Day 3 - Rootstech 2014

Yesterday, I only had time to view only two sessions, and they were “Information Overload: Managing Online Searches and Their Results” by Josh Taylor, and “Five Ways to Do Genealogy in Your Sleep” by Deborah Gamble.

First of all, the handout by Josh should be read, because he gives a good summary of what he has talked about in the lecture.

The subject of the talk was that we must have an online research plan just like we do for our offline work. He talks about using Yippy.com because it is a more focused search than Google, and the five principles in doing online research is laid out in his handout.

I ended my day by watching the talk given by Deborah, and she told us how to use the Internet to do the searching for us while we sleep. The five ways are Google Alerts, Ancestry.com's Shaky Leaf, eBay Reminders, FamilySearch Reminders, and Find A Grave.  

Although I use some of them already, there are a couple of them I shall try.

Once again, her talk is in the handouts section on RootsTech.

Remember that you can always watch these at a later date because FamilySearch will put them on the RootsTech site after the conference ends today at https://rootstech.org.

If you would like to read about the talks given yesterday, there are hand outs at https://rootstech.org/about/syllabus-materials

I will give a summary of blogs and videos tomorrow in my weekly post, Canadian Week in Review.

Happy viewing!

Elizabeth Lapointe

genealogycanada@aol.com

Day 2 - RootsTech 2014

Yesterday, I only had time to view only one session, and it was entitled “Tweets, Links, Pins, and Posts: Break Down Genealogical Brick Walls with Social Media” by Lisa Alzo.

Lisa was her usual friendly self as she led us through the world of social media, and told us of her life as a writer of genealogy.

I got the impression that sometimes she was harried by all of the things that are out there these days as far as social media is concerned, but she said that if we pick two or three platforms to work with, we will become more comfortable to work with them.

For myself, the three platforms that I use are blogs, Goggle+ Hangouts On Air, and Facebook.

So what do you use?  

Today, I will watch two sessions, and they are -

At 3:00 p.m. EST, “Information Overload: Managing Online Searches and Their Results” by Josh Taylor.

At 8:00 p.m. EST, “Five Ways to Do Genealogy in Your Sleep” by Deborah Gamble.

Remember, you can always watch these at a later date because they will be posted on the RootsTech website after the conference ends today at https://rootstech.org.

If you would like to read about the talks given yesterday, there are handouts available online at https://rootstech.org/about/syllabus-materials

And even though I’m not there in person, it’s still great to be able to participate from afar!

So, Happy Viewing to all, and thank you, RootsTech, for making this possible!

Elizabeth Lapointe

genealogycanada@aol.com

Day 1 – RootsTech 2014

Thursday, I listened to two live-streaming sessions from RootsTech, and one Google+ Hand Out on Air on YouTube.

The first thing I watched at 12:30 p.m. EST was “Top 10 Things I Learned About My Family From My Couch” by Tammy Hepps.

What a delightful story she had to tell of doing research from her couch. She was entertaining, energetic, and full of enthusiasm as she told us about the ancestry trip she took from her couch via the research facilities she visited online.

Then, 3:00 p.m. EST, I watched Rob Tanner’s “FamilySearch Family Tree: What’s New and What’s Next”.

I never miss his talks because they are about FamilySearch, and I am always interested to hear what he has to say. And, they are humourous.

One interesting thing he mentioned was that 80% of the information that a person submits to family trees is already there. There is duplication! It is getting better, but it is still problem.

The last thing I watched at 4:30 p.m. EST was Dear Myrt’s “Google Hangouts 101a: The Panelist's View”, where she took a computer class through the “how-tos” on producing a video on-air. She had helpers - Cousin Russ was there, along with her friends, Barry Kline and Jenny Lanctot.

If you would like to read about the talks given yesterday, there are handouts available online at https://rootstech.org/about/syllabus-materials.

Today, I won’t have as much time to watch as many sessions, but one session I will be watching will be at 3:00 p.m. EST, when I will watch “Tweets, Links, Pins, and Posts: Break Down Genealogical Brick Walls with Social Media”, given by my friend, Lisa Alzo.

 

One thing I did notice was that the keynote speakers are not being live-streamed this year. So we won’t be hearing first-hand (except through bloggers and interviews) what to expect insofar as the latest developments in family history.

One blogger you may want to follow is M. Diane Rogers. She writes the popular CanadaGenealogy blog, and she is at RootsTech.

The blog is at http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/02/rootstech-2014-first-day.html

Elizabeth Lapointe

genealogycanada@aol.com

Site Launch: new version of the IslandNewspapers.ca

A message from Mark Leggott, University Librarian/Privacy and Copyright Officer, University of Prince Edward Island, will launch a new version of the IslandNewspapers.ca site, which features a new interface and all of The Charlottetown Guardian issues from 1892-1957.

The launch will take place on Tuesday February 11th in the Art Gallery at the Confederation Centre Art Galley and Museum (Grafton Street Entrance) in downtown Charlottetown, with a start time of 2:00 PM.

You can get a sneak peek at http://islandnewspapers.ca/

15 sessions will be live streamed from RootsTech 2014

The conference starts today, and here are the sessions (All the times are MST)

Thursday, Feb. 6 

10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. “Top 10 Things I Learned About My Family from My Couch,” by Tammy Hepps

1 p.m. to 2 p.m. “FamilySearch Family Tree: What’s New and What’s Next,” by Ron Tanner; 

2:30 to 3:30 p.m. “Intro to DNA for Genealogists,” by James Rader

 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. “Genealogy in the Cloud,” by Randy Hoffman 

5 p.m. to 6 p.m. “Sharing Your Family with Multimedia,” by Michael LeClerc. 

Friday, Feb. 7

10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. “Storytelling Super Powers: How to Come Off as Your Family’s Genealogy Hero,” by David Adelman

1 p.m.to 2 p.m. “Tweets, Links, Pins, and Posts: Break Down Genealogical Brick Walls with Social Media,” by Lisa Alzo

2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. “Getting the Most Out of Ancestry.com,” by Crista Cowen

4 to 5 p.m. “Finding Family and Ancestors Outside the USA with New Technologies” by Daniel Horowitz

5 p.m. to 6 p.m. “Do It Yourself Photo Restoration,” by Ancestry Insider.

Saturday, Feb. 8

10:30 to 11:30 a.m., “Become an iPad Power User,” by Lisa Louise Cooke

1 p.m. to 2 p.m. “Information Overload: Managing Online Searches and Their Results,” by Josh Taylor

2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. “A Beginner’s Guide to Going Paperless,” by Randy Whited

4 p.m. to 5 p.m. “How to Interview Yourself for a Personal History,” by Tom Taylor

5 p.m. to 6 p.m. “Five Ways to Do Genealogy in Your Sleep,” by Deborah Gamble.

And while watching Mondays With Myrt on her Google+ Hangout this past Monday, I saw Diane Rogers from the British Columbia Genealogical Society in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City with Dear Myrt and Diane was taking about one of her research passions – women in genealogy.

You can go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCeEfWeUWPc to see Diane with Dear Myrt.

So it looks like we are getting off to a fantastic start!