One of the first Genea-Bloggers that I really wanted to met was the footnoteMavin (fM, sometimes referred to on FaceBook). She encouraged me to create, and actually helped me name my Headstone Collection Blog. Well, what an honor to meet her in person.

We were chit-chatting at dinner, when she asked a question: Why does the US have so few Genealogy Magazines, while the UK had quite a number (16, is what I remember her mentioning)? Interesting question for a bunch of seasoned and not so seasoned Genea-Bloggers waiting for RootsTech 2012 to start.

Pause a moment – I am not staying down town. My choice of hotel was not a good one, but it will work, but it involved a 20 minute train ride.

My quick response to fM’s question was – we are in too much of a hurry. As there were a couple of folks who had been to England, had family in England mentioned the difference between how we get from one place to another.

The train ride back to the hotel was a great example of what we were talking about. SmartPhone, hand held devices, things hanging out of one’s ears were all on the train but one person. That one person, actually had a book. No one on the train when I went down town had a book. The electronic devices were being used by everyone (but me, I hadn’t ridden that train before, had no clue where I was, only hints on where I wanted to get off of the train).

The England observation was that everyone was reading a book or a magazine.

Thinking of how many of us get to and from work, it is mostly by automobile vs train. Of the 35 years that I worked, 33 of those years the commute was by car. No books or magazines there. The 2 other years, I did ride a train, but my Laptop was running for 2 hours on the train, getting work done.

Probably that last 10 years that I drove to get to and from work, I did have books, but they were Books on Tape. (now CD).

So, for me, one of the reasons for the lack of Genealogy Magazines is due to how we get to and from work. We are in cars and not trains.

Next, has to be how busy we all are. Even being retired, I rarely will sit down and read a book or a magazine.

Having said the, I will also admit that I am not a reader to begin with, but others may have the same experience. Guess you can’t read and drive a car at the same time. (we’ll not talk about Jersey drivers here.

Next, what did everyone at the diner table have, and referred to a couple of time, Electronic Devices. If “it”, in this case a magazine, isn’t on the hand held device some readers won’t read. It was great to see my oldest granddaughter show me her kindle last night to show me how many books she had read and was lined up to read. I am guess that a number of Magazine Readers are reading information on these hand held devices. The train ride to and from Salt Lake City reflected this non-scientific study.

Still not a good reason for not having Genealogy Magazines here in the US.

But wait, we are getting ready for Roots Tech 2012, right. Has technology for family researchers / family historians changed how we learn information that might have been in those magazines? I wonder.

I can only tell of my experience. I have learned most of what I know about doing Family Research, not from Magazines, but from those options that have been available to me over the past 15 years.

I learned so much information on the Train by listening to Genealogy PodCasts. DearMYRTLE, Lisa Louise Cook, the GenealogGuys, just to mention a few. Learning on the train, was so much easier my listening to the podcast, then it would have been to read a magazine.

OK, not riding the train, but still not reading Magazines, now it’s Google Reader for the 2,000+ Genea-Bloggers that are around. Several hundred blog posts a day, they are free, they come to me, I read what I want, I have the option to go to the Blog post, have the option to post a comment on that blog post, skip over those blog posts that may not be of interest at the moment. But, many time, I have gone back to a Blog to read an earlier message that I remembered that I wanted to re-read.

If I am done with a magazine, it’s out the door. The Blog Post remains. Having said that, I have ripped pages our of Magazines, to read later, or I want to hold on to this for later, but I never get back to them. With Blogs, however, I can usually get back to That Blog Post that had what I am looking for now, when I need it.

So, for me, the “magazines” that I used to subscribe to, are now information that is available online, AND in many cases, been updated based on current technology.

Finally, where is your local newsstand where you could buy a Genealogy Magazine. The US magazines that we mentioned were sold, in many cases, by the local newsstand / book store, that doesn’t exist any longer. Those stores that sell magazines at all, aren’t going to sell a Genealogy Magazine, at least where I live. I used to have one, 30 minutes drive away, but it’s closed.

The Technology that we have today, the way we travel, our busy schedules, the availability of Genealogy Articles, written by the best, are not sold on a newsstand, and only a few are available by a subscription. I have a subscription to ONE printed genealogy magazine. At this point if others were available, I am not sure that I would send the money for a physical magazine to come to my mail box.

(didn’t even talk about getting rid of that magazine when I was done with it)

Rambling thoughts based on a question “around” an unofficial Genea-Blogger’s dinner table.

Any thoughts or comments? I’ll pass them along to fM.

After staying home but watching all of the events, and blog posts from RootsTech 2011, I decided that I wasn’t going to miss the 2012 event. I signed up as soon as we were able to register. It’s almost an overwhelming event.

But, I have had a couple of warm up events. Wouldn’t have missed them either, but this is a “biggie” for me.

Why go to such an event?

I could answer that by saying “It’s in Utah”. That is true, but my granddaughters live there, does that count? So, this time tomorrow, I should be having dinner with them. Can’t wait.

Why THIS event, specifically? Three reasons, I think.

1) Genealogy

2) Technology

3) Meet Genea-Bloggers

Not necessarily in that order. Not that I am a Techis person, but I have my toys. Been in on some leading edge techie stuff over the years, but a place where Genealogy and Technology gather in one place, sounds like where I’d like to spend three days. Certainly from everything from last year, there was no way to miss it this year.

But the third item is the real reason for going. Over the past several years, I have met, talked to, read many blog posts from each of the Official List of Genea-Bloggers, and most of the 90+ Genea-Bloggers that will be there in their blog posts. I will NOT be able to connect Genea-Blogger to Blog, but I have checked, and I don’t think that I don’t follow any of the Bloggers that will be there.

Why Blog? Cousin Bait.

But, the Genea-Bloggers is a community of wonderful people. For example, a group gathers for Genea-Blogger Talk Radio on Friday nights. Who listens to Radio ??? It’s not the AM / FM / Stereo Radio, but a Talk show, none the less, Show Host Thomas MacEntee lines of topic specific shows each week for about an hour and a half. While we listen to the “radio” there is a very active Chat going on, while the show is progressing. A couple of shows, there have been over 100 people in the Chat Room.

It’s those folk, and the Bloggers that I am hoping to meet, hang out with, go to class with, but to Learn FROM.  As I understand it, Genea-Blogger Talk Radio will be Live from the Family History Center in SLC. Guess where I will be. But wait, isn’t that the opening of Season 3 of Who Do You Think You Are? What a better place to be, then at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

I have to say, that I have been there twice before. Totally overwhelmed by what is there. But this time, I will have follow and learn from others. I know I should have a goal for a visit to the FHL, but I don’t. I will have my research on my iPad, the ability to take notes, take pictures, just in case I find what I am not looking for.

Will post as I am able.

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. Week #4 – Free Offline Genealogy Tools

Week 4 – Free Offline Genealogy Tools: For which free offline genealogy tool are you most grateful? How did you find this tool and how has it benefitted your genealogy? Describe to others how to access this tool and spread the genealogy love.

Got caught up in a small project for one of my “Free Offline Genealogy Tools”.

I am a member of a group of genealogists that meet monthly at a local (not so local for me) Library. What is great about this group is the Name of the Group. Family History Interest Group.  They have been meeting for a little over 10 years at the Bernards Township Library, in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.

The name of this group, to me, is key. It’s not just about genealogy, but the gathering of Family History. The group meets monthly, except for December, and has a wide range of speakers. Dan Lynch of Google Your Family Tree, Daniel Horowitz of My Heritage, to mention two national presenters. Book authors, TV program producers and many non-members have sharing with the group.

This group has it’s own long list of presenters, each sharing their own experience. Several times a year, a “Round Table” discussion is scheduled, where each person becomes a “presenter” either by asking questions or answering questions that are asked.

The former resource librarian and now the current Library Director has been gathering the speakers and the group for over 10 years. It’s a wonderful, FREE, Offline Resource.

The second Off Line Resource, for me, is the New Jersey State Archives. What I like about it, is that you can prepare for your visit by checking out that they have available before you go, then visit the most helpful group of staff around. They are always willing to show you where to find what you are looking for and some times help you find what you haven’t expected to find.

Lesson Learned: Visit your Local Library and your State Archives.

Actually, I have thought about this in preparation for this awesome experience. Having attended several “regional” events, including the New England Regional Genealogy Society event last spring, I know that I don’t want to get overwhelmed with this event.

Trying to be involved with the Conference, as a participant, spending time in the Exhibit Hall, and networking with the 80+ Genea-Bloggers, I am sure that it can be too much to handle.

My plan, follow as much of the planned schedule that I have already planned on, BUT be flexible enough to make changes “on the spot”. There is a lot of opportunities to learn. I want to take advantage of that.

I like Thomas’ term micro blogging. I will have my iPad with me and will try that. I am going to use that to take notes, as I did at the NERGS last spring, but do the note taking in Evernote, which I have been using for Webinar Notes. Now to learn how to Copy and Paste, quickly, between Evernote and Twitter on the RootsTech 2012 AP on the iPad. But, I have a couple of days to learn that.

I hope you will bear with me on this Great Genealogy Adventure.

Since I am going to RootsTech 2012, I guess I should “get with the program”. So, here it goes:

The Bucket List GeneaMeme

The list should be annotated in the following manner:
Things you would like to do or find: Bold Type
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type
You are encouraged to add extra comments after each item 

1. The genealogy conference I would most like to attend is… RootsTech 2012. After sitting home, participating in what was being streamed, there was no way that I would miss this year. Lots to learn, but want to catch up with some Genea-Bloggers that I already have met, but want to meet those whose blogs I follow.
2. The genealogy speaker I would most like to hear and see is… That’s not an easy question to answer. Through PodCasts, Blogs, Webinars, I have heard some of the speakers already. Having been to the FGS conference in Philadelphia a couple of years ago, and the NERGS conference in Springfield, MA this past spring, the Genealogy Society of Pennsylvania Ancestry Day, and a couple of other conferences all add to the list of speakers that I had wanted to hear. But, I am looking forward to hearing the speakers talk about upcoming technical capabilities that are coming our way. A couple of online resources that I don’t quit understand (yet) but want to. I have been through the schedule a couple of times and have picked the ones I want to see / hear, but also think that a couple of them will change.
3. The geneablogger I would most like to meet in person is… Wow, this is a tough one. As of this time, there are 88 Genea-Bloggers going to be there. The number keeps going up. The short answer, all of the Genea-Bloggers that I haven’t met before. But two Genea-Bloggers who I will catch up with, because I have met them, but Thomas MacEntee, to thank him for ALL that he does for the Genea-Blogging community; Randy Seaver, to have a chat about his Brick Wall; and I can’t forget my Cousin Dear MYRTLE. (just to name a few)
4. The genealogy writer I would most like to have dinner with is…Most like to …. Too many to mention, too little time.
5. The genealogy lecture I would most like to present is…. Me, present? I don’t think so.
6. I would like to go on a genealogy cruise that visits….Missed the Legacy Family Tree cruise this fall, mostly because the port visits would have only made me (us) go back to spend more time. But, keeping an eye on England, Ireland, and Scotland.
7. The photo I would most like to find is… A photo that was published in a Philadelphia (and area) newspaper, that was reported to have been about my Grandfather, and two of his siblings, on their train ride from Kansas to Pennsylvania, when no one picked them up. The police were trying to locate the family.
8. The repository in a foreign land I would most like to visit is…When I am able to confirm where my Ancestor came from in England, the repository where I might find more details about his ancestors
9. The place of worship I would most like to visit is…England, near Worthington Hall.
10. The cemetery I would most like to visit is …… The family burial ground in Kansas, where my great grandparents are buried.
11. The ancestral town or village I would most like to visit is…… Capt John’s “home town”, where ever that might be.
12. The brick wall I most want to smash is… Actually, this one maybe on it’s way down. Capt John’s parents. Close, really close.
13. The piece of software I most want to buy is….I’m Good.
14. The tech toy I want to purchase next is …..I’m Good, unless it’s a handheld Cemetery GPS unit.
15. The expensive book I would most like to buy is…I’m good, or I haven’t found it yet.
16. The library I would most like to visit is…..Godfrey and the Allen County Library.
17. The genealogy related book I would most like to write is….Not a writer, so I’ll pass.
18. The genealogy blog I would most like to start would be about….I’m good. Never thought that I would have one, let alone three.
19. The journal article I would most like to write would be about… I think I ramble enough
20. The ancestor I most want to meet in the afterlife is…. My parents, and their parents. Too many stories that I missed while growing up.

Week 3 – 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?

This challenge runs from Sunday, January 15, 2012 through Saturday, January 21, 2012.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy (http://www.geneabloggers.com/tag/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.

Free Online Genealogy Tools:

I have to say that my first Online Genealogy Tool if the Find-A-Grave website. In reality, it’s a tool in two ways. 1) gives me a chance to get out and about, to help others (give back to the community) and 2) for my own research.

I was able to put a genealogy together, for a friend of mine by visiting ONE Cemetery, look at ONE Monument and put together a 3 generation genealogy for him. I went to another cemetery and went back two more generations. All of the pictures were on both Find-A-Grave and on my Headstone Blog.

Based on that experience, I have given a number of genealogy talks, in the local area, on how I used the Find-A-Grave website to do my research. Two of the talks were to local Historical Societies. Initially, I thought that wasn’t right, what do I know about a Historical Society. Then it dawned on me that they were trying to document and preserve the history of the Local Area, and I was doing the same for my Family.

The first of those talks, as off shoots, the Historical Society and I went to two cemeteries, to help record and/or update a listing that they had, and I was adding photographs for Find-A-Grave at the same time.

The second cemetery we visited was an old Family Burial Ground, where there was only ONE stone, and it certainly was not in the right place, because the property owner didn’t want the “kids” to get hurt with that stone. A group of 6 of us, and 2 divining rods located what is believed to be the burial ground with, it appeared to be, 15 burials. It was in the “back yard” and neighbor, of where the headstone was. The house was the home for that family who was reported to be buried there.

Two adventures based on the Find-A-Grave website.

For my own research, the Inferential Genealogy series I posted here, also included Find-A-Grave. Both in what I found and didn’t find. But that was also taken care of with a visit to the Cemetery and taking photographs.

But sometimes, Find-A-Grave and visiting Cemeteries lead to other questions about families. Like, why are some members of the family in one cemetery, while others in another cemetery, or even another Plot within the same cemetery.

Another cemetery visit I made, was for a friend, and Genea-Blogger, where I took pictures of the Surname I was looking for, to see if we could put families together to help know down a brick wall. I have to say that this one is still a work in progress.

But between Census Records and Cemetery Plots, without other documentation, families can be put together, or at least that is my experience.

Other Free Online Tools: FamilySearch.org would be my next tool. I haven’t used that site as much as I should, but I do hope to learn more about that website at RootsTech 2012. There are a couple of other Online Tools that I learn more about at RootsTech 2012. I am expecting that after that trip, I will have more to say.

I should mention that having your genealogy research posted online is very helpful. I am in the process of cleaning up my main Genealogy Management file, and realized just how many Onlilne Tree’s I have Source and Citations from. In turn, I have some of my research online as well.

Don’t forget about Blogs. I have received many tips from this Blog. For example, I posted one post, and within an hour I had two “new” cousins. Blogs, as they say, are Cousin Bait.

Social Media is also in the mix. Having a Facebook, Google Plus, and Twitter account have helped as well.

Another Tombstone Tuesday Blogger has posted some photographs on her Blog of a number of my ancestors in Kansas. I’ll never get to Kansas, but I have pictures of where they are buried. After I had thanked her, she went out of her way to go back as see if she could find anyone else.

I am sure that I missed some, but these are a couple of my Free Online Tools.

About a year ago I was looking for a way to capture a good photograph of some jewelry that my daughter was taking pictures of. Along the way, I found a product, Photo Studio-In-A-Box.

Easy to set up, easy to store, and provides for nice even lighting for small things. Before:

After:

The set up is simple:

And it folds up into this:

So, how about those Heirlooms:

Don’t forget the back:

Josephine Strode – 2-24-1909

Josephine Strode – March 1909

Josephine Strode – 12/25/1898

His challenge for today is:

It’s Saturday Night again — time for some Genealogy Fun (what else is there to do on Saturday Night?)!!
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1) Decide which of your (many?) genealogy research adventures in 2011 was your “very best” (your definition).

2) Tell us about it in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, in a Status report or comment on Facebook, or in a Stream note on Google Plus.

Well, I can do this one.

My very best was the study I did on Inferential Genealogy, a method of study by Dr. Thomas Jones.

Using this link, you can follow that journey (backwards)

http://worthy2be.wordpress.com/tag/2nd-life/

This was the outcome of studying Inferential Genealogy in Second Life, with that awesome group of people.

Besides the trip to the Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, several trips to Gettysburg, several other trips to Baltimore, I was able take a Name, mentioned in a PBS TV show, and find out how I was related to that Civil War Hero (David Ridgely Howard).

Along the way, found another connection to DearMYRTLE, a couple of days spending time with she and her husband, only to find that he and I had Revolutionary War gentlemen in the same unit at Valley Forge.

There is a PS: to this story. Over Christmas, the Gettysburg show on PBS was reshown. The kicker is, that at the very end of the discussion of Ridgely Howard (as they called him and where I started), was mention that his house was haunted.

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?

This challenge runs from Sunday, January 8, 2012 through Saturday, January 14, 2012.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy (http://www.geneabloggers.com/tag/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.

This one is easy. I use Ancestry.com. Two reasons for that is the number of types of records that are found there, and the records and types of records.

The second reason is the ability to use Genealogy Management software with the records on Ancestry.com.

I think the best example happened a couple of days ago. I was looking at and working on my own ancestry, doing some clean up of the file after 12 years of using the same file. Am taking the tile to make sure that some old data / information is brought up to the way I am handing that information now.

I found a Shaky Leave (Hint) for my Father. I haven’t seen a new hint for a number of years. There were TWO new Hints. Wow! One was an obituary for him, but the second was a link to the Burlington County records website, where I can order the death record for my father. I have NOT seen that one before, nor that type of record. Both of this hints lead to an Index on Ancestry with a link to an external website, where the record could be ordered.

The best news here is that I didn’t even have to “go looking for it” it came to me.

I did a Web Merge, from Ancestry.com into my Family Tree Maker Version 2012 file with the Link, downloaded, filling in a form, and am ordering his death record.

I do find two other Paid Website very, very helpful.

Fold3.com and GenealogyBank.

Many of the Civil War records that I have posted on this Blog have come from Fold3. Great military website.

I have listened to Tom Kemp, of GenealogyBank, on a couple of webinars. Somewhere during each of his talks, I hear “and don’t forget about newspapers”. I am not sure he uses those exact words, but that is what I hear.

One evening, I was attending a local Family History Interest Group, and the talk was to be about GenealogyBank, but the Library Edition, as we meet at a local library. I had just listened to Mr. Kemp talk, and took a chance at doing a search for a story that had taken place at Montmorenciy (talked many times here about that). The story was that one of the owners of that house had been murdered. Hum. A very quick search on GenealogyBank found THE newspaper article that told, in vivid detail on what happened.

These paid websites have helped me move from being a “name collector” to more of a Family Historian. That is to put Stories about the Names that I have. To me, it makes them real.

Side Note: I am still waiting for GenealogyBank to have THE newspaper that has the story of my Grandfather and two of his siblings, arriving in Philadelphia, PA in 1897, where they were NOT met when they arrived by train, with name tags on their toes, after their parents and grandparent died. The story goes that they were taken to a police station, a news paper article posted, and relatives arrived to pick them up. There was a communications issue with the folks that were to pick them up, due to a Ship Wreck on the Jersey Shore that messed up the mail. Can’t find that article either. BUT I keep an eye on the GenealogyBank Blog for their updates.

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.

I have lost count on the number of Blogs that I follow. I watch Genea-Bloggers weekly list of new Blogs, found some of my own, but generally the Blogs that I follow are about Genealogy or Family History. It’s a way for me to learn. Sometimes, I will take such a learning experience, try it out, and share it here. I think that each of us learn in different ways. What’s nice about the Genea-Blogging community, is the sharing that takes place.

There are different types of Blogs. I know, because I have three. This one, mostly about the Worthington Surname, but it’s also about my experience with Genealogy. My second on is about Family Tree Maker, and the third is pictures of Headstone.

For the past 10 or 12 years, I have been responding to about 25 message boards, most of them about the Family Tree Maker program, and some times it’s easier to show how to resolve a problem, with a Blog, then all on the message board. One way I have learned to use the program myself, is to blog about it. How to use a “new feature”, what are the new features, how can I work around a situation that isn’t in the program (yet).

There are other Blogs that do similar things. “How to ….” do genealogy or family research.

Each of the several hundred Blogs that I follow, some I read word for word, some, not so much. When I did some website development and maintenance, I always said that you have about 15 seconds to get someone’s attention on a website. The same goes, for me at least, for a Blog. Many of the Blog posts I will read in Google Reader, but some times I’ll go to the Blog itself, especially to post comments.

I think it is important and helpful to post comments. It’s a way to encouraging the Blogger to keep posting, to let them know that someone is reading their work. There are also times to ask a question.

Some times there are opportunities to meet the Bloggers in person. Genea-Bloggers are the BEST.

My two cents of Blogs.