RootsTech-Day 1

I’ve spent the morning monitoring Rootstech from home.  Despite being rather jealous of all those able to attend, I’m grateful to able to check in as my schedule permits.  The opening Keynote addresses this morning were really good.  It was great to hear about a tech vision from HP and also from the head of FamilySearch.

I think what I’ve enjoyed even more than the online keynote has been following the twitter feed of everyone in attendance (and other ‘At Home Attendees’, as we were dubbed this morning).  One great tip I picked up off twitter this morning was http://familytech.familysearch.org/.  It looks like there are a number of good posts here and I’m really looking forward to reading through them.

For now, there’s work to get done at home.  I’m hoping to clear the schedule for the afternoon session livestreamed at rootstech.familysearch.org.

The American Genealogical Biographical Index (AGBI)

While researching one of my lines this morning I came across a source I haven’t encountered before – The American Genealogical Biographical Index (AGBI).  I was surprised to see that the Ancestry articles I found in my Google search was dated 1999. How could I have missed this source?

UPDATE: About me

I’ve updated the About me page and wanted to post before turning in for the night.

FamilySearch Accounts for the General Public

I received an email with some exciting news from FamilySearch recently.  The email is quoted below.

“The new.familysearch.org website [currently only available to members of the LDS church] will, sometime in the future, become integrated into the familysearch.org website and

Local Histories

Ancestry Learning Center has a great piece about how to use (and especially verify) information from a local history.  I think the idea applies equally to published family histories.  These volumes can contain a wealth of information, but the memories of those submitting the info (like all of us) can often be inaccurate.

What the Heck is an Ahnentafel?

I remember first seeing the word Ahnentafel not long after my first dabbling into genealogy. I didn’t have the slightest idea what it meant, let alone how to pronounce it. Honestly, after 20 years of genealogy and family history work, I still don’t think I can say it right.

About five years after I started doing genealogy

Free Genealogy/Dedicated Volunteers

The USGenWeb project is one of my favorite free resources to use online.  From the main page you can jump to one of the 50 state pages. From there you can select one of the many county pages for your state.  These pages (really sites unto themselves) are maintained by dedicated volunteers with a wealth of knowledge about their local area.

Many of the counties have various cemetery transcriptions, family histories, war records, property & tax records, local census records and much much more.  Many of the volunteers are also willing to look up local information you may not be able to get access to from out of the area or online..

I’ve used the pages for Missouri and Iowa and had great success.  Try looking through the area you’re currently researching and see what you might find.

Online Family History Lessons–Free for All!!

Image via Wikipedia

FamilySearch and the Midwest Genealogy Center are two great resources for family history research. Not only can they help with your research, but they can teach you how to go about that research too. Online.  FREE!!

Both sites have courses on how to get started for beginners. The Midwest Center also has lessons on specific types of US research. FamilySearch also has US research lessons along with others for doing research on non-US ancestors. These can be a big help whether you’re just starting out on your family history, beginning research in an area you’re unfamiliar with, or just looking for a few new tips.

Links to both of these sites are posted on my lessons page.  Good luck!!

RootsTech Conference

On February 10-12, 2011 an exciting family history & technology conference is being held in Salt Lake City.  There will be over 100 classes about using technology in family history work. They will also be discussing upcoming technological advances in family history work.  There will be numerous displays in the exhibition hall as well.  Registration is $75.

If you are a family history consultant of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, you can attend free training seminars and a Saturday night devotional with Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles.

You can register for RootsTech through this link.

How to bridge the gap between the 1880 & 1900 Census

Bridging the 1890 Census Gap

“It’s there staring you in the face as you look over the records you’ve collected for your ancestor; it’s a gap in your research that’s taunting you. Yes, it’s the dreaded 1890 census gap. U.S. Censuses from 1900 to 1930 are full of rich details that really help us flesh out our family trees. But as we move back beyond the turn of the century, we need to become a little more resourceful when it comes to that twenty-year span between the 1880 and the 1900 censuses.”

This article has some great ideas about other resources that can be used to find and identify ancestors in the U.S. between the 1880 and 1900 census. It’s definitely worth a read.