 Tomorrow I have the privilege of giving two presentations to the Houston Genealogical Forum down in Houston, Texas. So, I thought I'd share a sneak peek of what I'll be going over. Now, I've given both of these presentations before, but never together. And because they both are technological tools, the presentations had to be updated just a bit. (Because technology changes fast.) However, I'm so glad they picked these two presentations because they kind of go together pretty well. I'm going over Findagrave first and that will naturally lead into what Evernote can do for a family history researcher. I've gone over a few things before with y'all about Findagrave, but I think I can reveal a little more without giving everything in the presentation away. ;) In fact, I think the best thing to go over about Findagrave — in light of the second presentation being Evernote — is all the information you can find by using Findagrave that can help you with solving your family history mysteries. So, here goes... Here are 11 things (clues?) you can find on Findagrave that just might bust that research brick wall to smithereens:
That's quite a bit to find, eh? So much that when you take everything you find there and multiply all of it by the number of people in your family tree, well, you are going to have a lot of "stuff". Digital stuff, but stuff nonetheless to somehow organize and keep straight. And that's where Evernote can be quite handy. In a nutshell, Evernote is a digital storage system that you can access on your mobile device or desktop/laptop anytime and anywhere. And you can store text, images, audio, and video in Evernote. It also has OCR (optical character recognition) capabilities. So... When you take a photo of the label of a bottle of wine that you like so you don't forget the name, Evernote will recognize the text and suddenly that image will be searchable via that text so you can easily find it later when you're out shopping for wine. Whoa, right? Many folks use Evernote to digitally clip things on the web and save in Evernote. Now, before you freak out and ask, "What does 'digitally clip' mean," I'll tell you. Have you ever clipped a coupon out of a newspaper insert? (Please don't ask me what a newspaper is. And, yes, I just totally dated myself. If you truly do not know, Google it.) Well, it's kind of like clipping a coupon out of a newspaper insert. Except you use your mouse and pointer thingy on the screen instead of scissors. (Yes, "thingy" is a technical term.) And you are not really cutting anything, but taking a copy of it. Sorta. Anywho, once it's digitally clipped, you can send it to your Evernote and place it in a digital notebook you've created. Automagically. (Another technical term.) Well, that's just a smidgen of what Evernote is and what it can do, but basically think about all of those things you can find on Findagrave (or on any other place online for that matter). Then think about "clipping" them out and filing them in a digital notebook in Evernote. So, do you have that pictured in your mind? Can you see an image of your ancestor's tombstone? Can you see a copy of it being placed into a notebook? Good. Because that's what it's like. And you know what else it's like? A match made in heaven. Want to learn more about using Evernote for genealogy? Watch this recorded Hangout On Air below. Also, don't forget to grab your Evernote Freebies referenced in the video: Evernote for Genealogy Hangout On Air Freebies
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This just in from Findmypast — a new partnership with the Wall Street Journal. Read on for all the details.  FINDMYPAST ANNOUNCES MAJOR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
London, UK. 31 October, 2014. Findmypast, the leading British family history company, has announced a major partnership with The Wall Street Journal’s WSJ+ membership programme. Under this new partnership, members of WSJ+ can claim a complimentary three month subscription to findmypast.com as part of their WSJ+ benefits. With a searchable online archive of over 1.8 billion historical records from around the world, including millions of local US and British newspapers, as well an easy-to-use family tree builder, Findmypast is one of the world’s fastest-growing family history websites, both in terms of records and members. It acquired Colorado-based genealogy site mocavo.com in June this year, and is quickly establishing itself as a major player in the competitive US online genealogy market. WSJ+ members will have access to the largest collection of Irish records available online. Alongside extensive passenger lists, and parish records dating back over 1000 years, these records make Findmypast the best place to trace your ancestors and bring your past to life. Juliet Bauer, Chief Commercial Officer at Findmypast, said “This is a great partnership for us. We are very excited to be bringing new customers to family history, and sharing our fantastic record collections with a new US audience. Tracing your family history is addictive and we look forward to giving the members of WSJ+ the chance to explore their past.” About Findmypast Findmypast has been a leading family history website for more than 10 years. It’s a searchable online archive of over 1.8 billion family history records, from parish records and censuses to migration records, military collections, historical newspapers and lots more. For our members around the world, Findmypast is a crucial resource for building family trees and doing detailed historical research. In April 2003 the company was the first to provide access to the complete birth, marriage, and death indexes for England & Wales, winning the Queen’s Award for Innovation. Since that time, Findmypast has digitised family history records from across the globe, including major collections from Britain, Ireland, Australia, and the United States. In partnership with the British Library, Findmypast is part of a project to safeguard the future of the world’s greatest newspaper archive – allowing digital access to more than 40 million newspaper pages. Recently, The National Archives awarded the company the exclusive rights to put the 1939 Register for England and Wales online. For more information please contact [email protected] 
Stuck trying to find birth information about your ancestors?
Take a look at these 11 kinds of records to help you find your ancestor's birth information.
Stuck trying to find birth information about your ancestors? Sometimes birth records can be harder to find than other types of records. Many times, we are looking for our ancestor's birth before registration of births began at the governmental level, but that doesn't mean you can't find clues to your ancestor's birth.
Here are 11 types of records that may include information or clues to find other records about your ancestor's birth:
Sure, some records will be better than others. Meaning that birth information listed on a cemetery record or a death record might not be as credible as baptismal records because generally you'd rather have information from a record created as close as possible to when the birth event occurred. The chances of details of the event being closer to the truth are higher on a record created near the time the event actually occurred. Usually. However, sometimes those older records are not available. So, a good practice is to make a reasonably exhaustive search of all the available records. What types of records have you been able to use for birth information or clues for birth information about your ancestor? ~Caroline
Note: If you are interested in republishing all or part of this blog post in a genealogical society's or genealogy organization's newsletter or journal, please contact me to make arrangements.
 The British Newspaper Archive has now reached 9 million pages. Read the following press release for all the details:
The British Newspaper Archive reaches 9 million pages There are now 9 million historical newspaper pages to explore at The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) after the website reached a major milestone this week. Product Director Ian Tester commented, ‘We’re thrilled to have reached 9 million pages and have already started chasing the next big milestone. Customers tell us that they’re making amazing discoveries every day, whether they’re researching their family history, the First World War or the history of their local area. Our focus on local titles means that you can find stories from all around the UK and with the recent addition of more Irish titles, we’re becoming a more useful resource all the time’. The British Newspaper Archive has grown massively since it was launched in November 2011. 282 British and Irish newspaper titles are now online, covering 1710-1954. 45 newspaper titles added so far this year Thousands of pages are added every week, so coverage will just keep getting better. More than 2 million pages and 45 new titles have been added to The British Newspaper Archive so far this year, including the Daily Mirror, Daily Record, Dublin Monitor, Lancashire Evening Post, London Evening Standard and Sports Argus. Register for free at www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/account/register to receive monthly updates about what’s being added to the website. Vote for the newspapers you’d like to see online Is there something you’d like The British Newspaper Archive to digitise? You can now suggest titles and vote for other people’s suggestions on the website’s feedback forum: http://help-and-advice.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/forums/243704-newspapers-we-should-add-next New collaboration combines family trees and DNA to empower individuals to discover and document their ancestry This just in from MyHeritage: a "strategic collaboration" with 23andMe. You can watch MyHeritage Founder and CEO, Gilad Japhet, break the news live on Bloomberg TV earlier today ( http://youtu.be/c1MefhlGTA8 ): MOUNTAIN VIEW, California & TEL AVIV, Israel - October 21, 2014: 23andMe, the leading personal genetics company, and MyHeritage, the leading destination for discovering, sharing and preserving family history, announced today a strategic collaboration that will provide an enhanced experience for individuals to discover their legacy based on genetic ancestry and documented family history.
23andMe pioneered autosomal DNA ancestry analysis for consumers, and has created the largest DNA ancestry service in the world. With a simple saliva sample 23andMe can reveal the geographic origins of distant ancestors and help people discover unknown relatives. MyHeritage helps millions of families worldwide find and treasure their unique history with easy-to-use family tree tools, a huge library of more than 5.5 billion historical records and innovative matching technologies for automating discoveries. Integrating the market leading solutions in ancestral DNA and family trees will provide an unparalleled experience for customers of both companies. “We believe this collaboration with MyHeritage will offer our customers a vastly improved opportunity to build their family tree and discover new connections,” said Andy Page, President of 23andMe. “Given MyHeritage’s technology leadership in the ancestry space and vast global reach, we are excited about the value this relationship will bring to our customers around the world.” “Combining genealogy with DNA-based ancestry is the next evolution in uncovering family history,” said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “DNA testing can connect you to relatives you never knew existed, who descend from shared ancestors centuries ago, but family trees and historical records are critical to map and fully understand these connections. We have great respect for 23andMe’s technology and values, and its pioneering approach to genetics represents strong potential value for our users in the future.” 23andMe will offer its more than three quarters of a million customers around the globe access to MyHeritage’s family tree tools. This will allow 23andMe’s customers to enjoy automated family history discoveries. Smart Matching™ automatically finds connections between user-contributed family trees and Record Matching automatically locates historical records from the billions of records available on MyHeritage, pertaining to any person in the family tree. MyHeritage will utilize 23andMe's API to provide the best experience for customers, by allowing any two people with matching DNA to explore their family tree connections. MyHeritage will also offer 23andMe's Personal Genome Service® to its global community of more than 70 million registered users, in addition to the DNA tests it already offers. The first phase of integration will be complete by early 2015. About 23andMe 23andMe, Inc. is the leading personal genetics company dedicated to helping people access, understand and benefit from the human genome. The company's Personal Genome Service® enables individuals to gain deeper insights into their genetics and ancestry. The vision for 23andMe is to personalize healthcare by making and supporting meaningful discoveries through genetic research. 23andMe, Inc., was founded in 2006, and the company is advised by a group of renowned experts in the fields of human genetics, bioinformatics and computer science. More information is available at www.23andme.com. 23andMe’s health reports are not cleared by the FDA. US customers may purchase 23andMe’s ancestry-only product. Media Contact (Edelman): Jackie Kahn Phone: +1-202-538-0128 Email: [email protected] About MyHeritage MyHeritage is the leading destination for discovering, sharing and preserving family history. As technology thought leaders and innovators in the space, MyHeritage is transforming family history into an activity that’s accessible and instantly rewarding. Trusted by millions of families, its global user community enjoys access to a massive library of historical records, the most internationally diverse collection of family trees and ground-breaking search and matching technologies. MyHeritage empowers families with an easy way to share their story, past and present, and treasure it for generations to come. MyHeritage is available in 40 languages.www.myheritage.com Media contact: Aaron Godfrey Phone: US +1-347-542-7902, UK +44-207-193-2049 Email: [email protected] |
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