an update on her problem with her Samuel Chambers/Hilderbrand.

The Guys discuss their upcoming conference activities. George heartily recommends attendance at the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree on 11-13 June 2010 in Burbank. He also encourages you to watch the webinar he did for the SCGS titled "Getting the Most out of a Genealogy Conference" at their website and at http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/RootsTV.htm.

Drew discusses his newest toy - an Apple iPad.

This week's news includes:

• The Governor of Maine has signed a bill limiting access to Maine's vital records until the passage of 100 years.
• Family Forest is expanding its collection of eBooks.
• RootsMagic has released a minor update to RootsMagic 4.
• The Digital Library of Georgia has released new historic Atlanta newspapers at http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/atlnewspapers.
• The 13th Annual Conference on Computerized Genealogy and Family History, traditionally held at Brigham Young University in Provo in March, will take place at the Salt Palace on April 26 and 27, immediately followed by the four-day Annual Conference (April 28-May 1) of the National Genealogical Society, also at the Salt Palace.
• Godfrey Memorial Library Board of Trustees member Ed Laput has completed photographing his 100th cemetery and has submitted his work to the library.
• The Guys provide an update on the Library of Michigan crisis.
• George conducted a webinar for the Southern California Genealogical Society titled "Getting the Most from a Genealogy Conference," and it can be viewed online at http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/RootsTV.htm.
• Gale has published a new collection of 300 years of U.K. newspapers, the 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers and 19th Century British Library Newspapers.
• Leonardtown, MD. is sponsoring the Maryland to Kentucky Reunion 2010 in July 16 -18th. Check at http://mdtokyreunion.club.officelive.com for more information and registration.
• Rodney has set up a self-updating page of links that The Guys have cited in the podcasts. Check it out at http://vc.id.au/gg/gglinks.html.

Phil Wright is looking for feedback on a potential new online genealogy service. You can respond to him at phil.wright@familytreeonline.com.

This week's listener email includes:

• Mike is upset by another genealogist who took and published his family tree data at Ancestry.com.
• Kay wrote to indicate that there are more states in Ancestry.com's 1860 enhanced census images that have problems.
• Rich asked for suggestions about locating information about his 4th great-grandfather and pauper graves.
• Jamie asks about the safety and security of having the society participate in social networking sites such as Facebook.
• Michael is interested in researching his estranged father's family before making contact with him and his paternal grandmother. Drew suggests using Veromi.net to begin some public records searches.
• Kathy asks about the permissions to sail/emigrate from England.

 

In response to Beverly's inquiry about options for genealogy home study courses, George compiled the following list:

 

National Genealogical Society: Home Study Course

http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/homestudy_course_cd

 

Family Tree University

http://www.familytreeuniversity.com

 

National Institute for Genealogical Studies

http://www.genealogicalstudies.com

 

Boston University – Certificate in Genealogical Research

http://professional.bu.edu/cpe/Genealogy.asp

 

Brigham Young University – Independent Study (Free Courses)

http://ce.byu.edu/is/site/courses/free.cfm

 

New England Historic Genealogical Society Online Seminars

http://www.newenglandancestors.org/events/online_seminars.asp

Drew issues his first research challenge: Find Drew's paternal grandparents (William Henry Smith, his wife Elizabeth, and their sons William, Charles, and George) in the 1920 census for northern New Jersey.

Our hosting service, Libsyn, may be experiencing some server issues, which is causing a problem with episode #200.  We'll update you as soon as we know that it has been resolved. 

UPDATE (March 31): Libsyn appears to have fixed their problem, and we're back in business with episode 200!

The 200th Episode!

The Guys are pleased to celebrate the 200th episode of the Genealogy Guys Podcast!

---

 

This week's news includes: Mail in your 2010 census forms; a brief discussion of the NBC series, Who Do You Think You Are?; RootsTelevision will remain in operation; library funding crises are spreading as the New Jersey State Library is threatened with a merger with Thomas Edison State College; the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County [NC] Library system's threatened 13-branch library closure announcement is mitigated by staffing and operation hours slashes; the Library of Michigan's collection will remain in one piece for now, but other changes are being discussed; a Massachusetts senate bill proposes closure to all that state's vital records created after 1841; Turner Publishing of Nashville, Tennessee, will take over all of Ancestry Publishing's brand and books, and will continue handling distribution and sales; The National Archives in the U.K. has announced that it will cease publication of its acclaimed genealogy magazine, Ancestors, and subscribers must contact the publisher, Wharncliffe Publishing, Ltd., concerning refunds.

George has been been contacted by Gary Gibb of Ancestry.com and Chad Milner concerning some quality problems with Ancestry's recent upgrade of census images. George discusses the 1861 censuses for three Ohio counties reported by Tina, and the intense attention being taken to address problems.

Jonathan Wiltman announces GenAnswers, a new site at www.genanswers.com, a new and free genealogy question and answer community.

Meg announces that her True Lover's Knot has been published as notecards by Etsy.com at www.hughpugh.etsy.com. 

This week's news includes:

• Sherry found a 1920 census form for her great-grandmother, Matilda (Tilda) Leafgreen on which the enumarator apparently noted in the left margin that this was the best information he was able to obtain.
• Cynthia has been searching her Powell family on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and in Delaware, and questions the user of her married vs. maiden name.
• Lisa tells us about the University of Washington's genealogy program, and you can learn more at http://tinyurl.com/UofWA-genealogy.
• Several listeners responded concerning the tab dividers for use with extra wide sheets and items inserted inside sheet protectors. (Avery #11903 - Big Tab Pocket Insertable Plastic Dividers)
• Erin recently completed a genealogy certificate program at Boston University. Learn more at professional.bu.edu/cpe/Genealogy.asp.
• Russ asks The Guys to discuss the pros and cons of filing by Couple vs. filing by Surname.
• Jamie discusses differences in Ancestry.com's old vs. new search facilities.
• Sheryl discusses her great-great-grandfather, Wiliam F. Nelson, and his immigration path.
• Mike thanks Drew for an excellent DNA presentation at the seminar in Jacksonville recently.
• Margaret has an ancestor born with surname Hopson, but the surname changed to Perriette and then back to Hopson. (Drew is investigating further on his own.)
• Linda has a number of observations and comments about source citations.
• Gus shares a news story about cemetery vandalism in the Kane Cemetery in the Bighorn Canyon Recreation Area in Montana. (Call (307) 548-5421 to report any information you might have about this case.)
• Carolyn asks for suggestions for locating and obtaining copies of obituaries from Glasgow, Scotland.

  Thank you, everyone, for listening and becoming part of our growing family!

George and Drew in front of a live audience on March 6, 2010 at the annual conference of the Santa Barbara County (California) Genealogical Society.

This episode features three interviews:

• an interview with Josh Taylor of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (yes, the same Josh Taylor who appeared with Sarah Jessica Parker in the first aired episode of Who Do You Think You Are?)
• an interview with Curt Witcher, Manager of the Genealogy Center of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana
• an interview with Lee and Carol Cole, who manage a community project in Ohio (details at tpsurvey.org)  [Note: At one point in the interview, Carol refers to the Terrace Park Historical Society, but she realized after the interview that she intended to refer to the Terrace Park Woman's Club.]

George and Drew also discuss their recent trip to Santa Barbara County, California, including a tour of the library of the Santa Barbara County Genealogical Society. (The next episode, #199, will be a podcast recorded in front of the audience in Santa Barbara County.)

Finally, listeners learn how they can become part of the upcoming 200th episode of the Genealogy Guys Podcast!

George and Drew set sail on the second-largest cruise ship in the world, Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas, and record a podcast episode in front of a live audience participating in the RootsMagic 2010 genealogy cruise.  (Note: The correct URL for FreeBMD should be www.freebmd.org.uk.)

In this episode:

• George notes that it is Black History Month, and points out that the New England Historic Genealogical Society has a website called AfricanAmericanAncestors.org.
• George shares the information that MyHeritage.com has acquired the Germany-based OSN Group, which includes such family sites as Verwandt.de, Moikrewni.pl, and Dynastree.com.
• The Michigan Genealogical Council updates the Guys on the Michigan governor's appointments to the Michigan Center for Innovation and Reinvention Board (which will advise the governor regarding the Michigan Library and Historical Center).
• Beverly asks about options for genealogy home-study courses.
• Teri asks where to get tabbed dividers for full-page sheet protectors, and whether it's ok to bring up a topic that was previously discussed on a Genealogy Guys Podcast from some time ago.  (For the tabbed dividers, George suggests looking at Light Impressions.)
• Mitchell asks how best to document variants in surnames in his genealogy software.
• Tina asks about unreadable census images from the 1860 census on Ancestry.com.
• Steve e-mails from Australia using his iPhone to ask the Guys about dealing with some other genealogists who seem undaunted in spreading bad information.
• Brent asks about finding information for a death at sea.
• Tom and Mitch continue the discussion about providing sources for genealogical information.  Mitch also shares an article written by Gary B. Hoffman that dealt with the subject of bad information found in online genealogies.
• Jim discusses his frustrations in locating information about ancestor David Barnhart.
• Drew interviews Dr. John Philip Colletta and learns a great deal about Federal court records.

This week's news includes:

• Ancestry.com has announced Ancestry.com Tree to Go, a new app for the iPhone and iPod Touch that allows users to access and update their family tree at Ancestry.com anywhere. The app is available at the iTunes Store.
• Apple has announced their latest product, the iPad. The Guys discuss some of the features and the pricing of this new item.
• George announces his next speaking gigs: he will be at the Palm Beach County Genealogical Society on Saturday, January 30th, and at the Highlands County Genealogical Society on Saturday, February 6th. You can learn more at http://ahaseminars.com/events.php.

This week's listener email includes:

• Hollen provides another suggestion about searching the Gorrell family for Pam.
• Lee tells us that Ancestry.com has a great database called Ohio Obituary Index, 1820s-2009, Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. There is even a link on the database page that allows you to order a copy of the obituary.
• Marie thanks The Guys, Lisa Louise Cook of The Genealogy Gems Podcast, and Thomas MacEntee of GeneaBloggers for encouraging her to re-start her blog and keep it going. Congratulations, Marie!
• Gus discusses source citations on the reverse of his family history posters. He also reminds us that the Allen County Public Library is still accepting unbound and PDF files of books. ACPL will make and send you a bound photocopy and keep one for their collection. Send to:  Steve Myers, Asst. Manager, Genealogy Center, Allen County Public Library, P. O. Box 2270, 900 Library Plaza, Fort Wayne, IN 46801
• A.C. is interested in more information about Phoebe's Cousin Camp.

George does a review of a new book, "Wanted! U.S. Criminal Records, Sources & Research Methodology" by author Ron Arons. The book is published by Criminal Research Press and retails for $49.99. The book is a compendium of a wide variety of criminal records and where the records can be located. Learn more at http://www.ronarons.com.

George discusses his exciting finds concerning his paternal grandmother, her first marriage, her second marriage to his grandfather, and some very surprising connections that he has uncovered. Drew joins in the discussion because he, too, helped with the puzzle.

The Guys have been traveling the last two weeks, but here's a new episode for everyone!

This week's news includes:

1. Ancestry.com announced that it is discontinuing publication of Ancestry Magazine, effective with the March/April 2010 issue.
2. There are three new genealogy series debuting on television: "Who Do You Think You Are?" makes its debut on NBC on March 5, 2010; "Faces of America," hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., airs on Wednesdays, February 10 to March 3, 2010, on PBS (check your local listings); and "The Generations Project" has debuted on BYU Television (check your local area for availability and telecast schedules).
3. Registration is now open for the Southern California Genealogical Society's 41st Annual Jamboree, to be held at Burbank, California, on June 11-13, 2010. Visit their Jamboree website for details and to register at http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/2010jam-home.htm.
4. The Maryland Historical Society has announced that it is accepting applications for its Lord Baltimore Research Fellowships for 2010-2011. Contact Patricia Anderson at panderson@mdhs.org for more information about this announcement; contact the Library at library_department@mdhs.org for information about library-related fellowships; and contact Alexandria Deutsch, Chief Curator, at adeutsch@mdhs.org for information about museum-related fellowships.
5. Ancestry.com has announced the launch of its 1950 Census Substitute.
6. Ancestry.com and the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) are sponsoring a Family History Day 2010 on Saturday, February 20, 2010, from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Westin Copley Place in Boston, Massachusetts.
7. The Genealogy Gems Podcast has launched the first genealogy podcast app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, available in the iTunes Store for $2.99.

This week's listener email includes:

1. Beth thanks The Guys for help last fall with obtaining information about photos taken during WWII of her grandfather's B-17 crew mates. She also discusses how she worked very, very hard on her book to include source citations for every comment, etc., that she received while writing the book.
2. Pattie talks about how great RootsMagic is for generating a basic book that she can edit, add to, and customize for her own family history writing.
3. Brenda responds to Katie's e-mail (1/3/10 episode) concerning the Huntingdon Gazette in Pennsylvania. She reports that there is a website, "Access Pennsylvania Digital Repository," at http://www.accesspadigital.org at which she was able to access early copies of the Huntingdon Gazette in the Juniata College Collections. She even located an April 1816 issue describing the sheriff's sale of her 4th great-grandfather's blacksmith shop in Barre Township. 
4. Pam asks for suggestions for additional research into her Gorrell ancestors.
5. Joel Weintraub corrects The Guys (George) concerning obtaining information from not-yet-released U.S. federal census records. He cites the Census Bureau as the correct place to contact (not NARA) for an Age Search to be performed. The price is $65, and the process and requirements are described at http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/data/agesearch/. 
6. Sheryl tells The Guys that the Mesa Arizona Regional Family History Center (http://www.mesarfhc.org/) does maintain a catalog of the microfilm and microfiche in their facility for search.

Drew discusses his trip to the American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. He was given an in-depth tour of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) facility by Josh Taylor, the Director of Education and Programs. Drew describes some of the features of NEHGS.

George and Drew discuss their trip earlier this month to Salt Lake City and the research work they did on-site in the Family History Library. They each discuss the types of records they researched on microfilm, including probate indexes, probate files, grantor and grantee indexes to deed books, and other materials. George describes the process for having requested microfilm from the Granite Mountain vault.

Drew recounts a recent discussion on the ROOTS-L mailing list. He discusses "name chasers" who collect and add names to their databases without performing research to check sources. They also eschew entering any source citations for their collections. Some have even attacked Drew's position on the importance of source citations, stating that citing sources takes the fun out of genealogy. The Guys talk about how important and integral source citations are in everyone's research.

This week's news includes:

1. GenSoftReviews.com presents one of its 2009 Users Choice Awards to RootsMagic.
2. PBS debuts its new genealogy show, "Faces of America," on February 10, 2010, hosted by Harvard scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
3. ScotlandsPeople announces new images of the Statutory Registers for Births (1909), Marriages (1934), and Deaths (1959) at http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. 
4. The Iowa Genealogical Society Library suffered damage last week when part of its roof collapsed as a result of snow and rain.
5. The Bartholomew County Historical Society in Columbus, Indiana, estimates a loss of as many as 75,000 items in a fire that destroyed the United Way building in which part of its collection was housed.
6. The Allen County Public Library has a new blog and a page on Facebook!

This week's listener email includes:

1. Michelle asks whether there is a search facility of the LDS Family History Library that allows people to determine what Family History Center(s) have a specific microfilm available for viewing.
2. Pamela asks about the origin of the forename "Green Berry."
3. Scott joins the ranks of The Genealogy Guys Podcast fans who have listened to every episode.
4. Katie is researching her McCahan line and discusses that, and she follows up on our discussion of business records by sharing a link to the "Business Archives Scotland" blog (see http://tinyurl.com/ScotlandBusArch).
   
5. Lee explored the Google Archives in search of an obituary in the St. Petersburg Times for his Great Aunt Gertrude Mitzner; and he asks about the availability of single census record information from post-1930 U.S. federal censuses.
6. Margaret asks for suggestions about her research in the Philadelphia area into the Rimbey family.
7. Linda has hit a brick wall with her great-grandparents' burial location in California and asks for suggestions.
8. The Missouri State Genealogical Society is trying to contact authors of articles for the Missouri State Genealogical Association Quarterly Journal. Many have already generously given permission to allow the society to place Journal articles online, but the organization is seeking to find other authors to gain their permission.

George discusses his project over the holidays to work through his unfiled genealogical materials. He describes the process and what he has done in data entry, obtaining digital images, adding source citations, and more in order to prepare for filing all these items.

The Guys are headed to Salt Lake City this coming weekend for the annual Winter Retreat which coincides with the Salt Lake Institute classes. Following that, Drew is headed to Boston for the American Library Association's Midwinter Conference.

George will be at the following locations giving presentations:

January 16th - Sarasota Genealogical Society
January 30th - Palm Beach County Genealogical Society
February 6th - Highlands County [FL] Genealogical Society

Drew will be at the Englewood Genealogical Society of Florida on January 27th.

He and Drew will both be sailing and presenting on the RootsMagic Valentine's Day Cruise to the Western Caribbean.

Stop by and see us!

This week's news includes:

1. Ancestry.com has released enhanced digital images of the U.S. federal censuses.
2. The Library of Michigan crisis continues with a smaller budget, effectively coming out of the collection development budget, and an anticipated 20% budget cut in 2010-2011.
3. The national Archives (TNA) of the UK has unveiled a new look and new address for its online educational services at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education. There are more materials there, plus podcasts and booking access to videoconferences and virtual classes.
4. The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has uploaded the Ulster Street Directories (1819-1900) at http://www.proni.gov.uk.
5. The Irish Family History Foundation has released parish and statutory records transcriptions for County Londonderry at http://derry.brsgenealogy.com. 
6. Ancestral Atlas has released a collection of Irish Townland Maps at http://www.ancestralatlas.com. 

Be sure to back up your genealogy data and insure that a copy is located outside your home!

This week's listener email includes:

1. Eiya asks about good books covering African-American genealogical research. The Guys suggest Black Roots: A Beginner's Guide to Tracing the African American Family Tree by Tony Burroughs and A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your African-American Ancestors by Franklin Carter Smith and Emily Ann Croom.
2. Lois suggests a podcast about the Orphan Train and the Catholic version of this at the "Catholic Under the Hood" site at http://sqpn.com/category/educational/catholic-under-the-hood/. Look for episode #209.
3. Lee reminds listeners that they can order copies of original Social Security Applications, Form SS-5, from the Social Security Administration at https://secure.ssa.gov/apps9/eFOIA-FEWeb/internet/main.jsp. You can also use the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) at RootsWeb (http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com) and generate a letter. (Listen to the podcast for details.)
4. Michael asks about the employer number on his great-great-grandfather's SS-5 -- W.P.A. O.P. 65-44-1163 -- and where he might learn what WPA projects on which his ancestor worked. He also asks about the U.S. Employment Service (USES) and what information might be on the registration card.
5. Blaise has switched to GRAMPS, an open source genealogy program at http://www.gramps-project.org. Blaise is using a portable version of it. (See http://tinyurl.com/GRAMPS-Portable.)
6. Richard asks for suggestions for tracing two brothers who may have been adopted in California between 1920 and 1930.
7. Gus shares information about "UCLA's Cotsen Institute of Archaeology and research associate Dean Goodman who have won the Governor's Historic Preservation Award for high-tech mapping efforts at the Marquez Family Cemetery in Santa Monica Canyon" in California.
8. Barb shares information for Angie (episode #188) about locating and obtaining copies of Civil War pension files. She recounts a very convoluted research scenario involving three husbands, bigamy, and more.

Drew discusses Google Wave, a new facility in beta test mode.

The Guys published a new podcast dated December 7, 2009. However, one of our listeners reported a problem with the repetition of material following the first commercial break. This is the second time this has occurred. We rechecked the file and verified the problem. We believe it is a software problem with GarageBand, the software we use to record and process the podcasts. We believe that the "mix down" process that occurs after the editing of the podcast, and what actually produces the MP3 file, has a bug in it.

We are searching for details about this problem. However, in the meantime, we remixed the file, created a new one, and uploaded/published the podcast again.

The new, corrected file was republished this evening (12/10/09). If you want to obtain the corrected file, please visit The Genealogy Guys Podcast website at http://genealogyguys.com and open or download the new file.

Sorry for the problem, but we're on it!

This week's news includes:

1. Footnote.com has made available the first-ever interactive collection of World War II documents, including the memorial of the U.S.S. Arizona at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The collection is free to access through the month of December.
2. The National Genealogical Society (NGS) has announced details of the Librarians' Day at its annual conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, in April. This pre-conference program is sponsored by ProQuest. Details are available at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/preconference_events.
3. ProQuest and NGS will honor an outstanding librarian at the same conference by awarding the Filby Award for Genealogical Librarianship. Learn more at http://tinyurl.com/ykvrw3g.

This week's listener email includes:

1. Sharon reminds us that the search for immigrant ancestors must include looking at both ends of the journey. While an arrival record of someone from the U.K. in 1925 shows only a destination, the departure record in the U.K. may show the traveler's home address. U.K. migration records can be found at http://www.findmypast.com.
   
2. Tina corrects our statements in episode #189. FreeBMD.org.uk does not yet include all the civil registration index entries. In addition, civil registration in England and Wales began on 1 July 1837 and not 1838.
3. Steve is seeking clues about a grandfather who divorced his first wife and remarried, apparently taking the second wife's surname.
4. Victoria shared information about the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, one of only two remaining, fully functional Liberty Ships built and launched during World War II. The ship has been restored and is anchored at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, open to the public. Learn more at http://www.ssjeremiahobrien.org. 
5. Gus asks for advice about citing sources on genealogical posters he has created of his family lineage.
6. Nancy asks about George's book, The Official Guide to Ancestry.com, and how current the book remains.
7. Larry asks about using a DNA test as it applies to establishing lineages for immigrants.
8. Rich shares a newspaper story about the Texas state government taking blood samples of newborn infants for testing purposes, and then retaining the samples for other experiments. This has resulted in lawsuits by parents/families and concerns about privacy. See more at http://tinyurl.com/DNA4TX-Infants.
9. R.J. advises us of another product that allows Mac users to run Windows on their Macintosh, Linux, and OpenSolaris machines. It is called VirtualBox, manufactured by Sun Microsystems, and can be found at http://www.virtualbox.org. 
10. Terri has purchased RootsMagic 4 and Family Tree Maker 2010. When she migrated her data from Brother's Keeper software, she lost information on all her living relatives. Drew offers a suggestion to check.
11. Lisa asks about genealogy software available for her iPhone 3GS.
12. Gus has been watching The Genealogy Guys Videocasts at http://genealogyguys.blip.tv and finds that the most recent way that George has labeled/titled the files makes the content easier to find and differentiate.
13. Marie asked where at RootsWeb she could find Gary's transcribed index of "Memoirs of the Miami Valley". Drew located the index and emailed Marie with the URL at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohbutler/memoirs.
    

News from Ancestry.com includes more records, such as U.S. Navy records, improved 1850 U.S. census images, Atlanta federal penitentiary records, more historical postcards, Bavaria muster rolls, and other new records from Ireland, Australia, and Paris.  Footnote.com has added more Native American records.  RootsMagic has updated its website and has released RootsMagic Essentials, a free version of the RootsMagic software.  The DAR has made an online database of many of its genealogy records available to the general public.

Listener e-mail involves a question about the link to New York government divisions (turns out it's on Wikipedia); the correct pronunciation of Islip, NY (which Drew did correct in the show notes from the episode in which he mispronounced it) and another NY town; the Federation of Genealogical Societies 2010 conference in Knoxville, Tennessee; volunteering to provide free online access to records, especially local historical records; volunteering to provide genealogy classes at the local public library; online Navy records and other military records; issues related to using Facebook, Genealogy Wise, and the Genealogy Guys videos on Blip.tv; citing census records; running Windows programs on a Macintosh; and researching Smiths in England.  

Drew shares his first experiences with Google's latest online service, Google Wave.

This podcast episode was recorded "live" at the Western Michigan Genealogical Society's conference in Grand Rapids on Saturday, November 7, 2009. We had a fabulous time with the society and its members!

The Guys have THREE new videocast interviews for your viewing pleasure. Drew interviews: Craig Manson, author of GeneaBlogie; Dick Eastman of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter; and Leo Myers and Paula Hinkel, co-organizers of the Southern California Genealogical Society's annual conference called JAMBOREE. Check them all out at http://genealogyguys.blip.tv!

This week's news includes: Ancestry.com expects to raise $100 million in its IPO; the Kansas African American Museum in Wichita has received a $25,000 grant to establish a statewide program called "Knowing Me, Knowing You"; Footnote.com has announced its plan to create the complete Interactive U.S. Census; and the "Who Do You Think You Are LIVE" show will be held in Olympia, London, on 26-28 February 2010, sponsored by Ancestry.co.uk.

The Guys will be at the Western Michigan Genealogical Society's Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on 6 November 2009. Details are available at http://gotancestors.com. The Guys will also be at the Florida State Genealogical Society's Conference in Melbourne, Florida, on 13-14 November 2009. Details are available at http://flsgs.org.

George thanks Teresa Remsberg for providing a link to the Canadian Border Crossings database at Ancestry.com where a record of his great-uncle, Brisco Washington Holder, showed he arrived in 1919.

Mary responded to Pat's concerns in podcast episode #186 about birth certificate copies being issued with a different place of birth (Drew realizes after the podcast that he mispronounced "Islip" several times); Victoria asks about Post-Em notes on Ancestry.com family trees; Mark shares information about articles of genealogical interest:

1. Kentucky's last Civil War daughter at http://www.kentucky.com/181/story/805969.html
2. Death of the last Civil War widow at http://tinyurl.com/CW-widow
3. Smithsonian Magazine published an article about the last U.S. WWI solder at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/last-doughboy.html
4. European legal challenges to Google Books at http://tinyurl.com/GoogleBookEU
5. An article about the original Star Spangled Banner back on display at http://tinyurl.com/ybbo47q

Mark also shares information about employment records; Eric talks about George's and Drew's books, and chuckles over The Guys' botching the pronunciation of place names; Daniel asks about the Ball family; Michelle talks about presenting classes in her genealogy society and the joys of belonging to her society; Tim reminds The Guys of the "Tip of the Iceberg" poster published and for sale by the California Genealogical Society and Library (See http://preview.tinyurl.com/IceburgPoster1 and http://preview.tinyurl.com/IceburgPoster2); John asks about George's relative, John Allen Morgan; Angie poses her quandary of a polygamous great-great-grandfather who changed names and her difficulties locating his Civil War pension (See http://preview.tinyurl.com/AngiesGGGF from the Journal of Social History in which Angie's ancestor is discussed); and Roger tells us how he organizes and files his genealogical materials.

The Genealogy Guys have published three new videocasts at http://genealogyguys.blip.tv this week. They include interviews with:

1. Suzanne Russo Adams of Ancestry.com, Italian genealogy researcher, and author
2. Steve Danko, Polish genealogy researcher and blogger
3. Bruce Buzbee, president of RootsMagic
   

SURPRISE! A second new videocast, an interview with Maureen Taylor (The Photo Detective), is also now available at http://genealogyguys.blip.tv.

Join Drew as he interviews Lisa Louise Cooke, host of The Genealogy Gems Podcast, in a new episode of The Genealogy Guys Videocast at http://genealogyguys.blip.tv.

This week's news includes: The National Army Museum (UK) has launched an exhibition called First Shots: Early War Photography 1848-1860. It includes some of the earliest war photographs in existence, and the online version of the exhibition can be viewed at http://www.national-army-museum.ac.uk/pages/firstShots/. The Vision of Britain website has a new set of digitized maps for England, Scotland, and Wales going back to the early 1800s at http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/.

George has been elected to the position of Vice President of Membership Services of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, effective 1 January 2010.

George describes a beautiful poster that Gus Marsh has sent to illustrate work with Adobe In-Design. Gus also asks about two individuals buried in Pinellas County in Florida.

The Guys report on the status of the Library of Michigan funding crisis and the threat of breaking up its excellent historical and genealogical collection.

George will be in Louisville, KY, this Saturday for an all-day seminar (details at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kylgs/seminar2.html).

George and Drew will be at the Western Michigan Genealogical Society (http://www.wmgs.org) in Grand Rapids, MI, on Friday and Saturday, November 6th and 7th. The society is celebrating its 55th anniversary with a banquet on Friday evening, and an all-day seminar on Saturday, titled Got Ancestors?! Guydes to Genealogical Research. Details are available at http://gotancestors.com. The day's festivities will conclude with The Genealogy Guys LIVE!, a live recording session of the podcast with questions and answers.

The Guys present two final interviews from the SCGS Jamboree in Burbank. Drew first interviews Suzanne Russo Adams of Ancestry.com and the author of Finding Your Italian Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide. He then interviews Paula Hinkel and Leo Myers, the planning and organizing force behind Jamboree.

This week's listener email includes: Teri has downloaded all the podcasts and listens while swimming; Peter asks Drew about researching his slave ancestors in Newberry, SC, Drew's hometown; Amy discusses the use of newspapers and newsletters for company employees.

The Podcast has been nominated by Family Tree Magazine's Top 40 Genealogy Blogs in the HOW-TO Category. Please cast your vote for us at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/article/40BestVoting.

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This week's news includes: Ancestry.com will present a free online presentation on Wednesday, October 14, 2009, at 8:00 PM Eastern Time titled "Learn the Best Strategies for Searching Ancestry.com" - and you can register at http://learn.ancestry.com/LearnMore/Webinars.aspx; Ancestry.com also announced that they have expanded their agreement with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to scan and index documents there, and have therefore opened a new scanning facility in the Washington, DC, area - new content collections from this new facility are discussed in this episode; UK Minister Ed Miliband, visiting Moscow on official business and appearing on a call-in radio program, received a call from a relative. You can read the BBC news story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8295394.stm. The City of Kennesaw, Georgia, received a grant that enabled them to begin underground imaging of their cemetery, and you can read all about it at http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/etd/2/.

Note: Another update on the Library of Michigan crisis will be provided next week.

Maureen A. Taylor, well known as The Photo Detective, has just published a new book, Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900. It can help you date those mystery photos you have. The book is available at http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/fashionable-folks-hair/7559085.

The Guys have a busy speaking schedule coming up! Drew will speak about DNA on Sunday, October 11th, for the Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~fljgstb).

George will be presenting at an all-day conference for the Louisville Genealogical Society (details at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kylgs/seminar2.html) in Louisville, KY, on Saturday, October 17th.

And George AND Drew will be speaking for the Western Michigan Genealogical Society (http://www.wmgs.org) in Grand Rapids, MI, on Friday and Saturday, November 6th and 7th. The society is celebrating its 55th anniversary with a banquet on Friday evening, and an all-day seminar on Saturday, titled Got Ancestors?! Guydes to Genealogical Research. Details are available at http://gotancestors.com. The day's festivities will conclude with The Genealogy Guys LIVE!, a live recording session of the podcast with questions and answers.

Drew interviews Dick Eastman, author of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter (http://blog.eogn.com). Dick will be appearing for the Pinellas Genealogy Society in Largo, Florida, Saturday, February 13, 2010.

The listener email includes: Carolyn raves about how much she likes RootsMagic software; Lee continues discussing wives' maiden names on gravestones; Roger tells us that the Scottish practice of using maiden names of married women in birth entries in parish registers and on gravestones. Roger shares two examples:

http://roger.lisaandroger.com/showmedia.php?mediaID=81 shows a parish register; examples of headstones appear at http://roger.lisaandroger.com/browsemedia.php?mediatypeID=headstones.

Pat shares concerns about official, raised seal birth certificates from New York that are using different birth locations now rather than the actual (and original) locations. TC shares information about Dropbox software, a free tool to help keep data on multiple computers in synch. It is available at http://www.getdropbox.com and is free.

George talks about Internet Genealogy magazine from Moorshead Publications, the last magazine covering Internet research topics. (Visit http://www.internet-genealogy.com for more information and to subscribe.) Katie asks for guidance for using pre-1850 U.S. federal censuses and getting past some roadblocks created because only the head of household was listed, followed with tick marks representing gender, age, and race.

This week's news includes: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and Footnote.com announce a new Digital Holocaust Collection at Footnote.com at http://www.footnote.com/holocaust, and will be accessible for free through October; Gale and the British Library have made a vast collection of "British Newspapers, 1800-1900" available online at http://newspapers.bl.uk/blcs - searches are free and downloads of full-text articles are available by purchasing either a 24-hour or 7-day pass; WorldVitalRecords.com announced that it has lowered its price for an annual World Collection Subscription to $99.95; and FamilySearch announces new and updated records and indexes at its site at http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch.

The Guys provide an update about the Library of Michigan crisis, provided by Tom Koselka of the Michigan Genealogical Council.

Drew interviews Steve Danko, expert genealogist in Polish research and personal blogger extraordinaire (http://www.stephendanko.com).

George discusses the fact that he has a new membership to the Godfrey Memorial Library (http://www.godfrey.org) and the types of subscriptions available.

The listener email includes: Eiya asks when you should shell out the big money for certified certificates; Ian asks for advice about the treatment of sensitive family information, such as illegitimate children; Jenna asks about the filing of marriage certificates - under the groom, the bride, or both; Clive shares some Irish websites he has found very helpful:

http://www.leitrim-roscommon.com/index.shtml
http://www.leitrim-roscommon.com/1901census/
http://www.leitrim-roscommon.com/GRIFFITH/
http://www.irish-roots.ie/
http://roscommon.brsgenealogy.com
http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=collectionDetails;c=1408347
http://www.groireland.ie/apply_for_a_cert.htm

Tom shares his new understanding about the term "removed" cousin; and Noi asks for advice in locating and accessing corporate records for genealogical purposes.

Join us for a terrific interview with Dr. Tukufu Zuberi, one of the co-hosts of the great PBS series, The History Detectives. The videocast can be accessed directly at http://genealogyguys.blip.tv.

Drew here: When I was inserting the commercials into the most recent podcast episode (#184) this morning, I made an error with the second one.  Fortunately, one of our listeners caught it and let us know.  I've now re-created the episode with the correct commercial.  So if you downloaded our #184 episode prior to 7:30pm ET (thereabouts) today, you'll have the uncorrected version, but you should be ok if you downloaded it since that time.  Sorry about that!

We apologize for the delay between podcasts, but we're back on schedule again!

This week's news includes: Ancestry.com and the Drouin Institute (http://institutdrouin.com), holder of one of the most important Canadian genealogical collections, announce the successful resolution to arbitration concerning content and indexing, and Ancestry.com has announced that the collection will be returning to its site very soon; dynastree announces that it now has 10 million family trees on its site, and that they have added new features including the ability to include family pictures in a GEDCOM file export; MyHeritage.com announces that its free Family Tree Builder software (free for download) now supports mapping, photo albums, and other new features; the Free Library of Philadelphia has averted disastrous budget cuts that would have closed all of its branches in early October; and the FamilySearch Indexing Project (http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#start) has announced the release of additional new and updated collections.

The Library of Michigan continues to hang under the threat of its collection being dispersed by executive order of the state's governor. The Records Preservation and Access Committee (RPAC), a joint group of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the National Genealogical Society, has initiated an online petition drive at http://www.petitiononline.com/RPAC2009/petition.html and The Guys strongly encourage you to sign electronically by 30 September 2009, the deadline date for the petition. For more information about the situation, visit the Michigan Genealogical Council's website at http://www.mimgc.org/LOM.html. (The Guys will continue to report on this critical situation over the coming weeks and months.)

This week's listener email includes: Pheobe has created a Cousin Camp for her nieces, nephews, and cousins aged 9 to 14 and offers to share information with others; George asks about how to cite death notices; Rob asks how many listeners there are for the podcast; Victoria discusses the software she uses on her Mac in order to run Windows-based programs such as RootsMagic; Margaret reports on genealogists and libraries, and methods for creating knowledge with web 2.0 technologies; Rebecca asks about file formats for digitizing family photos and documents and saving them into her genealogy database; Lee asks if other listeners have seen tombstones on which the wife's maiden name is listed; and Mary Ann asks for assistance in helping to locate more information about her grandmother in Texas.

George and Drew record this episode in front of a live audience at the 2009 annual conference of the Federation of Genealogical Societies in Little Rock, Arkansas.  Drew interviews members of the audience and the Guys take a number of audience questions.

This week's news includes: Hamburg, Germany-based dynastree (http://www.dynastree.com) announces an automatic search for potential relatives on its site; responses have been great about The Guys' new videocasting at http://genealogyguys.blip.tv; Ancestry.com announces the release of its new Family Tree Maker 2010 software; and Genealogy Wise announces that there are many great videos on its website.

Drew shares two interviews this week:

Michelle Pfister and Mark LeMonnier on the product team of Family Tree Maker of Ancestry.com discuss the software, improvements that have been made over the last year, and some of the things coming in the future.

Schelly Talalay Dardashti, author of the Tracing the Tribe blog (http://tracingthetribe.blogspot.com), discusses Jewish genealogy and how to progress with your research.

This week's listener email includes: Eiya asks about the absence of marriage records for Fannin County, Texas, at Ancestry.com, and George has information about those records' availability on microfilm through the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah; one listener joined a genealogy society in January and has felt less than welcome, and asks when it might be appropriate to make suggestions for improvements; and Rebecca asks The Guys which genealogy software program that they use.

NOTE: The two interviews will be posted as videocasts within the coming week at http://genealogyguys.blip.tv.

We are very excited to announce that we've just published our first video episode at http://genealogyguys.blip.tv. This includes the interview with Janet Hovorka, otherwise known as "The Chart Chick," of Generation Maps (http://generationsmaps.com). You'll enjoy seeing the many examples of great genealogy charts that they can produce for you.

More video episodes are coming! You'll also be able to subscribe to an RSS feed as soon as iTunes reviews the first episode.

Let us know what YOU think!

This week's news includes: GenealogyWise (http://www.genealogywise.com), the recently launched genealogy social network, has added indexing to the Surname Groups; dynastree (http://www.dynastree.com) has announced that it now features maps showing the distribution of a surname for eight countries; and MyHeritage (http://www.myheritage.com) has added many new features and activities to its site.  The Guys then discuss news about the upcoming Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas.

This week's podcast features two interviews by Drew from the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree in Burbank, California:

• The first is with Janet Hovorka, the "Chart Chick," of Generation Maps (http://www.printmyfamily.com). She discusses the range of custom charts that the company can provide.
• The second is with Craig Manson, legal expert and author of the GeneaBlogie blog at http://blog.geneablogie.net.

This week's listener email includes: Jean reports problems obtaining vital records from New Jersey; Lisa reports the same problem with New York; Paul asks a question about photos that have been uploaded to Ancestry.com; Tim in San Francisco shares a link to an article about Google Maps' street view cameras in Paris - on tricycles; and Tim in Tampa shares two important tips with listeners:

1. Google Books (http://books.google.com) has unearthed a vast amount of genealogical information through searching the site. Even books that are in copyright can often be obtained through Interlibrary Loan or otherwise. He especially recommends accessing Simon Greenleaf's three-volume work, A Treatise on the Law of Evidence.
2. The New York Historical Newspapers collection has been developed by the Northern New York Library Network. It contains 1,640,000 pages from 43 newspapers in seven northern New York counties: Oswego, Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Franklin, Clinton, and Essex Counties. The collection can be found at http://news.nnyln.net.
   

This week's news includes: the Library of Michigan and its historical and genealogical collections are in jeopardy; Ancestry.com has filed with the SEC for a $75 million IPO; brightsolid announced the acquisition of the Friends Reunited Group for £25 million; Ancestry.com has substantially expanded its Jewish Family History Records collection; Ancestry.com also has announced the release of its fourth Ancestry World Archives project, the England and Wales Criminal Registers, 1791-1892; dynastree.com now offers a free 14-day trial of its premium subscription; and RootsMagic's Valentine's Day Family History Cruise of the Western Caribbean, sailing from Miami on 14 February 2010, is accepting reservations, and there will be great genealogy classes and shore excursions -- details are available at http://www.rootsmagiccruise.com.

The Guys will be part of a special event at the Federation of Genealogical Societies 2009 Conference in Little Rock. They will lead an Open Forum for Bloggers, Social Networkers, and Podcasters -- and for anyone interested in discussing or having questions. Meet The Guys, other bloggers, people on social networks you may never have met in person, and podcasters.

The Guys interview Maureen A. Taylor, the Photo Detective. Visit her website at http://www.photodetective.com, and sign up for her free newsletter at the bottom of the Web page. Catch her great blog as well!

The Guys discuss the crisis in Michigan with the governor's proposal to stop funding, close the library, and disperse the collection. The Michigan Genealogical Council organized an important rally this week at the State Capitol and then proceeded to march to the Library of Michigan. There the participants, nearly 500 strong, formed a "Hands Around the Library" demonstration, carried signs, and spoke with passers-by. There was local television and newspaper coverage of the event. The Guys are very concerned about this situation, and George is an outspoken library and archives advocate.

George reviews an outstanding book, Crash Course in Family History (3rd edition) by Paul Larson. The outstanding step-by-step book is available from EasyFamilyHistory.com (http://www.easyfamilyhistory.com), and previews of the book are available at http://www.crashcoursebook.com.

This week's listener email includes: Eric asks about the Frappr map that The Guys had on their website; Victoria shares the address of the University of Chicago's Archival Photographic Files at http://photofiles.lib.uchicago.edu; John weighs in on the subject of genealogical data placed behind societies' members-only walls; and Stephanie asks for suggestions on how to move data from Reunion to another PC-based software package.

This week's news includes: Ancestry.com launches a new feature called Member Connect to make connecting with others easier; and the Federation of Genealogy Societies (FGS) reminds our listeners that the 2009 FGS Conference is only a month away, September 2-5, in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Guys reminds listeners that they will be there doing a LIVE podcast recording session with an audience.

The Guys welcome Julie Miller, CG, and Drew interviews her at the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree about research into the ancestors and relatives of a certain Denver celebrity.

This week's listener email includes: Clive asked George to also share the fact that The National Archives (TNA) in the UK also produces podcasts at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/podcasts/default.htm on many topics; he also asks if we can find out when the "Criminal Registers, 1791-1892," from Ancestry's World Archive Project will be available online (and George will check); Clive also tells us another story of the use of the word "craic." (Drew also discusses the Geo Challenge game on Facebook.com.) Bill reminds us that PAF (Personal Ancestral File genealogy software from the LDS Church) is still an excellent free option for creating and maintaining your database; Noi asked about Footnote.com's calculation of the percent completed in the Civil War Widows' Pension Files collection, and received an answer from Footnote Support that she shared with everyone; Damien thanked The Guys for information about photo tagging software; Michael asked which death date to use in his database when his great uncle died at home about 11:00 PM and the doctor did not arrive to create the death certificate until about 12:30 AM on the next day; Michael also shares his difficulties working with the New Jersey state government to obtain an old death certificate -- the search was $25.00, regardless of outcome, required an extensive set of proofs of his relationship to the person for whose record he was requesting, and the office was exceptionally rude when he followed up by telephone. Ann Gulbransen, Historian for the Ohio Society of Mayflower Descendants, responded to a listener's inquiry in Episode 177. She tells us that the official books that trace Mayflower ancestry are called "The Mayflower Families Genealogies through Five Generations." Also known as the Silver Books, the completed books and indexes can be purchased through the online store at the Society's website at http://www.themayflowersociety.com. Kay is concerned about Ancestry's Hints and their application to potentially incorrect data. Rabbi Gary M. Gans has a new iPod and has been listening to the show since the first day he got it, and he inquired about the "Brisco" name he has heard George mention.

This week's news includes:

1. Ancestry.com has added the Canadian Censuses, 1851-1916, and one of the most comprehensive collections of Caribbean slave records, detailing nearly 200 years of St. Croix-Virgin Islands history.
   
2. The Michigan Genealogical Council has issued a press release regarding the crisis in funding for the Library of Michigan and the possible dissolution of its collection. A Hands Around the Library event will be held on Wednesday, 5 August 2009, in Lansing, beginning with assembly at 9:45 AM at the State Capitol. Questions can be sent to Sue Irvine at sjirv@yahoo.com.
3. Synium Software announces the release of MacFamilyTree version 5.6.
4. Northern Hills Software announces the release of Pocket Genealogist, version 3.40, for Windows Mobile devices.

Drew interviews Dr. Tukufu Zuberi, Ph.D., a star researcher of the hit PBS television program, History Detectives, at the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree.

This week's listener email includes:

1. Denise loves the way Fletcher meows on cue.
2. Patrice suggested a discussion of Second Life, and Lisa suggested a discussion about researching the history of old houses. (The Guys will work on some stories about these topics and others you might suggest.)
   
3. A response to Margaret in Dublin about Aster Software's iPhone app, FamViewer. The company informs us that there are planned enhancements to the project, but there are no plans in place to provide an editing function and upload to source genealogy programs.
4. Rich H. shared a story about two people named Kelly Hildebrandt who connected on Facebook and who will be married in October. The two are not related.
5. Connie asks about the use of the terms "brother-in-law" and "stepdaughter" in the mid-1800s and what the terms might mean.
6. Rich C. discusses the use of the phrase "turn of the century" and suggests that we designate which century. He also shares an article from Fortune magazine concerning whether or not information should be free. (Visit http://tinyurl.com/fortuneinfo to see the article.)
7. Michael asks us to tell Tom about a national youth organization for kids interested in genealogy. It is the Youth Genealogists Association at http://www.youthgen.net.
8. Drew announces that 50 libraries across the U.S. are offering free text reference service to people using text messaging. You can text a question to (309) 222-7740 and a real, live librarian will respond within minutes. Named My Info Quest, this service is the first collaborative text reference service. (Standard text messaging charges apply.)
9. Sherry reminds people to check with local funeral homes for obituaries, and sometimes for photos and videos of the individual. The funeral homes' files may contain more information that was published in newspapers.
10. Victoria asks about our logo and whether we can drive that down to listeners' files.
11. Denise has been searching for a birth record for her grandmother, and The Guys respond with some suggestions. George read some material from Ancestry Publishing's Red Book concerning Missouri vital records. He provided an updated link at http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/birthdeath/ as another possible source for these records.
    

This week's news includes: The Generations Network has changed its name to Ancestry.com; The National Archives (TNA) (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) in the U.K. has launched truly great new learning guides online at its site, under the tabs Research and Learning, Research Guidance, and Understand the Archives in Minutes; Digital Genealogist magazine will cease publication with the July/August 2009 issue; MyHeritage (http://www.myheritage.com) announces new photo features, including a photo tagging system; dynastree (http://www.dynastree.com) announces an extended search facility; Gus reminds us that the newly updated Reunion app from LeisterPro (http://www.leisterpro.com) will operate on both the iPhone and the iPod Touch; and The Genealogy Guys Podcast will be LIVE at the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas -- producing a live podcast recording session on Thursday, September 3rd, at 3:30 PM.

Drew interviews Lisa Louise Cooke of the Genealogy Gems Podcast (http://www.genealogygemspodcast.com) at the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree.

This week's listener email includes: Rich asks about what is involved with playing and producing podcasts; Christopher tells us that annotating and tagging photos is a feature of LifeStory Productions' Heritage Collector Suite (http://heritagecollector.com); a listener asked if our podcasts are transcribed into written form, and Drew responds that they are not; Michael asks for suggestions about his brick wall with Murry M. Jones in Indiana; Roger, Tom, and Rich responded to the discussion about information placed in member-only areas of genealogical websites; Brent Ropelato of TopTenREVIEWS recommends the genealogy software reviews (http://genealogy-software-review.toptenreviews.com) which George indicates does not at present include Mac software, and may not be 100% up to date; and Larry asks for suggestions about tracing his ancestor who supposedly is a Mayflower descendant.

This week's news includes: Aster Software has released a new version 2.0 of its FamViewer software application (app) for the iPhone, and LeisterPro has released its version 1.0.2 of Reunion for the iPhone. Famview is used to download GEDCOM files to an iPhone, while Reunion is specifically used to download genealogy data from the Reunion desktop program. dynastree (http://www.dynastree.com) is celebrating its second anniversary, and has launched Turkish support on its site. Ancestry.com has launched a new "My Story" advertising campaign.

This week's listener email includes: a response to Rollin concerning a photo of a child holding a ball; Joel Weintraub responds to a listener's query for a photo tagging program, and he gives us Photo Express (http://www.passageexpress.com); Judy asks for advice about locating Social Security information for her great-grandfather who may have stretched the truth about his year of birth; Rich suggests two websites for locating obituaries in the New York City area - Legacy.com at http://www.legacy.com/NS/ and The Journal News at http://www.nyjnews.com/obituary/search.php3; Tom shares a great story about kids getting interested in genealogy; Art is compiling an Excel spreadsheet with information about people he plans to research in the 1940 census when it is released to the public in 2012; Michelle did her podcasting presentation for the Glendale Chapter of the Family History Society of Arizona; Michael discusses his DNA testing and encourages people to especially have their older relatives tested; Jim asks about NewpaperARCHIVE.com, and shares with us the Washington State Digital Archives at http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov, where recent additions include the King County, WA, marriage Records and World War I Veterans' Records. Roger (Marathon Man) is once again caught up on the podcasts, and reminds people that The Guys will be at the Western Michigan Genealogical Society Conference on November 7th -- details are at http://gotancestors.com. He also talks about:

1. how to enter multiple names, such as Stanislav and Stanley
2. His use of TNG (The Next Generation of Genealogy Site Building) and offers several examples, including http://roger.lisaandroger.com/getperson.php?personID=I16&tree=Roger, Clan Moffat, and http://trees.wmgs.org. 
3. Photo tagging software, including Apple's iPhoto that includes face recognition.

Drew interviews Bruce Buzbee, president of RootsMagic, at the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree.

And The Guys thank everyone at the Southern California Genealogical Society for a wonderful time at Jamboree!

The Guys remember John Fuller who passed away recently. John maintained a masterful site of all of the genealogy mailing lists in the world.

This week's news includes: Family Tree Magazine has published its 101 Best Websites for 2009, and The Genealogy Guys Podcast has been named to that prestigious list; Ancestry.com will soon be launching Member Connect at its website to facilitate communication and collaboration between members and subscribers; and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will be turning over alien registration files to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) facilities near San Francisco and Kansas City (the searchable index announced in the podcast is no longer there).

One of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission's "Lincoln Legacy Town Hall" meetings will be held on Monday, June 29th, from 6:00 to 7:30 PM at the Harold Washington Library Center, in the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium. Author and scholar Henry Louis "Skip" Gates, Jr., will join Chicago writer and interviewer Rick Kogan to have an interactive discussion of how the stories we tell shape history and how history shapes our stories. U.S. Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., will also be in attendance.

The Guys discuss the upcoming Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree in Burbank, June 26-28, 2009. Join them at this great event. More details are available at http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/2009jam-home.htm. Note: Dr. Zuberi's dinner speech will be on Friday.

This week's listener email includes: Roger responded to Kristen's email (Episode 174) concerning genealogical society dues vs. fees for members-only areas of a website; Gus reconfirms that deceased persons do appear in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) while the surviving spouse collects benefits; Sean responded to the point made about recording multiple spellings of surnames by telling us that The Master Genealogist program supports the entry of multiple names in its database; Georgia Keilman asked us to tell people about her Greek genealogy website at http://www.HellenicGenealogyGeek.com; Tim tells us about another software package that can be used to generate your genealogy website, called The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding" at http://lythgoes.net/genealogy/software.php. The software also incorporates Google Maps into the site and Tim provides a link to his own site at http://www.ryeland.com and a link to his great-grandfather's page at http://ryeland.com/getperson.php?personID=I4340&tree=Ryeland. Damien enjoys the "craic" between The Guys, and asks about the availability of software that tags photos in the way that Facebook does. (Listeners are invited to share information with us.) Mac has had difficulty locating an obituary in New York City for a classmate and asks for suggestions.

Drew shares information about the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS). Bobbi King assists persons seeking a roommate for the upcoming FGS Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, on September 2-5, 2009. Email her at rking24600@aol.com to request assistance with roommate matching. The opening session on Wednesday morning at the FGS Conference is "Delegate 101," a panel discussion and Q&A session concerning how societies and their FGS Delegates can be more effective in their liaison work.

Drew discussed two social networking issues:

1. Facebook.com now allows you to select your own unique userid. You can then give friends and family members a direct link to your facebook page in the form of a Web address.
2. Google has developed an exciting new concept for communications that allows people to follow a complete chronological thread of email, messages, instant messages (IMs), and other discussions. It's called Google Wave and a preview video can be seen at http://wave.google.com.
   

This week's news includes: the newly released Welsh 1911 census reveals that singer Tom Jones is actually three-quarters English; MyHeritage.com (www.myheritage.com) has announced a new version of its photo service that makes it easier to upload, share, and organize their photos online; EBSCO Publishing, one of the largest distributor of electronic materials to libraries and archives, and Footnote.com have announced a distribution deal that makes EBSCO the worldwide distributor of Footnote.com to libraries and institutions; Ancestry.ca, the Canadian geographical version of Ancestry, announces a partnership with the Library and Archives Canada in which the entire historical Canadian censuses, 1851-1916, have been released online at its site; and George spoke with Stephen Carr of our sponsor, NewspaperARCHIVE.com, and indicates that the newly announced free membership includes access to up to 5 pages per day at their site -- great for the casual user -- but serious researchers will want to subscribe to the full service.

The Guys are pleased to announce details of the RootsMagic Valentine's Day Cruise on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas, sailing from February 14th to 21st from Miami for a week's tour of the western Caribbean. Details can be found at Rootsmagic's website at www.rootsmagic.com.

The Guys are excited about going to Burbank for the Southern California Genealogical Society's JAMBOREE on June 26th to 28th. George will be moderator of "Son of Blogger," a panel discussion of blogs, podcasts, and videocasts. More details are available at the SCGS website at www.scgsgenealogy.com.

This week's email includes: Cheryl wants to know how to source a copy of a military record received from a relative; Kay corrects George on what happens on the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) when a spouse receives the Social Security benefits of a deceased spouse; Kay also shares a wealth of information about the land records related to Old Pendleton, South Carolina; Noi located the Pleasantville Cook-Book at the Internet Archive at www.archive.org (the cookbook is at http://www.archive.org/details/pleasantvilleco00clargoog); Jim shares information about UK copyright law and public domain; Lynda shares her experiences with CDs created by an Arkansas genealogy society, and requested a format for the Mac; Mac praises Drew's book, and thanks The Guys for encouraging him to begin lecturing; Gus is now researching his Polish ancestors, and questions how to enter the original name and the Americanized name into his genealogy database program; Blaise shares his experiences working with the "My Library" feature of Google Books (books.google.com); Sam clarifies information about a great-grandmother who immigrated from Austria/Poland to New York in 1902, and asks about immigrants held as LPCs (likely to become public charge); Victoria shares a poignant article in the Los Angeles Times about Josh Lipsky, a White House employee who made the trip with President Obama to Buchenwald concentration camp, and how he connected with his grandparents' story there (see article at http://tinyurl.com/BuchenwaldStory-LATimes); Katie discusses an article about Google Books, and a possible monopoly in digitizing out-of-copyright books (see article at http://tinyurl.com/qkgea2); and Kristin is concerned about genealogical societies choosing to restrict their Web content to "members only." (The Guys would like your input about this topic.)

This week's news includes: NewspaperARCHIVE.com announces that it is now offering free membership; Calico Pie, Ltd., announces the release of Family Historian Version 4 genealogy software at http://www.family-historian.co.uk; Ancestry.com announces new content, including German Phone Directories (1915-1981), the Alabama State Census, and more; and the Federation of Genealogical Societies has extended its Early Bird registration for its conference in Little Rock, AR, on September 2-5, 2009, and details are available at http://www.fgs.org/2009conference.

George and Drew send "shout out" greetings to: Birdie Holsclaw in CO; Veronica June Vinson in Hove, England (Happy Birthday!); and Michelle and the Glendale Chapter of the Family History Society of Arizona.

Ryan Oliver of Bozboz, Ltd., tells us about the site at http://www.howto.co.uk at which you can find many free books online, including genealogy materials.

Drew revisits the "Pleasantville Cook-Book," and discusses the issue of Google Books blocking access to it in Canada because of Canada's different copyright laws. Drew proceeded to research the three compilers of the 1894 cookbook in order to confirm that they are all deceased, and he will try to communicate with Google to lift the block on this cookbook. Listen to Drew's fascinating research experience.

This week's listener email includes: Paul, who works for the U.S. Postal Service, tells us that DNA test kits are not considered "hazardous" in the mails; Barb discusses locating the maiden name of Sam's Jewish-Polish grandmother that The Guys discussed in Episode #171; Patti asks what people's experiences have been in moving to RootsMagic 4; Tom reminds everyone that Soundex microfilm can be invaluable in locating people who may have been mis-indexed in census databases; Mac has the wikiHow gadget on his iGoogle page, and he found an interesting entry: "How to Cite a Wikipedia Article in MLA Format" at http://www.wikihow.com/Cite-a-Wikipedia-Article-in-MLA-Format; Bill tells us he has found a free iPhone app called Stitcher in the iTunes Store that "stitches together" news, talk, sports, and entertainment in an on-demand mobile application, and that he asked them to add our podcast to their lineup; MLR asks why someone who collected Social Security benefits may not be included in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).

George announces that RootsMagic is hosting another RootsMagic Cruise, sailing from Miami on 14 February 2010, cruising the western Caribbean, and returning to Miami on 21 February 2010. Details are available at http://rootsmagic.com/cruise. JOIN US!

 

This week's news includes: The Generations Network, Inc., parent of Ancestry.com, and FindMyPast.com are said to have approached ITV about purchasing Friends United; Everton's is said have come to a verbal agreement with a purchaser, and details will be announced shortly; the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE) announced the winners in their annual Excellence in Writing Contest last week at the NGS Conference in Raleigh, NC; MyHeritage has announced a fun gadget called the Look-alike Meter; Sirius Innovations, LLC, announced the Sirius Genealogist Web Directory; the Southern California Genealogical Society has issued a Call for Papers for lecture proposals for its 2010 Jamboree (details at http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/2010jam-CallForPapers.htm); Irish indexes to statutory births, marriages, and deaths from 1845 to 1858 are now online at the FamilySearch Pilot site at http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html; and Ancestry and FreeBMD have partnered to post English and Welsh birth indexes from 1837 to 2005 online at http://www.ancestry.co.uk.

This week's email includes: Eric reports that the LDS Library catalog entry for microfilm containing the civil registration records for Faenza Italy, has been reinstated; and Steve provides updated details about the uses of handheld computing devices in the 2010 U.S. census.

Ancestors, the magazine published by The National Archives (TNA) in the U.K., has published an excellent article in its March 2009 issue titled "How to Read a Document." It presents methods for deciphering old documents. A sample document, a page of a letter written byPrincess Elizabeth on 17 March 1554, beseeching Queen Mary to free her from impisonment in the Tower of London, is included to let you decipher the document.

George shares the news that the National Archives of Scotland, the National Museums of Scotland, the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Scotland, and the National Trust for Scotland have formed a joint venture and have launched a stunning new website, http://www.scotlandsimages.com.

Drew discusses the use of hashtags at websites, including the hashtag for the Southern California Genealogical Society's 2009 Jamboree: #scgs09.

George then discusses Jamboree and "Son of Blogger," a blogger summit panel discussion to be presented on Saturday, 27 June 2009, from 9:30 to noon. George will be in Denver this Saturday, 23 May 2009, and The Guys will present a seminar about RootsMagic Version 4 software for the Florida Genealogical Society (Tampa) on 6 June 2009.

The Guys have invested in a new camcorder and plan to begin videoing some interviews and other materials. These will NOT replace the Podcast. Rather, the audio from any video recording will be published as an audio podcast, and the video will be published separately for anyone interested  n viewing the video. The Guys will begin videos at the Southern California Genealogical Society's 2009 Jamboree in Burbank at the end of June. The Guys think that this will provide another level of information for their listeners and fans.

The Guys welcome a new sponsor: NewspaperARCHIVE.com.

This week's news includes: Ancestors Magazine, the monthly publication of The National Archives in the U.K., is now offering selected past articles in PDF format for download at a modest fee at their Documents Online site (click here); Calico Pie Ltd. has released Version 4 of its popular Windows-based genealogy database software, Family Historian, at http://www.family-historian.co.uk; Directgov in the U.K. provides access to ordering civil registration records; Footnote.com has updated its content with over a million new images online; WorldVitalRecords.com has made an enhancement to its image viewer, making it possible to magnify to 200%; NewspaperARCHIVE.com will be sponsoring the popular National Public Radio (NPR) news and comedy show Whad'ya Know? on May 16th from Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines, Iowa; and the Ohio Genealogical Society has scheduled the groundbreaking ceremony for its new 18,000-square foot library on May 29th at 10:30 AM.

This week's listener e-mail includes: Marty verifies that The Master Genealogist software accepts GPS coordinates; Daniel Horowitz of MyHeritage Ltd. congratulates Drew on his new book, Social Networking for Genealogists, available from Genealogical Publishing Company; Lisa asks whether Everton's Genealogical Helper magazine is out of business, but The Guys have no information about this; Julie shared information about Steve Luxenberg's new book Annie's Ghosts: A Journey into a Family Secret, and Drew recounts the story he heard about the book on NPR (click here to listen to the story too); Gus recounts the lessons he learned on his recent research trip to Salt Lake City; Pat reports about migrating to Windows Vista and shares information about software compatibility; Pat also tells about having a brother take a DNA cheek swab, and that the postal clerk considered the package "hazardous"; Rich shares information about the U.S. Census Bureau's plans to use GPS technology in the upcoming 2010 census; Connie discusses a problem with automatic downloads of the podcast from iTunes, and Drew responds; Sam asks for suggestions for finding U.S. records for his Jewish great-grandmother who arrived in 1902; Noi asks for recommendations of episodes of the podcast that might be particularly helpful for beginners; and Noi also would like the Web address for the Pleasantville Cook-Book that Drew found online through Google Books.  Drew also discusses the advantages of being a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

This week's news includes: NBC has temporarily shelved the U.S. edition of the popular show, "Who Do You Think You Are?"; and Ancestry.ca, the Canadian version of Ancestry.com, has released a new database, Border Crossings from the U.S. to Canada, 1908-1935, which contains more than 1.6 million names. Drew eulogizes genealogist Donna Dinberg, the noted librarian from the Library and Archives Canada and an expert in Jewish genealogy, who died of cancer on 11 April 2009.

George's new book, the second edition of How to Do Everything: Genealogy, has just been published by McGraw-Hill, and the book is available from Amazon.com at http://tinyurl.com/HTDE2-GGM.

George and Drew discuss upcoming seminar appearances. George will be hosting a Webinar for Ancestry.com titled, Planning a Perfect Family Reunion, 14 May 2009 at 9:00 PM (Eastern). You can register at http://tinyurl.com/ReunionWebinar.

Listener email this week includes: Sharon reports that My Yahoo! is not updating the podcasts listings, and The Guys ask for any suggestions from other listeners; Melanie discusses contacting other researchers who have errors in their online family trees; Jill suggests having DNA testing done for your oldest relatives before it is too late; Timothy, a Mac user, asks for advice about how to use Windows-based CDs from his genealogy society that are DRM protected; Stella reports that she followed George's suggestions in his "The Genealogist as CSI" seminar, went back to reread everything on one ancestor, and was able to verify his participation in the War of 1812; Rollin reports on a free Windows-based program, Winsplit Revolution, available at http://www.winsplit-revolution.com, that "allows you to easily organize your open windows by tiling, resizing and positioning them to make the best use of your desktop real estate"; Matt Combs has developed a new piece of Windows-based software called Surname Findit, available for download at http://mattcombs.webs.com/sfmain.html, that helps decipher possible surnames from fragments you may have discovered in hard to read documents; Beth in Ontario, Canada, found an old cookbook from New York and wonders whether people would be interested in her digitized images of the pages (and Drew responds with his expert research method used to locate the book and digitized images); Rich forwarded the text of a 1984 death notice of a man whose wife's maiden name is Weinglass (one of Drew's ancestral lines); George asks for suggestions about how to cite alternate spellings of a surname in his database and source citations; The Guys thank Gus for his extensive research into articles in the Wall Street Journal concerning services that digitize photos, and these include:

Drew discusses anonymity in posting to professional mailing lists.

Drew is maintaining a blog to accompany his new book, Social Networking for Genealogists, at http://snfg.blogspot.com.

Topics this week include:

1. Loretto "Lou" Dennis Szucs receives the Silver Tray Award from the Utah Genealogical Association.
2. Ancestry.com includes new London-related content, including Births, Baptisms, Deaths, Burials, and Poor Law Records.
3. Leland Meitzler includes a calendar on his blog at genealogyblog.com.
4. The National Archives (UK) adds new information about Henry VIII.
5. The National Archives (US) at Kansas City, Missouri relocates to the Union Station Complex.
6. Readex, a division of NewsBank, adds a new product line : American Newspaper Archives.
7. WorldVitalRecords.com reveals an improved search and browse function.
8. The Ontario Genealogical Society will be holding its OGS Conference 2009 on May 29-31 at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario.
9. The Purcell Family of America has a new website at www.pfaroots.org and a Purcell surname DNA project (contact Doug Purcell at dpurcell@eufaula.rr.com)
10. A podcast listener asks for a medal after listening to all Genealogy Guys Podcast episodes between January 13, 2009 and now (but he's not happy with the newer music).
11. George meets someone at the front door with information about Census 2010.
12. A listener describes using Google's Picasa Web Albums to store and share photo albums.
13. A listener asks about the availability of New FamilySearch (because RootsMagic 4 provides a way to access it when it becomes available).
14. The CEO of Sampa Corporation contacts the Genealogy Guys to describe a free service to share life events with family and friends.
15. A listener asks whether or not everyone with the same surname (or a spelling variant) should be included in a genealogy database even if the relationship hasn't been established yet.
16. Melissa Shimkus of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana announces that new military content has been added to their site www.genealogycenter.info.
17. Joel Weintraub, associate of Steve Morse, responds to the idea of a one-step search for "everything", but one of his provided links is not quite the error message you may think it is.
18. Ian Pereira lets us know about his company's free book publishing site at HowTo.co.uk.
19. A listener asks for advice for a first-time visit to a national genealogy conference.
20. A listener asks about how to proceed with a DNA test that may confirm a family story.
21. A listener asks about pension files and NARA.
22. Drew talks about Dropbox, an online service that synchronizes working files across computers.
    

This week's news includes: The Generations Network announced the launching at its Ancestry UK site (http://www.ancestry.co.uk) of more than 400 years of London history, derived from records at the London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) and the Guildhall Library; and Footnote.com (http://www.footnote.com) has launched its new Great Depression Collection, including the Interactive 1930 U.S. Census, and additional records are coming soon.

George interviews Drew about his brand new book, Social Networking for Genealogists, published by Genealogical Publishing Company (http://www.genealogical.com).

This week's listener email includes: Steve discusses the new RootsMagic version 4 and the RootsMagic To-Go; Rich suggests another way of telling someone that there's a mistake in their research; he wonders if Stephen Morse would consider a single-search step at his One Step website; and he asks if George has more information about Brisco Holder (and George shares some surprising information); Drew responds to a question about copyright for Nancy; Jimmy shares information about great YouTube videos of "Depression Cooking with Clara" at http://www.youtube.com/user/DepressionCooking, and suggests that video interviews with family members doing something they're comfortable doing is a great way to capture information; Clive in the U.K. shares details of his research concerning U.K. criminal records and the online catalogue of The National Archives in Kew (outside London) and some surprising results about James Derrick; Sue shares information about WeRelate.org (http://www.werelate.org), a free public-service wiki for genealogy sponsored by the Foundation for On-Line Genealogy in partnership with the Allen County Public Library, that allows the uploading of genealogy data and photos; Jack asks for suggestions about where to upload scanned Bible records; and Roxanne asks for help from listeners in order to locate companies that can scan large quantities of family photographs.

This week's news includes: RootsMagic releases Version 4 of its great genealogical database software; NBC will begin broadcasting the American version of the popular British television show Who Do You Think You Are? on Monday, April 20th, at 7 PM; Ancestry.com has updated its 1940 census substitute and will soon be adding to the U.S. Public Records Index (USPRI); and the 1911 England and Wales census has been released online at http://www.1911census.co.uk.

Drew discusses Twitter, the social networking service being used for messaging.

This week's listener email includes: Joshua asks about adding multiple sources for multiple marriages at Ancestry.com; Craig asks a question about ways to access obituaries; he also asks about family tree-oriented websites at which family trees and family photographs; Claire informs us that Reunion (genealogical database for Macintosh from Leister Productions, Inc.) has just released their iPhone app to take your genealogy with you; James is looking for his great-grandparents in Smith Township, Robeson County, North Carolina; Michael shares information for locating naturalization records for immigrant ancestors - they may have received land under the various U.S. Homestead Acts, and the Bureau of Land Management General Land Office (http://www.glorecords.blm.gov) may have information in the case files about naturalization; Kirsten asks how to receive the podcast on her TiVo; Jerry asks about additional sources for locating his Irish ancestors who received a land grant in 1790 in Pendleton District, South Carolina; Joel Weintraub shares more information about the 1940 U.S. census, which will not be released on microfilm, and he is already transcribing information from the 1940 census enumeration district maps; he also talks more about the 72-year rule for release of U.S. census information.

We published episode #166 from 17 March 2009, but our podcast hosting service experienced an outage of its primary server. As a result, this episode was published through all of its various feeds without the MP3 sound file.

Please reacquire this podcast episode from The Genealogy Guys Podcast website at http://genealogyguys.com through the iTunes Store. We're also attaching the MP3 file with this posting.

Thanks for your patience and understanding. We're compiling information for episode #167 and will have that published later this week too.

George & Drew

This week's news includes: Ancestry.com has added new content; MyHeritage.com has added more than 150 new databases in the last week of February; NewspaperARCHIVE continues to add new digitized and indexed newspaper content, and has added blogs, social networking interfaces, and Twitter; the Library of Michigan has just added Michigan death certificates spanning 1897 to 1920 at Seeking Michigan at http://www.seekingmichigan.org; Dick Eastman welcomes new English writer and genetic genealogy expert Chris Pomery to Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter (http://blog.eogn.com); Steve Danko has just returned from the Family Tree DNA 5th International Conference on Genetic Genealogy for Project Administrators, and he has a great report at his blog at http://stephendanko.com; and Maureen A. Taylor, the leading expert on evaluating and dating photographs, author, and lecturer, has an excellent blog on the subject at http://photodetective.blogspot.com.

This week's email includes: Henry asked about digital camera reviews, and George responded that he had written an article for the 22 February issue of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter on that subject; Steve shouts out some positive kudos for the new RootsMagic Version 4 beta edition of its great genealogical database software package; and Lisa asks for tactful ways to tell someone that they probably have wrong information.

George reviews two new books: Genealogical Publishing Company has just published a new 5th edition of Thomas Jay Kemp's book, The International Vital Records Handbook; and Ancestry Publishing has just published a new book, Finding Granddad's War, by Jeffrey Badger, which details his search for information about his father's experiences and colleagues in the 978th Engineer Maintenance Company during World War II.

This week's news includes: RootsMagic releases the public beta of Version 4 of the RootsMagic software; Ancestry.com released five new databases in commemoration of Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday; Ancestry has replaced the Ancestry Weekly Journal with a new newsletter, The Weekly Discovery; Sonja Nishimoto, Family History Library Consultant, has invited genealogical and historical societies and their members to contribute content to the FamilySearch Research Wiki at wiki.familysearch.org; the Southern California Genealogical Society's 40th annual Jamboree will be held in Burbank, CA, on 26-28 June 2009, and its blog is online at www.genealogyjamboree.blogspot.com -- and a special guest speaker, Tukufu Zuberi of the PBS show, "History Detectives," will address the Friday evening banquet; the MyHeritage Genealogy Search Engine (www.MyHeritage.com) announces some newly released improvements; and Lisa Louise Cook of "The Genealogy Gens Podcast" (www.genealogygems.tv/Pages/Podcast/PodcastList.htm) announces the guest of the most recent episode of the podcast, Darby Hinton, who starred as Israel on the 1960s TV hit, "Daniel Boone." The episode also celebrates the podcast's second anniversary.

This week's listener email includes: Nancy in Ontario reported that she had a problem with the podcast loading in her Firefox Live Bookmark feed; Doug reminds us that the St. Albans Border Crossings immigration records reflect immigrations from Canada (and that St. Albans is in VT and not NH); Elliot asks for advice about what name to record when the surname changed over the centuries; Jane asked George for the name of his publish-on-demand resources, which is Lulu.com; Drew provided a resource for comparison of print-on-demand resources at http://mashable.com/2009/03/01/publish-book/; Joel Weintraub provides information about the origins of the 72-year privacy policy for U.S. federal censuses and his article on the subject at http://members.cox.net/census1940/; Bill discusses the fact that census images in the Ancestry.com and HeritageQuest Online databases are not the same; TC discusses the backups of genealogy files on Mozy.com; Gus recounts his experience of getting locked in a cemetery; Judy shares a follow-up story about storing photos on an external hard drive; Scott asks about the protocol for thanking helpful cemetery workers; Cheryl tells us that the 1935 and 1945 Florida census records are also available at the LDS pilot site at http://search.labs.familysearch.org, and that many records still need volunteers to help index them; Mary tells us that The Master Genealogist database software allows for the entry of GPS latitude and longitude coordinates on every event; Mac shares a service at http://www.mailstore.com/en that allows you to backup email from multiple email accounts and tools in one place; and Rollin asks for help with the definition of "freeman" as applied to Caucasians in 1600s New England colonial records.

George reviews two new products:


Suzanne Russo Adams, AG, has written a brilliant new book, Finding Your Italian Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide, published by Ancestry Publishing and available through the Ancestry.com Store. The book is filled with well-written explanations and discussions, and includes a wide variety of document and Internet site illustrations.

Listen to the podcast and find out more about these two excellent new products!

This week's news includes: Ancestry.com adds Abraham Lincoln Papers, New Orleans Slave manifests (1807-1860), Confederate Pension Applications from  Georgia, Confederate Applications for Presidential Pardons, and U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles; Ancestry.com also has reduced the prices of its DNA tests; FamilySearch is partnering with the Houston Public Library to digitize a vast collection of Gulf Coast records; NewspaperARCHIVE.com has announced a new column by Phyllis Matthews Ziller; a new, free online genealogy magazine has just been announced -- Genealogy In Time at http://www.genealogyintime.com; The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) has just announced the program for the 2009 Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas (2-5 September 2009) and has made the program and registration available at http://www.fgs.org/2009conference/; registration is also now open for the Association of Professional Genealogists' Professional Management Conference, to be held on 2 September 2009 in conjunction with the FGS Conference, and registration is also available at http://www.fgs.org/2009conference/; Wholly Genes, maker of The Master Genealogist software program, has announced its 5th annual conference, a "land cruise," to be held 26-30 August 2009 in Orkney Springs, Virginia, and information and registration is available at http://www.whollygenes.com/confregister.htm; George will appear at the Oregon Genealogical Society Conference in Eugene, Oregon, on 7 March 2009, and more information is available by calling the OGS Library at (541) 345-0399; NBC has announced that it will begin televising the U.S. version of the popular British program, "Who Do You Think You Are?"; the annual "Who Do You Think You Are?" genealogy conference will be held at Olympia, London, England, on 27 February to 1 March 2009; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has created a site at http://www.familyhistory.hhs.gov at which you can enter your medical genealogy for your family; the U.S. War Department papers (1784-1800) have been reconstituted and digitized, and can be found at http://www.wardepartmentpapers.org; and David Rumsey, active collector of historical maps and owner of the site, http://www.davidrumsey.com, has announced that he will be donating his collection of maps to Stanford University. In the meantime, there are more than 18,500 map images online at present, and plans are to add 3,000 to 5,000 images per year.

This week's listener email includes: Linda discusses Mozy indicators on files; Gus shares another back up resource -- Click Free at http://goclickfree.com/; Roger discusses New York state censuses (and using his iPod at the gym!); Paul discusses the problems he has working with Ancestry.com search results, and wishes that his own data and data without any source citations wouldn't show in searches; Pete discusses backups with Windows Home Server; HP's equivalent, and Acer's new product; Victoria provides an excellent idea for adding identifying information to your flash drive, in case it gets lost or forgotten in a library or archive; Valerie asked about what to expect at a local LDS Family History Center; Tom discovered a subsidiary collection of information at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library website titled "Boys in Blue," at http://www.alplm.org/library/boys_intro.html, and the site as a searchable database that references the library's  photographs of soldiers; and Rich shares a source for "the world's most secure flash drive" at https://www.ironkey.com/.

The Genealogy Guys broadcast "LIVE" from the Volusia-Flagler County Genealogical Society Conference in Daytona Beach, Florida. They take and respond to questions from the audience.

The podcast begins with The Guys talking about upcoming speaking engagements.

Drew discusses his recent trip to Salt Lake City, and describes Blogger's Day at Ancestry.com. Eight bloggers paid a visit to The Generations Network's data center, which houses the computer equipment for Ancestry.com, RootsWeb.com, and Genealogy.com. They then went to Provo to the company's offices and met with a number of the employees, and learned more about Ancestry.com's operations and plans.

Drew began the next segment by reading an email from John with his tips for visiting Salt Lake City and the Family History Library. Drew then describes the nearby Plaza Hotel accommodations and the FHL itself. He offers tips for people traveling to SLC for a library research visit. He stresses advance preparation, and offers information about the area.

This week's listener email includes: Chanda discusses cousin marriages; Sherry comments on her recent experience with Mozy, and Drew adds more -- about the need to specify uncommon file types to insure that they are backed up; Barbara reminds George that RootsMagic 3 does support the input of latitude and longitude coordinates in the database; Bill got our RSS feed for his WiFi radio working, and can now tune to our station on his radio to listen to the podcast; Marilyn was lookoing for the RSS feed URL on our website, and Drew told our listeners to look for the little RSS 2.0 box under Syndication on the right side of our webpage; Karen wrote to discuss the question, "What do I do with the 'stuff'?"; and Kay says, "I can't believe I listened to the whole thing!"

This week's news includes: Ancestry.com launches a new Florida State Census Collection (1867, 1875, 1935, and 1945); the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) announced that president J. Mark Lowe has resigned for personal reasons, and Vice President of Administration, Pat Oxley, has assumed the presidency; a Union County, Illinois group, Promoting Appreciation of Structural Treasures (PAST), is seeking to purchase the "House Where Lincoln Stayed" in Anna, Illinois, in 1858 when he was there to debate Stephen Douglas in one of the most historic political debates in U.S. History. Tax-deductible contributions can be made to PAST Lincoln House Project, Mona Diefenbach, 190 White Pine Lane, Anna, IL 62906.

Listener email this week included: Peter is concerned that searches in Ancestry.com for his family always include his own data at the top of the search results list, and believes that Ancestry.com should be able to mask or omit his own results; Virginia asked for clarification about ordering SS-5 applications for a Social Security Number, especially for deceased persons not in the SSDI; Roxanna shared a strong tip for researching in Salt Lake City; Scott wrote again to clarify his method for storing data at Ancestry.com and using his RootsMagic software; he also shared his excitement at having found old family photo albums and having found great information on the back of important photos; Sean recommends a product called SpinRite from Gibson Research Corporation (http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm) to help recover data from damaged magnetic storage media.

Drew discusses the crash of his desktop PC, and the steps he is taking to repair the hard disk and restore his data.

This week's news includes: The North Carolina Genealogical Society (NCGS) announces a workshop on 14 March 2009 with Craig Roberts Scott, CG, in New Bern, NC -- more information is available at the NCGS website at http://www.ncgenealogy.org/ (click the Calendar button); Science Daily has published an interesting article at this location; Tim Skinner, author of the Map My Ancestors program (http://www.familytreeassistant.com/), informs us that the program allows you to view your tree on Google Earth, Google Maps, and many GPS and SatNav devices; and Mike O'Laughlin has two new genealogy podcasts -- Irish Families enhanced podcast at http://www.irishroots.com/podcasten/rss.xml (free QuickTime player preferred) and Irish Roots Cafe video podcasts at http://www.irishroots.com/irishvideo/rss.xml (free iTunes player preferred).

This week's listener email includes: Marie found lots of Body/Bodi surnames in the FHL microfilm for Ottawa County, Ohio, birth records; Ian Towler shares information on another open source program, PhpGedView, at http://phpgedview.net/ that allows you to view and edit your genealogy on your website -- and Ian has shared the URL for his website (http://familytree.itowler.com/) that uses this program so that everyone can see what he was able to do with the software; and Michael Moore has begun a website and library called Bookscanned (at http://bookscanned.com/) which allows you to upload scanned pages of a book, such as a family history, and then he OCRs them, and then adds the image and the OCR text to a Web page -- and then a search engine can find the page; Scott tells us that (re: episode #159) that he maintains his family tree at Ancestry.com, and then downloads a GEDCOM file into his copy of RootsMagic genealogy software.

The Guys discuss Christmas traditions in their families and others over the years.

This week's news includes: Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, submitted his resignation to the President, effective 19 December 2008, citing health reasons for his decision; and FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org) just completed digitizing its 25,000th book. (Visit http://www.familysearch.org and click on Search Records and then on Historical Records.)

This week's listener email includes: Rich discusses how he used Windows Home Server to back up his data, and how he was able to use it when his son's hard drive failed; he also shared another website at which a small program can be downloaded for free that allows you to locate and use special characters -- It is at SourceForge at http://sourceforge.net/projects/allchars; Rollin wrote to clarify that support for adding GPS coordinates is available in the purchased Deluxe version of Legacy and not in the free Basic version; Rich in PA advised us that Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com/) has added the great facility to link parents and children, and spouses, to records there (using the Find A Grave Memorial number at the bottom of the left-hand column); he also shares another social networking site for book lovers called Shelfari (http://www.shelfari.com/), similar to LibraryThing (http://www.librarything.com); Claire shared an excellent census map resource at http://www.familyhistory101.com/map_census.html at which you will find maps for most U.S. states that you can use to see boundary changes for each of the census years; Tom shared a story from the Kansas City Star from 15 November 2008 [the story has been retired from their website] in which Linda K. Lewis was highlighted as having spent 5 years with volunteers documenting and photographing 40 of the 44 known cemeteries in Johnson County, KS -- and she has documented them all at http://cemetery.cottonhills.com/;  Tim asked for The Guys' opinions about using a genealogy database software program vs. Ancestry.com as a repository for his genealogy information; Rod in Australia shared an excellent interview from Australian Radio National regarding cousin marriage with Cathy Day, PhD researcher, School of Archaeology and Anthropology, ANU -- listen to it at http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lifematters/stories/2008/2426440.htm or click on the link above.

We have a new microphone cable for the mixer this week, and we hope that alleviates the stereo cut out problems. We are also sending out our logo as album art.

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This week's news includes: Footnote.com announces a new Interactive World War II Collection; The Generations Network, owner of Ancestry.com and other companies, announces the appointment of Howard Hochhauser as the new CFO; Ancestry.com's first World Archives Project Collection, Wisconsin Mortality Schedules, 1850-1880, has been completed; The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has announced two new awards to recognize significant achievements in genealogy research, based on records from the National Archives, and eligible applicants must attend a U.S. college or university; the Arizona State Archives (http://www.lib.az.us/archives/) has moved into the new, $29M Polly Rosenbaum Archives and History Building in Phoenix; and the Ohio Genealogical Society (http://www.ogs.org/) has reached its $2.5M funding goal to construct a new 18,000 square foot library in Bellville, Ohio, with construction beginning in early 2009.

This week's listener email included: Brian asked if there are online church records available for Northern Ireland, and Drew suggested the Ulster Historical Foundation site at http://www.ancestryireland.com/, a pay site; Brian also has started a family site at MyHeritage.com (http://www.myheritage.com/) and was concerned about privacy -- Drew found that you can log in, set up your site, and specify that it is a) a public site, b) a private site (for invited persons only to access), or c) a mixed site that is a combination of public information and private information that you define; Mike had asked for help locating his great-grandfather in the census prior to his marriage; Gus provided an excellent link to a website that shows the keyboard equivalents for UTF-8 special characters, at http://www.typeart.com/special_characters.asp; Rollin advises us that Legacy Family Tree software allows the recording of GPS coordinates; Peter advises us that Brother's Keeper software also allows recording of GPS information; Karen shares information about the importance of using small, hometown newspapers in your research; Bill asks for help with linking to the podcast using a WiFi radio, and Drew suggested the use of Reciva.com (https://www.reciva.com/); Jack shared information about communities and church membership, and about another look at researching the information; Russ shares information about the destination of Episcopalian records for a church that closes; and Jonathan discusses the transformation of maiden names down through the generations.

Drew discusses DNA mailing lists: the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (http://www.isogg.org/) has a free monthly email newsletter, as well as other resources at its site; and RootsWeb's DNA-Newbie mailing list is available for free subscription at http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/other/DNA/DNA-NEWBIE.html.

Drew also explains how a DNA paternity test works.

We apologize for the few cut-outs of stereo in this week's episode. We have replaced a damaged cable and should be fine in the future.

This week's news includes: Edna Parker, world's oldest woman, died in Shelbyville, Indiana, this week at age 115 years, 220 days; social networking site Genoom.com (http://www.genoom.com) announces the expansion of its international support for 17 languages; social networking site itsourtree.com has been renamed to dynastree (http://www.dynastree.com/); FamilySearch.org is seeking assistance with indexing projects, and you can learn more at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/indexing/frameset_indexing.asp - particularly Canadian and Norwegian censuses; Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com) has recently added more than 1100 U.S. city directories with more than 50M names; Calico Pie Limited, maker of the U.K.'s leading family history program, announces the forthcoming release of version 4 of its Family Historian program at http://family-historian.co.uk/; Library and Archives Canada (LAC) announces the launch of a new online database, Immigrants to Canada, accessible by clicking here; and FamilySearch.org has released more online courses.

George reviewed a book last week, and inadvertently misspelled the author's name. The book is Finding Your Chicago Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide to Family History in the City and Cook County, by Grace DuMelle, and published by Lake Claremont Press. My sincere apologies!

This week's listener email includes: John's confusing ancestral marriages for the Muson family; Sharon had questions about sources, and about resources for Tory ancestors [Listeners can weigh in on the topic]; Kathy asked about content in the Ancestry Publishing surname books, and she offers information about TinyUrl.com (http://tinyurl.com/); Deborah makes suggestions for your 2009 genealogy project; Peter tells us that a Palm OS handheld application for genealogy, MobileGenealogy, has been newly updated and is available at http://www.mobilegenealogy.com/ [Correction: MobileGenealogy is not a Palm OS application, but instead a website that discusses handheld genealogy applications.];Claire discusses the Shrubs app for iPhone, and she shares another excellent online newspaper application at the Library of Congress at Chronicling America (http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/); Beth shares an excellent and simple database program for Macintosh called Bento from FileMaker (http://filemaker.com/); Victoria asked for clarification of how George has been able to run RootsMagic, a Windows program, on his Mac; and Russ asked about how to handle the sourcing of a burial in his database.

This week's news includes: Sirius Innovations introduces a new genealogy website at http://www.siriusgenealogy.com/ "with a focus on using today's technology in documenting a family's history"; Ancestry.com has introduced the Ancestry Toolbar for use with your browser (IE or Firefox, ostensibly for Windows users only) to save photos and stories/text from the Web to your Ancestry Member Tree and more information and the free download can be found at http://landing.ancestry.com/toolbar/. George also has corrected his typo on the URL for the National Library of Australia, which  has launched Australia Newspapers at http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au. Please check it out!

George reviews the book, Finding Your Chicago Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide to Family History in the City and Cook County, by Grace DeMelle, and published by Lake Claremont Press. (The publisher has a number of additional excellent titles concerning the Chicago area.)

Listener email includes: Gus tells us that his mystery concerning his grandfather, Vere Preston Marsh, in Virginia, St. Louis County, Minnesota, has been solved and he now has a photo of the gravestone; Rich suggested that Gus check at Find A Grave and post a request for a volunteer to get that photo for him too (and I see that Gus has added a record for Vere already!); Tom advised us that the Rome [GA] Tribune-Herald newspaper is online and searchable; Linda responded to last week's podcast regarding the PDF version of Elizabeth Shown Mills' book, Evidence Explained, and the fact that it can be used on multiple computers; the Family History Library (FHL) has introduced five free video classes about English research [click here] and requests feedback on them; Tom asks for advice about treatment and preservation of a collection of moldy documents received from his great aunt; T.C. and Claire shared information about another iPhone application (app) for loading genealogy information onto your device -- it is FamViewer from Aster Software (http://www.astersoftware.biz/)and sells for $14.99 at the iTunes Store (iTunes for Mac and PC is a free download at http://www.apple.com and you can access the Tunes store through that software); Russ has published information on his blog concerning moving Family Tree Maker Version 16 (or earlier) from one computer to another with the new FTM 2009; Dave wrote to continue the discussion concerning primary vs. secondary sources; and Russ discusses church history.

This week's news includes: Ancestry.com launches the world's largest collection of Jewish documents; they also have added French collections at their Ancestry.fr site: Paris, France, & Vicinity Births, marriages, Deaths, marriage Banns -- AND -- to their UK site at http://www.ancestry.co.uk the UK incoming Passenger Lists (1878-1920); the National Library of Australia has launched Australia Newspapers at http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au; Ancestry.com has won the contract to digitize and host key collections from the London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) and the Guildhall Library, representing more than 500 years of records (more details of the content are available at http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/digitisation.htm); The National Archives (TNA) in the U.K. is using Digital Microfilm to make available remote access to four series of military records.

Drew announced that George's newest book, the second edition of The Official Guide to Ancestry.com, has just been released, and it is available at the Ancestry Store.

Drew shares "11 Creative Ways to Pay Homage to the Dead" from the Life Hackery blog at http://lifehackery.com/2008/11/03/life-26/.

This week's listener email includes: Sherry visited a courthouse to access her great-grandfather's probate file, and found that these records are being digitized and will then be thrown away. (She was given her great-grandfather's probate file.); Peter asked about the eBook of Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence Explained, and wants to know if it has Digital Rights Management [Listeners can respond if they know.]; Ian asked about how to cite a source using a location that no longer exists (i.e., Prussia); Gus reports on the status of his search for his grandfather, Vere Preston Marsh; "William comments on huge GEDCOMs on Ancestry.com, and asks about uploading his own research; Claire reports on a new iPhone application (app) that allows people to load a GEDCOM's contents to the iPhone and take it along (George is trying to get this loaded and will report back); Joel suggests that Barry's search in the 1900 U.S. federal census in Kentucky might be aided by using the new upload at http://search.labs.familysearch.org or at Stephen P. Morse's site at http://www.stevemorse.org/census/index.html; Russ asks questions concerning primary and secondary sources, and about using the "complete event;" and Sam shares his concerns about his grandmother's real name and the many spellings in different records throughout her life.

George reports the death on 1 November 2008 of singing sensation Yma Sumac at the estimated age of 86. Miss Sumac, born in Peru, had a phenomenal 6-octave singing voice and had a wonderful recording career in the 1950s and 1960s, and then a cabaret act in the 1970s and 1980s.

This week's news includes: Ancestry.com has renamed its self-publishing tool from AncestryPress to MyCanvas, and has also doubled its yearbook collection; ItsOurTree.com announced that its site (http://www.itsourtree.com/) can help predict male baldness through members' postings of family photographs; FamilyRelatives.com (http://familyrelatives.com/), a subscription website, has one of the largest collections of Irish records on the Internet, and they announced that they plan to add more than 10 million new records by the end of the year; Footnote.com (http://www.footnote.com) has begun to publish digitized and indexed Civil War Widows' Pension Files; the University of Michigan has announced that it has digitized and indexed 428 titles in its Michigan County Histories and Atlases Digitization Project, and the search template is available at http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/; and Geni.com (http://www.geni.com/) has announced enhanced search facilities and improved privacy at its website. Finally, the Wall Street Journal published an article on 22 October 2008 about University of Texas El Paso, librarian Claudia Rivers, who has formed an aggressive program to identify 50,000 photographs taken bythe closed Cassola photography studio. Check the WSJ site for an article published on that date titled, "In Old El Paso, This Detective Story Is Written in Pictures."

George announces that Ancestry.com has just received copies of his new book, the new second edition of The Official Guide to Ancestry.com in its warehouse the end of this past week. Ancestry.com's online store will be listing the book and advertising it for sale very soon.

George interviews Gary M. Smith and Diana Crissman Smith, two of his fellow speakers on the recent RootsMagic Cruise.

Listener email this week includes: a thank you and report from Pat (Ms. DNA Manners) about communicating with people with potential genetic genealogy matches; a question from Pattie concerning obtaining SS-5 applications for deceased relatives whose deaths predate the SSDI database; Drew responds to Ann about the Harvey Girls, and provides a link to the Harvey Girl Historical Society (http://www.oerm.org/pages/Harveygirls.html); Robert Reeve of VideoJug has contacted us to say that their website has more than 43,000 free videos, including a number concerning genealogy (located at http://www.videojug.com/tag/genealogy); Michael tells us about his Dutch genealogical research, and asks about the benefits of seeking genealogical certification; and Sandra asked for advice about how to organize the many family letters and other documents she has in her possession.

This week's news includes:Art Lassagne, founder of The Gold Bug (producer of AniMap software), died on 29 September 2008 at his home after a long battle with lung cancer; Ancestry.ca has published the Canadian Passenger Lists (1865-1935); the Godfrey Library (www.godfrey.org) of Middletown, CT, announced that its product, the online American Genealogical Biographical Index (AGBI), will no longer be available at Ancestry.com after the end of this year, but it will be available at the Godfrey Library and at World Vital Records (www.worldvitalrecords.com) beginning in January 2009; Northern Hills Software (www.northernhillssoftware.com) announces Pocket Genealogist Version 3.3 for Windows Mobile devices which includes support for multimedia; Summit County Ohio Probate Court received a grant to digitize and index to birth, marriage, and death records, and those records will be available at their website and those of their partners, Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, and the National Association of Government Archive and Records Administrators (NAGARA); the St. Petersburg Times in Florida has brought up it digital archives of more than 100 years of its newspapers (May 1901 through August 2007) and it is available at news.google.com/archivesearch (Users should type "St. Petersburg Times" before they enter their query terms.); Dick Eastman, of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter (blog.eogn.com), has announced the addition of Lloyd de Witt Bockstruck to the writing team at the enormously popular online publication [George also writes a weekly column for Dick]; and the free 12th annual Central Florida Family History Conference will be held on 25 October 2009 in Orlando, and more details are available at www.familyhistoryconference.org.

Listener email includes: Gus added this podcast to his site at www.macapart.com/gen; Jon asked for more information about portability of Family Tree Make 2009 on a flash drive (and Drew will report back); Russ recounts his search for his grandfather in the 1900 census and discusses names; Kevin reminded The Guys to remind our listeners to celebrate October as Family History Month and as Hispanic Heritage Month; Tim asked for suggestions concerning the best national or regional conferences to consider attending for a relative beginner; and Dee found a great online out-of-copyright map site at commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_maps.

George interviews Bruce Buzbee, creator of the RootsMagic genealogical database software. Bruce discusses this year's great cruise to the Mexican Riviera and talks about the upcoming release of RootsMagic Version 4, a complete rewrite of the software with many exciting new features and improvements.

Because I had to delete episode #152 and then re-upload it (to fix the missing interview), it's possible that some users who automatically download episodes using iTunes may not immediately see the corrected episode #152.  You may need to delete the flawed episode from your iTunes, and then refresh the Podcast so that a new copy is downloaded.  If you run into any problems with this, let me know.

Drew

It looks like I was able to fix the problem with the missing interview.  If you had already downloaded the bad version of episode #152, you should now be able to re-download it to get the corrected version.  Sorry about the extra hassle!

Drew

It appears that the interview with Ann Mitchell didn't properly get included in the podcast episode, so I've deleted the episode and will re-upload it with a corrected version.  Sorry for the problem!

Drew

Oops...I'm getting reports that there is a problem with the Ann Mitchell interview.  I'll try to figure out the problem. 

Drew

While George relaxes on a cruise ship off the Pacific coast of Mexico (ok, so he's doing some genealogy lecturing on the RootsMagic 2008 cruise), Drew handles the entire podcast himself (not even assisted by the cats). 

News items include the Louisiana Death Records Index for 1911-1956, a new partnering between 23andMe and Ancestry.com, GenealogyFreelancers.com (a new reverse auction company), the beta launch of Footnote's Footnote Pages service, the efforts by Google to digitize newspaper archives, the appointment of former eBay executive Eric Shoup as Ancestry.com's new Vice President of Product, the acquisition of Kindo by MyHeritage, the launch of Louis Kessler's new genealogy software review site GenSoftReviews, a site for those interested in access to Pennsylvania records (PaHR-Access), and Matt Combs' new "Surname Suggestion List" software.

Additional listener e-mail asks about the proper etiquette for following up possible DNA surname project matches, how to get episodes of the Genealogy Guys Podcast onto a Zune mp3 player, why episodes of the Genealogy Guys Podcast have changed genres from "Speech" to "Podcast", feedback on the pronunciation of "Scituate" in Massachusetts, a query about genealogy software that would work with both a Windows system and an iPhone, a question about genealogy software designed to work with the new familysearch.org family trees, how a subscriber to Ancestry.ca got a database access problem resolved quickly, and some feedback about the new music used during the Genealogy Guys Podcast.

Finally, Drew shares his interview with Ann Mitchell, Ancestry.com's expert on the new search facility, recorded at the recent Federation of Genealogical Societies' conference in Philly.

This week's news includes: The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) recognized genealogists with achievement awards at the FGS Conference in Philadelphia; FGS also recognized two outstanding awards at the same conference; The Genealogy Seminar at the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, IN, is holding Military Symposium 2008 on 26 and 27 September, with speaker Marie Varrelman Melchiori, CG, CL, from NARA; the PublicProfiler site (http://www.publicprofiler.org/worldnames/Main.aspx) allows you to enter a surname and view a map showing the distribution across the world and statistics.

Reader email this week includes: Loretta asks a question about the meaning of a tattoo; Sherry asks about locating older birth records in Texas and Indian Territory; Barb relates a story of how being in a particular place and time can inextricably alter your family history; and Barbara asks questions about Ancestry.com's World Archive Project. (Listen to the interview with The Generations Network's CEO, Tim Sullivan, in episode 150.)

Drew interviews J. Mark Lowe, CG, at the FGS Conference. Mark is a candidate for president of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS).

The Guys discuss the success of their local society's recent gala 50th anniversary banquet and annual Fall Seminar with Paula Stuart-Warren, CG.

A correction to last week's story about the death of a Confederate widow can be found in last week's show notes.

The news this week includes: an update about the collapsed project to digitise the UK's GRO's Birth, Marriage, and Death records from 1837 forward; the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) will be moving its office to a new home in central Belfast; the National Archives of Australia in Canberra plans to make almost all 7 million immigration records available online in the next several years (click here to learn more); and a new genealogy social network site, Genetree, is up and running at http://www.genetree.com.

This week's rich collection of listener email includes: Sharon's use of Bloglines.com to catch all of here URLs for her day's work; Valerie wrote to say she is 24 and a listener to the podcast (another young listener!); Laraine wrote to discuss her confusing marriage and birth situations for her Putnam family; Tom asked for opinions about when to prune the family tree; Betty asks about the benefits of subscribing to Genealogy.com, and The Guys ask for feedback from listeners; the Grand Traverse Genealogy Society has published a CD of cemeteries in its area at http://grandtraverseregion.com/gtags/cem_rural_flier.htm; The Guys' latest episode of "Down Under: Florida" is "The Miltons, and George's case study titled "The Milton Family Tragedy" has just been published in Family Chronicle Magazine; Michael shares information about his ancestor, John K. Zacherle, a TV horror show TV host from New York who was a candidate in the 1960 presidential election (listen to an MP3 of his campaign ad at http://www.zacherle.com/President.mp3); Gus reports that his niece, Alyssa Skalski, is possibly the youngest listener to this podcast at age 14; Rich asks about the inability to upload PDF files to the Ancestry.com famiy tree; Ben Sayer provides a terrific primer at his blof site (http://MacGenealogist.com) about secrets to digitally restoring family photos and uses one of Drew's treasured family photos as an example  (He uses iPhoto for Mac but there are certainly other excellent PC and Mac programs, but Ben provides an excellent overview.); Maureen discusses George's article for Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter titled "The Legacy of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic"; Roger (Marathon Man) discusses multimedia file usage in Family Tree Maker; and Sean shares an intensive blog article he wrote titled "10 Essential Steps to Protecting Your Family History Data".

Drew discusses the genealogical stories about Today Show hosts Meredith Vieira, Matt Lauer, and Al Roker with expert genealogist Maureen Taylor.

Don't miss joining us for our 150th Episode!

This week's news includes: Alberta Martin [Oops, correction, this should have been Maudie Hopkins], 93, the last widow of a Civil War veteran, died Monday, 18 August 2008, in a nursing home in Enterprise, Alabama; Footnote.com (http://www.footnote.com) has announced membership price increases effective 1 September 2008 ($11.95 per month or $69.95 annual membership); American scientists have studied 32 people who lived through the 1918 influenza pandemic and have found that antibodies in their blood still protect them against the virus; and The Genealogy Gems Podcast, hosted by Lisa Louise Cooke, celebrated its 50th episode with an interview with NPR Radio's Prairie Home Companion actor Tim Russell, and featured comments from other podcast hosts, including The Guys.

This week's listener email includes: the distinction between the words "immigration" and "emigration"; Patti opines about a family case in which mt-DNA testing might be used to refute the family myth that a female ancestor had Indian blood (and high cheekbones); more favorable comments about The Guys' newest episode of "Down Under: Florida" at RootsTelevision.com -- "The Miltons"; the oldest family tree dates back 3,000 years in the Lichtenstein Cave near Dorste, Lower Saxony, Germany, and Y-DNA samples taken from some of the 20 skeletons there have produced a match with 2 local villagers; Rich shares an interesting way of digitizing your photos in an article by David Pogue from the New York Times (click here to access the article); Kay asks George about his Cleveland (Bradley County) Tennessee connections; in the UK, a government-sponsored contracted project with German company Siemans to scan all of the birth, marriage, and death records in the GRO  has collapsed less than half way through; Sharon asks for suggestions on how to better organize and focus her research; Gus asks for suggestions for finding his grandfather's burial location in or near Virginia, Minnesota; and Jason believes that, at age 26, he may be our youngest listener, and he is interested in career opportunities in Genealogy.

Drew discusses his research into an Italian immigrant and his family members, and spelling variations that he uncovered.

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This episode is dedicated to our dear friend, Tom Ryder, who passed away today in Port Charlotte, Florida.

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This week's news includes: Ancestry.com extends its global reach to China with an exclusive partnership with the Shanghai Library - the new site is http://www.jiapu.cn; and Ancestry has also added extensive new content, including Bremen, Germany, ships and sailors databases (in German).

A new episode of "Down Under: Florida" has been released at RootsTelevision.com, starring The Guys. Click here to go directly to the episode about "The Miltons." Note: The Genealogy Guys Podcast's fans at Facebook.com got an email as soon as the new episode was released!

Listener email this week included: Roger (Marathon Man) shared information about school censuses and cited a database of these from Kent County, Michigan, at http://data.wmgs.org/SchoolCensus/ with samples to view; Confederate service records are available and accessible at Footnote.com (various states are still being added); Kay shared another family story about a son who acidently shot his father; a listener asked about how to locate Web pages that have disappeared, and The Guys provided some methods, including the use of the Wayback Machine (http://www.archive.org/), a part of the fascinating Internet Archive; Richard shares a response from the Millennium Corporation about available genealogy software it produces for mobile devices; the USCIS has established a new genealogy program for obtaining immigration and naturalization records, rather than requesting them through the Freedom of Information Office - click here to go to the USCIS site; Connor has compiled an index to newspaper records and asks advice for how to disseminate the information; Laraine writes about her experiences visiting her old hometown of Marietta, Ohio, and the importance of citing sources; the Fulton County Genealogical Society has a new home for its genealogy collection in the Evergreen Community Library in Metamora, Ohio.

In last week's episode, George reviewed a new book by Timothy N. Pinnick, Finding and Using African American Newspapers. Unfortunately, he included an incorrect URL for Tim Pinnick's website. It should have been http://www.blackcoalminerheritage.net. It's been corrected in last week's show notes, but please visit his site for details about the great little book.

Drew discusses his new volunteer assignment as editor of the Federation of Genealogical Societies' Delegate Digest, an monthly email newsletter sent to the delegates of FGS member societies. This is a great benefit to having your society be a member of FGS.

Drew also discusses CAPTCHAs (corrected spelling), the images containing letters and numbers that we all type in at Web sites to provide security from hackers. People are now working with OCR'd books to interpret problem characters and making the indexes correct.

This week's news includes: archaeologists are actively working to locate the identities of everyone interred at Fairview Cemetery, an African American cemetery in Staunton, Virginia; DNA Heritage (http://www.dnaheritage.com/) has succeeded in overcoming a patent claim in the U.K. that will allow them to continue providing genetic genealogy testing; Tribal Junction (http://www.tribaljunction.com/) has announced a new social networking and genealogy connections site; Synium Software (http://www.synium.de), makers of MacFamilyTree software, has announced the release of MobileFamilyTree, an app for Apple iPhone and iPod Touch products -- the app is $4.99 at the Apple iTunes store (http://www.itunes.com); Leister Productions (http://www.leisterpro.com/), makers of Reunion genealogy software, has announced that it is working on a version of Reunion for the iPhone and iPod Touch and, when ready, will offer it as an app in the iTunes store; Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/) and the Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov) have been collaborating with a project called "The Commons" at http://www.flickr.com/commons/ where people can view photos, comment on them, and tag them. The Commons provides access to the LOC collection and more are being added, making this a premier destination on the web.

Digital Genealogist, a terrific online e-zine, is published 6 times a year and delivered to your e-mailbox in PDF format. Both of The Guys write articles for DG and are joined by some of the greatest, most technology knowledgeable people in the genealogy community. Learn more at http://www.digitalgenealogist.com/.

Our listener email this week includes: Tim Skinner, whose e-mail we read on episode #143 (7/7) concerning using Google Maps to trace ancestors' movements, wrote again to ask us to share the Web address (http://www.familytreeassistant.com) for his software, Map My Ancestors; Judy wrote to ask about the wisdom of adding digitized photos to Family Tree Maker and other programs; Michelle asked if NARA had information about substitute soldiers for both the Union and Confederate armies; Tim wrote about he availability of genealogy-specific back-up sites; Bill also wrote to tell us that FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org) has published Ohio Death Records (1905-1953) in their Record Search Pilot; Patti reports that she has been working on the Home Study Course offered by the National Genealogical Society and that, as a result of refocusing on her source citations, she has made a huge breakthrough AND has been doing the Genealogy Happy Dance; and Sharon is a new fan and asked for The Guys' recommendations for the best genealogy database software program.

Joel Weintraub, an association of Steve Morse and the One Step Website, wrote to describe another technique for digitizing microfilm.  View the article at Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter of 19 February and please read the comments, especially those of Joel's.

George reviewed a great new book by Timothy N. Pinnick, Finding and Using African American Newspapers. George has been aggressively promoting the addition of African American newspapers and publications to libraries' and archives' collections. The John F. Germany Public Library has been trying to obtain copies of African American newspapers on microfilm and microfilm from the University of Florida's libraries in Gainesville, and has met with resistance and refusal for several years. I and other people believe that the hoarding of such materials and refusing to allow for replication (at the JFG's offered expense) is an unconscionable act that prevents the open access of information to the originating community. Tim Pinnick's book is an excellent reference for every genealogical library collection and for every African-ancestored individual who seeks to learn more about his or her ancestors' records as included in newspapers. More information and an extract of the book are available at Tim Pinnick's website at http://www.blackcoalminerheritage.net and atGregath Publishing Company at http://www.gregathcompany.com/. Congratulations, Tim, on a very fine addition to our reference resources!

The Guys talked about three conferences at which you can meet one or both of them.

1. The Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference will take place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 3-6 September 2008. Online registrations end on 22 August 2008 but registrations will continue on-site at the conference. Look at http://www.fgsconference.org/rebate/ to learn about society discounts when multiple members of your society attend!
2. The Florida Genealogical Society (Tampa) will celebrate its 50th Anniversary with a full-day Fall Seminar with the fabulous Paula Stuart-Warren giving four excellent lectures. Paula is a master genealogical researcher, author, and speaker. She also will provide the dinner speech at the Gala 50th Anniversary Banquet the night before. (Seating is limited.) For more information, please visit the FGS Tampa website at http://fgstampa.org.
   
3. The Florida State Genealogical Society will hold its annual conference on 14 and 15 November at the Sheraton - Orlando North  in Maitland, Florida. The featured speaker is Jana Sloan Broglin, vice president of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, author, and nationally-recognized genealogical expert and speaker. Ms. Broglin will be joined by The Guys and 5 other great speakers for a wonderful two-day genealogical conference. For more information, please visit http://www.flsgs.org/.
   

Stay tuned for The Guys' 150th episode in just a few weeks. We have some surprises for that episode!

This week's news includes: FamilySearch and Ancestry.com team up to publish new images and enhanced indexes to the U.S. federal censuses; Ancestry.com announces a number of new databases and upgraded collections; GeneTree (http://www.genetree.com) adds a Y-chromosome testing option to its site; Geni.com (http://www.geni.com) announces the addition of a new and private video-sharing option for families at its site; and Modern Genealogy president, Jeromy L. Walsh, thanks The Guys for announcing their forthcoming beta test of their new genealogy database software, and he restated the company's commitment to having users involved in developing and testing their program.

Listener email this week includes: an inquiry concerning the availability of genealogy software for the Blackberry; a reminder of how to access, play, and download our previous podcasts (using the POD icon to the left of each episode's title); several emails from listeners telling George about the availability of Ohio Death Certificates (1908-1953) at the FamilySearch Labs site (http://search.labs.familysearch.org/); a discussion of a genealogy filing system by source; using an iPod shuffle (~ $40) vs. a more expensive player when mowing the lawn and listening to the podcast; and a discussion of why some stores with photocopy facilities will not copy (or allow copying) of photographs.

George announces that the third episode of RootsTelevision.com's series, Down Under: Florida with The Genealogy Guys will be debuting in mid-August. In tandem with its premiere, George has written a case study, "The Milton Family Tragedy," for Family Chronicle Magazine. The issue containing this article will appear on newsstands at about the same time in August. The story describes the behind-the-scenes research involved in filming the story, and it includes a couple of additional surprises.

George discusses the Asus Eee PC, a small PC loaded with Windows XP, that is lightweight, fully functional, and has Wi-Fi. You can take this little gem with you almost everywhere with your entire genealogy database and all the multimedia resources. The price makes this little PC a very attractive item. Visit AsusTEK at http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=24&l2=164 for more details, and then use your favorite search engine to search for "asus eee" to locate the best place and lowest price to purchase.

Drew recommends that subscribers to genealogy mailing lists be sure to use a "plain text" setting in their e-mail software in order to prevent strange characters appearing in their messages.  He also describes his experiences in using microform equipment that scans an image for use in e-mailing or saving to a USB flash drive (instead of printing the image).

Drew discusses a book he is reading: Brittania's Children: Emigration from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales Since 1600, by Eric Richards.

This week's news includes: Abraham Lincoln's ancestry is questioned; Ancestry.com announces new databases, including WI Death Index (1959-1997), NC Death Certificates (1909-1975), TN Divorces (1800-1865), and U.S. Colored Troops Service Records (Civil War); The Florida Genealogical Society (Tampa) celebrates its 50th anniversary; Modern Genealogy (http://www.moderngenealogy.com) announces a new database for Windows XP and Vista and invites people to assist as beta testers; Genlighten (http://www.genlighten.com) is building a network of people to look up and obtain copies of documents at a reasonable cost; FamilyRelatives.com (http://www.familyrelatives.com/) has added lots of new British Isles trade and court directories to its site; The National Archives (TNA) in the U.K. has completed renovations and has reorganized its facility to accommodate the addition of the Family Records Centre materials, and urges people to check out the changes at their site at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/; the National Library of Ireland (http://www.nli.ie) has unveiled a new exhibition about William Butler Yeats and a virtual tour can be viewed at their website; and Microsoft has anounced the closure of its Live Search Books project.

Listener email this week includes: How does one become a doctor in 5 years or less?; using the My Maps feature of  Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/) to trace and map your ancestors' movements; Helen Parkhurst of the World Burial Index (http://www.worldburialindex.com) shares information about this subscription database for searching cemetery monumental inscriptions across England and elsewhere; a discussion of people listed multiple times on the census -- and an example with Amelia Earhart; tracing substitute soldiers and the men in whose stead they fought; the National Geographic Genographic Project; origins of unusual first names; how will same sex marriages change genealogy and software; and the delights of moving to broadband.

There are a number of genealogy software packages for PDAs and SmartPhones that run the Palm or WindowsMobile operating systems. These allow you to load your genealogy data files on the devices and take it with you. George and Drew issue a challenge to software developers to provide the equivalent software apps (applications) for the Apple iPhone and for Blackberry devices.

Natalie of Ogden, Utah, provided the following weblinks for all our listeners:

1. Western States Marriage Record Index (abish.byui.edu/specialcollections/westernstates/search.cfm)
2. Free Birth & Death Certificates for Arizona (genealogy.az.gov)
   
3. Utah Digital Newspapers (www.lib.utah.edu/digital/unews/)
4. Illinois Statewide Death Index (www.ilsos.gov/GenealogyMWeb/idphdeathsrch.html)
   

This week's news includes: George Washington's boyhood home is found; and new features are unveiled at MyHeritage (http://www.myheritage.com).

Listener e-mail includes: a recap about Henri Guest Scott and the Scott family; Panoramio (http://www.panoramio.com) allows you to place photos on Google Earth and Google Maps; Laraine got a headstone for her great-grandfather and gained information from a cousin; Carolyn sought help with locating her great-grandmother and Drew addresses some possibilities; our friend Jeane sent was contacted about a family bible on eBay and, while she lost the bid, she made an invaluable connection with another researcher; JoAnne Rockower of Geni.com (http://www.geni.com) e-mailed about our time together in California; and The Guys received a great spreadsheet of past podcasts' links and will be evaluating them for use on the website.

The Guys discuss the terrific Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree in Burbank. They begin with a fascinating interview with Karie Bible, our guide for a fascinating tour of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. (Look for Karie at http://www.cemeterytour.com.) And listen afterwards for what Karie does every August 23rd at 12:10 PM! Wow!

Jamboree included terrific presentations, meals, and enjoyable activities. George participated in the Blogger Summit with some new and old friends. Listen to more about it.

Enjoy Sharyn's terrific and enjoyable song from Jamboree.

Finally, The Guys discuss changing over to FIOS, and Drew reports that HP has finally sent him the memory they owed him for his replacement tablet PC.

This week's news includes: the new Midwest Genealogy Center in Independence, Missouri, opened on 21 June; Footnote.com has announced a new, popular, and forthcoming database titles; Synium Software (http://www.synium.de/products/index.html) announces the new version 5.2 of its MacFamilyTree software which includes a 3-D family tree view; Geni.com (http://www.geni.com/home) announced that it has increased its GEDCOM file support to 15,000 individuals.

Listener e-mail includes: a question about the availability of a consolidated list of all of The Guys' podcast links (not available); more comments and suggestions for George, who recently switched from a PC to a Mac; Drew discusses an article in the April 2008 edition of Smithsonian Magazine titled "To Catch a Thief"; forensic genealogy and author Colleen Fitzpatrick; RootsTelevision.com is seeking volunteer case coordinators for its "Unclaimed Persons" project.

The Guys discuss the situation in which the State of California's Department of Public Health' Laboratory Field Services Office issued 13 cease-and-desist letters to biotech companies in that state performing clinical DNA testing. These are NOT related to the DNA marker tests that genealogists obtain for research purposes, and none of those testing services was included in this action.

The Guys announce their new Facebook site for fans of "The Genealogy Guys Podcast".

Drew discusses Ahnentafels, also known as the Sosa-Stradonitz System, for genealogical numbering and reporting.

There will be no podcast next week as The Guys will be in Burbank, California participating at the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree.

This week's news includes: Ancestry.com announces the doubling of its digitized newspaper collection; and Genealogy Online, Inc., announces that a new online edition of Everton's Genealogical Helper will debut on July 1st, with more details available at  www.everton.com.

This week's listener e-mail includes: congratulations and comments for George concerning his new iMac; opinions about genealogy add-ons; and a question concerning newspapers.

Drew discusses his research experiences into the "Unclaimed Persons" project started by RootsTelevision.com. Look for "Unclaimed Persons" on facebook.com for information and open cases.

The Guys discuss the availability of digitized newspaper resources and how to access them.

This week's news includes: Genclass.com (http://genclass.com/) partners with Familylink.com (http://www.familylink.com/) to offer two free genealogy classes at WorldVitalRecords.com (http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/); APG names Michael Melendez of Fullerton, CA, as the first recipient of the Young Professional Scholarship; Millenia Corp. announces that new Legacy Family Tree version 7.0 is now available; construction delays at the new Midwest Genealogy Center in Independence, MO, postpone preservationists' tour; Moorshead Magazines, Ltd., publishers of Family Chronicle, Internet Genealogy, and Discovering Family History, has issued a call for old military uniform photos for a tentative book to cover the U.S. Civil War through the Mexican-American War and through World War I (no WWII) - submission details are available at http://familychronicle.com/militaryphotos.htm; Stonehenge has been found to have been a burial ground from 3,000 to 2,500 B.C.; a new genealogy centre has opened in Dinfermline, Scotland; Ancestry.co.uk has released a new database of 8.9 million "free settlers" to Australia; and the True Lover's Knot" discussed here has been published in Real Simple magazine and online here.

Listener e-mail includes: an inquiry about accessing The Guys' Down Under: Florida videos at RootsTelevision.com; the different pronunciations of "Beaufort" in North Carolina and South Carolina; The History of Mecklenburg County, NC by J.B. Alexander, published in 1901, has been reprinted by Clearfield Company (at http://www.genealogical.com); whether to city every source you  work with, and a response from Elizabeth Shown Mills' book, Evidence Explained; Ancestry.com continues its free ethnic research training webinars series; a question about searching the LDS Family History Library catalog; a question about citing websites and using the "www." in the typed address; the Algonquin Area Public Library is beginning a series of training lessons about Web 2.0 at http://community.ahml.info/bakersdozen/; and Mark Tucker, author of ThinkGenealogy.com blog (http://www.thinkgenealogy.com) is seeking feedback as to whether he should evolve his site into a community site, and invites you to visit his Mission Statement proposal and make comments.

George reveals that he has just purchased an iMac and refused to migrate to Vista on his PC. The Guys talk about using different computer platforms and operating systems, and George will report back on his experience in future podcasts.

The news this week includes: a new series at RootsTelevision.com titled Unclaimed Persons which the producers hope will raise awareness of the problem of unclaimed bodies and encourage viewers to help; Ancestry.com announces a series of free Ethnic Webinars, beginning June 3rd, to help you with researching your ancestry (click here to register); vandals wreak havoc and destroying monuments in a Riverview, Florida, cemetery; and MyHeritage Research (http://www.myheritage.com/research) announces the upgrade of its unique search engine.

George announces conference venues at which he and/or Drew will be appearing soon: Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree (27-29 June - http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/2008jam-index.htm with G&D); RootsMagic Cruise (28 September to 5 October - http://www.rootsmagiccruise.com/ with G; South Orange County California Genealogical Society (18 October - http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~casoccgs/ with G); and the Florida State Genealogical Society (14-15 November - http://www.flsgs.org/ with G&D).

The poem mentioned mentioned in Episode #137 was identified as "Voices from the Past" by Adelaide Ann Proctor (1825-1864).

Listener e-mail includes: a new online citation tool at Zotero.com; a discussion of the availability of Ancestry.com at Family History Centers and the Family History Library; information about the Army Heritage Education Center outside Carlisle, Pennsylvania; and a problem with duplicate individuals appearing in the personal MyAncestry family tree view.

Drew talks about finding a new record type: an Alcoholic Beverage Control License.

News this week includes: FamilySearch teams with FamilyLink.com to bring online  the Brenner Collection of German records (1650-1875) with more than 3.5 million names and between 900,000 and 1.5 million images; and Ancestry.com announces plans for massive additions in global content and new geographical locations, including a Chinese site with Chinese Jaipu and a Spanish-language site.

George shares a special Ancestry.com web page that specifically contains the list of all the NARA microfilm collections that have been digitized and indexed. The site is at http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/nara.aspx and contains a search template for searching these specific databases. There is a complete list of the databases which you can access and search individually. George recommends bookmarking this site!

The Guys talk about some collaborative research they helped a friend with. It concerned identifying the names of the two casualties of the explosion of the ship, Ophir, in the port of Gibraltar on 11 November 1918. In the process, an interesting story about the explosion is discovered.

The Guys discuss in detail the "Brave New World of Genealogical Research" that has evolved in the last several years.

This week's news includes: Geni, Inc. (geni.com) announces the new functional availability for users to upload GEDCOM files; FamilyLink.com (familylink.com) announces its partnership with FamilySearch to add new functions to the Family History Library Catalog, making it searchable by Internet search engines and allowing users to annotate entries; Footnote.com (footnote.com) announces the addition of the 1860 U.S. Federal Census to its Civil War Collection; and the Social Security Administration has released its list of the most popular baby names for 2007.

Listener e-mail topics include: a family listed twice on the 1880 U.S. federal census -- in two enumeration districts; observations about the embedded player at "The Genealogy Guys Podcast" site; Drew discusses his findings in the 1910 and 1920 censuses for a Black Seminole family in Escambia County, Florida; and George responds to an inquiry about web sites to which photos of WWII service personnel can be uploaded and accessed by family members. George cited Dead Fred (http://www.deadfred.com), Ancestors Lost and Found (http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/ancestors/), and Honoring Our Ancestors (http://www.honoringourancestors.com/library_orphan.html).

George shares news about three web sites of interest to listeners:

1. Cyndi's List has a new page of Free Stuff at http://www.cyndislist.com/freestuff.htm that includes forms, free databases, software and more.
2. The Scottish Screen Archive at http://ssa.nls.uk is Scotland's moving images collection with more than 100 years of Scottish history and culture on film and video.
3. The Roscommon Historical Research site at http://www.roscommonhistory.ie has a great deal of genealogical material. Also check http://www.leitrim-roscommon.com.
   

The Guys share a poem and encourage any responses by listeners as to its origins.

The Guys discuss how they have used PowerPoint to create a presentation for a memorial service. The process can be used for heritage presentations, family reunions, anniversary celebrations, and many other genealogical projects.

This week's news includes: the Vatican has issued a letter instructing all dioceses not to give any information to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, due to concerns about the Mormons' practice of posthumous rebaptism; a new Midwest Genealogy Center (see http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/genlh/mgc.htm) will open in Independence, Missouri, on 21 June 2008 with the largest collection of genealogical materials in the U.S.; DNA links have been found from the ancient "iceman" found in British Columbia in 1999 to at least 17 living people; an American couple touring in Germany visited a gasthaus in Binningen and were introduced to a relative -- a man who looked exactly like the husband. The men shared the same great-great grandfather.

Listen e-mail included: loss of HeritageQuest Online in the Satellite Beach, Florida, library; a thank you for our discussions of the Mozy (http://mozy.com/) computer backup facility; Catholic parish family books (Familienbuecher) in Germany; suggestions for locating information about Black Seminole people (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Seminoles and Seminole & Apalachicola Indian Records); a listener asks for help when his own DNA and that of his family members disagrees; teaching genealogy to and for kids; the occupation of "vanman" is defined; and the origins of the surname Turtle are discussed. [Drew referred to the book, A Dictionary of English Surnames: The Standard Guide to English Surnames by P.H. Reaney and R.M. Wilson, published by OxforndUniversity Press in 1995.]

George discusses the practical use of DNA in conjunction with genealogy, archeology, and geography in the research of the Lost Colony Center for Science and Research (http://www.lost-colony.com/). The "Lost Colony" was the second settlement on Roanoke Island on the Outer Banks of what is now North Carolina. It began in 1587 and it was there that Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the New World, was born on 18 August 1587. When the relief ships finally returned from England in 1590, the settlement was deserted, and a single word -- "Croaton" -- was carved into a post of the fort. Croaton was the name of one of the local Indian tribes. One suggestion is that the settlers were assimilated into one or more of the three tribes. The DNA testing and analysis being done by the Lost Colony Center for Science and Research is seeking to validate or refute this hypothesis, and the project is infinitely interesting.

News this week includees: Geni.com (http://www.geni.com/) announces new features, including a family timeline, posted links, send gifts, and the family Forest; Progeny Software offers its Charting Companion software to produce great-looking charts in color and with photos -- click here for more information; and the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, is presenting a Military Symposium 2008 on September 26 & 27, 2008, with guest speaker Marie Varrelman Melchiori, CG, CGL, and more information is available from Genealogy@ACPL.info.

The Guys responded to listener e-mail: Find-a-Grave (http://www.findagrave.com/) does include graves in the UK and other countries; locating the physical address for a rural postal box in 1935; more about the downloadable PDF file at http://www.thegeneticgenealogist.com about what to do with the results of your genealogy test; Catholic priest's census records; findings in old address books; another look at Chicago Public Radio's March 14th podcast about the kidnapping of Bobby Dunbar; an article titled "To Catch a Thief" at Smithsonian.com (click here to the exact location) tells how Civil war buffs got onto the trail of stolen documents; and Drew discusses uninterruptable power supply (UPS) units.

In the News, The Guys review two new publications: Hookers, Crooks, and Kooks by Jana Sloan Broglin, and Kisses from a Distance by Raff Ellis. A baby's tombstone from 1894 is discovered on a houseboat in Charleston, SC.

George responds to a request about deed platting software: DeedMapper from Direct Line Software (http://www.directlinesoftware.com) sells for $99.00, while a free online deed platting tool is available for use at http://www.genealogytools.net. Drew follows up regarding the use of a final 'e' at the end of some surnames, such as Greene.

Chicago Public Radio's series, This American Life, has an interesting episode from 14 March 2008 titled "The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar" available as a podcast at http://thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1234. It is a terrific story!

Drew talks about the term "countryman" and its origins. He then discusses ordnance maps and their use. George suggests copying online obituaries from newspapers and from funeral homes' Web sites and from their online guest books. The Guys end the show with a discussion of church directories and church bulletins.

This week's news includes the following: Ancestry.com launches the Drouin Collection of 29 million French-Canadian names from, ultimately to include 37M names by mid-2008; Ancestry.com also launched the Former Colonial Dependencies Slave Register Collection, 1812-1834; RootsMagic has extended the early Bird Registration for this year's genealogy cruise to April 30th (see http://www.RootsMagicCruise.com); Wholly Genes has announced its genealogy cruise line-up (see http://www.WhollyGenes.com/cruise.htm); the My Genealogy toolbar is free and helpful for those researching their UK ancestors, and is at http://www.usefultoolbars.co.uk; and the National History Show will be held May 2-4, 2008, in Olympia, London, UK (see http://www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.co.uk for information and tickets.)

The Genealogy Guys appear in their second episode of Down Under: Florida at RootsTelevision.com. Click here to see the new feature about famed Ringling Brothers circus performers, The Flying Zacchinis. You'll love it!

Listeners share lots of great information, including: "Catholic: Under the Hood" videocast about the Sicily-Rome Cemetery, resting place of WWII soldiers; print labels for your family heritage CDs and DVDs using Light Scribe software and disks (http://www.lightscribe.com/); search the Web site for the funeral home that recently handled arrangements for an individual -- they often have more detailed obituaries than the newspapers, guest books, and even photographs; a suggested reference for understanding land records and land platting is E. Wade Hone's book, Land and Property Research in the United States (Ancestry Publishing); The Guys offer tips for breaking through brick walls; and George responds to a request about his research on his great-uncle, Brisco Washington Holder.

George reviews and recommends three books:

Capturing Memories: Your family Story in Photographs by Maureen A. Taylor (Ancestry Publishing: 2007)

Bibliographic Checklist of African American Newspapers by Barbara K. Henritze (Genealogical Publishing Co./Clearfield Company: 1995 and Reprinted 2008)

Bad Baby Names by Michael Sherrod and Mathew Raybeck. (Ancestry Publishing: 2008)

The Genealogy Guys Podcast will take a short break while the Guys enjoy a Caribbean cruise with family and friends.  We'll be back the week of April 14!

Drew addresses proving relationships using mitochondrial DNA. He then discusses two genealogical books on the subject of DNA. They are: DNA & Genealogy by Colleen Fitzpatrick and Andrew Yeiser (published in 2005 by Rice Book Press) and Family History in the Genes by Chris Pomery (published in 2007 by The National Archives in Kew, Richmond, Surrey). Both are available through Amazon.com.

This week’s news stories include: Roots Television at http://www.rootstelevision.com has won four Telly Awards in its first year in business; the National Genealogical Society has announced the appointment of Pamela K. Boyer, CG, CGL, its Education and Publications Director; and WorldVitalRecords.com (http://www.worldvitalrecords.com) has added 300 new databases from the Godfrey Memorial Library and will add 300 more each week this month.

Listener e-mail includes discussions concerning: “The Vision of Britain? system holds the full text of three 19^th century gazetteers at http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/index.jsp; LDS Family History Center personnel can provide expert advice to you before you reach the point of hiring a professional researcher; a listener asks for opinions about the National Genealogical Society’s online course, “Introduction to Genealogy?; genealogy of U.S. presidential candidates is a topic of worldwide discussions; another recommendation is made for creating CDs/DVDs of family history information; the recessive gene responsible for red hair is declining and is expected to be obsolete by 2100; Arphax Publishing Company publishes excellent quality family maps by state and county, and can be found at http://www.arphax.com; and additional information about District of Columbia records is offered.

 

This week’s news includes: NBC has purchased rights to create an American version of the popular BBC reality series, Who Do You Think You Are?; NARA recently announced the availability of nearly 9 million WWII U.S. Army enlistment records at its Web site, but be aware that there were many records that could not be scanned – and the collection is therefore incomplete; Sen. John McCain’s new book, Hard Call, indicates his descent from Scottish heroic warrior Robert the Bruce, but the claim has been termed “baloney? in the British press by professional genealogists; Jacksonville Public Library in Florida has begun an “ASK a Librarian? online chat service; I.R.I,S., Inc., (at http://www.irislink.com) has two new portable scanners of note.

Listener e-mail topics this week include: Genealogical Publishing Company’s new CD by Michael Hait, titled The Family History Research Toolkit, has PDF format forms into which you can type information or use the forms for transcription purposes ($19.95 USD); a discussion of professional research services and researchers (Board for Certification of Genealogists at http://www.bcgcertification.org/ and the Association of Professional Genealogists at http://www.apgen.org/ and the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists at http://www.icapgen.org/) are three resources); missing census images at Ancestry.com were reported through the online Help facility and will be handled; a question about searching databases that are added to sites incrementally, and not wasting your time doing the same searches on the same data; an early pilot of the LDS’ online databases is available at http://search.labs.familysearch.org; use of Google’s My Map feature to create maps of cemeteries and other locations in a specific area; scanning photos using Google’s Picasa feature; Washington, DC, records storage repositories for that jurisdiction; and issues concerning placing one’s genealogical data online.

In this week’s news: NARA (http://www.archives.gov) posts free passenger lists online, including Russian, Italian, and German lists to east coast ports; 1871 England and Wales census images are now complete on British Origins (http://www.britishorigins.com); The Generations Network, Inc. (http://www.tgn.com), parent of Ancestry.com, RootsWeb, Genealogy.com, and other entities, announced that they will move RootsWeb onto the Ancestry.com domain, using http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com, and that there should be no changes to the online experience of users – and that RootsWeb will continue to be free; and WorldVitalRecords.com (http://www.worldvitalrecords.com) now has over 1 billion names at its site.

The Guys respond to many listener e-mail topics: the correct pronunciation of Haaretz, the largest newspaper in Israel which is beginning a new start-up genealogy social network, is ‘Hah-AH-retz’, which is Hebrew for “The Land.?; university databases and the possibility of accessing them remotely; missing census page images at Ancestry.com for Decatur County, Indiana; the availability of the 1846 Slater’s Commercial Directory of Ireland at http://failteromhat.com/slater.htm.

The Guys continue discussing listener e-mail about DNA and Drew continues his discussion of the topic to try to educate us all.

George delivers a lot of news this week: the New England Historic and Genealogical Society (http://www.newenglandancestors..org) has received a large gift of photographs from the family of Thaxter Spencer, including an unknown 1888 photo of Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan; the Library of Congress’s digital preservation program has a new e-mail newsletter and you can subscribe by clicking here; NARA is soliciting comments from the public by 9 April 2008 regarding a proposal to enter into a non-exclusive agreement with The Generations Network, Inc., owners of Ancestry.com, to digitize and expand access to record holdings in NARA’s custody (see http://www.archives.gov/comment/tgn-preamble.html); Dublin’s Glasnevin Cemetery’s registers are about to be placed on the Internet, and more information is available at http://www.cigo.ie; Genealogical Publishing Company (http://www.genealogical.com) has partnered with FamilyLink.com, Inc. (http://www.familylink.com) to make their databases available on WorldVitalRecords.com (http://www.worldvitalrecords.com); Haaretx, Inc. (http://www.haaretz.com/) announced with Famillion (http://www.famillion.com) the launch of a new genealogy and social network search engine aimed at connecting the Jewish people worldwide; MyGreatBigFamily.com (http://www.mygreatbigfamily.com) launches enhanced social networking websites for families; GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com) has added the first 20 Hispanic newspaper titles for 4 states to its online historic newspaper collection, covering the period from 1855 to 1956, and will add many more, ultimately covering the period 1808 to 1980; an ID thief is caught and imprisoned in New Zealand for fraud in the theft of thousands of dollars in student loans for deceased children whose birth certificates he had obtained.

The Guys read and respond to listener e-mail on many topics: George misread the URL for the multimedia presentation software called Passage Express (which should be http://www.passageexpress.com); a listener and the Web Marketing Director of NewspaperArchive.com provided information about and a free trial of their site at http://www.newspaperarchive.com; information is shared about the HP MediaSmart Server for compact file backups and extensive hard drive installation; a free site to convert files into other formats is available at http://www.youconvertit.com); the True Lover’s Knot will be featured in the May issue of Real Simple magazine (http://www.realsimple.com); Newberry Library in Chicago is working on a project to document and then digitize all state and county boundary changes in its Atlas of Historic County Boundaries Project (AHCBP) and has 23 states available online at http://www.newberry.org/ahcbp/; a listener shared the image of an 1880 census Enumerator’s Daily Report to Census Office form that he purchases on eBay; and one listener shared information about her ancestry and, in particular, shared her related photos that she has uploaded to the Shutterfly photograph file sharing site at http://www.shutterfly.com.

The Guys continued with listener e-mail on the subject of genealogical DNA testing and will continue next week again with another descriptive discussion.

This week's news includes: condolences to the family of Chuck Knuthson, a great genealogical speaker, researcher, and former board member of FGS, GSG, and other organizations; Halvor Moorshead, head of Moorshead Magazines [Family Chronicle, History Magazine, Internet Genealogy, and the new Discovering Family History] is retiring and has sold the company to staff members Ed Zapletal and Rick Cree.

Listener e-mail includes: Greek genealogical research links are available at Cyndi's List (at http://www.cyndislist.com/greece.html) and at Kimberly Powell's column at About.com (at http://genealogy.about.com/od/greece); a request for help reading an occupation on a 1920 census schedule for Flint, Michigan, draws a unanimous opinion from The Guys [Quarry]; thanks for suggestions for recording an interview with a mother who transcribed contents of a now-lost Bible; an explanation of the source for information used by a census enumerator to complete a mortality schedule in the 1880 census; and a true life story of backing up one's data.

Drew describes and discusses Mark Tucker's brilliant Genealogy Research Process map and textual description at http://www.ThinkGenealogy.com. It is derived from concepts of the Board for Certification of Genealogists and by Elizabeth Shown Mills, expert on the genealogical proof standard and author of Evidence Explained, the new and definitive book concerning citation of genealogical evidence.

Drew discusses the use of dictionaries to locate the definitions of older, more obscure terms found in historical and genealogical documents. The example he cites is the term, "Fresno," a piece of equipment once used for scraping road surfaces.

The Guys discuss databases for historical newspapers and more recent (ca. 1980 to present) newspapers. The companies discussed are LexisNexis (the Nexis portion); NewsBank's "America's Genealogy Bank" database; and ProQuest. Newspaper databases may be available through your local public library and/or your local college or university library. Drew discovered that sometimes the newspapers available in a database inside the library are greater in number than when you access the database remotely from outside the library. This can be due to differences in licensing contracts. George encourages listeners to check out all the databases available through their libraries.

This week's news includes: Congratulations to Matt Wright who becomes editorial director at FamilyLink.com; a recap of a USA Today report of 18 February about states unsealing adoption records and opening original birth records to adoptees; passenger lists of persons leaving the U.K. for the U.S., Canada, and Australia during the 1940s are available at Ancestors Onboard at http://www.ancestorsonboard.com; the National History Show will be held on 2-4 May 2008 in the Grand Hall, Olympia, London, and tickets can be booked at http://www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.co.uk.

Listener e-mail includes more kudoes for The Guys' "Down Under" video at RootsTelevision.com; Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps at the New York Public Library at (accessible now only at the NYPL), as well as digital maps and photographs in their digital gallery at http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/; a number of video options for creating heritage DVDs and slideshows using Apple Macintoshes and PCs have been suggested in various price ranges:

1. PowerPoint to Slideshow
2. 12 Screencasting Tools for Creating Video Tutorials (suggested by Drew) at http://mashable.com/2008/02/21/screencasting-video-tutorials/
3. Adobe products at http://www.adobe.com
4. Apple products at http://www.apple.com

The Guys spend the remainder of the show discussing the intricacies of U.S. copyright laws and fair use standards. Definitely worth a listen!

George reports on the genealogy news this week: Julia M. Case, beloved genealogist and author at RootsWeb has died; Moorshead Magazines has begun a new magazine called Discovering Family History for beginning genealogists and those who want a refresher, and a premier online issue is available for free at http://www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com; and other stories.

The Guys share listener e-mail including: places for locating French records; safety of publishing family trees on the Internet; validating the contents of a lost family Bible; responses to the topic of how to avoid genealogy burnout; and they share feedback on their new Down Under: Tampa series at RootsTelevision.com.

This week's news includes: Ancestry.com has added a huge collection of African-American records with the Freedmen's Marriage Records and the Southern Claims Commission Collection at Ancestry.com; the 1911 Irish Census is beginning to be made available at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie, and the 1862 Dublin City Street Directory is now online at http://www.libraryireland.com/Dublin-Street-Directory-1862/Home.php; and a new book by Terry Reigel titled A Primer for The Master Genealogist is now available from Wholly Genes Software.

The Guys discuss news about DNA, including: "One Embryo from Three Parents" in a case where mitochondrial disease has been corrected with a third person’s mitochondrial DNA; and an intriguing finding by scientist Hans Eiberg in Norway about blue-eyed persons and their common forebear 6,000 to 10,000 years ago.

The Genealogy Guys make their television debut today at Roots Television in a new series, "Down Under: Florida." The series is not unlike PBS’ "History Detectives" in that they investigate persons in the past whose cemetery markers and stories have piqued their interest. Check out the first of their new online television programs. The Guys describe for listener (and now viewer!) Donna in Hawaii the production process.

Listener e-mail includes: discussion of Horry and Marion Counties in SC; comments about the genealogical value of address books; and more.

The Guys talk about climatic changes and their effects on our ancestors, including the influence on their migrations and settlements.

This week's news includes: the funeral for Gordon B. Hinckley, 97, in Salt Lake City on 2 Feb. Mr. Hinckley was the president of the LDS church since 1995; FamilyLink.com, Inc. (http://www.familylink.com) launches their World Collection containing more than 1.5 billion names from 35 countries; and beginning this week, George will be writing a weekly column for Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter (http://blog.eogn.com/).

Drew discusses search strategies for researching common surnames, such as his own: Smith. The Guys discuss ways to avoid "Genealogy Burnout." And finally, Drew discusses the value of his parents’ address book in extending his research.

This week’s news items include: James LeVoy Sorenson, renowned medical device inventor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist died on 20 January 2008 at 86 – his companies list includes the  non-profit Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation which provides DNA testing; Genealogical.com has launched a new blog at http://GenealogyandFamilyHistory.com; a wiki is available for users of FamilySearch and the LDS Family History Centers, at http://www.familysearchwiki.org.

The Guys respond to listener e-mail, including: genealogy software questions about DNA information and the GEDCOM 5.5 format standard; a site for sharing serialized family history information, with a sample at http://wwar1.blogspot.com; a suggestion to visit the extensive Genealogy and Family History Links Library at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~genealogylinks/; Bryan Mawer’s Sugar Refiners and Sugarbakers website at http://home.clara.net/mawer/intro.html about the sugar industry, primarily in the UK (16th-20th centuries); and a question about when ships’ crew were included on manifests (and other forms), including information about INS requirements – at http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/maritime/great-lakes-crew-lists.html.

Drew and George discuss the explosion of social networking sites for genealogists and some of the issues regarding choosing one or more to use. The list includes: Geni.com (http://www.geni.com/), Famillion (http://www.famillion.com), Ancestry.com (http://www.geni.com/), OneGreatFamily.com (http://www.onegreatfamily.com), FamilyTreeDNA.com (http://www.familytreedna.com/), MyHeritage.com (http://www.myheritage.com/), 23AndMe (https://www.23andme.com/), MyHeritage.com (http://www.myheritage.com/), ItsOurTree.com (http://www.itsourtree.com/ and available in multiple languages), Amiglia.com (http://www.amiglia.com), Kindo.com (http://kindo.com/), and TreeX.com (http://treex.com/tree/). Others include KinCafe (http://www.kincafe.com/), FamilyLink (http://www.familylink.com/ - formerly WorldVitalRecords.com), OurStory.com (http://www.ourstory.com/), WeRelate (http://www.werelate.org), and Famiva (http://www.famiva.com/).

Drew has revived his personal blog with a new name, Internet domain, and a new look. The blog, called Rootsmithing, can be found at http://rootsmithing.com.

This week's news includes many announcements. Memeria (http://www.memeria.com) launches the first house-call photo-scanning service; another genealogy podcast is available -- Genealogy Gems at http://www.genealogygemspodcast.com; WorldVitalRecords.com has changed its name to FamilyLink.com (http://www.familylink.com) and has formed partnerships with other companies in recent months; RootsMagic announces its 2008 Genealogy Cruise to the Mexican Riviera on Sept. 28 to Oct. 5, and details can be found at http://www.RootsMagicCruise.com. There are also many seminars coming up this year: San Luis Obispo County Genealogical Society (Feb. 2) (http://www.kcbx.net/~slogen/); St. George family History Expo 2008 (Feb. 8-9) (http://www.myancestorsfound.com/events/upcoming.php?event_id=1); Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International Symposium (April 11-12) (http://www.cgsi.org/news.asp?intNewsID=129); North Carolina Genealogical Society’s 3rd Annual Speakers Forum (April 11) (http://www.ncgenealogy.org); Federation of East European Family History Societies Conference (August 1-3) (http://feefhs.org/).

The Guys respond to a load of listener e-mail this week! Danny, as a Mac user, can’t use Clooz and so has made use of a free version of software program called Mac Journal; Drew discussed software options for Scott’s family which just celebrated its 101st consecutive family reunion; Michael loves U.S. Federal Agricultural Census records, but hates the microfilm – and he and George urge Ancestry.com and HeritageQuest to bite the bullet and digitize these and the remaining U.S. census records; several users commented on the need for the GEDCOM facility to be updated to also include graphics, while The Guys agree that software packages and online sites should be able to synchronize the data between both!

Welcome to The Genealogy Guys^TM Podcast for 2008!

George begins the 2008 news with a press release from Wholly Genes, Inc., of Columbia, MD, about the new Version 7.0 of The Master Genealogist (TMG) genealogy database software; George will be appearing at the all-day Mississippi Genealogical Society Confernece in Pearl. MS, just outside Jackson, on Saturday, 19 January – more information is available at (601) 924-9346; the Whitier Area Genealogical Society will feature expert genealogist, writer, and librarian Lloyd DeWitt Bockstuck at its 25^th Annual Genealogical Conference on 23 February 2008 – Contact Miriam Benell at dandmbenell@earthlink.net for more information; the Southern California Genealogical Society has announced its conference details at jamboree@scgsgenealogy.com, and both Drew and George will be there this year!

The Guys discuss some user e-mail as always, and then focus on what is happening and coming for genealogy in 2008.

George begins with two pieces of news: he will be appearing at the Mississippi Genealogical Society's Conference on January 19th. For more information, call 601.924.9346. He also announced that he is discontinuing his long-running "Along Those Lines ..." column, which began on AOL, then appeared for years at Ancestry.com, and has been a blog for the past two years. The blog at http://ahaseminars.livejournal.com/ will remain online through April 2008.

Listener e-mail provided some great information this week: Jerry highly recommends the Fujitsu Scansnap S510 scanner for its lightening speed, accuracy, and automatic feed. (Click here for a link to the Fujitsu product information.); The Guys do accept friend links at LibraryThing, and George has just been designated a LibraryThing Author; Megan tells about her research into an heirloom "True Lover's Knot"; Rollin asks about how to record a confusing death date, and shares information about a free Windows screen capture program he likes -- FastStone Capture 5.9 at http://www.faststone.org; Find-a-Grave's Rich Hrazanek reports that there are now over 20 million interments recorded at the site; and Patty asks about the indexing by Ancestry.com of the Drouin Collection and George refers her to Suzanne Adams at Ancestry for a status.

George discusses the progress of Web-based resources over the last 15 years, including databases, blogs, wikis, podcasts, and video. He especially likes RootsTelevision at http://www.rootstelevision.com which features lectures, conferences, different ethnic research resources, military research hints, DNA research discussions,  genealogy for kids, reunions, and much more. The Guys will have more to say about RootsTelevision in 2008!

The Guys spent the last segment of the show recapping genealogical news, additions, developments, people losses, conferences and cruises, books, and more in 2007.

George begins with the genealogical news:

▪       FamilySearch and The Generations Network, Inc., parent company of Ancestry.com, today announced an agreement that provides free access of Ancestry.com to patrons of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and the 13 largest regional family history centers effective today.

▪       Ancestry.com added 340.2M new names last week, including digitized and indexed newspapers from 10 U.S. states and 2 Canadian provinces, more than 4,5 new BMD records, and updated the British Telcom U.K. telephone directories with more than 71M new names.

▪       Ancestry.com also unveiled its new Learning Center at its U.S. Web site this week. It is now a multimedia experience with video tutorials and multiple new sub-screens with well-organized content.

▪       The California Genealogical Society and Library celebrates 110 years with an all-day seminar by nationally-recognized “Photo Detective? Maureen A. Taylor. Ms. Taylor’s lectures will focus on identifying and dating old photographs, preserving family photos, and identifying immigrant clues in photos. More information is available at http://www.calgensoc.org.

▪       The Denver Public Library has just received an IMLS grant of $778K to digitize historical materials in its collection relating to Denver and its historical neighborhoods, and will partner with other regional libraries. Read all about this project at http://www.thecherrycreeknews.com/content/view/2148/2/.

The Guys share listener e-mail and commentary about: Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps; professional looking “homemade? tombstones using pure White Portland Cement and metal molds – and an example of the result can be accessed here; a suggestion to look further into the new Ancestry.com U.S. Passport Applications database for more than just the front/back of the application – often lots more information and photographs are included; filing systems are discussed; and a listener in Germany listens while driving the autobahn!

Drew discusses Macintosh operating systems and browsers, and then recaps new Macworld (http://www.macworld.com/) reviews of four genealogy programs: Reunion 9.04 from Leister Productions (http://www.leisterpro.com); MacFamilyTree 4.4 from Only Mac Software (http://www.onlymac.de) ; Heredis 10.2 from DSD Concept (http://www.myheredis.fr); and iFamily for Tiger 2.2 by KS Wilson & Associates (http://ifamilyfortiger.com).

George discusses a compilation book published by Ancestry.com in 2002 titled French-Canadian Resources, an excellent resource for those with French-Canadian ancestors.

 The Guys wish everyone a very Happy Holiday Season!

The Guys go straight to listener e-mail this week: the value of contacting genealogical societies for obit & funeral notice lookups and copies; Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps that have been made available at state sites, such as Florida (http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/UFDC/?c=sanborn), Georgia (http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/sanborn), and South Carolina (http://www.sc.edu/library/digital/collections/sanborn.html) and digital cameras used by The Guys: Pentax A20 Option Megapixel camera (see review at http://www.dpreview.com/news/0608/06082103pentaxa20.asp).

Drew recaps the instructions for accessing older podcasts. He also shares his "Genealogy Society Tip of the Week" about expending a little extra money for name/quality speakers for your society to attract visitors and new members.

George recaps the importance of making contact with and/or joining genealogical societies where your ancestors lived. They can also provide obituary and funeral notice lookups and copies from their local card or online computerized index files.

The Guys discuss the negative side of sharing information about living family members, especially when one becomes a debtor who becomes the subject of debt collectors. Some debtors are now accessing genealogical database as vehicles to persecute and ride relatives of a debtor, and that is illegal

Listener Nancy details the underhanded tactics of collectors who began contacting siblings, children, aunts, uncles, and grandparents of the debtor to harass and dun then for their relative's debt. George discovered that every state in then Union has laws governing collection agencies. Most, if not all, cannot by law contact anyone other than the debtor and his/her spouse directly. Contact with your state Attorney General's office to determine what YOUR rights are and what a collection agency can and cannot do. You will often find that the collection agent/agency is exceeding his or her authority.

George discusses his Pentax Option A20 (10 megapixel) digital camera, its features, and how he uses the Text setting and other features in his genealogical research.

Drew talks about Chris Dunham's "The Genealogy" site at http://www.genealogue.com and the Genealogue Challenge. George reminds listeners that The Genealogy Blog Finder is also one of the features of this great site.

George reviews William Dollarhide's new two-volume book set titled Census Substitutes & State Census Records. Volume I covers the Eastern States and Volume II covers the Western States. The books are available through Family Roots Publishing Company at  http://www.familyrootspublishing.com.

The week's news includes: NARA partners with TOPICS Entertainment to produce two filmed histories on DVD - WWII: A Filmed History and Aviation" A Filmed History from the National Archives, both 24-CD sets; Ancestry.com has completed digitizing and indexing the British Telephone Books, 1880-1984, the full collection of the British Telcom Archives collection; the Florida State Genealogical Society awards it's prestigious Award for Outstanding Achievement in Florida Genealogy to Hal J. Becker; readers of Oklahoma Living magazine have voted to award the Muskogee Public Library the best library in the state; Wholly Genes, Inc., announces its 2008 genealogy cruise with details at http://www.WhollyGenes.com/cruise.htm.

The Guys share reader e-mail about: inexpensive headstone options, including requesting markers from the Department of Veterans Affairs at http://www.va.gov/; more about DNA testing; binder organization and filing techniques; methods of locating military service numbers include:

   - Check county clerks' offices and post offices for registered DD-214s
   - Check funeral home records
   - Contact the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis
   - Contact the Department of Veterans Affairs
   - Some states have veterans databases online, such as Utah,
     Florida, and Missouri

Michigan's genealogical library facilities are touted at the Library of Michigan and the Archives of Michigan, as well as the Detroit Public Library's Burton Historical Collection.

George's "Web Site of the Week" is "Expert Links: English Family History and Genealogy," a massive collection of wonderful Web links at http://www.pricegen.com/english_genealogy.html?cpn=wvrnewsletter.

Drew's "Society Tip of the Week" addresses membership directories, benefits, issues, and publishing options.

The "News You Can Use" this week includes: Announcement of the National Genealogical Society's awards and competitions, details about which are can be found at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/awardscompcalendar.cfm; Ancestry.com has published U.S. Passport Applications for 1795-1925 at its Web site at http://www.ancestry.com; Fly Away Travel has announced its "2008 Genealogy at Sea" on October 25-November 1, 2008 on the Royal Caribbean's fabulous Liberty of the Sea, sailing from Miami to Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, and a private location at Labadee, Haiti -- with 8 great, internationally known speakers. Details are available at http://www.GenealogyCruises.com. Family Roots Publishing Company has just released a two-volume set of books, Census Substitutes & State Census Records by well-known author, speaker, and census expert William Dollarhide. Details are at http://www.familyrootspublishing.com/servlet/StoreFront.

The Guys respond to a wealth of listener e-mail covering topics such as: DNA testing; locating WWI serial numbers; marking multiple graves scattered across a single cemetery; displaying a family tree on one's Web site; the name change of naval hero John Paul Jones; an article in the Nov. 4th Cleveland Plain Dealer concerning the ancestry of Carl Stokes, the city's first African American mayor, and Megan Smolenyak's discovery of an 1845 document in GA identifying the mayor's g-grandfather; home demonstration/extension clubs still exist and may be a source for your ancestors' genealogical information; and reworking an old manuscript with newly discovered information.

The show concludes with Drew announcing the new Google Maps feature that allows you to not only create your own customized maps, but you can now invite other people to collaborate with you, add customized pushpin icons, graphics, videos, and other cool tools. Check out the My Maps user guide at http://maps.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=68480 for details about how to use this great new feature.

George reports news items concerning: a new home for the Welsh West Glamorgan Archives (see www.swansea.gov.uk/westglamorganarchives); Geni (www.geni.com)announces that more than 10 million profiles have been created on their service; Ruth Emmel of the Lee County [FL] Genealogical Society (www.LeeCountyGenealogy.org) has published an excellent new book titled, Let's Plant a Family Tree: How to Start Your Genealogy Research, which is geared toward young people just beginning their quest; and Brisco Washington Holder's gravestone was set in place in Memorial Park Cemetery in Jennings, St. Louis County, MO, on 30 October 2007. (View the stone.)

The Guys explain DNA, the available tests, and the benefits of tracing DNA in your genealogy. Then they discuss organization of your genealogical materials and two types of filing system schemes.

The Guys close by discussing how they plan to research genealogy at their family Thanksgiving in Newberry, South Carolina.

This week's show was recorded LIVE at the Texas State Genealogical Society Conference held on 9-10 November 2007 in Tyler, Texas, and hosted by the East Texas Genealogical Society. This was a great conference for The Guys and they were greeted, welcomed, and treated like kings!

The Guys present a definition and description of what a podcast really is. They then take questions from the audience and respond on topics relating to: French ancestors; locating information for a woman living in a New York state hospital (tuberculosis); obtaining transcripts from universities and records of teachers, professors, and fellowships; the possibility of a genealogical societies that lists records they are holding or projects they are working to complete; a description of G-mail; how do The Guys manage their collections of Web links?; The Guys' favorite Web sites other than Ancestry.com and Footnote.com; and the definition of "overjet" as it relates to wagons in which people migrated.

News this week includes: the first ten years (1908-1917) of issues of Chicago's historic Polish newspaper, Dziennik Zwiazkowy (translated, Alliance Daily) has been digitized by the Center for Research Libraries and is fully searchable at http://ecollections.crl.edu, along with other interesting collections;  GenWed.com (http://www.genwed.com/) is a new and growing Web site that will help you locate free online marriage records, and you can submit records for inclusion in the databases; and finally, on 30 October 2007, a gravestone has been set in St. Louis' Memorial Park for George's great uncle, Brisco Washington Holder -- his brick wall for over 20 years.

The Guys will be featured presenters at the Texas State Genealogical Society Conference in Tyler, Texas, next weekend -- 9-10 November 2008. More information is available at http://www.rootsweb.com/~txsgs/conference.pdf and The Guys hope you can drop by and say hello! George will be autographing limited numbers of his latest book, The Official Guide to Ancestry.com.

Mister Edd in Cape Coral, Florida, asked for advice for websites that help reunite people with old photos of their family members. George suggested Megan Smolenyak's "Honoring Our Ancestors" site at http://www.HonoringOurAncestors.com/orphanphotos.html and DeadFred at http://www.deadfred.com.

Drew's "Society Tip of the Week" was a recommendation of the use of a Web site called SurveyMonkey.com at http://www.surveymonkey.com/. Basic surveys for less than 100 responses are free; other size responses are reasonably priced for a monthly or annual basis. SurveyMonkey may be an ideal way to allow electronic voting in society elections, conducting surveys of members for preferred meeting and seminar topics, and obtaining feedback on programs, projects, and other subjects.

George's "Web Site of the Week" is a new Web site called GenDisasters at http://www.gendisasters.com which contains dates, descriptions, newspaper transcripts, drawings/photos of fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, train wrecks, bridge collapses, and more, with dates spanning from the 1800s to the 1950s. The site is searchable by state and county, and browseable. It is ideal for helping place your ancestors into historical context with these calamitous events and/or to determine which courthouses and other repositories may have been damaged and their records lost or destroyed.

The Guys share a collection of entertaining epitaphs from gravestones around the world.

Drew reviews a book by Andro Linklater titled Measuring America, and then The Guys discuss land measurement systems that have been used in the United States.

Finally, Drew discusses how to deal with missing data, such as maiden surnames, or no data whatsoever in your genealogical recording systems.

News stories for the week include: The Generations Network, parent of Ancestry.com, is to be acquired by Spectrum Equity Investors; the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) (http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/) opens access to more than 6M new military personnel records, including all the Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs) prior to 1946; Individual Deceased Personnel Files (IDPFs) can be obtained by following instructions at http://www.no-quarter.org/gui/nq_idpf.php; Nova Scotia Vital Records Database for BMDs is available free at http://novascotiagenealogy.com; Georgia Death Certificates (1919-1927) are now available online at http://www.GeorgiaArchives.org (Virtual Vault link); the Canadian Genealogy Centre (http://www.collectionscanada.gc/ca/genealogy) has two new search tools - Ancestors Search and That's My Family; NEHGS and Ancestry.com announce new member benefits as part of a collaborative agreement, including reduced joint membership fees; Sorenson Companies has launched a new Genetree (http://www.genetree.com), a DNA testing and social networking site; The National Archives (UK) will digitize the 1911 census (see press release at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/stories/156.htm?homepage=news); The Guys will be key speakers at the Texas State Genealogical Society Conference in Tyler, Texas, on November 9-10, 2008 (information at http://www.rootsweb.com/~txsgs/conference.pdf); George begins teaching U.S. Immigration and Naturalization course at Pharos (http://www.pharostutors.com) and announces other upcoming courses there.

Listener e-mail includes:

1. A request for guidance on locating an old Web site gone missing. Drew suggests going to http://www.archive.org/ and entering the old address in the Wayback Machine box.
2. A listener reports being able to successfully run Family Tree Maker from his flash drive (thumb drive).
3. A listener asks abut the quality of courses from the National Institute for Genealogical Studies (http://www.genealogicalstudies.com/) and their helpfulness in achieving certification from the Board for Certification of Genealogists (http://www.bcgcertification.org). George responds that the NIGS classes are excellent and will help provide a firm educational foundation for certification.
   

George's "Web Site of the Week" is NewsBank Inc. and its product, America's Genealogy Bank (http://www.newsbank.com/genealogists/).

The Guys discuss America's Genealogy Bank, some search hints, and George relates some finds that caused him to do the "Genealogy Happy Dance."

Drew discusses outreach programs offered by libraries. The Guys ask for listener input about what services they have and/or want libraries to provide to them as genealogists.

Ancestry.com's new DNA facility came online at their Web site this week, allowing people to order paternal or maternal DNA tests and getting their results online to compare against other testers.

Listener e-mail includes: several more Hispanic genealogy Web sites - http://www.rootsweb.com/~cafara/index.html, http://www.gsha.net, and http://www.loscalifornianos.org; a recommendation of a book about the coal mining industry, The Day the Earth Caved In, by Joan Quigley; the ten most expensive telephone directories ever sold at http://abebooks.com/docs/Community/Featured/Genealogy; a new genealogy board game at http://www.genealogyboardgame.com; and online vital records for Shelby County, TN (http://register.shelby.tn.us/index.php).

George's Web Site of the Week is The National Archives (U.K.) site at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk where you'll find online records, indexes, tutorials, exhibits, and lots more.

George reviews and discusses Footnote.com (http://www.footnote.com), a great genealogy subscription Web site.

Drew discusses mindmapping, a method of problem solving. He suggests a Web site at MindMeister.com that offers you up to 6 free mindmaps (http://www.mindmeister.com), and Mindjet (http://www.mindjet.com) which sells MindManager software.

This week's news includes details about the public outcry against the planned early closure date for the General Records Office (GRO) in the U.K., and Ancestry.com announces a digital scrapbooking application for members.

Listener Thomas alerts others to a number of resources for Hispanic Heritage Month: The Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research (SHAAR) (http://members.aol.com/shhar/) and its newsletter (http://www.somosprimos.com); Library of Congress Hispanic Reading Room (http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic) and the Index to the Enciclopedia Heraldica Hispano-Americana (http://www.loc.gov/rr.hispanic/geneal/index_gc.html/); HISPAGEN (http://www.hispagen.es/portal/enlaces.php); the Argentine Genealogy Database (http://familias-argentinas.com.ar/us_principal.htm); and the new portal to the Online Spanish Archives (http://pares.mcu.es); the society, Los Floridanos (http://www.losfloridanos.org); the Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami (http://www.cubangenclub.org); and the Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami (http://www.library.miami.edu/umcuban).

George's Web Site of the Week is Griffith's Valuation 1848-1864 at http://failteromhat.com/griffiths.htm, which is searchable by surname and viewable by county in alphabetical sequence. This is a great site to help locate ancestors during these year for which census records are not available due to fire.

The Guys discuss methods for finding live people and some of the experiences they have had. They then discuss "pathfinders," which are the instructional guides found as printed guides in libraries and/or at libraries' Web sites. They are guides to using the various collections or working with specific resources.

George just found a digital copy of another important great-uncle's death certificate. Can you guess where he found it? Listen for the answer and a review of another great Web site next week!

We apologize for the delay in the release of this week's podcast. George suffered from laryngitis this week and was unable to record until Friday evening.

The news is extensive this week. Pharos Tutors (http://www.pharostutors.com/) announces that George has joined their online training staff to teach U.S.-related genealogical staff. His first class begins on 30 October 2007 with the topic of U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Documents. Another new Pharos course features expert Helen Osborn training a class in the use of The National Archives (TNA) U.K. Web site, its extraordinary contents and tools, and more.

Macintosh users have a new tool in MacFamilyTree 5, produced in a beta version by Synium Software. The beta test version may be vulnerable to errors and crashes at this point. However, Mac users will revel in testing this new version of the software. Visit the Synium Software site for more information.

ScotlandsPeople has announced enhancements to searches of census forms, and improvements to images and their handling.

World Vital Records, Inc. (http://worldvitalrecords.com) and Allcensus (http://www.allcensus.com/) have partnered to provide digitized U.S. Federal Census images at the WorldVitalRecords.com Web site.

The new issue of Internet Genealogy Magazine is out and has a wonderful collectionof new articles. Visit http://internet-genealogy.com for more information.

George's Genealogy Web Site of the Week is About.com's Genealogy area at http://genealogy.about.com. Kimberly Powell is the knowledgeable, talented, and affable guide for that area, and she fills the site with great information and tips for breaking through those dastardly brick walls. "Brava, Kimberly!"

The National Archives (TNA) in the U.K. announces the availability of 5,000 registers of Nonconformist records that may be searched online; the AncestorsOnBoard Web site is up to 1939 in the searchable outbound passenger lists project; you can now personalize, save, customize, bookmark your searches at their site. Finally, Recordkeeping magazine is a quarterly publication by TNA that describes great resources, recordkeeping strategies, and case studies. It is a fabulous online resource, in PDF format, that you absolutely must check out. You can access information about it and download the Spring 2007 issue at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/recordsmanagement/advice/recordkeeping.htm.

The mailbag brings announcements of two new Jewish research resources from the U.K., as well as a new 3-D digital imaging resource developed by Carnegie Mellon that can be used to decipher eroded cemetery inscriptions.

George provides in-depth information about scanning old family photographs in the second of a two-part discussion of digitization technology.

The news includes announcements of new content at WorldVitalRecords.com and information about the Florida State Genealogical Society's annual conference in November.

George's Web Site of the Week is the Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System (http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/) maintained by the U.S. National Park Service. He also talks about the books, The Naked Quaker by Diane Rapaport and Uncovering Your Ancestry through Family Photographs by Maureen A. Taylor.

In the first of a two-part discussion, The Guys talk about scanning photographs and the issues related to graphics file types, scanners, and software.

News this week includes: a $10M donation by Norman B. Leventhal to the Boston Public Library's map collection; publication of new fees for ordering copies of documents from the National Archives and Records Administration (see press release); announcement by The National Archives (UK) of the availability of Nonconformist birth, marriage and death records online; and the release of free upgrades to Family Tree Maker 2008.

George's Web Site of the Week is the Perry Castaneda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin (http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/index.html).

The Guys discuss tips and suggestions for using microform readers. They also address the topic of excellent genealogical magazines that are available.

The News includes: the launch of a new 9th The Generations Network, Inc., Web site at Ancestry Web site for Sweden (at http://www.ancestry.se); the introduction of DNA Ancestry (at http://dna.ancestry.com) and DNA testing services; and the announcement of Cook County, Illinois, births, marriages, and deaths online by January of 2008.

Listener e-mail reports include: many Pennsylvania Land Records are now online at the Pennsylvania State Archives at http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/landrec.htm; the Birmingham [Alabama] Public Library has an interesting and fun video it ints collection on YouTube.com. Watch it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAxrLJ5nw_g. A posting in the Mental Floss Magazine's blog at http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/7710 discusses and shows photos of "Strange Gravestones."

Drew delivers his weekly Genealogy Society Tip. George's Web site of the week is Genwriters: Writing for Future Generations, at http://www.genwriters.com. The site was created by Phyllis Matthews Ziller and contains extensive tutorial, how-tos, and reference resources for writing family histories, biographies, and other historical documentation.

Drew talks about Chris Dunham's blog, The Genealogue, at http://www.genealogue.com/, and about the Challenges posted there. The information is fun and informative, and the Challenges are excellent practice in honing your research skills. The Guys then discuss the use of City Directories in your research and tips for using them. (With thanks to Amy Johnson Crow, CG.) The Guys then examine and discuss some old family photographs that Drew's brother has uncovered, and their attempts at identifying the subjects. We learn about a Jewish mutual aid society, and George suggests studying old photos' environment and surroundings for additional clues to dating and identifying clues.

The Guys share some listener e-mail, including a recommendation for a Web site that reviews and ranks online computer back-up services at http://www.BackupReview.info, and additional land patents being digitized and indexed at the Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records, site at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/. RootsMagic announces a new minor update for the RootsMagic software.

George discusses his "Web Site of the Week," the Online Searchable Death Indexes & Records, at http://www.deathindexes.com.

The remainder of the podcast is devoted to helping to debunk three prominent genealogical research myths:

1. "My ancestors' names were changed at Ellis Island."
2. "Everyone with the same surname is related."
3. "Naming patterns will solve all your brick walls."

The Guys discuss the facts of these issues and how you can manage your expectations so as not to fall into "the assumption trap."