Online Genealogy Education Like You’ve Never Seen Before

Genealogy Gems Premium membership, a leader in online genealogy education, is now Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning! We’ve added more than 20 DNA video tutorials–all for one low annual price. And now make the most of 50+ Premium Videos and 150+ Premium Podcast episodes with the new Premium eLearning Companion Guide book. It’s the ultimate ongoing genealogy education! Big announcements in the genealogy world tend to happen at RootsTech, and this year Genealogy Gems had our own big news: we’ve beefed up our Premium Membership significantly!

GENEALOGY GEMS PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP IS NOW PREMIUM ELEARNING

Your DNA Guide Diahan Southard has joined forces with Genealogy Gems and added 21 DNA tutorial videos to our Premium Membership, which we are now calling Premium eLearning. DNA is a gateway to genealogical discoveries and an integral part of the best family history research plans. So we’re thrilled to offer you hours of her expert guidance and instruction as part of your annual subscription.

Diahan’s comprehensive DNA tutorial series is organized into four categories: start at the beginning or start with the next skill you want to master. You’ll find both full-length classes and quick sessions on the most popular and genealogically useful DNA research strategies, tests and tools:

DNA (General):

  • Getting Started with DNA Testing
  • Organizing your DNA Matches
  • DNA: The Glue that Holds Families Together

Autosomal DNA:

  • An Outsider’s Look Inside AncestryDNA
  • 3 Tips to Make the Most of your Autosomal DNA
  • 5 Tips for Understanding DNA Results
  • Gedmatch: Using the One-to-Many Tool
  • Ethnicity Tools at AncestryDNA
  • Share your Results at AncestryDNA
  • 23andMe Match Page
  • Ancestry Composition at 23andMe
  • Shared Matches Tool at Gedmatch
  • Family Tree DNA: FamilyFinder Match Page Introduction
  • Shaky Leaf Hints at AncestryDNA
  • New Ancestor Discoveries at AncestryDNA

Mitochondrial DNA

  • Introduction to mtDNA
  • Getting to Know Your mtDNA Match Page

YDNA:

  • What is YDNA? Basic principles of yDNA testing
  • Navigating Family Tree DNA for YDNA

These video classes have been added to the long list of current Premium videos by Lisa Louise Cooke and other experts on methodology, genealogy records, Google searching, maps and geography, organizing your genealogy, mobile genealogy, Evernote, using the cloud, storytelling, and technology. Remember, Premium eLearning members also still enjoy exclusive access to the monthly Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast and more than 150 archived episodes online. These full-length audio shows take you deeper into the stories, strategies, skills, and inspiration you need to keep going in your quest to know your family history.

 

PREMIUM ELEARNING COMPANION GUIDE BOOK

Here’s more good news. We have published a brand new Premium eLearning Companion Guide book! This 300+ page workbook has the show notes from the first 100 episodes of the Premium Podcast, which are indexed by topic AND completely updated for 2018 (things have changed a lot over the years!). Plus it has dozens of handouts from our Premium Videos, including the new DNA videos just added. The workbook is spiral bound to lay flat for writing, with space for taking notes throughout. Get the most out of your learning and have all the information you need at-a-glance on the printed page. We launched this brand new book at RootsTech 2018. Now it’s available to all Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning members for just $29.95 (and we’ll even ship it to you for free).

The cost of a full year of Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning is about the same as one webinar from some companies—and MUCH less than attending a genealogy conference in person, where you can only attend a few classes one time. Why not invest in a year-long ongoing genealogy education for one low fee?

Save 20% off a 1 year Premium eLearning membership with coupon code: SPRING

 

 

 

Offer Valid: 3/22/18 – 4/1/18 at 11:59 CST. Applicable to membership only. 1 use per person, valid on both new and renewal.

Featured Success Story From our Reader Celebrating our 200th Episode

The Genealogy Gems Podcast recently celebrated our 200th episode and 10th anniversary! Can you believe it? We couldn’t have made it without you, our Gems listeners and readers…thank you! We asked you to share with us how Genealogy Gems has helped you along your personal family history journey and to share your triumphs. Today we are proud to feature the inspiring success stories of a true Genealogy Gem, Robin!

Celebrating The Genealogy Gems Podcast 200th Episode

My name is Robin and I am from Nevada and I just love Lisa’s amazing podcast and website.

Lisa and her team are an amazing source of information for a hobby genealogist. A daily inspiration for me as I listen to the podcast. They have given me the courage to step outside my comfort zone and to keep contacting distance relatives in my search for photos or family history.

I have utilized so many of the Gems here on the website. Here are a few of my favorite Gems that have helped me with my searches.

  • Diahan Southard (a Gem all on her own)
  • Genealogy for Beginners (I devoured this page)
  • Google Earth
  • Google Toolbox (My favorite tool to use! Love, love, love!)
  • How to get started in Evernote
  • Organize your Genealogy Files
  • How to interview your relatives
  • All of the podcasts
  • Learning about Animoto and using it to make a video of all my cousins

I enjoy listening to Lisa read the letters from other people on the podcast so much and have wanted to send in an email, but I kind of felt a little awkward talking about myself and about what I had accomplished these past couple years. So, when Lisa invited everyone to write in for the Genealogy Gems 200th podcast episode, I thought to myself, what the heck, go for it.

My First Success Story: Keep It Safe

I wanted to share with your readers a couple of my stories. I am not a trained genealogist, but I really enjoy the search on Ancestry, Newspapers, and USGenweb, and many others. I came across the Gems website when I was researching Scrivener and how to incorporate it into my research. I read one of the reviews and they mentioned Genealogy Gems. Well, let me say, I have been hooked ever since then!

My mother, sadly, passed away last April of Alzheimer’s. She got me interested in genealogy as a teenager and I became hooked. I’m in my 40s now and recently got back into researching about four years ago. When my Mom was first diagnosed, she came to me and handed me a box of her papers and asked, “Can you keep them safe for me?” I shoved them to the back of a closet–my only thought was to keep them safe.

A couple years ago, I remembered the box I had in safe keeping and pulled it out. The box contained newspaper clippings my grandmother kept of family members of her mother which later helped me to confirm my great-grandfather’s parents names. Also contained in the box were several funeral books with family names, and birth and death certificates. It’s almost as if she knew I would come back to doing genealogy. It’s been an amazing adventure and I am so very thankful to my mom for giving me this wonderful gift of adventure.

My Second Success Story: Making a Lost Family Connection

In the last couple years, I have solved an old family mystery of my missing (paternal) great-grandfather after WWI. He had been presumed dead in the war, but I found he actually got out and married another woman.

I was able to track his daughter down and had a great conversation with her before she passed away eight months later within a week of my own father’s passing. His daughter was able to verify that he was indeed our lost great-grandfather. My dad and Uncle were shocked when I told them! I knew my dad enjoyed my calls to update him on my newest finds and solving the mystery when he showed up at my door out-of-the-blue with a box containing his baby book and other items as a kid. I have to say, that was one of the best days I ever spent with my dad. We sat and poured over the items and drank coffee spiked with a little Carolan’s liquor. He was going through chemo and radiation at the time and wasn’t allowed to drink. He claimed his doctor gave him special permission for a little in his coffee!

My Last Success Story: Participating in a Denmark Museum Exhibit

Mors Museum. Picture provided by Robin.

My most exciting moment was in November of 2015. I had emailed a library in Nykobing, Mors, Denmark for info in reference to the Morso Stove Factory. My husband’s ancestor worked there in the early 1900s.  My email was forwarded to the local Museum Mors director to answer my inquiries. I had included a photograph of my husband’s great-great-grandfather who worked at the stove factory. The director replied with my answer and asked if I would like to contribute to the new exhibit coming up in March of 2016, “The Emigrants ” with any photos, documents, family stories. Of course, I said yes, totally delighted and grinning from ear to ear!

As I considered what items to send to the Mors Museum director, I remembered that earlier in the year, I had contact with a fellow ancestry member named Dan (distant cousin of my husband) regarding a family book he referenced as a source. He sent me a copy via Google drive. The author, a lady name Connie, put this family book together and spent several years gathering information and typing it up on a typewriter, yikes. It’s over 250 pages of pure information on my husband’s ancestors. I tracked down Connie and spoke to her for the first time. I think she was shocked and honored that her book on her (former) husband’s family was going to be a part of a museum exhibit.

I then contacted Dan and he had some materials to contribute as well since he was the grandson of the youngest ancestor that immigrated to America.

Mors Museum Exhibit. Picture provided by Robin.

I had so much fun being a part of this and putting all the materials together to send by Google Drive to the curator. I have included several pictures from the museum exhibit. I believe the exhibit ends in October of this year. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, but they were so kind to share the photos with me.

I have to say, even though this was a hard year, due to my parents passing, I think they both left me a gift to help me get thru this difficult time.  It’s been an amazing adventure and I have grown and learned so much from my family history.

I really want to say thank you so much to Lisa and the Genealogy Gems team, because I couldn’t have done half of the research I’ve done this past year without their guidance. Thanks for letting me share my story, too!

Congrats on the 200th podcast episode and I hope you all have a wonderful celebration.

Happy searching and many blessings,

Robin

Enjoy the Benefits of Premium Membership

Genealogy Gems - Family History Podcast and WebsiteRobin utilized our Genealogy Gems Premium Membership to help her navigate genealogy records, learn about DNA, organize with Evernote, and much, much more. Become a Genealogy Gems Premium Member today and get exclusive access to incredible content to help you further your research – all for one low annual price! Click here to learn more.

About the Author

About the Author

Lisa Louise Cooke is the Producer and Host of the Genealogy Gems Podcast, an online genealogy audio show and app. She is the author of the books The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, Mobile Genealogy, How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers, and the Google Earth for Genealogy video series, an international keynote speaker, and producer of the Family Tree Magazine Podcast.

Best Websites for Historical Maps: A New Premium Video!

Best websites for finding historical maps Genealogy Gems premium videoLooking for a pre-1700 map of the Americas as the Europeans found it? Yearning to survey the plot of land your ancestors tilled in Cobb County, Georgia? Historic maps can point you in the direction of your ancestors. But navigating your way to an original map can be a costly and time-consuming trek. Before you venture down that road, navigate your way to the treasury of digitized maps available online!

A new video class can help Genealogy Gems Premium members do just that: Best Websites for Finding Historical Maps. Literally hundreds of thousands of historical maps are available for free online in high-resolution digital format that you can download right to your computer without ever leaving home. The websites I show you offer some of the largest map collections available on the Internet today. I demonstrate strategies for searching the best websites for historical maps that will help YOUR research. You’ll see what’s out there, how to find the right maps and how to download and use them.

Historic_Maps_VideoGenealogy Gems Premium members also have access to my popular online video class, 5 Ways to Enhance Your Genealogy Research with Old Maps. Not a Premium member? Get a taste of these classes for free on the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel! Check out this free excerpt: “Using Sanborn Fire Maps for Family History and Genealogy.” 

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