The Genealogy Gems Podcast with Lisa Louise Cooke - Your Family History Show

June 11, 2012 Episode 134: You asked for it! Here's a blast from the past: Episodes 1 & 2 of the Genealogy Gems Podcast! Episode 01 February 25, 2007 by Lisa Louise Cooke My goal in creating this podcast is to provide you with inspiration and innovation to help you get the most of out your research time. There's never enough time to work on your family tree, is there? So when you have some precious moments to dig into your roots, you want to be mining gold nuggets, not dead ends. Genealogy Gem: Google.com allows you to restrict search results to a specific website. 1 - Go to your favorite genealogy website 2 - Highlight the website address (URL) 3 - Hit the Control key and the letter C at the same time on your keyboard (this copies the website address to your computer's clipboard.) 4 - Go to Google.com 5 - Click in the Google search box to place your cursor there 6 - Hit the Control key and the letter V at the same time on your keyboard (this pastes the website address in the search box that you just copied from the other site.) 7 - Hit the HOME key on your keyboard (this takes your curser to the beginning of the URL address in the search box) 8 - Now type a keyword you want to search (a surname for instance) 9 - Hit the space bar on your keyboard 10-Then type SITE: (be sure to include the colon after the word SITE:) 11- Click the SEARCH button You will receive search results just like a regular Google search, except these results show only pages where your keyword appears in the website you chose to search, rather than every website on the internet! Believe me, once you use this gem, you will never go back to slogging through hundreds of pages that have nothing to do with your family. Try it today! I hope you'll subscribe to this podcast so you won't miss a single gem packed episode. Email me with feedback, suggestions, and questions. GEM: Transcription of Family Journals & Letters Start with what you know. Then talk to your oldest relatives first before you lose them. Ask for letters and journals Invest time into combing through and transcribing them into a digital format (such as a Word document) Print it out and go through it with a highlighter Highlight, names, places, dates, etc. Create a list of the highlighted items and do a Google search on each (both text & images where applicable) Transcription is worth it! One of my inspirations: the autobiography of my husband's grandfather Raymond Harry Cooke born March 6, 1894 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. This journal led to the discovery of the following photograph... The Rose Theatre Staff in 1914 (Material courtesy of the City of Regina Archives": Bottom left corner: Raymond Harry Cooke. To his upper right, Miss Belle Osborne. They later married, and remained so for over 50 years. Please email feedback and questions. Be sure to let me know how you heard about the podcast.

May 19, 2012 Discover what Dr. Henry Louis Gates hope to convey in the final episode of his series Finding Your Roots. NEWS: I just returned from NGS and had a chance to visit with many listeners including: Lisa Lisson of the Are You My Cousin? blog www.areyoumycousin-Lisa.blogspot.com and Debra writes the Deb's Research blog www.debsresearch.blogspot.com I also taught classes while there. My first class was on using the iPad for Genealogy, and while I think the students learned a lot, I know I certainly did. Folks were coming up to me throughout the conference sharing their favorite apps and tricks. Great app for the Kids: Talking Tom Cat (Android) GEM: App Jumping If you have an iPad, you probably find yourself using a couple of different apps at a time. When you are in an app, just use four fingers and swipe side to side to jump from app to app that you currently have open. For this to work you need to make sure that you have "Multi-tasking Gestures" activated under the "General" tab in your Settings. GEM: Four Finger Swipe Now as you are doing the Four Finger Swipe you'll probably notice that you have some apps open that you no longer need open, and if they are open they are taking up battery resources. It's a good idea to close these down, which is more than just pressing the HOME button to get out of the app. Use four fingers and swipe from bottom to top and this will reveal a horizontal line of the apps you have open. Press and hold one of the apps to start them all shaking and a minus sign will appear on each. Press the minus sign on each app you are not currently using to close them. NEWS: Ancestry publishes collection of WWII Cadet Nursing Corp Files New National Archives Video Gives an Inside Look at Civil War Widow's Pension Digitization Project 1940 Census Update from FamilySearch GEM: Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. What does it mean to be Latino? On May 19, 2012, the season finale of Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the PBS TV series that explores race and identity through the genealogy of some of America's best-known personalities, seeks to answer that question. Through the family histories of actors Michelle Rodriguez and Adrian Grenier, and Linda Chavez, an author, syndicated newspaper columnist and political analyst for FOX News, viewers will discover that Latino identity emerged from the tangled histories of European, Native-American and African peoples. The three subjects of Sunday's episode all share Spanish colonial roots, yet each views their identity very differently: as Native American, Puerto Rican, Dominican or simply Latino. At the helm of this series is Henry Louis Gates Jr. He holds a Ph.D. in English Literature, and is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University, as well as the director of the W.E.B Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. He's best known for PBS productions like African American Lives, Oprah's Roots, and African American Lives 2. This week I was fortunate to grab some time with this very busy man to talk about the final episode of this newest series, Finding Your Roots. Get Lisa's Free Newsletter Sign up for my free Genealogy Gems newsletter. If you do you'll receive my free ebook 5 Fabulous Google Search Strategies for the Family Historian absolutely free, and that's a sweet deal indeed!

Published May 3, 2012 Decipher your ancestor's head gear with Maureen Taylor (AKA The Photo Detective) with tips from her new book Bonnets and Hats. And then grab your spouse for a genealogical musical number. NEWS: Thanks for the Shout Outs: Branching Out Through the Years New German podcast Going the Extra Yad by Emily Garber Cooke-ing at the Arizona Family History Expo, 20-21 Jan 2012 Size Doesn't Matter at the Jen on Gen blog FamilySearch Update The 1940 U.S. census indexing project was launched this April as part of a broad online community effort. - Over 85,000 volunteers have already completed 20 percent of the census project. - A record number of active indexers used the program in a single day—34,947 volunteers. - In one day more than 3.2 million records were indexed and 1.5 million were arbitrated. Recently Completed Projects The Genealogy Gems News Blog Pinterest Third most popular social networking My pinterest boards http://pinterest.com/lisalouisecooke/ Pins from genealogygemshttp://pinterest.com/source/genealogygems.tv/ Follow me on pinterest icon MAILBOX: Sterling is lucky to have old family photos but needs some help preserving them. He writes: "I've become a regular listener of your Genealogy Gems podcast and I find that I'm enjoying it as much as any of the NPR radio shows that are my listening mainstays. I've learned so much from listening to you over the past few months and I'm deeply grateful. I have a question that perhaps you or one of your listeners know the answer to. I have a family photo album, circa 1915, in which all the photos have been glued to black construction-type paper…Can you or anyone listening suggest a safe method for removing these photos from their old pages in order to recover the information that's on the backs of them? An answer from The Practical Archivist Sally Jacobs Family Tree Magazine article / answer Sally also writes: "My advice was to use interleaving sheets to protect the image side of the photographs from the acidic paper, rather than deconstruct her ancestor's scrapbook. That advice still stands, but your listener has brought up one of the few exceptions to this rule: Information has been written on the back of the glued photographs. That doesn't mean I'm giving Sterling a green light to soak his ancestor photographs. NOTE: Water and photographs should not be mixed by anyone who isn't a trained conservator! The scrapbook format is difficult to process because of the different elements from which it is made. The adhesive may be water soluble and simple to soak off. Try to isolate a leaf of the book with some plastic sheeting (i.e. place a piece of plastic under the leaf to avoid damaging the leaf below). Place a damp piece of blotting paper over one of the newspaper clippings under a light weight. Leave it for about twenty minutes then very carefully, using a spatula, lift the newspaper from the leaf. Place the newspaper clipping between two pieces of dry blotting paper to dry." Thanks to Sally Jacobs the Practical Archivist. You can get lots more greats preservation advice from her at www.practicalarchivist.com Swedish TV Series: Line in Denmark wrote in again to give us an update on a popular Swedish TV show about family history: "I have some exiting news about the Swedish tv show that I mentioned in my last email. "Everything for Sweden." On this link they are looking for new contestants for the second season! "I have taken up your advice on contacting long lost family members. I still don't have the courage to phone them, but instead contacting them on e-mail. So far it has been a big success. I would never have done it if I hadn't listened to your show. So thanks! Love your podcasts - please keep on making them!" Beverly Loves the Podcast: "I'm a relatively new listener and premium member. I was bitten by the genealogy bug when I was about 12 years old and now I'm a grandmother. I've been calling myself a reformed genealogist because the "bug" has been dormant for a while…Thank you for all you share with your listeners. You have a real gift for communicating in a clear and personable way. I look forward to all your gems I have yet to uncover." Get your free audio book and over 40,000 audio book titles to choose from at Audible: http://www.audiblepodcast.com/gems GEM: Interview with The Photo Detective Maureen Taylor, author of the book Bonnets and Hats Link for Hat video GEM: The Genealogy WidowerThe other day I was doing my usual trolling of the web searching for new genealogy gems, and I found a very musical oe that I want to close out the show today with. If you have a wife or husband like mine who really isn't in to genealogy, gather them around the computer or iPod because I've actually got something on the show they are going to totally identify with. This is a special song that comes to us from Michael Stewart also known as The Genealogy Widower… You can download a free copy of Michael Stewart's song the Genealogy Widower here.

April 26, 2012 NEWS: The big news is Ancestry.com's acquisition of Archives.com Read all about it at the Genealogy Gems News Blog My Classes at the Genealogy Jamboree Conference: TH-001 - Conversation with the Author: Steve Luxenberg and Annie's Ghosts TH-013 - Common Surname Google Search Strategies SA-020 - Sharing The Joy: Projects That Will Captivate The Non-Genealogists In Your Life SA-034 - The Google Earth Scavenger Hunt – Fascinating Family History Fun! SA-040 - 10 Ways to Add Volume to Your Family History with Video MAILBOX: Ashley discovers the important of citing her genealogy sources: I wanted to drop you a note to express my deepest thanks for all of the work that you put into the podcast. I'm just shy of 30 years old and I've been working on my family tree since I was about 15, but even after all of that work, I'm still learning something new every day! …I wanted to share with you is that I just finished listening to episode 20 of the FH:GME podcast (all about the GPS and the importance of sourcing) and my own sad tale with sources: Like I said, I started family tree research when I was about 15. I stumbled on a four page report that my grandmother had ordered through a professional genealogist in the 1970s and was immediately hooked. Unfortunately, NOTHING is sourced in that report. I asked my Gramma about it and she told me that even she had found some errors (for example: she had four older half-siblings that were stillborn or died shortly after birth. The report said that they were all born and died in February, which my Grandmother adamantly claims isn't true.) But I based almost my entire tree on that report. Then I made things worse by accepting any family trees on Ancestry.com as fact, adding names, dates and information willy nilly from people who may or may not have been related to me. It wasn't until I realized that one branch of my tree had "traced" itself back to Julius Caesar (who was his own grandfather, according to the tree) that I went, "... wait a minute." I'm starting the process of creating a new, sourced, accurate tree. It's probably going to take me just as long to fill out the branches, but it will be worth it in the end. And I have you, and the fantastic resources you bring to the podcast, to thank! Thank you so very, very much. Your podcasts are such an invaluable tool and listening to them make me so excited to try a new method in my own research. Jack in Newport News, Va wants to know what do to with the folks who may or may not be ancestors: "We all are searching for the "right" people but sometimes we find, or seemingly find, the "wrong" people. With the massive number of records on-line these days, it seems quite easy to find someone with the right name and age-range and, often even close to the right area. Sometimes I can eliminate a find based on some fact, but often there's less certainty. What is the suggested best practice for handing a wrong, or possibly wrong, person/fact?" Lisa's Answer: This is a good question and one we all face at some point. In the end I think it comes down to two things: 1. What works best for you 2. And however you decide to handle it, do it consistently! My personal preference is to make notes in the correct person. If there is no "correct" person in my database, then I will create an "unknown" person in that spot and start adding my finds to that profile, even if it's just in the notes section, so that it's all in one place. It's critical to cite your sources on ALL data along the way so that you know where it came from and you can find it again. Challe needs help saving old books: "What does one do to get the information out to the next generation that might not have access to these books? How do you continue the work without reinventing the wheel of all the research that they did? How do you make corrections if needed? I am concerned that the information will be lost and I am unsure as to what to do about it." Lisa's Answer: I turned to my friend and book publisher Leland Meitzler owner of Family Roots Publishing at www.familyrootspublishing.com, for an answer to your question and here's what he said: "This is an ongoing conundrum, and a question that's not easily answered. The bottom line is that the person should contact the next of kin, and attempt to buy the copyright, or at least the publication rights - just as a publisher would do. And it needs to be in writing. Failing that, use the "data" within a succeeding publication, being very careful to obtain, and cite the original sources, and if those are not available, cite the book and author without copying word for word what they published. Honestly, it's tricky, and not something I'd want to attempt. If the book was published prior to 1923, all this is not an issue. The item is in the public domain. If published after that date, but before 1978, there's still a good chance that the book may be out of copyright, if the author didn't renew. After January 1, 1978, the copyright is good for the authors lifetime, plus 70 years. Actually, it's even more complicated than that, but that's the basics." Leland recommends: Carmack's Guide to Copyright & Contracts GEM: The Defective, Dependent and Delinquint Special Census of 1880 with Jana Broglin, CG, OGSF The DDD: Supplemental Schedules 1 through 7 Download Jana's pdf "Using the 1880 DDD Census". A special thank you to Jana for making this available! U.S. Federal Census – 1880 Schedules of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes at Ancestry Visit Jana's Website: http://www.janabroglin.com

Published April 16, 2012 In this episode learn more about APG, find out what's new with RootsMagic 5, and get started searching the 1940 census. NEWS: Diane Haddad and I just spent some time on the Family Tree Magazine podcast going over everything that's been happening with the release of the 1940 census. Diane is the Managing Editor of Family Tree Magazine and writes the Genealogy Insider blog, and she's been doing a terrific job covering the records release, indexing efforts and early finds in the 1940 census. You can hear the entire April episode of the Family Tree Magazine podcast at www.familytreemagazine.com/podcast And you can read more about it my article called Genealogy Just Got More Exciting! The 1940 Census is Here at the Genealogy Gems News Blog. where you can read about the official opening ceremony at the National Archives and check out a really cool infographic put out by Archives.com that guides you through the process of finding your relatives in the 1940 census before the index is finished and released. Because there isn't a searchable name index yet, you'll need to follow a simple three step process: #1 Write down where you ancestor lived. You can ask older references, check old city directories, voters registrations, previous census and the like to come up with a pretty reliable list. #2 Go to 1940census.archives.gov Enter your family's location to find their enumeration district. This is key to finding them without a published index. #3 Use the Census Maps to narrow your results #4 Enter the enumeration district number to view the image Who Do You Think You Are? on NBCIf you've been enjoying the new season of the TV series Who Do You Think You Are? on NBC, then you're really going to enjoy the deleted scenes videos I have for you on the Genealogy Gems News blog. Edie Falco Rita Wilson Parks and Recreation Star Discovers His Family History in Who Do You Think You Are? Rob Lowe National Archives The National Archives continues to publish some great videos on their YouTube channel and here's one that I really enjoyed: National Archives Video Offers Peek Inside Preservation Lab Also part of that series is another new video that the National Archives released on … Titanic at the National Archives – 100 Years New Free RootsMagic Webinars Announced RootsMagic has released Version 5. At the Ohio Genealogical Society conference in Cleveland I got a chance to sit down with Bruce Bruzbee, the President of RootsMagic and he tells us what's new. It was so great to have a chance to sit down with Bruce and hear about all the upgrades, and he mentioned the free webinar series that they've been doing, and all of those have been recorded and are on their website at RootsMagic.com Installing and Upgrading RootsMagic 5 New Media Tagging in RootsMagic 5 New Source and Citation Features in RootsMagic 5 New Research Logs and Manager in RootsMagic 5 New Timeline View in RootsMagic 5 Installing and Upgrading Personal Historian 2 Apr 19 - New County Check in RootsMagic 5 Apr 26 - New Reports and Options in RootsMagic 5 To sign up for the free webinars, visit the webinar page at: http://www.rootsmagic.com/webinars Read RootsMagic Update Released and Free Webinar Thanks for the Shout Outs: Genealogy Gems Premium Podcasts and the iPad by Jenna, Desparately Seeking Surnames Blog A blog post about genealogy books and their authors By: Carolyn L. Barkley, Genealogy and Family History Blog How to Recover from a Genealogy Slump From Eylse's Genealogy Blog MAILBOX: From Jean: "Thank you so much for letting me be a gem!". I loved how you played the "Cooke's reel to reel version and then the iTunes version of "Thine Alone". I definitely spent a lot of time talking with myself and debating whether I had the nerve to send that email! I know you've always said that almost all contacts with genealogists are extremely rewarding, but this was just about my first attempt at communication. I am so delighted that it solved your mystery! …You have a marvelous gift for making all of us feel special, and you've certainly helped me get even more motivated to explore my family history, thanks again." From the Voice Mail Line: "What do you do with big or numerous files? How do you annotate them in your tree for future reference when you pass the tree on or share it with others? I'm talking about PDFs of big books or articles or a large collection of photos where hundreds of megabytes may be involved. They're too cumbersome to keep inside programs but they should still be referenced to be able to find that file later on." Lisa Recommends: Cite your sources! Send large files for free with www.yousendit.com Share large files for free with www.dropbox.com GEM: Interview with Kenyatta Berry, President of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) Kenyatta D. Berry is a lawyer, businesswoman and genealogist with over 15 years experience in genealogy research and writing. A strategic and tactical professional with over twelve years progressive experience in Business Development, Marketing, Sales, Operations, Product Marketing and Law. Kenyatta is looking forward to helping APG continue to grow as an organization and serve the needs of professional genealogists worldwide. Her research focus includes African American genealogy, Virginia genealogy, Land records and House Histories. Ms. Berry is a member of the Council Member of the Corporation for the New England Historical Genealogical Society. She has been featured in Jet Magazine, on XM Satellite radio and a researcher for NBC Dateline and WETV.

Published March 22, 2012 Genealogy Gems Book Club: Our featured book is Running Away to Home by Jennifer Wilson. In this book, Jennifer takes us on a once and a lifetime genealogical journey where she walked in her ancestors shoes and lived among their descendants. Get the Book at Amazon: and help support the free Genealogy Gems Podcast. Thank You! Visit Jennifer Wilson's website: http://www.jennifer-wilson.com About Jennifer: Jennifer Wilson has been writing for 15 years for folks like Esquire, National Geographic Traveler, Better Homes & Gardens, Traditional Home, Budget Travel, AAA Living, Parents, Midwest Living, Iowa Outdoors, the Chicago Tribune, the St. Paul Pioneer-Press, (the dearly departed) Gourmet and many others. SPECIAL VIDEO CONTENT: watch on The Genealogy Gems YouTube Channel Genealogy Gems App Users will find a special video about the interview as bonus content for episode 129. Get the app for iPhone / iPad Get the Android App at Amazon (Search "Genealogy Gems") If you enjoyed this episode and the video, please do me a favor and click the thumbs up button for the video at YouTube, you'll find it right under the video. And you'll also find ways there on Youtube to share the video through Facebook and Twitter for all you Tweeters out there. Thank you for sharing! Click here for more information on Jamboree.

Published March 9, 2011 In this episode we'll talk to Chris van der Kuyl, CEO of brightsolid. Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2012 By Andrew Martin of the History Repeating Blog Mark Olsen of MyHeritage / World Vital Records WDYTYA recap at the MyHeritage blog WDYTYA Live 2012: MyHeritage Highlights Else Churchill and her team from the Society of Genealogists in the UK really do a brilliant job organizing the classes for Who Do You Think You Are? A Day Just for Me South Davis Family History Fair NEWS: Watch recorded presentations from RootsTech 2012 I'm honored that my Genealogy Podcasts and Blogs 101 class is included in the group. I really enjoyed introducing more people to podcasts and blogs I've heard from a lot of folks that this really opened their eyes to a medium they didn't realize was out there for them to enjoy for free. Debbie writes: "Wow. All I can say is Wow. I am a 52 year old mother of 4 in Bountiful, Utah. I have been watching the RootsTech Live presentations online and have just finished watching yours. It was amazing and inspiring. I consider myself somewhat tech savvy but have veered away from Blogs. (Just the sound of the word Blog infers something that will weigh you down.) But after your presentation I am anxious to try iGoogle and add blogs and podcasts tailored to my interests. I had no idea. And thanks for pointing out the Google blog search option. All the genealogy-focused search options now available through Google are exciting. I am hopeful you will add all your RootsTech presentations to your podcasts. They sound fascinating." And during that presentation I encouraged viewers to get their own genealogy blog started so that they can get information out there that might help them connect with other genealogists researching the same family line. And Carol wrote me shortly after the conference to let me know that she did just that! She writes: Skeletons in the Closet Marlene also wrote in about RootsTech. She says: "The Rootstech Conference was so awesome. I learned so much about podcasts, I am willing to try it out. But first I am the craft queen, especially when it comes to crafting my family history. The last day of the Rootstech I had to leave early. I didn't get to your last class that I had waited so long for. Do you have a podcast of the steps for creating the crafts you make with your family history?? I see the instructions, but I wanted to watch you in action. p.s. Thanks so much for your signed book on find family through newspapers. I can't wait to get started. Marlene" Genealogy Gems YouTube channel: Family History Christmas Stocking Project Part 1 Part 2 And the 4 part Family History Christmas Wreath series Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Also, several projects discussed in class are featured in my book "Genealogy Gems" available at my Lulu Store. MAILBOX: Name That Tune - Family History Mystery Solved! Hi Lisa, I love your podcasts, but I'm still catching up!! Back in 2009. you ran a series of "Name that Tune" challenges, which I absolutely loved, I think I have old time music in my DNA. It took me a day to recognize the "Missouri Waltz," I knew "The Dark Town Strutters Ball" right away; when I was little I named my doll "Honey" and always thought of those first lines "I'll be down to get you in a taxi, Honey...", I knew "I'll see you in my dreams" don't know if you are old enough to recall "Sing along with Mitch" when it was on TV, but we had all Mitch Miller's Sing Along albums and "I'll See you in my dreams" was among them. Okay, so that brings me to the reason for this email. In Episode 56, you celebrated "I'll See you in my dreams" and then played a brief 30 seconds of another tune, it was a violin instrumental. Well as I said I've listened up to 59 and I've never heard the result for that last tune. I think it may be "Thine Alone" by Victor Herbert. It was from the operetta "Eileen". Herbert was born in Ireland and emigrated to America, his more famous songs include "Ah Sweet Mystery of Life" and "The March of the Toys" from "Babes in Toyland" but he seems to have written hundreds of songs. You had a loyal listener named "Jeannie" who called you with the names of the first 4 songs, I laughed at the similarity in our names, but anyway, I'm going crazy, did anyone else ever recognize that song? If you go to iTunes, there is a good instrumental version of "Thine Alone" on the Album "The Music of Victor Herbert & Sigmund Romberg" performed by George Melchrino. It is a lovely song. I can't tell you how many wonderful memories those songs gave me!! Yes, I am working on my Family History and really enjoy all your podcasts, videos, blogs and advice. I did finish your Family History: Genealogy Made Easy podcast series, got to get to work on the Family Tree Magazine Podcast too!! Thank you so much for all you do! Jean Sue: "Robert Arbuckle Handwriting Analysis" Paula really is amazing and if you'd like to learn more about her and handwriting analysis head over to paulasassi.com GEM: Interview with Chris van der Kuyl, CEO of brightsolid brightsolid companies: Scotland's People FindMyPast Genes Reunited

Published Feb 21, 2012 In this episode you'll hear from UK presenter and historian Nick Barratt. GEM: Listener Betty Wynn Betty talks about how she uses my book The Genealogist's Google Toolbox. The Genealogy Gems Podcast app GEM: Interview with Nick Barratt http://www.nickbarratt.co.uk/ "Dr Nick Barratt obtained a PhD in history from King's College London in 1996, editing the 1225 Exchequer pipe roll and several Exchequer receipt rolls from the 1220s when the National Archives: Public Record Office maintained a site at Chancery Lane. On joining the National Archives: Public Record Office at Kew later the same year as a reader adviser. Nick started work in television whilst working at the BBC as a specialist archive researcher for a number of programmes. His valuable links to the largest archival institutions in the country and expertise helped lay the foundation of the network he has in place today. This network allows Nick and his team of researchers to effectively complete projects in any archive across the country."

Published Feb 10, 2012 In this episode we cover the latest news from RootsTech 2012, my video interview with Nick Barratt, and an in depth look at Find A Grave with the website's creator, Jim Tipton. NEWS: Watch the recording of my presentation Genealogy Podcasts and Blogs 101 RootsTech 2012 website. It's part of the Saturday Recap Video. Roots Tech was the public debut of my new book Everything You Need to Know About How to Find Your Family in Newspapers and I just want to thank everyone for the amazing response. It's really obvious that a comprehensive book on newspaper research was LONG overdue. Get the book at the Genealogy Gems Store. Autographed copies still available a very limited time Read more about and watch my chat with Genealogy Gems Podcast listener and contest winner Carol Genung. GENEALOGY GEMS APP BONUS CONTENT: Listen to the interview with podcast listener and contest winner Carol Genung. Watch my chat with television presenter and historian Nick Barratt. Brightsolid (Now FindMyPast)Now one of the big players in British online records brightsolid made a HUGE splash at RootsTech 2012 not only with it's huge and colorful display at the front of the Exhibit Hall, but also by announcing while there that they have formally entered the US genealogy market with the launch of a ground-breaking, "pay-as-you-go" website: www.censusrecords.com. Read all about it: Brightsolid Enters US Genealogy Market With Censusrecords.com Customers of the new site will be able to search all US census records from 1790 to 1930 and it will also house the 1940 US census records, when they are released later this year. My Heritage / World Vital RecordsAlso making news was MyHeritage.com. They have recently acquired World Vital Records.com and now are also making a splash onto the U.S. scene. I spoke with CEO Gilad Japhet and he told me they have just opened a U.S. office in Provo Utah and will be introducing some exciting new changes in the near future that take advantage of the huge new record collection they have acquired from World Vital Records and will make it easier than ever to build your existing MyHeritage family tree. FamilySearch Launches Mobile Indexing AppFamilySearch announced a mobile Indexing App at RootsTech that is meant to expand the capability of volunteers to help make the world's historic records searchable online. The mobile device app works on Apple iPads, iPhones, and Droid smartphones. MAILBOX: From Pat in New York: "Lisa--Once again I find myself driving along listening to you and mentally adding "To Do" items faster than the speed limit will allow! :) It's like having tea again with a childhood friend -- your comforting tone is oh-so-soothing at the end of the day for the drive home." Read Pat's blog post at http://dalpiazryan.blogspot.com/2011/10/stroll-back-in-time-to-ellicottville-ny.html "Lost Goose" newspaper notice which was a particular gem found in old small town newspapers. From Tina in the UK: "Your new newspaper book: I wondered if the content might be solely to do with US newspapers, or do you cover other countries too? I'm interested as I haven't had a lot of luck." The book is first and foremost a newspaper research process. This applies to newspapers regardless of their location. It does however include a fairly extensive International newspaper Appendix. It is of course impossible to make it complete, however it will certainly give you some great leads, and also provide you with a sense of what is out there and other types of similar websites to look for. While newspaper research starts online, it very often ends offline. And certainly the worksheets would be applicable to all newspaper research. Sandi wrote: "Just got my signed copy today. Thanks, Lisa! I know I will get lots of GEMS :) I foresee this being a well-used workbook." Nancy wrote: "Got my signed book in the mail today. Well done. Lots of fantastic tips. and references for all states. I'm reading through it. Thanks, Lisa, for a great book" Newspaper Lecturer Bret Petersen wrote: "I sure wish that I had had a book like that when I started researching newspapers!" Question from Dave: "It's funny that I feel like I can call you Lisa although I have never met you in person. I just renewed my premium membership for the second year So I have been following you for quite a while. I love your shows; Gems, premium, and family tree magazine! I listen regularly and always can't wait for the next issue to come out!" "On to my question: I was reviewing your hard drive organization videos (fantastic by the way) and noticed you mentioned Springfield Ohio as an ancestral home. I too have relatives there. I am currently fascinated by my civil war veteran ancestor Samuel S Cowan…I was wondering where to locate possible obituaries for Springfield? What News Papers were commonly read there? Thanks again for all you do to feed mine and others addiction to family history!" Check out Dave's photographs of the Jerseyville IL Victorian Days festival. Lisa Recommends: Chronicling America website Also check out my video on Using Newspapers in Genealogy at my YouTube channel Alison Shares a Grandma Names Followup "I saw this article in The Australian newspaper today & it reminded me of your stories about Davy so I thought you may like to read it. (Click image below to enlarge) From Alan: "I very much enjoy your podcast. I wanted to share the name my granddaughter uses for me, one that I think any genealogist might love. We were Skyping one day and my son referred to me as Dad. This was confusing to my granddaughter, so he explained that I was Old Dad – and that has ever since been my name." GEM: Jim Tipton – FindAGrave http://www.findagrave.com/ GEM: Your Life in 5 Minutes (Part 6) with Sunny Morton Get Sunny's book "Your Life & TImes: A Guided Journal for Collecting Your Stories by clicking this link: My Life & Times

Published Jan 24, 2012 In this episode Genealogist Shirley Gage Hodges will share her genealogical wisdom with you as well as talk about her status as "perennial student." NEWS Marilyn attended my class called Inspiring Ways to Captivate the Non-Genealogist in Your Life and wrote in "I attended your class during the Arizona Family History Expo. I enjoyed it very much!" Hear Me in Persongo to the Genealogy Gems Website at www.genealogygems.com and Seminars in the menu. That's what I do to be sure I'm in the right place at the right time! Jamboree:The 43rd Annual Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree is now officially open for registration Burbank, CA June 8 through the 10 of 2012. My Brand New Book is Available: Everything You Need to Know About How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers Here's what Steve Luxenberg, Washington Post associate editor and author of Annie's Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret said about the book: Annie's Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret "Read it. Study it. Absorb it. But above all, use Lisa Louise Cooke's new book as the guide and instructional tool that it is meant to be. As a veteran of research and libraries, I found all sorts of nuggets and new resources. Beginners will find an embarrassment of riches, including an impressive appendix with a comprehensive list of online routes to national, international and local newspapers. This is as close as you'll get to one-stop shopping for learning about historical newspaper research." And that's really what I wanted it to be – One stop shopping for everything you need to know about finding your family history in newspapers. There are some incredible stories out there waiting to be found, and this book is going to get you there! MAILBOX: Myron from Iowa writes: "I have a Genealogical Gem that I think you would like to hear about. I have a recording of my Great Grandma's voice. My father served in the army 1946-1950, sometime while he was in the service his family took a trip from Nebraska to New York City. While visiting the Empire State Building, at the top there was this coin operated machine that would cut your own record, recording your voice, that you could mail to your friends. My mom has that record. I recorded the record to a wav file and it sounds really bad. I don't understand German so I hope they aren't saying anything bad. Enclosed are some photos of it and the wav files from it." Is there anyone out there who speaks German who could translate this recording for Myron? If that's something you can help with, that would be amazing. Please email the written translation to me. I'll share the results here on the show. there was definitely genealogically serendipity involved in this email from Myron because just before receiving it I had come across a video on YouTube that I thought was absolutely wonderful, and right along the same lines. Story Corps at Vimeo Video: No More Questions! No More Questions! from StoryCorps on Vimeo. GEM: Interview with Genealogist Shirley Gage Hodges, "The Perennial Student" "Everyone has something to learn." You can read Shirley's articles on genealogy at the Global Gazette The Genealogical Speakers Guild The Immigration Experience Genealogy Gems App users check the Bonus Content for this episode for additional Immigration notes from Shirley! What keeps Shirley motivated: Finding the stories of her ancestors Learning more about ancestor's connection with our country The lesson Shirley learned after her search for Grandpa Larkin: "We do have to be so careful! He was a grand old gentleman, and I would have loved to have him as a Grandfather." Alas it turned out the he was someone else's Grandpa! Shirley Has Her Eye on the Future with These Historical Projects: The Harvey Girls Amazing Women of the West Creating a Family History Christmas Wreath. Learn how to make one for yourself! Watch all 4 episodes of Family History Christmas Wreath at the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel. CLOSING: Thanks for the Shout Out I want to say thank you to some bloggers who have given me a shout out lately: The Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society Posted the blog article Searching for Common Surnames about my recent speaking engagement at the Sacramento Central Public Library. And Genealogy Blogger and podcast listener Kim Von Aspern invite me to sit down with her a few weeks ago for one on one interview and she is publishing it as a blog series at her Le Maison Duchamp blog at lemaisonduchamp.blogspot.com Check out her articles: Lisa Louise Cooke in Sacramento Interview with Lisa Louise Cooke Part 1 Interview with Lisa Louise Cooke Part 2