Challenge #35 – 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy

Here’s your weekly challenge: DAR Database

View the entire description of this week’s challenge, by using my Examiner.com, Phoenix Genealogy Examiner link.  Click here.

Remember to choose only the challenges that suit you and fit into your schedule.  These challenges are meant to be a blessing, not a burden!

Amy Coffin of the We Tree blog has put together the helpful 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy series. These prompts are hosted on the GeneaBloggers website. You may be interested in seeing posts about the challenge from other GeneaBloggers.  Both sites have been voted among Family Tree Magazine’s Top 40 Genealogy Websites this year.

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Note from Family Tree Gal, Carolyn:  Have you joined the Family Tree Quest at www.familytreequest.com ?  I also invite you to join me on Facebook and Twitter.  Check out my Family Tree Gal Blog if you haven’t done so already.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation from Amy Coffin or GeneaBloggers.com for writing this post. I am listed on the GeneaBloggers Blog Roll because I find it to be a valuable, shared community resource. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Preserving Your Family Photos

Ever wonder how to preserve all of your family photos?  Preserving Your Family Photographs: How to Organize, Present, and Restore Your Precious Family Images by Maureen A. Taylor is a great resourse to help you.  Check it out on familytreequest.com!  Click on “Photos and Scrapbooks” to find this book. 

Here is a description of the book:

Genealogists and non-genealogists alike love old photographs and many people have photo collections of their ancestors. Preserving Your Family Photographs shows them how to organize and store these photos so that future generations can also enjoy them.

Readers will learn how to care for family photos, identify different types of damage, learn basic conservation techniques, buy the proper storage materials, then organize the family photo archive and safely display it for all to see.

* Photo preservation and display techniques appeal to both genealogist and non-genealogist alike
* The book provides instruction through the use of beautiful sample photos

About the author:

Maureen Taylor is the author of Uncovering Your Ancestry through Family Photographs. She is a regular contributor to Family Tree Magazine and is a former picture research coordinator and photo curator. She is a frequent lecturer at genealogical conferences and workshops across the country on the subject of photograph identification, organization and preservation. She lives in Westwood, Massachusetts

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I am happy to be an affiliate of amazon.com. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.”  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Family History Store

Thefamilyhistorystore.com is a great place to find “products for discovering, preserving, and celebrating your heritage!”  Check it out today!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I am happy to be an affiliate of thefamilyhistorystore.com. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.”  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

RootsMagic Family Tree Genealogy Software

Here is a great way to organize your genealogy!  Go to familytreequest.com and click on “Genealogy Software” on the left hand side of the screen.  Check it out!

Product Description

Awarded “Editor’s Choice” by Heritage Quest Magazine. RootsMagic is an easy to use family tree program with extensive family history reports, multiple navigation views, photos, publishing, and website creation features. RootsMagic supports unlimited people, families, events, notes, and photos. Users can print complete books (where the program writes the sentences for each event), spectacular charts, forms, lists, and even create custom reports. RootsMagic program also provides multiple database support (with drag and drop), SourceWizard, todo lists, powerful merge features, and more. Full GEDCOM support allows users to easily share their data with others, or to easily import their data from other programs. Import directly from Family Tree Maker (v16 and earlier), PAF, Legacy, or Family Origins. Create shareable CDs of your data and photos to send to your family and friends.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I am happy to be an affiliate of amazon.com. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.”  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Challenge #34 – 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy

Here’s your weekly challenge:  Flickr

View the entire description of this week’s challenge, by using my Examiner.com, Phoenix Genealogy Examiner link.  Click here.

Remember to choose only the challenges that suit you and fit into your schedule.
These challenges are meant to be a blessing, not a burden!

Amy Coffin of the We Tree blog has put together the helpful 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy series. These prompts are hosted on the GeneaBloggers website You may be interested in seeing posts about the challenge from other GeneaBloggers.  Both sites have been voted among Family Tree Magazine’s Top 40 Genealogy Websites this year.

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Note from Family Tree Gal, Carolyn:  Have you joined the Family Tree Quest at www.familytreequest.com ?  I also invite you to join me on Facebook and Twitter.  Check out my Family Tree Gal Blog if you haven’t done so already.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation from Amy Coffin or GeneaBloggers.com for writing this post. I am listed on the GeneaBloggers Blog Roll because I find it to be a valuable, shared community resource. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Doing Oral History by Donald A. Ritchie

Doing Oral History is another great book you can find at the Family Tree Quest Bookstore!

Product Description:

Oral history is vital to our understanding of the cultures and experiences of the past. Unlike written history, oral history forever captures people’s feelings, expressions, and nuances of language. But what exactly is oral history? How reliable is the information gathered by oral history? And what does it take to become an oral historian? Donald A. Ritchie, a leading expert in the field, answers these questions and in particular, explains the principles and guidelines created by the Oral History Association to ensure the professional standards of oral historians. Doing Oral History has become one of the premier resources in the field of oral history. It explores all aspects of oral history, from starting an oral history project, including funding, staffing, and equipment to conducting interviews; publishing; videotaping; preserving materials; teaching oral history; and using oral history in museums and on the radio. In this second edition, the author has incorporated new trends and scholarship, updated and expanded the bibliography and appendices, and added a new focus on digital technology and the Internet. Appendices include sample legal release forms and information on oral history organizations. Doing Oral History is a definitive step-by-step guide that provides advice and explanations on how to create recordings that illuminate human experience for generations to come. Illustrated with examples from a wide range of fascinating projects, this authoritative guide offers clear, practical, and detailed advice for students, teachers, researchers, and amateur genealogists who wish to record the history of their own families and communities.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I am happy to be an affiliate of amazon.com. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.”  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

RootsTech A New Genealogy and Technology Conference

Don’t miss the upcoming RootsTech Conference in Salt Lake City next February 10-12, 2011.  Mark your calender now!  For more information, click here.

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Disclosure of Material Connection:  I have not received any compensation for writing this post from rootstech.familysearch.org.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Challenge #33 – 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy

Here’s your weekly challenge:  Twitter

View the entire description of this week’s challenge, by using my Examiner.com, Phoenix Genealogy Examiner link.  Click here.

Remember to choose only the challenges that suit you and fit into your schedule.  These challenges are meant to be a blessing, not a burden!

Amy Coffin of the We Tree blog has put together the helpful 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy series. These prompts are hosted on the GeneaBloggers website. You may be interested in seeing posts about the challenge from other GeneaBloggers.  Both sites have been voted among Family Tree Magazine’s Top 40 Genealogy Websites this year.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Note from Family Tree Gal, Carolyn:  Have you joined the Family Tree Quest at www.familytreequest.com ?  I also invite you to join me on Facebook and Twitter.  Check out my Family Tree Gal Blog if you haven’t done so already.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation from Amy Coffin or GeneaBloggers.com for writing this post. I am listed on the GeneaBloggers Blog Roll because I find it to be a valuable, shared community resource. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Family Tree Maker 2011 – Pre-Sale

Here is the information about Family Tree Maker from Ancestry.com:

Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting on your family tree, Family Tree Maker 2011 can help you create a family tree faster, easier, and better than ever before. The end result is a family history that you and your family will treasure for years to come.

What’s New?

Family Tree Maker 2011 introduces more than 100 enhancements including:

• Smart Stories™— Just drag and drop facts from your tree to the new Smart Stories page. Each time you edit your tree, stories update automatically.
• New and improved charts—Enhance your charts with new backgrounds, borders, and embellishments. Create four new designs, including a 360 degree fan chart.
• Refined reports—Save and reuse report settings and use 5 new report styles.
• Media management tools—Locate missing media items with the click of the mouse.
• More Ancestry integration—Find out which Ancestry members are searching for your ancestors in the expanded Web Dashboard.
• Better performance—Upload and download trees from the Internet with increased speed.
• Numbering—Automatically number every person in your tree for quick reference.
• Timelines—View more events that occurred during your ancestors’ lives. Even edit, delete or add your own historical events.

And don’t forget the features you’ve come to rely on:

• Dynamic user interface that lets you quickly switch between important features.
• The ability to import data from other genealogy programs, including Personal Ancestral File, The Master Genealogist, and Legacy Family Tree.
• Powerful sourcing tools that let you document AND rate each of your citations.
• Interactive maps and lists that give you a bird’s-eye view of where members of your family come from.
• Photo AND file management features so you can easily incorporate all types of media files into your charts and reports.
• Timelines that highlight personal, family, and world events.
• Easy-to-use tools for merging duplicate individuals, calculating dates, creating to-do lists, and more.

Use Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker together to get the most out of both.

• Search the extensive record collections at Ancestry.com without ever leaving your family tree! And, when you find new records, you can quickly merge them into your tree.
• Take advantage of Ancestry Hints—Family Tree Maker automatically suggests records that may match people in your tree.
• Import your Ancestry.com family tree, along with attached photos.
• Upload your tree to Ancestry.com and connect with millions of other family historians across the world.

 

Retail:

USD 39.95

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

Minimum system requirements:
Operating system: Windows 7 / Windows XP / Vista
Processor: 500 MHz Intel Pentium II (or equivalent)
Hard disk space: 500 MB for installation
Memory: 512 MB of RAM
2X CD-ROM (required for installation)
Display: 800 x 600 resolution for monitor

Recommended system requirements:
Operating system: Windows 7 / Windows XP SP2/Vista
Processor: 1GHz Intel Pentium III (or equivalent)
Hard disk space: 500 MB for installation
Memory: 1 GB of RAM
Display: 1024 x 768 resolution for monitor
32X CD/CD-R (required for installation)
All online features require Internet access

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I am happy to be an affiliate of ancestry.com. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.”  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Challenge #32 – 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy

Here’s your weekly challenge:  RSS Feeds

View the entire description of this week’s challenge, by using my Examiner.com, Phoenix Genealogy Examiner link.  Click here.

Remember to choose only the challenges that suit you and fit into your schedule.  These challenges are meant to be a blessing, not a burden!

Amy Coffin of the We Tree blog has put together the helpful 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy series. These prompts are hosted on the GeneaBloggers website. You may be interested in seeing posts about the challenge from other GeneaBloggers.  Both sites have been voted among Family Tree Magazine’s Top 40 Genealogy Websites this year.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Note from Family Tree Gal, Carolyn:  Have you joined the Family Tree Quest at www.familytreequest.com ?  I also invite you to join me on Facebook and Twitter.  Check out my Family Tree Gal Blog if you haven’t done so already.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation from Amy Coffin or GeneaBloggers.com for writing this post. I am listed on the GeneaBloggers Blog Roll because I find it to be a valuable, shared community resource. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”