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.