52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy Week 3

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Kathi

Free Online Genealogy Tools: Free online genealogy tools are like gifts from above. Which one are you most thankful for? How has it helped your family history experience?

I have used several different free online genealogy services. But, I have to say that the one free service that I use the most is Google search. After gleaning all the information I can from my paid services, I immediately turn to Google. It never ceases to amaze me the amount of information a simple google search can retrieve. I have found newspaper articles, genealogy websites, pictures, books etc. that have been applicable to information I am seeking. Searches have brought me together with relatives in extended branches of my tree. I have discovered entire websites that are dedicated to the research of surnames of interest to me along with fellow researchers. As I have said many times to family and friends when we don’t know the answers – “google it”!

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2012) that invite genealogists and others to discuss resources in the genealogy community including websites, applications, libraries, archives, genealogical societies and more. You do not have to be a blogger to participate. If you do not have a genealogy blog, write down your thoughts on your computer, or simply record them on paper and keep them with your files.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy Week 2

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Kathi

Week 2 – Paid Online Genealogy Tools: Which paid genealogy tool do you appreciate the most? What special features put it at the top of your list? How can it help others with their genealogy research?

If we are looking at this as strictly online services, then I pay for two online genealogy services. Ancestry.com and Genealogybank.com. When I first started working on my family genealogy I did not have a paid subscription to Ancestry. It was very frustrating during searches to see that something was out there – just beyond my grasp because I did not subscribe. I finally caved in and purchased a yearly subscription. I have been subscribing now for 4 years. I like the ability to find other collaborators searching for the same lineage. I have corresponded with several other family historians on various branches of my tree through the use of Ancestry. I have also used Family Tree Maker for many years. I participated in the beta testing of the syncing function of the 2012 version. While it is not perfect, it has alleviated my biggest complaint about having a tree online and a database that did not communicate with each other. Double entry was driving me crazy!

Genealogybank is a recent subscription for me. I like the focus of just newspapers, obituaries, and documents. I have just recently realized the amazing benefits of obituaries in determining and possibly locating various relations. Sometimes I am very successful on genealogybank and other times I come up empty handed…so I am still in the process of determining it value to me moving forward.

Right now I am happy with using these paid online resources. I’ve seen others that might be interesting in the future. But for the time being I think I will stick with these two.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy Week 1

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Kathi

One of my resolutions this year is to start using Genealogy prompts to help me with my blogging. There are a lot of them out there! I found these prompts through Amy Coffin’s blog and have decided to give them a try this year.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy

Week 1 – Blogs: Blogging is a great way for genealogists to share information with family members, potential cousins and each other. For which blog are you most thankful? Is it one of the earliest blogs you read, or a current one? What is special about the blog and why should others read it?

Right off the bat I can answer this question. It would have to be Daniel Dillman’s post on his Indiana Dillmans blogiversary yesterday! He inspired me to put myself out there and start publishing this blog! I also credit his blog with guiding me to these 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy prompts! So, kudos to Daniel!

I have read many genealogy blogs over the last several months. I joined Google+ back when it was still in testing and love the idea of using circles. I still have a Facebook account…but I use that for games and keeping up with siblings/cousins/nieces/nephews/friends etc. Google+ is where I go to find out what is going on in the real world! I have found many genealogists are on-board with Google+ and have put their postings to their blogs out there too. I have enjoyed reading them with great interest! I never realized how many genealogist are out there – blogging away! You are all doing a great job! So keep them coming fellow bloggers!