I did it-my first power point presentation!!

Photos from the Family History Expo 2009. It was a fun though stressful experience to teach a class on blogging! Just getting all the software and hardware together was challenging but I did it! There were about 25-30 students in my class and they seemed interested. Maybe they'll visit this blog and leave some comments. I love to teach adults.

Family History Expo

I can't tell you the number of WORKSHOPS and GENEALOGY CONFERENCES I have attended over my 49 years of doing family history research. I've learned something NEW everytime. This year I'm taking on the challenge to TEACH a BLOGGING class at the FAMILY HISTORY EXPO 2009. A perpetual student is what I'd call myself, plus a teacher now of what I've learned. It's been a FUN journey. You certainly learn more by teaching than you do as a student. The KNOWLEDGE gained is one of the few things you can take with you at the end of this life along with your EXPERIENCES and RELATIONSHIPS.

A scripture that impressed me the other day in my daily studies...Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come. (Doctrine and Covenants 130:18-19) That thought gives purpose to my daily life and is an admonition to USE MY TIME WELL.

Need Help?

There are a ton of resources to teach you how to do just about anything connected with family history. Ranging from free TUTORIAL LESSONS to VIDEO INSTRUCTIONS to NEWSLETTERS to help you get started or continue with your genealogy research. One of the best sources is www.cyndislist.org or use a search engine for assistance on any topic. Want to start a website or don't know how to use your PAF or Legacy database? Help is as close as your keyboard or at a LDS family history center where trained volunteers wait to assist you with your genealogy. Better yet find an Internet cousin or family member with more experience than you to teach you or take a CLASS online or at a local library-ask a librarian or join a local historical society. Every community has untapped resources to discover.

A new world of adventure and learning lies ahead of you as you pursue your FAMILY HISTORY and develop a new hobby as a GENEALOGIST. There is even an experienced researcher (me) who is offering a free hour of searching on your line if you will commit to PAY IT FORWARD and help three other people in some way-doesn't have to doing their research. Just send them some blog candy-a surprise gift. So far no one has taken me up on my offer. This could be your lucky day!

Sharing your GENEALOGY

So after you've done all the research to find as many ancestors as you can, what's next? Well, first of all your genealogy is never done-there are always more sets of parents to discover unless you have ALL your lines back to Adam.

Part of FAMILY HISTORY is gathering histories and photos for as many of your ancestors as you can OR writing a history of them. (My first attempt to write a history was of my stepfather who fought in WWII. See cover on the left.)

Compile your PEDIGREE CHARTS and FAMILY GROUP SHEETS into some kind of notebook or scrapbook to look at or publish them online. More and more people are doing that. A WEBPAGE or BLOG is a perfect place to share your findings with others worldwide who could be interested. Depending on how computer literate your family is, you may need to publish online and in a paper format also. When I compile or write family histories I like to print them in paper format and also make a pdf file that I can save on a DVD or CD so others can read it on their computers. These self published collections can be given out at family reunions or family holiday celebrations and events.

Leaving all your research in file cabinets or folders is wasting all the efforts you've put into doing this work. DONATE a copy of your history and photos to local libraries or University libraries. There are many places just waiting for more contributions. The LDS Family History Library in SLC is one. So send them a paper copy and/or digital CD of what you've compiled. Guess what you are becoming a real FAMILY HISTORIAN, preserving your ROOTS and helping others in their searching.

Other creative OPTIONS for sharing your family history research are making a shadow box or photo collage of an ancestor or a decorated pedigree chart. (Above is a sample of a fan pedigree chart framed and decorated by Mary, a friend of mine. Check out her blog if you are interested in her work.) There are so many options-quilts, cross stitch, paintings, calligraphy, etc.

Finding our ROOTS

Many of our ancestors moved from country to country to better their living conditions. Some immigrated to America from Europe, Asia, South Pacific and Africa. Others left their homelands because of wars or to colonize new lands like Australia. Some still live in their native lands. It's fun to find out where your forebears originated. In the case of African Americans, there are few records available after a few generations back because of slavery practices, and that's where the new development of tracing your genealogy by DNA can come in handy.

How far back can you trace your ancestors? It is possible if you connect into royalty lines in England to go back to biblical times and our FIRST PARENTS Adam and Eve. I have one line that my cousin Jerusha traced back that far and it really is mind boggling to consider. My Icelandic line goes back to 800 AD because of their excellent written records. Then there are other ethnic groups like American Indians and Pacific Islanders who kept only ORAL GENEALOGIES and much of that has been lost with time. Without written records, your progenitors are still there to be discovered but it is almost impossible to reconstruct except through DNA.

You may reach what is called a BRICK WALL that stumps you from pushing your lines back further. It takes some time, dedication and skill to get past these obstacles but it can be done especially these days with the Internet making available more worldwide records daily and new Internet cousins to met. Don't give up but just take a break and search another line. Later come back to your brick walls with fresh energy and time and maybe you'll make a breakthrough-see a handout from Jerusha. It takes TIME.

Tip of the ICEBERG

I've now been blogging for 3 weeks or 21 days about Family History Research and guess what? I've only touched the tip of the iceberg on what is available. More material is being added DAILY in the form of personal webpages, blogs, and actual digitized resources to search. You could get lost surfing in the Internet for your ancestors and never be missed (unless your spouse or family noticed your absence.)

What's to be done to prevent wasting your valuable time searching without any results? HAVE A PLAN-don't look for every surname on your family tree, pick just one branch to research. Then be SPECIFIC-what info are you missing? A death date for great grandpa? Well, then don't look for his birth record but focus on obituaries, death certificates and cemeteries just in the area where he possibly died. Always check HOME SOURCES first before turning to the INTERNET. Then try a GOOGLE SEARCH before checking out some of the websites I've suggested previously: www.familysearch.org, www.ancestry.com, www.cyndislist.org, www.usgenweb.com, www.rootsweb.com among others. (Click on links for more info.)

Keep good notes in some kind of a RESEARCH LOG so you know where you've looked and jot down any ideas as you're working on where to check next...a TO DO list. Remember census records can be great clues if you're searching in America as to where your ancestors lived. This is like a mystery to solve. One thing leads to another until you discover the facts needed. Sometimes you'll find you need to write letters to Courthouses or make a visit in person or hire a researcher to find info for you. Maybe you'll get lucky and find an Internet cousin or two. Good luck!

The MISSING LINK

I was thinking today about the MISSING LINK which in most families is our relationship with our great grandparents. We never knew most of them but may have heard ABOUT them from our grandparents. Unless someone writes down their information, it doesn't get passed down to our children and grandchildren. Will our great grandchildren know anything about us IF we don't leave a record, a HISTORY of our life either captured in a journal or compiled in a life story or scrapbook? (Photo of my mom and me above.)

It's not too late to start compiling a record of your life's experiences. What have you learned that you'd like to tell your posterity? Words of wisdom that can help them along their paths. I know some phrases that have guided me in my life came from a grandmother's wise words...if life gives you lemons make lemonade and this too shall pass. During my life and trials that have come, those words have sustained me as well as knowing the love my grandmother continues to have for me. (Photo above standing me and my mom, seated my grandmother holding my first son Frank-her great grandson. Unfortunately, she died soon after his birth but I've written her life story to pass to her great and 2nd great grandchildren.)

Death is just a passageway and we who remain behind for now are RESPONSIBLE to connect the missing links as we learn more about our ancestor's lives and pass that knowledge on to our posterity. For that is why I do family history research, collect old photos and write my ancestor's stories to ...turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers.. (Malachi 4:6) So they are not forgotten by us. (Photo of me above as a grandmother holding my first grandchildren twins Heather and Emilee.)

Making a RESEARCH FIELD TRIP

Back in 1967 BC (before computers and the Internet), I was searching for my great grandfather Wm M. Johnson, and discovered looking through court records here in Utah that he had received an inheritance from an aunt in Middlebury, Knox County, Ohio. My mother remembered that her father (my grandfather) had received a small amount of money from this will since his father was deceased. So I had several clues to track down. I wrote to the COURTHOUSE in Middlebury, looking for probate papers or further information about this aunt. Unfortunately they couldn't locate anything for me. (Found out later Knox County was divided and her papers were filed in the next county Morrow.) It wasn't until 10 years later when I was finally able to make a trip to the courthouse in person, from California where I was then living, that the puzzle began to take shape. (Ohio state Knox County map below from www.usgenweb.org.)

I found a wealth of information at the COURTHOUSE as I searched for VITAL RECORDS, WILLS, PROBATES, LAND, and other records for this aunt. Discovering a handwritten will of her father which filled in many gaps for me. It listed all his living children and descendents of his deceased children. Now able to link my great grandfather to his father, mother and siblings, many doors were opened for me. I was able to trace my Johnson ancestors back to VERMONT and discovered they were involved in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Seems that soldiers in the military in those days were given land grants in Ohio to expand the frontier. All of this I found when I made the TRIP to a quiet little courthouse in the midwest but these days FIRST check the Internet and you might save yourself a trip! I also put a personal ad in the local newspaper there and found a cousin who offered me many valuable tips in locating family living in that area. Today you would call him an Internet cousin.

Libraries and Family History Centers

LIBRARIES are wonderful resources and most of them have ONLINE CATALOGS these days. That means you can check out their holdings-books, old newspapers, histories, etc. from afar. If the library is not close enough to visit, it's possible to get interlibrary loans if you find a record you want to examine. Most university libraries usually have a SPECIAL COLLECTIONS section that houses valuable historical information for the genealogist. Everyone also has an LDS FHC-FAMILY HISTORY CENTER near them worldwide with trained volunteers who will assist patrons in searching for their ancestors and in ordering microfilms from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City to search. Open to people of all faiths. Check for the addresses and hours of a FHC near you at www.familysearch.org.

Many regional or COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETIES have their own libraries dedicated to preserving local history. GOOGLE search for one in your area of interest. I've had great experiences with librarians I've contacted over the Internet who did research in their facility and sent me copies of what they found for a small donation. Visiting the area you are researching is the best thing to locate information, old homesteads and cemeteries but finding a local person who will assist you in researching can save on travel expenses. There are even several websites that will do free lookups for you or film a cemetery headstone. Try looking a ragk.org or Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness or findagrave. Have fun!

Checking out COURTHOUSES

Now I'm going to switch gears and talk about finding actual COURTHOUSE RECORDS which can include VITAL-BIRTH, DEATH, MARRIAGE RECORDS, PROBATES, LAND RECORDS, etc. Not many of these court records are online which means you may have to write to a court clerk or visit a courthouse sometime to further your research or hire a local genealogist to do that for you. Addresses of Courthouses can be found on USGenWeb.org or with GOOGLE. (Coryell Texas Courthouse below where my husband was born and raised.)

SUMMARY OF RECORDS available online, in Court houses and/or other places like libraries

1. LOCALITY records-censuses, histories of towns, counties, states, regions, etc.

2. VITAL RECORDS-marriage, death, birth, adoption, etc., kept in counties+towns, some online, varies by state or area when and how they collected info.

3. COURT RECORDS-probate, land, tax and adoption records, divorce, citizenship, naturalization papers, etc.

4. CHURCH RECORDS-can have vital records: births, deaths, marriages, confirmations, baptisms, etc.

5. BIOGRAPHIES-can be found in county and town histories and other local collections

6. MAPS-plat maps, etc. It's fun to find where your ancestors lived and walk on their land.

7. NEWSPAPERS-obituaries, marriages, etc-lots of digital newspapers on-line, do google search by areas-country, state, county and some towns have local papers with archives.

8. CEMETERY and funeral home records-may need to write to get these, check death certificates for where buried.

9. MILITARY RECORDS-many ancestors were involved in wars, Google search+ www.nara.gov, and www.ancestry.com

10. CITY DIRECTORIES and old telephone books-good for unusual last names, find in libraries

11. ORGANIZATIONS-State, County Historical Libraries and local Historical Societies can have good local genealogy collections.

12. Personal WEBPAGES and BLOGS-find with a search engine. Check out my family history webpage www.geocities.com/famhistory1867

Cyndislist

Better than a search engine because it's more accurate and organized is Cyndislist your free CATALOG of GENEALOGY SITES on the Internet. It's an amazing collection of links to assist you with ANY genealogy problem you might have or direct you where to go to find answers online. Started in 1996 by Cyndi Howell, a family history librarian, she has been working steadily on this project, updating DAILY the latest links to keep you informed on how to accomplish your family history online. Want to know more about a certain country and their records or where to find someone to translate a record or how to make a family history webpage-it's all here.

You could spend the rest of your life just surfing the links on Cyndis and never get around to doing actual research. With a search engine like GOOGLE and CYNDIS list you can find lots of places to check out. So plan your work and be focused. Keep your RESEARCH LOG. When you finish a session of searching, make a TO DO LIST on your log for the next time you are going to work on your family history-so you'll know where you left off.

Ancestry.com

A commerical website that is adding searchable databases of digitized materials daily to their website. Some of it is free but to get full access, you'll need to PAY A MEMBERSHIP FEE on a monthly or yearly basis. There is a few 14 day free trial available, so try it. I love ANCESTY.COM and use it often to trace my relatives in their US Federal CENSUS databases which are indexed by states, and show you copies of the actual census forms 1790-1930. Lots of errors in censuses but they have great CLUES to where your ancestors lived and other info. depending on the year of the census. They can tell you: approximate age, occupation, marriage status, race, where born, where their parents were born, when immigrated, if they served in the military, if they were literate, etc. A must do for those searching in USA.

Lots of tutorials, free forms and helps on their website including a weekly free informative newsletter. Their maps are excellent also. Many different kinds of records are available and searchable including: vital records, court records, land, probate, books, military, newspapers and more. They have records of other countries here also-check it out. Some local LDS Family History Centers have free access to ANCESTRY. (Most local public libraries have a database called HERITAGE QUEST which will enable you to check the Federal censuses for FREE with only your library card # instead of relying on ANCESTRY.)

A great NEW feature on ancestry.com is FAMILY TREE which enables you to upload your family history information and post it for others to add to and for you to continue working on. The fun thing about this feature is it allows you to link VITAL RECORD certificates or CENSUS forms you discover on Ancestry with your ancestor then you can easily access it. You can also upload photos or GEDCOMS (genealogical data communication) files that can be shared between users of any of the software programs like PAF or Family Treemaker or Legacy. ANCESTRY has enabled me to find some Internet cousins of my husband's who had a ton of info and photos to share. If you're really serious about family history research ANCESTRY is well worth the money to have access to it 24/7. Then you know you are really addicted to GENEALOGY!

FamilySearch.org

It's time to get serious about Internet researching. I would suggest after trying a SEARCH ENGINE APPROACH to look at www.familysearch.org. This site is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or the Mormons) who place great doctrinal emphasis on family history. The results of decades of genealogical research are available FREE to everyone on this website. They also have a FREE download of PAF Personal Ancestral File 5.2, a software database for recording and sharing the results of your searching.

To start on this site, select one ancestor you are researching-someone deceased and type in as much as info as you know about them. Then click SEARCH and check out any hits you get for a match with your ancestor. (Record any results on your Research Log and print the new info out and attach to your log.) This website has a quite a collection of options for searching, lots of tutorials, research guidance, videos and links to help the beginning to advanced genealogists. Check it out. It's also a great place to find INTERNET COUSINS when you check for SUBMITTERS of the information here. Remember as always any information is only as accurate as the submitter who donated it. Check for documentation of the facts that are supplied. Have fun!

The goal of this website is to digitize and index ALL family history records in the WHOLE WORLD and make them available FREE online for anyone doing research. What an ambitious goal! Check out the results of this project as they are available to search at pilot.familysearch.org. Also see wiki.familysearch.org for free research advice. Exciting developments are in process. You can help, volunteers are needed at familysearch indexing.org.

Finding Internet Cousins

What is an INTERNET COUSIN? Someone somewhere in the world that you discover while surfing on the Internet that shares the same ancestor that you do. Usually it's not on your direct line but a descendent of a sibling of one of your great grandparents or further back. You may find a new cousin while using a SEARCH ENGINE to find info. on an ancestor or at other family history sites we'll discuss soon. Hopefully, the new cousin will have a current email address so you can contact him or her and start exchanging information about your common ancestor. I've had great success with AOL email addresses-people keep them forever.

Internet cousins have sent me photos, information and histories of shared ancestors that I didn't have. In turn, I've been able to send them via email or snail mail materials they wanted. In the year 2000, I was able to travel to Nauvoo, Illinois and meet an Internet cousin who was an experienced researcher through AOL's genealogy groups. (My real cousin Marion who is on AOL got me interested in this activity and gave me an email address of someone to contact named Luella.) Turns out Luella and I both worked in a family history center for our church, except she lived in Virginia and I lived in Utah. We decided to meet in Kansas City, Mo. and toured historic Mormon sites together in Missouri, Illinois and Iowa where our common ancestors lived. What a thrill that was! She is a dear friend now, only one of many Internet cousins I have discovered online. You may have unmet family members out there waiting to contact you.

Research Tips

After you're exhausted HOME SOURCES and not before, it's time to actually do RESEARCH. In the old days before the Internet, that meant traveling to the closest family history library or courthouse to search for VITAL RECORDS-birth, death and marriage records. Now with the Internet available all over the world, research is as close as your finger tips. You can search for your roots in your pjs and robe at 3 am on your home computer if you want to.

First of all, you need to decide WHICH line or surnames you are going to search. If you're looking for information in a certain LOCALITY, I would include all family maiden and married names of the siblings who lived in that same area. So if I were looking for my great grandpa Stevens family in Oakley, Utah, I would also check at the same time for his wife my great grandma Clara Wilkins' family plus the married surnames and maiden names of their children and their spouses-if you want their information also.

If you haven't gotten ORGANIZED before, now is the time. Remember those manila FOLDERS with surnames on them. Get out the approriate ones. In the main folder for the surnames Stevens/Wilkins I would put a RESEARCH LOG which is just a list of what you've searched for and the results in a folder to keep track of your discoveries. It's important to document where you found the information if you need to check it again. Soon it's time to try to fit the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle called genealogy together to form a complete picture of your family history.

After HOME SOURCES, I would start researching on the INTERNET before heading to a family history library or courthouse because some of those family records might just be online. Genealogy is getting easier by the day because of the Internet. All you need is a few facts like your grand parents' or other older relatives' names, birthdates and places then you can do a GOOGLE search-to be explained in more detail tomorrow.

HAPPY birthday today to my oldest son Frank and my friend Susi Q born on the same day!

Organizing your data

Get some manila file folders and label them with your family surnames. Organize materials: photos, notes, research, audio or video tape interviews as they come into this folders. Keep a list of those you contacted and who to contact next for more info. It's helpful to keep some kind of master log for each surname or group of family surnames that you are researching so you know what you've done. I call it a RESEARCH LOG and it goes in your manila folder with the materials you are gathering. There are many research logs online for free that can be used or you can make your own.

If you just write your data or information on little slips of paper and put them haphazardly in your pocket or purse, they will get lost or go through the laundry. I know I've done that. It helps to condense all your notes in one place and add a TO DO list when you stop working on a surname so next time you'll know where to pick up what you were doing last. Whether you're doing family history research on the Internet or just gathering materials for a biography, it helps to be organized as materials will pile up in stacks on your desk very quickly.

Of course having a computer software database program to keep track of all the names, dates, places and sources or documentation is very helpful. You can just do it with a pen and paper forms but the advantages of having it on a computer are amazing as your data multiplies and you trace your ancestors further back. There are many software choices available the easiest and cheapest (it's free) is PAF 5.2 or Personal Ancestral File available to download from www.familysearch.org.

Or if you are interested in other commercial programs, there are many available to purchase. Some that are highly recommended by others are: Legacy, Family Treemaker, and Roots Magic. I use Reunion because it is one of the only ones available for Macintosh computers. There are many sites online available to teach you how to use these programs plus LDS family history centers available all over the world with volunteers available to help you with these programs and assist you in your research.

To start out just download the simplest forms: a pedigree chart to start your family tree, and a family group sheet which shows the parents of a family and all their children's information. Time to get organized and write down the information you are finding or input it in your computer.

How to interview family members

After you've exhausted your home sources within your own abode, it's time to visit or contact your parents, grandparents or older relatives- to interview them and ask questions about your family. Hopefully you'll run across your family historian--every family hopefully has one. When preparing for your visits, gather a list of questions you'd like answered and some means of recording that information- either writing down what they say or asking their permission to record their voice on a tape recorder or video. Sometimes older relatives are more comfortable with you just taking notes, but you'll loose their exact words which you might want to quote in sharing this history with others.

At the beginning of the visit, take time to just converse and catch up with what is happening with their lives before you launch into 20 questions. Show genuine interest and love for them and their opinions. Tell them of your desire to write or at least gather some history and background of your family to share with the young'uns. Find some topic that interests them to start with...maybe their favorite hobby or time in their life. For men, military service experiences can get them going. One question will lead to another.

Ask open ended questions like...How did you feel about that? What happened next or how did that change your life? Don't try to ask all your questions in one setting. It can also be done through emails or letters or phone conversations that can be taped with their permission if you live a long ways away. The main thing is keep it fun and not tiring. Visiting and talking is a skill most of us could develop. Taking time from our busy schedules to visit and listen shows others we care, and that their life's experiences are important to us.

Home Sources

Start to gather tidbits of information about your family that you have floating around your house. I call them HOME SOURCES. Look for certificates, news articles, obituaries, letters or post cards, old photo albums, programs, invitations, etc. Put them in a box, folder or large envelope by family surnames to sort later. (Hint-Include scrapbook stuff about yourself in case you decide to write your life story later. )

Old family bibles if you have one or can locate one from your older relatives have wonderful information including names and dates of important occasions such as family births, deaths and marriage. (Sample on the right is from my Dad's bible-shown above. His mother had written in the vital record information on his parents, and grand parents plus his marriage to my mom and my birth. It was published in 1926 when he was only 10 years old. Don't know when she gave it to my dad, but he read it clear through before his death in 1945.)

Now would be a good time to visit or contact your parents, grandparents (if they are living) or any elderly aunts, uncles and cousins who might have this kind of information around their homes before they die and it gets lost. Remember it's never too late to start as long as YOU are still living. Write what you remember about your family members-parents or grand parents who may be deceased. Later we'll talk about Internet cousins who are distant relatives that you can find while doing family history research online. I've received wonderful old photos and histories that way.

How to get started

1. Plant the desire/commitment to want to share memories of your life story with your descendants by doing something, then ACT!

2. Write down your earliest memories of your parents. What were they like? Where did you live, etc.? How did they influence who you are today? Include good or bad examples, trials, triumphs, siblings, etc.

3. Share fun or unique experiences you had with your grandparents. How were they part of your life, etc.? Where did they live? What occupations or hobbies did they have? Do you have any photos of them? Did they serve in the military? What political views did they have? Personalities?

4. Any tidbits of information or stories about your great grandparents? Where were they from, any ethnic celebrations or traditions that were a part of family celebrations? What was happening in the world when they were raising their family?

5. Type on the computer or write down a little bit each day as memories come, to edit and organize later. Write freely, you are making a rough draft that you can go back to and refine later. If you don't know the name of your grandparents or great grands––hold the fort, in a later blog, we'll talk about researching but do check with your oldest living relatives for what they know. More on interviewing relatives later.

6. ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE, you've started writing your family history!

What is family history?

Genealogy or family history (easier to spell) is the #2 hobby in the world, topped only by gardening as #1. Millions of people are fascinated by searching for their ROOTS. Read my post about how October got designated "Family History month."

Finding out more than just your ancestor's names, dates and places is what makes family history fascinating. What kind of people were they? Any photos or histories available? What pressures were part of their daily living? Do we owe them a debt of gratitude for settling in America or for perservering and staying in their homeland? What occupations did they have? What was it like to be a mother or woman in those days? If they had a message to send to us-what would it be? (Answering these questions about your immediate ancestors could be the beginning of your family history record to leave for your family.)

Alex Haley, the Afro-American author of Roots (1977) had this to say..."in all of us is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage to know who we are and where we have come from. Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning. No matter what our attainments in life, there is still a vacuum, and an emptiness, and the most disquieting loneliness..."

Most of us are lucky enough to have had experiences with our parents, grandparents and even some of our great grandparents. Our lives have been affected by their example whether negatively or positively. Will our great grandchildren know of their heritage––only if we preserve some kind of record telling them our life story and about their family history. Have you done that yet?

Family History Blogtime

Time to get serious about my upcoming opportunity to teach others "how to create a family history blog." Later this month I will be teaching a class on that subject at the Dixie Center for the Family History Expo 2009. So, I'm challenging myself to focus all my posts this month on different aspects of genealogy or family history.

I hope to cover:

(1) WHAT is genealogy or family history?

(2) HOW to get started

(3) HOME SOURCES

(4) HOW TO INTERVIEW family members

(5) ORGANIZING your data

(6) RESEARCH TIPS and FINDING Internet Cousins

(7) INTERNET RESEARCH LINKS

(8) WRITING FAMILY HISTORIES

(9) LESSON PLANS for teaching classes

(10) WEBPAGES and BLOG IDEAS

(11) ARTICLES from my column

(12) REUNION and ideas to involve YOUTH

Any other areas you'd like to learn about?