Well folks, It's decided, we're committed.
March 8th at 12 noon MST.
All new website, All new Family ChArtist. The press release is below. A few sneak peeks at other functionality that we'll be talking about this week on the blog.
For Immediate Release:
Generation Maps announces release date for Family ChArtist.
New website will help you quickly and easily create beautiful genealogy charts.
Cedar Hills, Utah. — February 22, 2010 — Generation Maps today announced the release date for Family ChArtist, an exciting new genealogy chart creation tool. Family ChArtist is a new web application that will make creating and designing beautiful genealogy charts easier and faster than ever before. Family ChArtist is being showcased this weekend at the Family History Expo in St. George, Utah (www.familyhistoryexpos.com) and will be released to the general public with an all new Generation Maps website at 12 noon Mountain Standard Time on March 8th.
Impressive and Easy to Use Features:
HIGH QUALITY GRAPHICS: Generation Maps offers modern, classic, colorful graphics to beautify and enhance your chart.
FAST AND EASY: First time users can create beautiful charts in just a few minutes. Previously, chart printing required purchase, installation and juggling of various design software programs, online databases and file formats. Family ChArtist has combined all these elements for you and allows you to simply create what you want over the web.
GENEALOGY CAPABILITY: Family ChArtist is FamilySearch Certified, applying information straight from FamilySearch to your chart. FamilySearch information can be edited as necessary. Your family genealogical information can also be entered using a Gedcom or manual entry. Generation Maps is working toward future integration with other software and picture database systems as well as genealogy software companies.
FLEXIBLE OPTIONS: Generation Maps has created Family ChArtist with powerful, user-friendly features. You can adjust the same graphic in many different ways, using transparency, rotation, and scaling controls, to create exactly the look you want. Attractive new enhancements can also be added to each graphic to create very different charts. Family ChArtist is flexible, allowing you to add or correct information about yourself, siblings, cousins, stepfamilies, and other relatives. Additional personal information such as prominent characteristics, careers, etc., can also be included.
INEXPENSIVE PRINTING: Any 8.5 X 11 chart you create can be printed FREE on your home computer. High quality professionally printed charts range in size from 16”x20” to 36”x48”. Inexpensive draft copies on standard bond paper start at $19.95. Other printing options include presentation, glossy photo and parchment papers, as well as beautiful canvas giclees. You can also purchase a .pdf file for $39.99, and minutes after you place your order you will receive an email with a link to download your file for later use. As with all Generation Maps charts, extra copies are always HALF PRICE. Order copies of your chart to give to your children or other family members as meaningful gifts.
Become an Artist
Family ChArtist has been designed with each customer in mind. You are the artist. With beautiful graphics and embellishments it is easy to create something personalized for your family. You choose the layout, information to be included, size, paper, color, pictures, borders, backgrounds and artistic design. Each chart is a direct expression of your individuality.
“I think the best feature of this new program is the wide range of wonderful graphics,” says Kim Hovorka, CEO of Generation Maps. “We have chosen modern, classic, colorful graphics that can be used to beautify and enhance your chart. Images include a wide range of religious and patriotic symbols, LDS temples, flags, classic, modern and vintage embellishments and backgrounds. Users can even upload their own pictures, scans of documents or other images to decorate their charts.”
Free Offer for Scrapbooks and Albums.
With Family ChArtist, you can create an 8.5 X 11 chart free of charge and save it to your computer to print whenever you choose. If you decide you want to print a larger size for your home, just order from the same menu and your chart will be printed and shipped to you promptly. Whether you are decorating your home, creating a family book, looking for a special gift for someone you love, or bringing your heritage to life for a family gathering, Family ChArtist will help you fashion a beautiful expression of your family’s history for your surroundings.
To find out more about Family ChArtist and its outstanding capabilities, go to www.thechartchick.com. Janet Hovorka, development director for Generation Maps, will be sending out a new blog post each day until the official release of Family ChArtist. Each ChartChick blog post will feature different functions and design options on the new site. Users will find creative chart suggestions and ideas to help them use Family ChArtist when it becomes available March 8th.
About Generation Maps
Generation Maps was established in 2004 to help families express their heritage in an attractive way for all to see. Generation Maps charts provide a visual reminder of your family’s history and help establish feelings of love and confidence that come from knowing who you are and that you are part of a family. Generation Maps charts can awaken individual potential embedded in one’s inherited traits and nurture emotional healing through understanding a family’s history. Family ChArtist will carry on the Generation Maps tradition by offering a new, simplified, personalized way to create decorative charts that promote family traditions and unity.
Generation Maps is still the premier printing service for any kind of genealogy chart you can imagine. In addition to the new Family ChArtist program, Generation Maps continues to offer a multitude of custom chart printing services, including both decorative and working genealogy charts. Custom decorative designs come with an online preview system that gives you personalized attention and feedback until the chart is exactly the way you envisioned it. Working charts are oversized, inexpensive, family reunion-type charts that display your entire file in one place. You can write on and add information to working charts. Generation Maps has printed working charts up to 800 feet long with information for over 30,000 people. In addition, Canvas Giclee Fine Art photos are available at Generation Maps for a very competitive, reasonable price. All charts can be printed on any of 8 paper choices, plus canvas. Free consultations are always available at http://www.generationmaps.com/consult.
For more information, visit www.generationmaps.com or www.thechartchick.com, or email info@generationmaps.com.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Family ChArtist--FamilySearch Certification
Ok. Next feature..... Importing information options:
Yes, we have a second certification for Generation Maps from new FamilySearch. We have obtained certification to use the new web app with the new FamilySearch Family Tree. The LDS church has been slowly rolling out a new collaborative database which you already know about if you've been reading this blog. The database has been rolled out successfully to the members of the LDS church over the last two years and it is planned that this next year it will be rolled out to the general public.
We have been printing custom charts from this database for a couple of years now and can still help you with that as well. But you can bet, that as we were developing this tool, we wanted to incorporate FamilySearch certification especially so that beginners could use it as a starting place to be able to build a chart.
But the kicker is this...
You don't have to rely completely on the integrity of the information in the database. You have complete control over all the information on the chart. Just enter your username and password for the database, pick out the person you want to start with, and we'll import the information available in the database on your family tree. And then if you see anything in the data that you want to change, simply click on the person and edit the information in the Editing Panel. Click on the Apply button and you are good to go.
Right now, 1) Gedcom import and 2) FamilySearch import, along with 3) manual entry are the only ways to bring information into this new database. But we are already laying the groundwork for being able to bring in all kinds of other information in the next phases of this application. We are working with several other collaborative database providers, picture repository providers, and even software companies to be able to import files from their products. We're hoping to make this THE place to come for gorgeous charts.
Watch for the release date and press release tomorrow. Yee ha. We're getting there.
Yes, we have a second certification for Generation Maps from new FamilySearch. We have obtained certification to use the new web app with the new FamilySearch Family Tree. The LDS church has been slowly rolling out a new collaborative database which you already know about if you've been reading this blog. The database has been rolled out successfully to the members of the LDS church over the last two years and it is planned that this next year it will be rolled out to the general public.We have been printing custom charts from this database for a couple of years now and can still help you with that as well. But you can bet, that as we were developing this tool, we wanted to incorporate FamilySearch certification especially so that beginners could use it as a starting place to be able to build a chart.
But the kicker is this...
You don't have to rely completely on the integrity of the information in the database. You have complete control over all the information on the chart. Just enter your username and password for the database, pick out the person you want to start with, and we'll import the information available in the database on your family tree. And then if you see anything in the data that you want to change, simply click on the person and edit the information in the Editing Panel. Click on the Apply button and you are good to go.Right now, 1) Gedcom import and 2) FamilySearch import, along with 3) manual entry are the only ways to bring information into this new database. But we are already laying the groundwork for being able to bring in all kinds of other information in the next phases of this application. We are working with several other collaborative database providers, picture repository providers, and even software companies to be able to import files from their products. We're hoping to make this THE place to come for gorgeous charts.
Watch for the release date and press release tomorrow. Yee ha. We're getting there.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Family ChArtist--GEDCOM import and manual entry
So how do you get your genealogy information into Family ChArtist?
To start with, we are releasing Family ChArtist with a few ways to bring genealogy information into your chart. Two of these are GEDCOM import and manual entry. (we'll talk about more tomorrow)
On GEDCOM import, it's easy. Hit the "Upload a
GEDCOM" button and the system brings up your Open File dialog box. You just pick a GEDCOM from your files and it will import into the system.
Now--in case you don't know, a GEDCOM is a common base file for genealogy information. Every genealogy computer program will export a GEDCOM, the function is usually under the file menu. Often you use GEDCOM to move information between different genealogy softwares or databases. I sometimes call it the ASCII file of genealogy. It is just a standard file that holds the genealogy information that you've created in your genealogy computer program.
The cool thing about this application is that the GEDCOM import is lightning fast. My mom's 7,000+ person file imports in about 2-3 seconds. Then you get the "Select a person" screen shown here. Simply pick the person you want the chart to start with and click ok. Your chart will appear on the screen. Ba da Bing.
You can rest assured that your genealogy information doesn't go anywhere as per our regular privacy policy. In fact, once you choose the person you want to start the chart with, we just take the information out that we need to make your chart and the system doesn't store your GEDCOM at all.
Or, if you haven't gathered your genealogy information into a computer file, just hit the manual entry button and start from there. You don't have to type all the birth marriage and death information in for each person. Just put in what you want to and the chart will be created with the information you provide.
We're just getting started. Oh it's so hard to wait until you get to see this...
To start with, we are releasing Family ChArtist with a few ways to bring genealogy information into your chart. Two of these are GEDCOM import and manual entry. (we'll talk about more tomorrow)
On GEDCOM import, it's easy. Hit the "Upload a
GEDCOM" button and the system brings up your Open File dialog box. You just pick a GEDCOM from your files and it will import into the system.Now--in case you don't know, a GEDCOM is a common base file for genealogy information. Every genealogy computer program will export a GEDCOM, the function is usually under the file menu. Often you use GEDCOM to move information between different genealogy softwares or databases. I sometimes call it the ASCII file of genealogy. It is just a standard file that holds the genealogy information that you've created in your genealogy computer program.
The cool thing about this application is that the GEDCOM import is lightning fast. My mom's 7,000+ person file imports in about 2-3 seconds. Then you get the "Select a person" screen shown here. Simply pick the person you want the chart to start with and click ok. Your chart will appear on the screen. Ba da Bing.You can rest assured that your genealogy information doesn't go anywhere as per our regular privacy policy. In fact, once you choose the person you want to start the chart with, we just take the information out that we need to make your chart and the system doesn't store your GEDCOM at all.
Or, if you haven't gathered your genealogy information into a computer file, just hit the manual entry button and start from there. You don't have to type all the birth marriage and death information in for each person. Just put in what you want to and the chart will be created with the information you provide.
We're just getting started. Oh it's so hard to wait until you get to see this...
Family ChArtist--Come get early access in St. George
Guess what?! If you are coming to St. George next week for the Family History Expo you are going to be able to use Family ChArtist there before we release it. And not only that, we'll have computers available and a plotter right there to be able to print you a $10 draft, or even a final archival copy of your chart. We haven't even begun to roll out all the great features of this new application here on the blog, but it is easy to use and you'll be able to jump right in and walk away with a printed copy of your research. And we'll be right there to show you around.
So now you have even more reason to come join the party. Holly and her team at Family History Expos always do such a great job of showing us all a good time. Come have some fun with us and take the new website for a spin. See ya there.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Family ChArtist--Adding Additional People
For today's post, I want to tell you about another cool feature. We call this button "Add Extra Person (Sibling, Spouse, etc.)." You can add a person and drag them to any position on a chart. We do lots of charts this way right now with our custom chart service. But now you'll be able to do it yourself.
The most popular thing we do now is add all the children of a family at the beginning of the chart. That way you can take advantage of our 1/2 price extra copies and make copies as gifts for brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles.
Take a look at some of these.. You can add all the children of the family to either of our basic layouts.
That works for anywhere on the chart though. You can add brothers and sisters throughout the chart, aunts and uncles, cousins, step families, etc.
Or, on the bowtie chart you can actually take that first person and move them around too. Above or below their parents. You can even take that starting person out and have the chart start with a couple. A wonderful wedding gift.
There are so many wonderful features of this new web application that I'm excited to tell you about, I've created a few posts that I've scheduled for the weekend too. And then Monday we'll be sending out the release date. Stay tuned.
The most popular thing we do now is add all the children of a family at the beginning of the chart. That way you can take advantage of our 1/2 price extra copies and make copies as gifts for brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles.
Take a look at some of these.. You can add all the children of the family to either of our basic layouts.
That works for anywhere on the chart though. You can add brothers and sisters throughout the chart, aunts and uncles, cousins, step families, etc. 
Or, on the bowtie chart you can actually take that first person and move them around too. Above or below their parents. You can even take that starting person out and have the chart start with a couple. A wonderful wedding gift. 
There are so many wonderful features of this new web application that I'm excited to tell you about, I've created a few posts that I've scheduled for the weekend too. And then Monday we'll be sending out the release date. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Family ChArtist -- Transparency
Well, this blog post is late tonight. I've been answering emails and phone calls about all the excitement about our new program all day. Thank you so much. We are so gratified with all the attention, and now are even more committed to getting this finished up and working perfectly for all the wonderful genealogists we get to work with.
When you first try out Family ChArtist you might take a look at some of the embellishments and backgrounds and wonder how they could work well with a genealogy chart. Several of them are deep colors. We've done that on purpose, so that you have the flexibility to make the chart the way you want it to be. You have all the control, even in how deep or light the colors are. We've called that transparency. Let me show you... All these charts are from the same background.
We've given that to you on a sliding scale, so that you get to decide exactly where you want it. And we'll let you decide how vibrant you want your backgrounds, your embellishments and even the pictures you've added.
By letting you decide on the transparency, we've let you decide whether you want to focus on the genealogy information or make it more of an art piece with the genealogy a more subtle aspect.
So be gathering those pictures, and get your information ready. It's coming.
When you first try out Family ChArtist you might take a look at some of the embellishments and backgrounds and wonder how they could work well with a genealogy chart. Several of them are deep colors. We've done that on purpose, so that you have the flexibility to make the chart the way you want it to be. You have all the control, even in how deep or light the colors are. We've called that transparency. Let me show you... All these charts are from the same background.
We've given that to you on a sliding scale, so that you get to decide exactly where you want it. And we'll let you decide how vibrant you want your backgrounds, your embellishments and even the pictures you've added.
By letting you decide on the transparency, we've let you decide whether you want to focus on the genealogy information or make it more of an art piece with the genealogy a more subtle aspect.
So be gathering those pictures, and get your information ready. It's coming.
And We're Back..... Introducing Family ChArtist
IT'S FINALLY READY. Introducing....
Over the next couple of weeks we are going to introduce you to our new Genealogy Chart tool--Family ChArtist. The most powerful, easy to use, fantastic, amazing, wonderful way to make a genealogy chart--easy, fast, inexpensive and even free. (Nope, I'm not excited about it ;-)) Watch here every day over the next couple of weeks you'll be all ready to give it a try yourself. We'll be announcing the release date next Monday the 22nd.
So to start out with, let me show you some of the charts coming out of this new tool.
And if you don't see what you want yet, stay tuned, we're just getting started. You'll be in charge and we'll be showing you how you can create anything you want. See you tomorrow.
Over the next couple of weeks we are going to introduce you to our new Genealogy Chart tool--Family ChArtist. The most powerful, easy to use, fantastic, amazing, wonderful way to make a genealogy chart--easy, fast, inexpensive and even free. (Nope, I'm not excited about it ;-)) Watch here every day over the next couple of weeks you'll be all ready to give it a try yourself. We'll be announcing the release date next Monday the 22nd.
So to start out with, let me show you some of the charts coming out of this new tool.
And if you don't see what you want yet, stay tuned, we're just getting started. You'll be in charge and we'll be showing you how you can create anything you want. See you tomorrow.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Breaking my silence.
As you know, if you follow me on facebook, twitter, or this blog, I have been unusually quiet lately. Being quiet isn't one of my strong suites you know. I have thought of it as a kind of drum roll leading up to a new product we are just about to launch. We have been ultra busy getting something really exciting ready for you. And we have a second FamilySearch certification under our belts as of last week. But it isn't quite ready yet. So keep your eyes glued and I'll have some wonderful things to show you shortly.
But in the meantime I have to break my silence on two things. First, I was featured in an exciting new publication. Mormon Entrepreneur Magazine http://www.mormonentrepreneur.net/. Mark Mugleston was a delight to talk to and I quite enjoyed our interview, but I wasn't really thinking about what would be in the rest of the issue. This month's issue is all interviews with some of the leading company founders in genealogy. It was THE MOST fascinating read. I clicked to give it a quick glance and got totally engrossed tonight. I'm sitting in Mesa, about to show off our new product tomorrow at the Family History Expo, finishing things up, haven't been to bed before 2 am for way way way too many days, and I completely couldn't stop reading. I finally tore myself away because I have several hours more work to do tonight. But I can't wait to get back to it tomorrow night after the conference. Congratulations Mark on tapping into the core of the family history industry and helping us all learn from some of the leaders out there. I'm so so honored to be included.
Second, I've been really remiss in not sharing with you the press release sent to me by Lisa Louise Cooke. She and I are real kindred spirits and I so enjoy her work. So in case there is someone who hasn't heard already, I add my endorsement to her new iphone app. I'm so excited for her to be breaking into this new territory. Congratulations Lisa. You are an inspiration as usual. I hope it is really successful for you.
But in the meantime I have to break my silence on two things. First, I was featured in an exciting new publication. Mormon Entrepreneur Magazine http://www.mormonentrepreneur.net/. Mark Mugleston was a delight to talk to and I quite enjoyed our interview, but I wasn't really thinking about what would be in the rest of the issue. This month's issue is all interviews with some of the leading company founders in genealogy. It was THE MOST fascinating read. I clicked to give it a quick glance and got totally engrossed tonight. I'm sitting in Mesa, about to show off our new product tomorrow at the Family History Expo, finishing things up, haven't been to bed before 2 am for way way way too many days, and I completely couldn't stop reading. I finally tore myself away because I have several hours more work to do tonight. But I can't wait to get back to it tomorrow night after the conference. Congratulations Mark on tapping into the core of the family history industry and helping us all learn from some of the leaders out there. I'm so so honored to be included.
Second, I've been really remiss in not sharing with you the press release sent to me by Lisa Louise Cooke. She and I are real kindred spirits and I so enjoy her work. So in case there is someone who hasn't heard already, I add my endorsement to her new iphone app. I'm so excited for her to be breaking into this new territory. Congratulations Lisa. You are an inspiration as usual. I hope it is really successful for you.
Press Release:
SAN RAMON, Calif. – January 4, 2009 - The Genealogy Gems Podcast, the #1 podcast in the genealogy category in iTunes has launched the first ever genealogy podcast app for iPhone and iTouch (in partnership with Wizzard Media). The Genealogy Gems Podcast app provides users with streaming genealogy audio and video on the go, and exclusive Bonus Content.
A free “online genealogy radio show,” The Genealogy Gems Podcast has provided innovative research strategies, family history expert and celebrity interviews, and genealogy news since 2007. These “gems” of genealogical information inspire family history researchers of all experience levels and helps them make the most of their valuable research time. The new app provides one more way for the popular podcast to reach it’s worldwide audience.
“Mobile technology is the wave of the future,” says Producer and Creator Lisa Louise Cooke. “At Genealogy Gems we strive to be out in front bringing the highest quality genealogy education to those seeking to enrich their lives through family history research. The app makes this possible on a whole new level.”
The app streams all the episodes (including show notes!), and new episodes are downloaded automatically. Bonus content on the new app includes exclusive material such as audio files and custom genealogy themed wallpaper, as well as Cooke’s 20 page pdf e-book 5 Fabulous Google Research Strategies for the Family Historian. New bonus content will be added as episodes are published. Cooke says users have much to look forward to, “There’s always something new coming to your iPhone and iTouch with the Genealogy Gems Podcast app!
About Genealogy Gems
Genealogy Gems is one of the leading producers of online quality genealogy-related media. Also found at the Genealogy Gems Web site http://www.GenealogyGems.
Lisa Louise Cooke is the author of Genealogy Gems: Ultimate Research Strategies, and national genealogy speaker. She also produces and hosts The Family Tree Magazine Podcast, teaches online webinars, and writes and produces videos for the magazine.
Media Contacts:
Genealogy Gems
Lisa Louise Cooke, Producer and Creator
Phone: (925) 272-4021
Email: genealogygemspodcast@
Website: http://www.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
One of our greatest successes this last year.
We received this email over the holidays from a lady whose sister was working on some charts for their family. She gave us permission to share it with you.
As you know...when one positive action is set into motion, there are always ripples that no one can imagine. I want to share one of them.
I good description of who I am is: Lemony Snicket and the Series of Unfortunate Events, Katrina, and a Tsunami all rolled into one. When they say "your life can change on a dime" that is me. I have lost everything. My faith sustains me...and a sense of humor! I have many blessings and having an amazing family and friends has made all the difference in surviving vs. thriving.
The miracle I want to share with you...in this season of miracles...is this: my sister said you wanted a picture of my family. It makes me incredibly sad to think that I do not have one of the four of us...they were all destroyed. [Her husband and died previously and there were no pictures of them all together] I kept thinking about it and how my family has no photo history. One day I was cleaning out one of my mother's cupboards...unrelated to all this.... but being pushed by a force greater than me, when I found an 8X10 frame with a picture of ALL four of us! I was ecstatic and called my sister right away to make sure that my family could be represented with a photo on the chart. I also thought this would be a great Christmas gift for my two adult children...I was so happy to be able to give them a piece of their history! When I removed the original photo, there were TWO more at different stages of our family's growth...this was more than I could have asked for...it was a miracle...created by you. I want you to know that by initiating this mission, you have provided my family, not only with their roots, but a present day gift that continues to make us all smile.
My sister and I have a very strong connection and I know she was a part of this discovery. This miracle has brought me a sense of peace unlike any I have felt for a very long time...and I know in her good & kind heart, my sister wishes this for me too.
Again, we love working in family history and we are so excited to help you share your family history with your family. It is just a miraculous place to be.
As you know...when one positive action is set into motion, there are always ripples that no one can imagine. I want to share one of them.
I good description of who I am is: Lemony Snicket and the Series of Unfortunate Events, Katrina, and a Tsunami all rolled into one. When they say "your life can change on a dime" that is me. I have lost everything. My faith sustains me...and a sense of humor! I have many blessings and having an amazing family and friends has made all the difference in surviving vs. thriving.
The miracle I want to share with you...in this season of miracles...is this: my sister said you wanted a picture of my family. It makes me incredibly sad to think that I do not have one of the four of us...they were all destroyed. [Her husband and died previously and there were no pictures of them all together] I kept thinking about it and how my family has no photo history. One day I was cleaning out one of my mother's cupboards...unrelated to all this.... but being pushed by a force greater than me, when I found an 8X10 frame with a picture of ALL four of us! I was ecstatic and called my sister right away to make sure that my family could be represented with a photo on the chart. I also thought this would be a great Christmas gift for my two adult children...I was so happy to be able to give them a piece of their history! When I removed the original photo, there were TWO more at different stages of our family's growth...this was more than I could have asked for...it was a miracle...created by you. I want you to know that by initiating this mission, you have provided my family, not only with their roots, but a present day gift that continues to make us all smile.
My sister and I have a very strong connection and I know she was a part of this discovery. This miracle has brought me a sense of peace unlike any I have felt for a very long time...and I know in her good & kind heart, my sister wishes this for me too.
Again, we love working in family history and we are so excited to help you share your family history with your family. It is just a miraculous place to be.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
A Christmas Present for You
Steven Kapp Perry sent me a link to his podcast in which he interviews Ron Tanner, product Manager for New FamilySearch. I hope you'll enjoy listening to it as an early Christmas Present.
The last minute shipping deadlines pass today. It has been a great Christmas season for us and we are so thankful for our wonderful clients. We appreciate how open you have been as you have shared your families with us and let us mirror them back to you. And we hope that the charts we have done for you this season will remind your family members of the love and heritage that envelops them. I am gratified to have made so many new friends in our associations with you. Thank you.
We so love genealogists--they are phenomenal people to work with.
As soon as we get the last orders off this morning, I'm going to make cookies with my kids for the rest of the day. I hope you and yours have a beautiful holiday season.
The last minute shipping deadlines pass today. It has been a great Christmas season for us and we are so thankful for our wonderful clients. We appreciate how open you have been as you have shared your families with us and let us mirror them back to you. And we hope that the charts we have done for you this season will remind your family members of the love and heritage that envelops them. I am gratified to have made so many new friends in our associations with you. Thank you.
We so love genealogists--they are phenomenal people to work with.
As soon as we get the last orders off this morning, I'm going to make cookies with my kids for the rest of the day. I hope you and yours have a beautiful holiday season.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
My first responsibility for UGA
You will never believe what happened last Saturday at the UGA meeting. I accepted a nomination as Vice President because I knew I was running against some fabulous people and I could never be elected. You should have seen my face. Astounded isn't even the word.
I'm so excited though. One of the things I really am passionate about is helping people improve their genealogy skills. I've grown tremendously with that the last couple of months and want to see others become better at it too. I'm amazed at how you can be a genealogist for many years and not necessarily get better at it. But UGA has been a wonderful source of genealogy education and I think it has even more potential ready to bloom.
So the first responsibility I've volunteered on for UGA is to tell you about Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and make sure as many of you as can take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. I've never been able to go because I was always working but I've always wanted to. But this is THE place for indepth knowledge taught by the experts. They have Paula Stewart Warren teaching the American Records track, Mary Hill teaching Mid-Atlantic Research, Kory Meyerink on Immigrant Origins, Tom Jones on Advanced Research Methodology and Craig Scott on US Military Records and several other wonderful instructors and topics. This is a great indepth look at these subjects. You can see the course outlines here. I'll be there. Hope to see you too.
I'm so excited though. One of the things I really am passionate about is helping people improve their genealogy skills. I've grown tremendously with that the last couple of months and want to see others become better at it too. I'm amazed at how you can be a genealogist for many years and not necessarily get better at it. But UGA has been a wonderful source of genealogy education and I think it has even more potential ready to bloom.
So the first responsibility I've volunteered on for UGA is to tell you about Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and make sure as many of you as can take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. I've never been able to go because I was always working but I've always wanted to. But this is THE place for indepth knowledge taught by the experts. They have Paula Stewart Warren teaching the American Records track, Mary Hill teaching Mid-Atlantic Research, Kory Meyerink on Immigrant Origins, Tom Jones on Advanced Research Methodology and Craig Scott on US Military Records and several other wonderful instructors and topics. This is a great indepth look at these subjects. You can see the course outlines here. I'll be there. Hope to see you too.
The vibes are goin' on...
The last week has definitely been good for my ego. It is so nice to be appreciated by my peers. Especially people that I admire and appreciate so much.
Lisa Alzo has passed me the Genea-Speak award. Thank you so much Lisa for the kind words. I'm so honored to receive it from you. It is given "for excellence in writing, speaking, and the promoting of good genealogical practices." The requirement upon receiving the award is to pass it on to at least two deserving recipients. I am going to send it on to the two people who have completely inspired me this last couple of months. Ancestry Insider and Mark Tucker.
The Ancestry Insider keeps us up on two of genealogy's biggest entities Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.com. I am honored to know the identity of and be able to work with AI and it seems every time I get to talk to him I come away with a shift of paradigm. He is a brilliant person and I look forward to learning lots more from him.
Mark Tucker from the Think Genealogy Blog is another of the great thinkers in the genealogy world. He has a wonderful graphical mind that he has used to come up with good ways to help beginners understand complex ideas. He also turned me on to the book Slideology. I look forward to learning lots more from Mark as well.
Lisa Louise Cooke and James Tanner have also both passed me the Kreative Blogger Award. I so appreciate their recognition and highly recommend their blogs to you as well. With this award, I have to reveal 7 things you may not know about me and then recommend 7 more blogs to you.
1. I "know" (read: have studied) German, Greek, Contemporary and Ancient Hebrew, Standard and Colloquial Arabic and Egyptian Hieroglyphics.
2 My favorite sandwich is cream cheese and raspberry jam, and my favorite color is purple.
3. I spent a week in the Massai Mara Game Preserve. Giraffes are absolutely beautiful in the wild.
4. The last 5 months have totally overhauled my research methodology in genealogy. But I haven't talked about that much on my blog yet.
5. I've decided to write a book. Don't hold your breath, but I think I have something to say. You'll catch some of it here I'm sure.
6. I am going to begin teaching in the Genealogy Program at Salt Lake Community College in January.
7. I am astounded to have been elected last weekend as the Vice President of the Utah Genealogical Association for 2010 (more on that in the next post.)
For the Kreative Blogger Award, I pass the baton to:
Carolyn L Barkley Genealogy and Family History.com
Renee Zamora Renee's Genealogy Blog
Elyse Doerflinger Elyse's Genealogy Blog
Tom Kemp at Ask the Genealogist
Marlo Schuldt The Heritage Collector's Blog A brand new blog by a great writer.
Elizabeth O'Neal Little Bytes of Life (and she beat me barely so I'm counting it anyway.)
the Footnote Maven Shades of the Departed. (The master.)
Go check them out and tell them I said hi.
Lisa Alzo has passed me the Genea-Speak award. Thank you so much Lisa for the kind words. I'm so honored to receive it from you. It is given "for excellence in writing, speaking, and the promoting of good genealogical practices." The requirement upon receiving the award is to pass it on to at least two deserving recipients. I am going to send it on to the two people who have completely inspired me this last couple of months. Ancestry Insider and Mark Tucker.
The Ancestry Insider keeps us up on two of genealogy's biggest entities Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.com. I am honored to know the identity of and be able to work with AI and it seems every time I get to talk to him I come away with a shift of paradigm. He is a brilliant person and I look forward to learning lots more from him.
Mark Tucker from the Think Genealogy Blog is another of the great thinkers in the genealogy world. He has a wonderful graphical mind that he has used to come up with good ways to help beginners understand complex ideas. He also turned me on to the book Slideology. I look forward to learning lots more from Mark as well.
Lisa Louise Cooke and James Tanner have also both passed me the Kreative Blogger Award. I so appreciate their recognition and highly recommend their blogs to you as well. With this award, I have to reveal 7 things you may not know about me and then recommend 7 more blogs to you.
1. I "know" (read: have studied) German, Greek, Contemporary and Ancient Hebrew, Standard and Colloquial Arabic and Egyptian Hieroglyphics.
2 My favorite sandwich is cream cheese and raspberry jam, and my favorite color is purple.
3. I spent a week in the Massai Mara Game Preserve. Giraffes are absolutely beautiful in the wild.
4. The last 5 months have totally overhauled my research methodology in genealogy. But I haven't talked about that much on my blog yet.
5. I've decided to write a book. Don't hold your breath, but I think I have something to say. You'll catch some of it here I'm sure.
6. I am going to begin teaching in the Genealogy Program at Salt Lake Community College in January.
7. I am astounded to have been elected last weekend as the Vice President of the Utah Genealogical Association for 2010 (more on that in the next post.)
For the Kreative Blogger Award, I pass the baton to:
Carolyn L Barkley Genealogy and Family History.com
Renee Zamora Renee's Genealogy Blog
Elyse Doerflinger Elyse's Genealogy Blog
Tom Kemp at Ask the Genealogist
Marlo Schuldt The Heritage Collector's Blog A brand new blog by a great writer.
Elizabeth O'Neal Little Bytes of Life (and she beat me barely so I'm counting it anyway.)
the Footnote Maven Shades of the Departed. (The master.)
Go check them out and tell them I said hi.
Monday, November 30, 2009
UGA Board Member.
So guess what? Another bit of wonderful news this morning. You are reading the blog of a new Utah Genealogical Association board member. Whatdaya know? I hope I can be useful to them. I think it is quite possible that I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. Looking forward to our first meeting on Saturday. I'll let you know.
Our new mission statement
Last month at the ICAPGEN conference, I went to a presentation by Crista Cowan where she talked about doing an annual "wilderness retreat" to re-evaluate personal and company goals, and what that means for where the company is headed. So Kim and I decided to try it, and last weekend we took off to get back to the all important questions about what the ultimate goals of Generation Maps are and where that needs to lead us in the future.
Out of that came a new/revised mission statement. It is strong and powerful to me and I'm so excited to share it with you.
Generation Maps exists to visually express a family's history, which helps spread throughout that family:
--the feeling of love that comes from knowing they are enveloped in a family.
--the confidence of realizing the potential embedded in their inherited traits.
--the nurture of emotional healing by creating more understanding of their family's past.
--and the spiritual power of family history.
We strive to make these things constantly present in the daily life of the family's members.
I'm also happy to report that this is exactly what I want to do with my life. I honestly believe that family history is vitally important and literally can solve the world's problems. I came home so energized that I couldn't wait to get back to work this morning--even more so than usual.
Thank you to Mary Hill, Robert Raymond, Erin Roudabush, Pat Carpenter, Bruce Buzbee, Holly Hanson and others who have helped me think things out and lay the ground work for our new direction.
And just wait to see what we have up our sleeves for 2010. You're going to love it.
Out of that came a new/revised mission statement. It is strong and powerful to me and I'm so excited to share it with you.
Generation Maps exists to visually express a family's history, which helps spread throughout that family:
--the feeling of love that comes from knowing they are enveloped in a family.
--the confidence of realizing the potential embedded in their inherited traits.
--the nurture of emotional healing by creating more understanding of their family's past.
--and the spiritual power of family history.
We strive to make these things constantly present in the daily life of the family's members.
I'm also happy to report that this is exactly what I want to do with my life. I honestly believe that family history is vitally important and literally can solve the world's problems. I came home so energized that I couldn't wait to get back to work this morning--even more so than usual.
Thank you to Mary Hill, Robert Raymond, Erin Roudabush, Pat Carpenter, Bruce Buzbee, Holly Hanson and others who have helped me think things out and lay the ground work for our new direction.
And just wait to see what we have up our sleeves for 2010. You're going to love it.
Wow. I'm Geneasmacked.
I'm Verklempt. Or perhaps Geneasmacked.
Tamura Jones named the Chart Chick the best genealogy vendor blog in his 2009 Geneablog Awards. I'm so honored to be recognized by such a well respected blogger. Thanks.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours
From a newsletter we sent out a couple of years ago:
One of our treasured Thanksgiving recipes comes from rural Wisconsin where Kim grew up. Kim's mother taught us how to make it the way her mother made it and we are so grateful she did. We miss her now that she has passed on, but are grateful to remember her every year at Thanksgiving with this dish.
One of our treasured Thanksgiving recipes comes from rural Wisconsin where Kim grew up. Kim's mother taught us how to make it the way her mother made it and we are so grateful she did. We miss her now that she has passed on, but are grateful to remember her every year at Thanksgiving with this dish.
1/2 Orange peel,
2 Oranges peeled,
2 Apples, cored with peel left on,
1 cup nuts (we prefer pecans)
1 pound cranberries.
Grind each ingredient in a food processor until chunky. Mix together in a mixing bowl and add sugar to taste.
I know you've probably already eaten this Thanksgiving, but this recipe is good with lots of different main dishes, or any other big dinner you might have coming up for the holidays.
I know you've probably already eaten this Thanksgiving, but this recipe is good with lots of different main dishes, or any other big dinner you might have coming up for the holidays.
We hope you enjoy your family's traditions this year, and then continue to make more of your own.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Ten questions to ask around the table on Thanksgiving.
From our newsletter.
I've gathered for you a few conversation starters:- What are the most important lessons you've learned so far in your life?
- What was the greatest time of joy in your life? The greatest time of sadness?
- Who were your favorite relatives? Do you remember any of the stories they used to tell you?
- What has been your favorite family tradition?
- What personality traits do you admire and how have you tried to develop those traits?
- What was the biggest turning point in your life? Looking back, how would you have dealt with it if you had known what you know now?
- What was your most embarrassing moment?
- What are you most proud of? Is there anything you have always wanted to do and haven't?
- How would you describe your sense of humor? What was your all-time favorite practical joke?
- What message would you like to leave your descendants? How would you like to be remembered?
These questions actually work after Thanksgiving too. In fact, did you know that next Friday is actually a National Day of Listening in the US? There is a wonderful National Day of Listening website set up by StoryCorps that can give you further ideas, including a Do-It-Yourself Instruction Guide and Question Generator. And there are great stories that people have submitted too. Or try the easy to use software Personal Historian, a full featured software designed to help you capture the wonderful stories in your family's history.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
RootsMagic Releases Free Genealogy Software
SPRINGVILLE, Utah. — November 18, 2009 — RootsMagic, Inc. announced the immediate availability of RootsMagic Essentials, free desktop genealogy software based on their award-winning RootsMagic 4 system. RootsMagic Essentials contains many core features found in its namesake and is the only completely free desktop genealogy software certified to work with the New FamilySearch system. Essential Features for Everyone
“Many of our users have told us that they have friends and family members who are interested in getting started in family history but aren’t ready to invest in a more comprehensive package like RootsMagic,” said Bruce Buzbee, president. “RootsMagic Essentials gives them the features they need to start researching and recording their family tree at a price that can’t be beat—free!”
RootsMagic Essentials shares many of the same features with the full RootsMagic software including clean and friendly screens, the ability to add an unlimited number of people and events, pictures and media management, the SourceWizard to write your source citations for you, powerful merging and clean-up tools, dozens of reports and charts, support for international character sets, FamilySearch integration, and the ability to share data with other people and software programs. The full version of RootsMagic is available for purchase and includes features not available in RootsMagic Essentials.
New FamilySearch Made Easy
As a FamilySearch certified application, RootsMagic Essentials bridges the gap between your personal family history data and the New FamilySearch internet site. It can seamlessly share your family tree with others through New FamilySearch as well as retrieve the information that you don't have. It also simplifies cleaning up, combining, and correcting information.
RootsMagic is the first software certified to reserve and request LDS temple ordinances. It identifies persons that need ordinances, checks for duplicate ordinances, and reserves ordinances for you to complete. When you are ready, RootsMagic will even print an ordinance request at home that can be taken directly to the temple to print the actual ordinance cards.
Perfect Upgrade for PAF
Users of the PAF genealogy software will discover that their software is unable to directly work with New FamilySearch. RootsMagic Essentials has all of the fundamental features of PAF combined with New FamilySearch integration and much more. It also makes the transition painless by directly reading all of your information from PAF.
Free and Available Now
RootsMagic Essentials is available now for free at http://www.rootsmagic.com. Users of other genealogy software products will find it easy to experiment with RootsMagic Essentials using their own data. RootsMagic Essentials can directly import data from PAF, Family Tree Maker (through 2006), Family Origins, and Legacy Family Tree. It can also read and write data using the popular GEDCOM format.
"We're excited to make RootsMagic Essentials available to the community," said Michael Booth, vice-president. "Our mission is to provide 'software to unite families' and our hope is that RootsMagic Essentials will encourage more people to record their family trees and connect with their family histories".
About RootsMagic, Inc.
For over 20 years, RootsMagic, Inc. has been creating computer software with a special purpose—to unite families. One of our earliest products- the popular "Family Origins" software, introduced thousands of people to the joy and excitement of family history.
That tradition continues today with "RootsMagic", our award-winning genealogy software which makes researching, organizing, and sharing your family history fun and easy. "Personal Historian" will help you easily write and preserve your life stories. "Family Reunion Organizer" takes the headaches out of planning those important get-togethers. And "Family Atlas" creates beautiful and educational geographic maps of your family history.
For more information, visit http://www.rootsmagic.com.
Source: RootsMagic, Inc.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
What have we been working on?
We have been doing fun photo charts for Christmas already and I got brave yesterday and asked a few of the customers I've been working with if I could show you some thumbnails. I'm always to shy to ask because I know these are so personal. So if you ever have a chart we've created for you that you are willing to share, let me know. Here are some recent comments we've received.- You are the master. It looks perfect.
- WOW!! and Fantastic!! Somehow these don’t even seem to express how great this is turning out to be. Your creativity and talent are amazing. (Plus your patience with all of our many additions and changes)
- I think it looks terrific! And the tree in the background sets it off perfectly.
Our online preview system is really personalized. Once you submit your chart and tell us what you are envisioning, we will put together the chart for you. Then you'll receive an email with a webpage link to your chart preview. At that point, you can request changes on anything and we will work back and forth with you until it is exactly what you are envisioning. 
And we can come up with anything you are envisioning too. Remember, the deadline for Christmas orders on our decorative charts is December 5th.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Three Generation Road Trip
We have been swamped lately with Christmas orders already so I have been somewhat quiet. But I wanted to get this blog post up. If you were watching facebook a couple of weeks ago, you know that we went to the Redding California Family History Expo. I took my mother and my daughter with me and we had the best time. I'm usually very protective about talking about my children much, but I just have to tell you about how much fun the three of us had.In case you missed them, here are the facebook statuses:
Day 2 of roadtrip with Mom and Daughter: Apparently nagging about the speed limit skips a generation in my family. :-)
Day 3 of roadtrip with my Mom and my Daughter. It is so beautiful to see my Mom laugh and watch my daughter soak up her Grandmother's praise. And later, so weird to have them both tune me out with their ipods.
And then the two that I was too busy and never got posted:
Day 4 Mom is better friends with my Family History Buddies than I am now.
Day 5 Who is this woman who has kidnapped my mother and replaced her with this lady who is spoiling my daughter? This is definitely not the mother I grew up with.
I had two Grandmothers who adored me. They made sure I knew I walked on water. My Grandmother Carpenter would parade me around to all her friends, showing them my cute new clothes, or having me play the piano for them. And my Grandmother Dana was the best listener that ever lived. When I was in the room, nothing else was important to her.
It was so wonderful this weekend to watch my daughter get the same treatment. I'm so blessed and thankful to have a wonderful mother and grandmother for my daughter. As a Mom, I'm always correcting, and guiding and pushing them to stretch and achieve more. Sometimes the love doesn't come across like it should. It was so good to listen to my daughter bask in her grandmother's love for her and let her feel that unconditional love that a grandmother has. And so nice to relax and let my mother pass on wisdom that my daughter needed, everything from cute hairstyles, to nutrition, and to what is right and wrong in the world.
Sometimes I think that it is too bad that we don't live longer so that we can know more generations of our family. I would have loved to have known my great great grandmother, or her mother. I think a Great-Great-Grandmother would love you just as much. And I hope I get to be a grandmother someday and get to pass on that unconditional love. Maybe I'll even get to meet some great-grandchildren. And hopefully my efforts in family history will be passed down so that my descendants--maybe even further down--will feel my love for them and know about my mother and my grandmothers and what wonderful women they were.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Broken Branches
Wow.
Lisa Louise Cooke just sent me an anouncement for an amazing interview. It is called Broken Branches in Your Family Tree.
Here is what Lisa said:
Lisa Louise Cooke just sent me an anouncement for an amazing interview. It is called Broken Branches in Your Family Tree.
Here is what Lisa said:
As I typed the title for this blog post, I visualized nearly every reader's hand.
I have yet to meet anyone who has not had sad and painful stories surface during their research...relatives who committed crimes, were institutionalized, or ended their own lives.
In the case of one of my listener's, the broken branch was very close to home - her parents. And more specifically the mother who left her and her sister on a street corner one day, never to return.
Listen to episode 44 of Family History: Genealogy Made Easy to hear her incredible story. She shares the pain of her childhood, her search for her mother, and the healing and freedom that can come from exploring your family tree.
I promise you, it's a podcast episode like you've never heard before.
I concur.
I concur.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Holiday Order Deadlines
To avoid extra rush and shipping charges you might want to stay aware of our drop dead dates this holiday season.
For Working charts, Canvas Giclees, or Gift Cards, orders will need to be placed by December 15th.
Early Bird Holiday Sale
We have a great offer for you this year to help you get going on holiday gifts and get all organized early so that you can relax and enjoy the season knowing the gifts are taken care of. 20% off any order from October 1st to the 15th. And 10% off any order from October 16th to the 31st. Any rolled or framed pieces are included in the offer. Just use the promotional code below when you check out on the website, or mention it in any e-mails or free consults and the discount will be automatically deducted from your order.
Promotional Code: GM20Percent
Expires October 15th 2009
Promotional Code: GM10Percent
Expires October 31st 2009
Promotional Code: GM10Percent
Expires October 31st 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
New (and new to me) Genealogical Serendipity
From our newsletter:
We've been hearing some wonderful serendipitous stories from many of you lately. We are in a wonderful position in this industry where we get to talk to you after you have done genealogy research and gotten hooked. We count ourselves very lucky to get to work with such wonderful people and love to hear about your research.
If you listened to the podcasts I did lately you'll know serendipity has come up in my interviews quite a bit recently. And apparently the subject has been popping up other places with the people who interviewed me too. Lisa Louise Cooke just posted a new podcast talking about some serendipity stories, and I just happened to stumble across an old (new to me) podcast with George Morgan and Drew Smith that they talked about it too.
Besides the times we have talked about it on this site, snooping around a little more recently I've found a couple of other new to me sites:
Granduncle Mark's Genealogy Parlor
The Serendipity Listing on Cyndi's list
Serendipity on Genealogy Today
We've recently had our users tell us stories about searching records and having have a book open right to the marriage record of someone on different line that they thought was in another state. Or traveling to another country to find records and coming up blank, and then a cousin making a wild suggestion about a local place where the records eventually were found. Or having a business client mention someone they were looking for but hadn't been able to find and having that person turn out to be the business person's neighbor. We have heard many, many such stories this year. Thank you for sharing them with us, and if you'd ever like to share them further, we'd love to have you write an article for the blog.
And I have a great story I just realized I've never talked about here too: A couple of years ago we were
displaying some of our charts at a genealogy conference. While we change the information on the living people, many of our display charts are of my own ancestry. As often happens, one lady came up and looked closely at the chart looking for people she was related to and she found Rosina Christina Gregerson, my great grandmother who died in 1934. When she said she had a book about my family and that she would sell me a copy, I was skeptical. But the book she brought in the next day was an incredible record of my family. I was actually in it as a descendant, and it ranged up through this line seven generations. It is an incredible 700 pages of stories and pictures and even included a chapter that my grandmother Hortense had written about her mother that we never knew existed. Needless to say I bought it from her and have treasured it. We often find distant cousins of mine at conferences. So if you ever need some help breaking through a brick wall, you can always let us display your chart at the conferences we go to. :-)
One of the important things to remember about serendipity is that the thing that makes these stories so great is how long the person has been looking for the information that has miraculously appeared. So don't get discouraged if you haven't had some serendipity in your research lately. There may be some right around the corner. Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, in her book In Search Of Our Ancestors, says that if you put 50 genealogists in a room, 45 of them will have had a serendipity experience. So if you haven't had one lately, don't worry. It's coming.
You know I think the word I like the best in genealogy serendipity is "miracles." I think genealogy brings all sorts of miracles into your life. It certainly has brought miracles into my life and it gives me this amazing sense of awe. It's just one of the many things that makes genealogy so exciting and fun.
We've been hearing some wonderful serendipitous stories from many of you lately. We are in a wonderful position in this industry where we get to talk to you after you have done genealogy research and gotten hooked. We count ourselves very lucky to get to work with such wonderful people and love to hear about your research.
If you listened to the podcasts I did lately you'll know serendipity has come up in my interviews quite a bit recently. And apparently the subject has been popping up other places with the people who interviewed me too. Lisa Louise Cooke just posted a new podcast talking about some serendipity stories, and I just happened to stumble across an old (new to me) podcast with George Morgan and Drew Smith that they talked about it too.
Besides the times we have talked about it on this site, snooping around a little more recently I've found a couple of other new to me sites:
Granduncle Mark's Genealogy Parlor
The Serendipity Listing on Cyndi's list
Serendipity on Genealogy Today
We've recently had our users tell us stories about searching records and having have a book open right to the marriage record of someone on different line that they thought was in another state. Or traveling to another country to find records and coming up blank, and then a cousin making a wild suggestion about a local place where the records eventually were found. Or having a business client mention someone they were looking for but hadn't been able to find and having that person turn out to be the business person's neighbor. We have heard many, many such stories this year. Thank you for sharing them with us, and if you'd ever like to share them further, we'd love to have you write an article for the blog.
And I have a great story I just realized I've never talked about here too: A couple of years ago we were
displaying some of our charts at a genealogy conference. While we change the information on the living people, many of our display charts are of my own ancestry. As often happens, one lady came up and looked closely at the chart looking for people she was related to and she found Rosina Christina Gregerson, my great grandmother who died in 1934. When she said she had a book about my family and that she would sell me a copy, I was skeptical. But the book she brought in the next day was an incredible record of my family. I was actually in it as a descendant, and it ranged up through this line seven generations. It is an incredible 700 pages of stories and pictures and even included a chapter that my grandmother Hortense had written about her mother that we never knew existed. Needless to say I bought it from her and have treasured it. We often find distant cousins of mine at conferences. So if you ever need some help breaking through a brick wall, you can always let us display your chart at the conferences we go to. :-)One of the important things to remember about serendipity is that the thing that makes these stories so great is how long the person has been looking for the information that has miraculously appeared. So don't get discouraged if you haven't had some serendipity in your research lately. There may be some right around the corner. Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, in her book In Search Of Our Ancestors, says that if you put 50 genealogists in a room, 45 of them will have had a serendipity experience. So if you haven't had one lately, don't worry. It's coming.
You know I think the word I like the best in genealogy serendipity is "miracles." I think genealogy brings all sorts of miracles into your life. It certainly has brought miracles into my life and it gives me this amazing sense of awe. It's just one of the many things that makes genealogy so exciting and fun.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The most comprehensive guide for LDS people using New FamilySearch
Even though the LDS church is well known for promoting genealogy, and well-respected for it's contributions to the genealogy community, most members of the church don't do genealogy. Estimates range from 1-5% of LDS people are involved in Family History of some kind. Our company clientele confirm that statistic. Even though we are based in Utah, the headquarters of the LDS church, from what we can tell (we don't ask, nor care, of course) approximately 90-95% of our customers are not LDS.
The developers of the new FamilySearch Family Tree database are hoping to change that statistic in the members of the church. They are hoping that alot of new people will be trying out genealogy for the first time and that this database will make that easier for them. To help these newcomers to genealogy, the church has recently published a couple of new manuals for using the new database. They can be purchased here, here, and here, or downloaded here and here. They are--as to be expected, and as they should be--very general and mostly spiritual in nature.
(If you are not LDS, access to the new database as discussed earlier will be forthcoming shortly. I know what the projections are but I can't tell you--more of that 'under certified affiliate contract' stuff. It won't be long though.)
But, I have recently learned about another great resource for members of the LDS church who are looking to become involved in genealogy. When George Scott first approached me about reviewing his book I have to say I was skeptical--until I delved into this document. Then I went back and looked at his qualifications and he is probably one of the best people to write the book having extensively been a user of New FamilySearch and writing from that perspective. He has obviously done his research and not only could I not find anything wrong with what he put forward. I even learned a little. He has created the most comprehensive manual for dealing with new FamilySearch that I have seen in print. He didn't hold back--outlining every step for beginners, expressing his opinions (which I mostly agree with), warning of the pitfalls and criticizing where criticism was due. It is well worth a read if you are LDS. And I hope you follow his suggestions with regard to the database.
I have one main concern with the new genealogists that will be approaching this database. I am afraid that beginners will have a hard time distinguishing between real research (libraries, archives, real documents, primary sources) and derivatives/pointers to real research (databases and research of other people, aka NFS). After all, New FamilySearch Family Tree is the ultimate secondary source until the sources and documents are linked in. I am afraid new users will use the database as a sole repository for their research and consider what they find there a reliable source without checking. I think for many coming to this new database, the huge amounts of data will be overwhelming. And I hope they can approach it carefully.
George put it extremely well.
"Generally it is best to stay within the bounds of your own research and allow the researchers who submitted the records for earlier centuries to clean those records" (pg 16)
He further explains:
"You have millions of ancestors. Even if you just go back to the year 1500, you may have 100,000 members of your ancestral families. If you spent night and day for your entire mortal life performing genealogical research, you could never build your entire family tree alone. So define your niche, and let PAF chronicle your niche. [He hadn't gotten to talking about certified affiliates yet]. Then, let New FamilySearch serve as a superstructure over your niche, expanding the family tree beyond the bounds of your personal research" [emphasis mine.]
Well said.
He also called it right on the certified software:
"The third-party software firms advertise that you can combine New FamilySearch records and separate New FamilySearch records using their software. Please do not do so at this time... you generally can not see as much information as you can when you are working directly in New FamilySearch. When you see less information, you make a less-educated decision. (In the future this will likely change, as the third-party vendors continue to expand the features of their programs.)"
He advocates combining records first in New FamilySearch and then syncing the data you have researched using certified software. He convinced me he is right--for the time being. The API that the software is using to talk to the database doesn't allow syncing of sources and only allows 300 characters on the notes (until the first of next year). Most of them have holes in what they show you while you are trying to sync (like the contributors, notes and sources, relationships, details and etc.) While the software is great for keeping track of what is going on in the database with the people you are working on, the developers and the API have more to do before everything is working perfectly. It's coming. It will be better the first of next year. It just isn't there yet.
George gives wonderful suggestions on how to decide whether to combine or dispute information (pg 19 or so). And I really appreciated his plea for civility and using the golden rule in collaborating with other people on the database (pgs 7-8, 39-41). At first I thought his step by step process was a little turned around, but as he walked me through it, I was convinced he had the process right. I wish he had spent a little time talking about the difference in good and bad sources/research and going back to the original source (my clarion call on the subject) but that wasn't really what he was trying to do here. He talks about "your research" and "the database" but doesn't really distinguish what "your research" is. I think a discussion on good research would help. And he had some interesting (albeit kind of sidetracked IMHO) stuff at the beginning about we really are all related to each other and the Most Recent Common Ancestor studies that have been done.
I have three criticisms though. The biggest one is that he suggests standardizing all the names of places in your file before syncing the data. You will lose some of the fine points (such as farm names and cemeteries) in your geographical data if you do that. That is the perfect example of why you should use certified software and what could be left in your personal files and not synced with the database. Secondly, he calls the pedigree interface on NFS a "fan chart" (pg 13). Only the Chart Chick would argue with that one. This is a fan chart, the NFS interface is a left to right hourglass chart. And third, Generation Maps charts should have been added to chapter 9 "A Perfect, Inexpensive, Christmas Gift." :-)
Whether you are new to genealogy or not, his new Appendix "E" is a must read about how to resolve major problems in New FamilySearch--such as wrong gender, incorrect relationships, loops and quarantines. If you are LDS and looking to try out or teach the New FamilySearch database, this book is well worth a look.
The developers of the new FamilySearch Family Tree database are hoping to change that statistic in the members of the church. They are hoping that alot of new people will be trying out genealogy for the first time and that this database will make that easier for them. To help these newcomers to genealogy, the church has recently published a couple of new manuals for using the new database. They can be purchased here, here, and here, or downloaded here and here. They are--as to be expected, and as they should be--very general and mostly spiritual in nature.
(If you are not LDS, access to the new database as discussed earlier will be forthcoming shortly. I know what the projections are but I can't tell you--more of that 'under certified affiliate contract' stuff. It won't be long though.)
But, I have recently learned about another great resource for members of the LDS church who are looking to become involved in genealogy. When George Scott first approached me about reviewing his book I have to say I was skeptical--until I delved into this document. Then I went back and looked at his qualifications and he is probably one of the best people to write the book having extensively been a user of New FamilySearch and writing from that perspective. He has obviously done his research and not only could I not find anything wrong with what he put forward. I even learned a little. He has created the most comprehensive manual for dealing with new FamilySearch that I have seen in print. He didn't hold back--outlining every step for beginners, expressing his opinions (which I mostly agree with), warning of the pitfalls and criticizing where criticism was due. It is well worth a read if you are LDS. And I hope you follow his suggestions with regard to the database.
I have one main concern with the new genealogists that will be approaching this database. I am afraid that beginners will have a hard time distinguishing between real research (libraries, archives, real documents, primary sources) and derivatives/pointers to real research (databases and research of other people, aka NFS). After all, New FamilySearch Family Tree is the ultimate secondary source until the sources and documents are linked in. I am afraid new users will use the database as a sole repository for their research and consider what they find there a reliable source without checking. I think for many coming to this new database, the huge amounts of data will be overwhelming. And I hope they can approach it carefully.
George put it extremely well.
"Generally it is best to stay within the bounds of your own research and allow the researchers who submitted the records for earlier centuries to clean those records" (pg 16)
He further explains:
"You have millions of ancestors. Even if you just go back to the year 1500, you may have 100,000 members of your ancestral families. If you spent night and day for your entire mortal life performing genealogical research, you could never build your entire family tree alone. So define your niche, and let PAF chronicle your niche. [He hadn't gotten to talking about certified affiliates yet]. Then, let New FamilySearch serve as a superstructure over your niche, expanding the family tree beyond the bounds of your personal research" [emphasis mine.]
Well said.
He also called it right on the certified software:
"The third-party software firms advertise that you can combine New FamilySearch records and separate New FamilySearch records using their software. Please do not do so at this time... you generally can not see as much information as you can when you are working directly in New FamilySearch. When you see less information, you make a less-educated decision. (In the future this will likely change, as the third-party vendors continue to expand the features of their programs.)"
He advocates combining records first in New FamilySearch and then syncing the data you have researched using certified software. He convinced me he is right--for the time being. The API that the software is using to talk to the database doesn't allow syncing of sources and only allows 300 characters on the notes (until the first of next year). Most of them have holes in what they show you while you are trying to sync (like the contributors, notes and sources, relationships, details and etc.) While the software is great for keeping track of what is going on in the database with the people you are working on, the developers and the API have more to do before everything is working perfectly. It's coming. It will be better the first of next year. It just isn't there yet.
George gives wonderful suggestions on how to decide whether to combine or dispute information (pg 19 or so). And I really appreciated his plea for civility and using the golden rule in collaborating with other people on the database (pgs 7-8, 39-41). At first I thought his step by step process was a little turned around, but as he walked me through it, I was convinced he had the process right. I wish he had spent a little time talking about the difference in good and bad sources/research and going back to the original source (my clarion call on the subject) but that wasn't really what he was trying to do here. He talks about "your research" and "the database" but doesn't really distinguish what "your research" is. I think a discussion on good research would help. And he had some interesting (albeit kind of sidetracked IMHO) stuff at the beginning about we really are all related to each other and the Most Recent Common Ancestor studies that have been done.
I have three criticisms though. The biggest one is that he suggests standardizing all the names of places in your file before syncing the data. You will lose some of the fine points (such as farm names and cemeteries) in your geographical data if you do that. That is the perfect example of why you should use certified software and what could be left in your personal files and not synced with the database. Secondly, he calls the pedigree interface on NFS a "fan chart" (pg 13). Only the Chart Chick would argue with that one. This is a fan chart, the NFS interface is a left to right hourglass chart. And third, Generation Maps charts should have been added to chapter 9 "A Perfect, Inexpensive, Christmas Gift." :-)
Whether you are new to genealogy or not, his new Appendix "E" is a must read about how to resolve major problems in New FamilySearch--such as wrong gender, incorrect relationships, loops and quarantines. If you are LDS and looking to try out or teach the New FamilySearch database, this book is well worth a look.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
As time goes by
With all the weddings in my family going on this summer, and having spent last weekend at the Davenport, and then digging out the wedding picture for the post on the Davenport, I have to add this picture. I'm sure it means more to me than it will to you--but maybe you'll be somewhat impressed with what hit me--how quickly time has flown. It seems like yesterday, and yet things have changed so quickly. (Ok. I'm beyond sounding like my mother. Now I'm sounding like my grandmother ;-)Jenn, (furthest left) is my sister who was married two weeks ago. The two little girls on my right are my sisters Amy and Emily. Amy, closest to me in the picture, got married this last spring. The comparison between this family picture and our most recent one is so striking to me. I'm not getting older but everyone else sure is ;-)
Lindsey, Kim's niece on his left, is married and has a child of her own. And on her left is her younger sister Madison who is getting married next week. Craig, Kim's nephew on Madison's left was married last year too.
Unbelievable. This picture is only from 1994. My children are now older than the children in this picture. My family marches on through the years. I don't see it as much as I work on family history several generations back because it seems more distant. This closer family history seems to be rushing by faster, and yet if you were to lay it all out together, I'm sure it is *all* rushing quickly.
I tend to want to capture life and put it in a bottle--it all seems to be moving on so fast. Whatever did they do before cameras? But cameras don't seem to be enough. Does anyone else have this fleeting sense of life? How do you hold on to it all?
No wonder I'm a genealogist.
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