with Lisa Louise Cooke
May 2019
Listen now, click player below:
In this episode:
- Two listeners shares an exciting find using Lisa’s research strategies
- Lisa provides next steps on German research in response to a listener question
- Your Master Family Tree, and Sharing Branches Online Explained
- The unusual history of one of the earliest forms of the World Wide Web
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NEWS:
Lisa Louise Cooke is back in the studio after two weeks on the road speaking at the Ohio Genealogical Society (OGS) Conference and the National Genealogical Society (NGS) Conference.
Each conference was great and had its own unique feel, and there were many new genealogists in attendance.
Genealogy Gems listener Carol stopped by and enthusiastically shared with how the eBay search strategies for family history that Lisa discussed in episode 140 paid off in a big way!
MAILBOX:
Robin wrote in to share how Sydney Orton’s song with her grandpa in Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 228 brought her to tears in a toll plaza while driving!
Steve wrote in to rave about the value that his new Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning membership has brought to his family history research.
Rylee says she’s grateful to have found the podcast and she shares a story of genealogical discovery that she hopes will inspire others. Rylee asks “How do I find sources for these people? I have searched all over ancestry and Family Search and have had no luck again. I really want to believe that the people I have as Adam’s parents and siblings all the way through his 2nd great-grandparents (paternal) are truly his family but I need to get more information. Where can I go for help with German records and where can I continue my search?”
Lisa’s comments: You’re absolutely right, what you found are just hints. It sounds like it’s time for you to move on from the “Genealogy Giants” (Ancestry, FamilySearch, etc.) and into German records websites, libraries, and archives to find real sources that nail down the family tree.
Lisa recommends the Genealogy Giants quick reference comparison guide.
We have several articles and episodes at Genealogy Gems that can help you do this:
- Go to genealogygems.com
- At the top of the home page select “German” from the “Start Learning” drop down menu
- That will take you to these results pages featuring our German research strategies.
I’m optimistic for you because Germans are known for keeping excellent records, and I have had good luck in searching them.
GEM: Your Master Family Tree, and Sharing Branches Online Explained
I describe it this way: Plant your tree in your own backyard and share branches online.
A master family tree has three important characteristics:
- It is owned and controlled by you.
- It is the final say on what you currently know about your family tree.
- It is protected with online backup to ensure it is safe.
Plant Your Master Family Tree
Lisa uses RootsMagic software for her master family tree. Learn more about GEDCOM files in this article: GEDCOM File (What is It & How to Use This Genealogy File)
Protech Your Master Family Tree
Lisa uses Backblaze to back up her master family tree and computer. Visit www.backblaze.com/lisa
(Using this link also helps keep this free podcast free. Thank you!)
Read more: How to Download Backblaze in 4 Easy Steps
Share Branches Online
Genealogy Giants Guide available in the Genealogy Gems store.
Read Lisa’s article: Planting Your Master Genealogy Family Tree for all of the strategies mentioned in this episode.
The free podcast is sponsored by:
PROFILE AMERICA: Friday, May 24th, 2019
In a way, today marks the 175th birthday of the World Wide Web. Only it was electro-mechanical, not digital. On this date in 1844, Samuel F.B. Morse activated the first telegraph line, sending a dots-and-dashes code message from the U.S. Capitol building to a receiver in Baltimore.
By the late 1850s, the first telegraph cable had been laid across the Atlantic Ocean, and in 1861, the telegraph spanned the continental United States. Over the ensuing decades, the wires wrapped around the world.
From the 1844 demonstration, telecommunications today has grown into a half-trillion dollar a year industry, and employs more than 1 million workers in over 59,000 industry establishments.
You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at www.census.gov.
Sources:
Joseph Nathan Kane, Kane’s Famous First Facts, Fifth Edition, H.W. Wilson Co., New York, NY, 1997, #7692.
- Demonstration and development, accessed 2/20/2019
- Transatlantic cable, accessed 2/20/2019
- Telecommunications employees and establishments, County Business Patterns, NAICS 517
- Telecommunications revenues, Economic Census, NAICS 517
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Lisa, I started my tree in Family Tree Maker software when it was first developed (before ancestry.com). After some upgrade iterations, it would sync with ancestry.com and from then on, I have used ancestry.com as my only genealogy program. I now have full membership in ancestry.com and I have created seven family trees for various research approaches like the ones you mention in your podcast. However, I have not had good luck with RootsMagic or FTM3 for Mac. As I recall, they each have selective items they sync with ancestry.com and I believe you mentioned that aspect in your podcast. Some of my important documents that I have uploaded into ancestry.com do not sync with FTM3 (I don’t know if they will sync in RootsMagic). Plus, I want to save my trees to an external drive because they are too large to keep on my hard drive. Any comments especially related to the features in RootsMagic? I’ll try it again but not feeling like it will be useful for me at this point.
Hi Tom, thanks for commenting. First, it’s not important to change software database programs. It’s most important to have one, which you do. Secondly, RootsMagic will have a full updated version very soon. I’ve seen a preview, and it’s exciting! I would recommend waiting for when that comes out and then determining if it’s worth the switch for your particular needs. In regards to backup, it’s OK to have your trees on an external drive but it’s really essential that you backup that external drive. Thankfully, Backblaze will include any external drive that is plugged into your computer in the back up of that computer.
As I am listening to episode 229, I had to stop sorting laundry (such a sacrifice!) and chime in with your remarks on online backup. Two years ago, within the span of 24 hours, ALL of my hard drives crashed: desktop, laptop, external drive. I have been collecting family history for 60 years, so the potential loss was enormous. BUT I had followed your advice and had BackBlaze … but only on one computer which was not my research one. I was in the process of using my external drive to copy from one to the other when the crash was triggered. After contacting BackBlaze, they sent me a hard drive with all of my desktop data. It was simple to restore my information. Such a huge relief, but lesson learned. Now I have BackBlaze coverage on both computers.
Just 2 days ago, BackBlaze saved my neck again. In transferring a photo of my dad to his subfolder, the whole subfolder disappeared. I tried to usual tricks to discover where it went. Nothing. No sweat. I accessed my online BackBlaze account and quickly downloaded the data.
I LOVE BackBlaze and am so grateful to you for introducing me to it.