Thursday, August 17th, 2006
Barb Poole has written another article for today’s Blog. Someday Barb and I will have to actually meet each other! Here’s Barb’s GuestBlog: (Note: Steve and I have met twice.)
I wrote a piece about a new genealogy magazine in Steve’s blog of May 20th, in which I wrote, “A new genealogy magazine has arrived on the scene; it is Internet Genealogy and can be ordered as a hard copy or downloaded from the internet (different prices for each). To order go to http://www.internet-genealogy.com/ and you can see the specifics as well as download a preview issue.” This is an update, which may be beneficial to some, whether you subscribe or not. The editor/publisher of that magazine asked for suggestions from the subscribers as to what they wanted in the magazine.
One suggestion was to have all the websites listed in that issue of the magazine to be on one page, so you could go to that page and see all the links listed, and not look all around for them. However, the magazine went one step further and now has on their website all the links that were mentioned in that particular issue. If you go to the site listed above, you will see a section listing the links for each magazine (both past and current issues) and the link will take you to that webpage. No more typing out the addresses. And, these sites give you an idea of what the magazine has covered thus far. In addition, if the links change, the company will change them as well on their homepage. So far, there is a pretty impressive list of genealogy sites.
My second recent find is a site called WorldCat, which I got from a message board, out of Canada. It is the first I have heard of it, but is a site I will use many times over. This is what I received, ” Google is easily accessed, but WorldCat’s locations of 1.3 billion items in 10,000 libraries around the world previously have been available only through institutional access. It’s become available to the public here and now. It’s FREE and simple to use. Just type in a book name or author and it shows which library holds that book. Just go to: http://www.worldcat.org/ .”
On a personal note, I put in titles of three books and not only did they appear, but it gave the name of the library and the distance from where I live (Massachusetts). For an example, I put in the book title New England Marriages prior to 1700 and there were 381 hits. The closest library that has the book is the library in Lexington, 13 miles away, and the furthest is Alaska, all of 3,349 miles away from me! With this information, you can either go to or contact that library or see if you can get it through the inter-library loan process.
Showing posts with label Guest Post for Steve Danko. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guest Post for Steve Danko. Show all posts
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Podcasts
Sunday, June 25th, 2006
Today, I’m pleased that Barb Poole has written another GuestBlog for this site! Thanks again for your contribution Barb!
Podcasts, what are they?
Ok, let’s get the definition of Podcast out of the way first. According to my question to www.ask.com, I wrote “What does Podcast mean?” They reply was short and to the point. Podcast means A sound file distributed by a podcasting server. I don’t think we need to worry about the server, but a sound file I do understand. Just be sure to have your sound turned on!
Googling the words Podcast + genealogy, generated 400,000 hits on June 24, 2006. I suspect that list will grow as time goes on. This does not mean there are 400,000 separate podcasts; some of the more popular sites are mentioned in different blogs or web pages, so the same podcast could be mentioned several times. To find a more specific site, you can add more words in your search engine, subjects such as Italian, Canadian, organizing, filing, or Polish (the words podcast + genealogy + Polish will give you Steve Danko’s blog.
I am only going to discuss two of the well known genealogy podcasts. The first one listed below has been around for quite a long time, and the second much more recent. Each is uniquely different. One has just the sound of the speakers; the other has visuals to go along with the lecture. There are many other podcasts out there; you should be able to find some which meet your needs.
A very popular podcast is http://www.genealogyguys.com/ in which George G. Morgan and Drew Smith discuss news items, have interviews and answer listener’s mail. There is also a short advertisement from their sponsor. The two interact well with one another, and a discussion outline is provided as well. Their voices are soothing to listen to, and it is a joy to listen to them while doing something else, either at the computer or away from the computer.
One of the first podcasts I listened to was through the New England Historical Genealogical Society (NEHGS) web site: http://www.newenglandancestors.org/. The lecture was called Who Was Your Mother’s Mother’s Mother’s Mother? by Julie Helen Otto, a genealogist at the Society. This is a free lecture, and technically is a Macromedia presentation, not a podcast. Listening to this was like being in a lecture hall, as there were slides & graphics, as well as an outline and the length of time shown for each topic (you always knew how much time was left). In addition, It is very easy to press replay or skip a topic. On another note, I know Julie personally and was very impressed with her lecture, I must tell her that. If the icon for this lecture is not on the home page (it will probably be removed when the next new lecture is posted), just go to the Education Center tab and you will see archived lectures, including several for Getting Started in Genealogy.
I am thinking that this might be the future for some genealogy seminars at conferences. Instead of purchasing the lecture on a tape cassette, you would pay for the lecture when you download it. The last large conference I attended, I ordered a set of 9 cassettes (you normally can’t attend each lecture you want to hear as there are too many being held at the same time), and so buying them was the next best thing. The worst thing was having to wait around after the lecture for the cassettes to be copied. Then you had to carry them home in an already stuffed suitcase!
It should be noted that Podcasts are not just for genealogists, people in other professions use them too, but of course we like to think they were developed just for us, as were blogs, emails, message boards, chats and computers!
Today, I’m pleased that Barb Poole has written another GuestBlog for this site! Thanks again for your contribution Barb!
Podcasts, what are they?
Ok, let’s get the definition of Podcast out of the way first. According to my question to www.ask.com, I wrote “What does Podcast mean?” They reply was short and to the point. Podcast means A sound file distributed by a podcasting server. I don’t think we need to worry about the server, but a sound file I do understand. Just be sure to have your sound turned on!
Googling the words Podcast + genealogy, generated 400,000 hits on June 24, 2006. I suspect that list will grow as time goes on. This does not mean there are 400,000 separate podcasts; some of the more popular sites are mentioned in different blogs or web pages, so the same podcast could be mentioned several times. To find a more specific site, you can add more words in your search engine, subjects such as Italian, Canadian, organizing, filing, or Polish (the words podcast + genealogy + Polish will give you Steve Danko’s blog.
I am only going to discuss two of the well known genealogy podcasts. The first one listed below has been around for quite a long time, and the second much more recent. Each is uniquely different. One has just the sound of the speakers; the other has visuals to go along with the lecture. There are many other podcasts out there; you should be able to find some which meet your needs.
A very popular podcast is http://www.genealogyguys.com/ in which George G. Morgan and Drew Smith discuss news items, have interviews and answer listener’s mail. There is also a short advertisement from their sponsor. The two interact well with one another, and a discussion outline is provided as well. Their voices are soothing to listen to, and it is a joy to listen to them while doing something else, either at the computer or away from the computer.
One of the first podcasts I listened to was through the New England Historical Genealogical Society (NEHGS) web site: http://www.newenglandancestors.org/. The lecture was called Who Was Your Mother’s Mother’s Mother’s Mother? by Julie Helen Otto, a genealogist at the Society. This is a free lecture, and technically is a Macromedia presentation, not a podcast. Listening to this was like being in a lecture hall, as there were slides & graphics, as well as an outline and the length of time shown for each topic (you always knew how much time was left). In addition, It is very easy to press replay or skip a topic. On another note, I know Julie personally and was very impressed with her lecture, I must tell her that. If the icon for this lecture is not on the home page (it will probably be removed when the next new lecture is posted), just go to the Education Center tab and you will see archived lectures, including several for Getting Started in Genealogy.
I am thinking that this might be the future for some genealogy seminars at conferences. Instead of purchasing the lecture on a tape cassette, you would pay for the lecture when you download it. The last large conference I attended, I ordered a set of 9 cassettes (you normally can’t attend each lecture you want to hear as there are too many being held at the same time), and so buying them was the next best thing. The worst thing was having to wait around after the lecture for the cassettes to be copied. Then you had to carry them home in an already stuffed suitcase!
It should be noted that Podcasts are not just for genealogists, people in other professions use them too, but of course we like to think they were developed just for us, as were blogs, emails, message boards, chats and computers!
The FGS Conference and a Surprise for Steve Danko
September 3rd, 2006
Today’s article is written by Barbara Poole, who kindly offered to write about her experiences at the FGS Conference, and then surprised me with the report that my Blog was featured in one of the lectures at the conference!
I, myself, will be attending the Annual Meeting of the Polish Genealogical Society of America later this week, so I’ll be taking a few days off from writing this blog to get ready for that conference. Enjoy Barbara’s report!
As a favor to Steve Danko, the owner of this site, I am giving him a break for a day or two by writing about the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) Conference held in Boston last week. This is my 3rd guest blog on this site and the FGS Conference was the 3rd large genealogy conference I’ve attended. I know from personal emails that Steve has been anxiously waiting for this report and I know he will be surprised at some of the things I am sharing here.
The annual FGS Conference was held in Boston beginning August 30, 2006 and lasted four days. Because this conference was held close to where I live (over an hour commute), I wanted to take advantage of attending many lectures and volunteering as much as possible. On Tuesday, Aug. 29 (the day before conference), I spent much of the day at the convention center spending assembling conference materials and inserting them into the black canvas briefcases for the attendees. These briefcases were strong enough to hold the syllabus, a four-volume set of about 1200 pages - a volume for each day. My bag, books & printed materials weighed 8 lbs., so I built up some muscles during the convention.
There was a nice group of volunteers, some of whom I already knew through the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) or through genealogy clubs. Meeting new people through volunteering is a bonus. Two volunteers were from California, and they spent time helping out when they could have been doing something fun in Boston. At 3 p.m. on Tuesday, early registration began, and attendees could pick up their registration packets and bags. There were so many people who wanted to get their hands on the goodies immediately. Fortunately, I was able to get mine early - a benefit of volunteering!!!
The conference began on the following day. Now, this was not a small conference, it was huge! It was hard to pick one lecture to attend when the choices could be as many as 19 selections for one particular hour! A total of 379 lectures were offered for the four day period!! What did I enjoy? The lectures of course, but I also enjoyed seeing people I knew, not only from my area, but from other places, as well. I saw two people I knew from Washington, DC, one of whom is a genealogist who worked at the DAR when I did, and who got me started on the hobby (I didn’t even know she was going to be there). You never know whom you will see at a conference. While on the registration desk, several people came up to me and inquired if somebody was either registered or had checked in.
On Thursday morning, while waiting for the exhibit hall to open, I saw Cindy Rowzee, an instructor for a number of online classes through MyFamily.com. Both Steve and I took several of her classes, and that is how he and I met. Cindy and I went into the exhibit hall together, heading to Ancestry.com’s exhibit, and later I ran into her two more times, now like old friends.
The exhibit hall is the place where attendees have the opportunity to meet the vendors and find out about new products and services. I learned that ProQuest will be adding 6,000 new books to their book section of HeritageQuest next month. The Ancestry.com booth had new books, and the authors were there signing them. Another instructor Steve and I know from the MyFamily.com classes, George Morgan, was there signing his book, so I said “Hi!” for Steve and me. I chatted with the author of Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter, Dick Eastman, whom I’ve met a few times in the past. Dick was interested in seeing this blog, so I promised to send him the address this week. I also met the publisher and editor of Internet Genealogy magazine Mr. Halvor Moorshead. Since Mr. Moorshead wasn’t too busy, I told him that I loved his magazine and how I had mentioned it in my previous guest columns on Steve’s blog. Well, he checked out my articles, and was impressed. He wrote down the URL, so who knows what will happen!
It really is fun seeing what is being offered to genealogists. FamilySearch.org was there as were many other vendors, too many to name all. Some vendors were offering door prizes and attendees received 30 coupons to fill out and then decide where to place them. Among the prizes were a $50 gift certificate for Barnes & Noble, a seven-night stay in Salt Lake City, many specific books and other things. Most of the exhibiters gave away pamphlets, brochures, candy, pens, and staple removers. I was lucky enough to pick up free issues of three recently printed magazines and a free CD with a 30-day trial of The Master Genealogist software.
On Wednesday, I attended a lecture about blogs entitled Dear Genealogy Diary: Today I Made a Great Discovery by Drew Smith. As Drew was setting up his presentation, I saw that he had Steve’s blog on the screen! Steve had asked me to say “Hi!” to Drew, and with Steve’s blog on the screen, it made it very easy for me to introduce myself. As it turned out, a good part of the lecture was on Steve’s site.
If you’re interested in reading more about the FGS conference, I know Dick Eastman will have something on his newsletter at http://blog.eogn.com, and George Morgan and Drew Smith will be talking about the conference on the Genealogy Guys Podcast at http://www.genealogyguys.com.
Even if you couldn’t attend the conference, you can still listen to many of the talks for just $1.99 per lecture by going to http://stores.lulu.com/fgs2006. What a great deal! In the past, I had to buy cassettes, and the cost was much higher than this.
I hope in the future many of you can get to a conference. Every year, there are several large conferences presented by different organizations. Next year, the National Genealogical Society (NGS) at will hold their conference in Richmond, Virginia, and FGS will hold their conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana. But, you don’t have to go to a large conference, since there are many smaller conferences being held all the time, all around the country. Often, the same speakers will present the same lecture at both a large national conference and a small local conference. As a case in point, Diana Smith presented a talk on Why Use Those Blankety-Blank Forms? at FGS, and will present the same talk on October 7, 2006 at the Fairfax Genealogical Society’s 3rd Annual Genealogy Fair. Since most lectures take a lot of time to prepare, the same talks are often presented at multiple events and in multiple locations.
Even though this FGS conference lasted four days, an attendee could register for just a single day or for the entire conference. Many, or I really think most, of the attendees went by themselves. Almost everybody I knew went alone. Very few people knew one another in the lecture halls; so in essence, everybody was doing their own thing alone. Dress was very casual, I began the first day wearing low flats, the next day it was sandals and the other days I was in sneakers. There was so much walking, and I have blisters to show for it. These lectures are for all levels, beginner and advanced, with a wide range of topics.
Last notes, my husband went with me on Saturday to check out the exhibit hall. The hall was free for the public, and I saw many people there, learning about genealogy. So in closing, the FGS conference was a wonderful experience, and I truly hope you will all be able to attend a genealogy conference soon.
Today’s article is written by Barbara Poole, who kindly offered to write about her experiences at the FGS Conference, and then surprised me with the report that my Blog was featured in one of the lectures at the conference!
I, myself, will be attending the Annual Meeting of the Polish Genealogical Society of America later this week, so I’ll be taking a few days off from writing this blog to get ready for that conference. Enjoy Barbara’s report!
As a favor to Steve Danko, the owner of this site, I am giving him a break for a day or two by writing about the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) Conference held in Boston last week. This is my 3rd guest blog on this site and the FGS Conference was the 3rd large genealogy conference I’ve attended. I know from personal emails that Steve has been anxiously waiting for this report and I know he will be surprised at some of the things I am sharing here.
The annual FGS Conference was held in Boston beginning August 30, 2006 and lasted four days. Because this conference was held close to where I live (over an hour commute), I wanted to take advantage of attending many lectures and volunteering as much as possible. On Tuesday, Aug. 29 (the day before conference), I spent much of the day at the convention center spending assembling conference materials and inserting them into the black canvas briefcases for the attendees. These briefcases were strong enough to hold the syllabus, a four-volume set of about 1200 pages - a volume for each day. My bag, books & printed materials weighed 8 lbs., so I built up some muscles during the convention.
There was a nice group of volunteers, some of whom I already knew through the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) or through genealogy clubs. Meeting new people through volunteering is a bonus. Two volunteers were from California, and they spent time helping out when they could have been doing something fun in Boston. At 3 p.m. on Tuesday, early registration began, and attendees could pick up their registration packets and bags. There were so many people who wanted to get their hands on the goodies immediately. Fortunately, I was able to get mine early - a benefit of volunteering!!!
The conference began on the following day. Now, this was not a small conference, it was huge! It was hard to pick one lecture to attend when the choices could be as many as 19 selections for one particular hour! A total of 379 lectures were offered for the four day period!! What did I enjoy? The lectures of course, but I also enjoyed seeing people I knew, not only from my area, but from other places, as well. I saw two people I knew from Washington, DC, one of whom is a genealogist who worked at the DAR when I did, and who got me started on the hobby (I didn’t even know she was going to be there). You never know whom you will see at a conference. While on the registration desk, several people came up to me and inquired if somebody was either registered or had checked in.
On Thursday morning, while waiting for the exhibit hall to open, I saw Cindy Rowzee, an instructor for a number of online classes through MyFamily.com. Both Steve and I took several of her classes, and that is how he and I met. Cindy and I went into the exhibit hall together, heading to Ancestry.com’s exhibit, and later I ran into her two more times, now like old friends.
The exhibit hall is the place where attendees have the opportunity to meet the vendors and find out about new products and services. I learned that ProQuest will be adding 6,000 new books to their book section of HeritageQuest next month. The Ancestry.com booth had new books, and the authors were there signing them. Another instructor Steve and I know from the MyFamily.com classes, George Morgan, was there signing his book, so I said “Hi!” for Steve and me. I chatted with the author of Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter, Dick Eastman, whom I’ve met a few times in the past. Dick was interested in seeing this blog, so I promised to send him the address this week. I also met the publisher and editor of Internet Genealogy magazine Mr. Halvor Moorshead. Since Mr. Moorshead wasn’t too busy, I told him that I loved his magazine and how I had mentioned it in my previous guest columns on Steve’s blog. Well, he checked out my articles, and was impressed. He wrote down the URL, so who knows what will happen!
It really is fun seeing what is being offered to genealogists. FamilySearch.org was there as were many other vendors, too many to name all. Some vendors were offering door prizes and attendees received 30 coupons to fill out and then decide where to place them. Among the prizes were a $50 gift certificate for Barnes & Noble, a seven-night stay in Salt Lake City, many specific books and other things. Most of the exhibiters gave away pamphlets, brochures, candy, pens, and staple removers. I was lucky enough to pick up free issues of three recently printed magazines and a free CD with a 30-day trial of The Master Genealogist software.
On Wednesday, I attended a lecture about blogs entitled Dear Genealogy Diary: Today I Made a Great Discovery by Drew Smith. As Drew was setting up his presentation, I saw that he had Steve’s blog on the screen! Steve had asked me to say “Hi!” to Drew, and with Steve’s blog on the screen, it made it very easy for me to introduce myself. As it turned out, a good part of the lecture was on Steve’s site.
If you’re interested in reading more about the FGS conference, I know Dick Eastman will have something on his newsletter at http://blog.eogn.com, and George Morgan and Drew Smith will be talking about the conference on the Genealogy Guys Podcast at http://www.genealogyguys.com.
Even if you couldn’t attend the conference, you can still listen to many of the talks for just $1.99 per lecture by going to http://stores.lulu.com/fgs2006. What a great deal! In the past, I had to buy cassettes, and the cost was much higher than this.
I hope in the future many of you can get to a conference. Every year, there are several large conferences presented by different organizations. Next year, the National Genealogical Society (NGS) at will hold their conference in Richmond, Virginia, and FGS will hold their conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana. But, you don’t have to go to a large conference, since there are many smaller conferences being held all the time, all around the country. Often, the same speakers will present the same lecture at both a large national conference and a small local conference. As a case in point, Diana Smith presented a talk on Why Use Those Blankety-Blank Forms? at FGS, and will present the same talk on October 7, 2006 at the Fairfax Genealogical Society’s 3rd Annual Genealogy Fair. Since most lectures take a lot of time to prepare, the same talks are often presented at multiple events and in multiple locations.
Even though this FGS conference lasted four days, an attendee could register for just a single day or for the entire conference. Many, or I really think most, of the attendees went by themselves. Almost everybody I knew went alone. Very few people knew one another in the lecture halls; so in essence, everybody was doing their own thing alone. Dress was very casual, I began the first day wearing low flats, the next day it was sandals and the other days I was in sneakers. There was so much walking, and I have blisters to show for it. These lectures are for all levels, beginner and advanced, with a wide range of topics.
Last notes, my husband went with me on Saturday to check out the exhibit hall. The hall was free for the public, and I saw many people there, learning about genealogy. So in closing, the FGS conference was a wonderful experience, and I truly hope you will all be able to attend a genealogy conference soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)