The Genealogy Guys Podcast & Genealogy Connection

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**The Genealogy Guys Podcast & Genealogy Connection**

“The Genealogy Guys” are two avid genealogists who host a weekly chat. The podcast includes news of the genealogy community, book and software reviews, guest interviews, and a lot of fun chat.

Latest Episodes:

The Genealogy Guys #260 - 2014 January 26 Jan 28, 2014

Show notes

The news includes:

· RootsMagic announces that their webinars are now indexed and that their Android app is coming soon.

· Family Tree DNA and MyHeritage have teemed up to integrate DNA tests into the MyHeritage customer base of 75M users.

· Findmypast announces that they are making improvements to their website and will be adding records more frequently.

· GenSoftReviews announces the Top Genealogy Software Awards for 2013.

· AmericanAncestors.org (NEHGS) has debuted their blog, Vita Brevis, at http://vita-brevis.org.

· FamilySearch announces their new indexing website at https://familysearch.org/indexing/.

· Ancestry.com and FamilySearch announce an expansion of their collaborative agreement to make more than 1 billion additional records from 67 countries available on Ancestry.com.

· Drew highlights new record additions at FamilySearch.

· There are news reports that indicate that Pope Francis will open the Vatican’s archives covering Pious XII and his pontificate of World War II and the role he played in supporting/facilitating the Nazi regime’s activities. (See http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=20240.)

The Guys talk about upcoming conference appearances.

Listener email includes:

· Neal shared a website called American Radio History at http://www.americanradiohistory.com with over 1M page of magazines, periodicals, yearbooks, directories and more that can provide information about ancestors in the broadcasting industry and insights into your ancestors’ entertainment.

· Karen asks questions about Family Tree Maker 2014.

· Noi asks questions about rescuing family photos and documents.

· Sam ask questions concerning DNA testing advances.

· Joshua ask questions about the FamilySearch family tree facility and whether data submitted might be used by the LDS for baptism by proxy.

Drew discusses the Arthur G, Dozier School for Boys and the role that the University of South Florida (and himself) are playing in researching the abuse and deaths of boys committed to the school. (See http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/students-skeletal-remains-uncovered-infamous-florida-school-boys-article-1.1448534 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_School_for_Boys.

The Genealogy Guys Podcast #259 - 2014 January 2 Jan 04, 2014

Show notes

The news includes:

· The Genealogy Guys have been interviewed by Marian Pierre-Louis on episode 72 of her podcast, Fieldstone Common, at http://www.fieldstonecommon.com/george-morgan-drew-smith.

· Restrictions placed on access to the Social Security Death Index.

· Keynote speakers at RootsTech 2014.

· News about 23andMe and its genetic genealogy testing service.

· Matthew Batchelor is appointed as the new Chief Technology Officer at DC Thomson Family History, owner of Findmypast.com and Genes Reunited.

· The National Archives in the UK has announced a series of six webinars, beginning in January 2014 They will be held at different hours that help assure most people all over the world can enjoy them live. The schedule and topics are available at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/webinars.htm.

· RootsMagic has released a new update to Version 6, is working on the beta test of the Android app, and has a great collection of free recorded webinars online and videos about RootsMagic.

· FamilySearch continues to add hundreds of thousands of new records each week, and Drew summarizes some highlights from December 2013.

· MyHeritage announces a huge initiative into the Nordic countries and the addition of millions of names and records.

· Ancestry.com has announced the release of Family Tree Make Mac 3.

· Betty Kreisel Shubert’s landmark book, Out-of-Style: A Modern Perspective of How, Why, and When Vintage Fashions Evolved, has been named by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Books of 2013.

Listener email includes:

· Russ Worthington, in his October postings in “A Worthington Weblog,” discusses how he files his digital images.

· William asks about the proper way to record surnames that were changed due to adoption or “Americanization” by immigrant ancestors.

The Guys discuss how they are using technology and the hardware, software, and apps that they are using the most as of the beginning of 2014.

The Genealogy Guys Podcast #258 - 2013 December 2 Dec 04, 2013

Show notes

The news includes:

· The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) announces the results of their elections.

· Drew shares the latest FamilySearch collection releases at their website.

· Aha! Seminars, Inc., reminds listeners that George and Drew are available for webinars for societies. Visit the website for presentation topics and descriptions.

· George has a new article in the December 2013/January 2014 issue of Internet Genealogy. It is a case study, performed almost exclusively on the Internet, and includes complete source citations.

· A television series in Ireland called Tar Abhaile is available at http://www.tg4.ie/en/player/tg4-player.html?id=2841564288001&title=Tar.

· Drew will be an Official Blogger (Podcaster) at RootsTech 2014. Visit https://rootstech.org/ for details about the conference. (And email us with the names of people you want Drew to interview!)

Book reviews include:

· Hiding the Past, a genealogical mystery by Nathan Dylan Goodwin

· International Vital Records Handbook, 6th edition, by Thomas Jay Kemp

Listener email includes:

· Gus has prepared a Podcast Kit for those who want to start their own podcast. You can request a copy from him at gusmarsh1774@gmail.com.

· Larry asks about the use of information found in other people’s online family trees.

· Matt asks for suggestions about how to determine who is buried in each plot of his family plot where the graves are currently unmarked.

· Dianne asks for suggestions concerning naturalization records and tracing her grandfather’s town of origin in Alsace-Lorraine.

The Genealogy Guys Podcast #257 - 2013 November 17 Nov 19, 2013

Show notes

The Guys have several announcements:

Genealogical Publishing Company has just published a new Genealogy at a Glance laminated reference guide. This one is titled “Ancestry.com Research” and is written by George G. Morgan. You can order it from GPC or at the Aha! Seminars, Inc., website.
All of George and Drew’s publications can be ordered at the Aha! Seminars, Inc., website, and the links there take you to the best pricing available.
The company that purchased Ancestry Publishing’s business several years ago has published the second edition of The Official Guide to Ancestry.com in Kindle format and Nook format. That book was published in 2008 and is extremely outdated. In addition, the current publisher has not paid any royalties to this author for more than two years. Therefore, George strongly recommends that you do not purchase either ebook version of this book.
Drew will be an Official Blogger at RootsTech 2014.

The news includes:

Ancestry.com announced the Fold3 Honor Wall at Fold3.com. They also announced the addition of man new record additions to the Ancestry.com site.
DC Thomson, owner of findmypast.com and Genes Reunited, and formerly known as brightsolid online publishing, has announced a deal with FamilySearch.org to make billions of records available online.
MyHeritage has announced a strategic partnership with FamilySearch.org to make billions of records available online.
Drew covers major additions from mid-October to mid-November by FamilySearch.org to its collections of records available online.
MyHeritage announced a partnership with BillionGraves to add 5.5 million gravestone records and with Tributes.com to add 3.5 million obituaries to their site.
MyHeritage announced an enhancement to their site that allows users to extract information form historical records into multiple profiles on your family tree.

Listener email includes:

Lee asks about Family Tree Maker 2014. He also provides information about the Ohio Genealogical Society’s important library holdings.
Matt Miller discusses genealogical proof in the attempt to demolish a brick wall in his blog at http://matthewkmiller.blogspot.com/2013/10/what-constitutes-proof.html.
Maria Northcote, producer of the Genies Down Under podcast in Australia, wrote to thank us for our review of Betty Kreisel Shubert's book, Out of Style, in our March 2013 podcast.
The Guys shared information from an article from the New York Public Library about “Why Your Family Name Was Not Changed at Ellis Island (and One That Was).”
Ben wrote about name changes at Ellis Island as well.
Mike asked if there is an equivalent of the SSDI in other countries, specifically Italy.
Mac writes that she believes that the suggestion that silhouettes and clip art in family trees was made by genealogist Lisa Louise Cooke in her Genealogy Gems podcasts.

The Guys reviewed a number of books in this episode:

Applications for Enrollment of Chickasaw Newborn Act of 1905, Volumes 1, 2, and 3, transcribed by Jeff Bowen. Printed for Clearfield Company by Genealogical Publishing Company.
Without Indentures: Index to White Slave Children in Colonial Court Records [Maryland and Virginia], by Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D. Published by Genealogical Publishing Company.
Sustainable Genealogy: Separating Fact from Fiction in Family Legends, by Richard Hite. Published by Genealogical Publishing Company.
19th Century Photos Kwik Guide: A Step-by-Step Guide to Identifying and Dating Cartes de Visite and Cabinet Cards, by Gary W. Clark. Published by PhotoTree.com.

The Genealogy Guys Podcast #256 - 2013 October 8 Oct 10, 2013

Show notes

Note: It appears that there are problems with the audio quality in portions of this episode, causing one of the two stereo tracks to drop out at random times. We apologize for this.

The news includes:

Ancestry.com has acquired Find A Grave.
Ancestry.com and FamilySearch have formed an agreement to make a billion global records available online.
RootsMagic has added more tutorial videos at RootsMagic TV
Drew shares highlights from the last month's record additions at FamilySearch.
FamilySearch announced that it has received its one millionth photo on the new Family Tree Photo Preservation Service.
Findmypast.com has several announcements: Findmypast.com.au has added a further 2.5 million Irish Petty Court records to its site. Findmypast.com has launched its Irish Newspaper Collection, making almost 2 million historical Irish newspaper articles available for searching. The company's survey reveals America’s most popular celebrity families.
Ancestry.com makes scientific breakthroughs in West African ethnicity that can help researchers determine the geographical origin of their ancestors.
The Society for One-Place Studies has been launched to help individuals and societies advance their work on specific geographical locations.
DNA testing was sought after two headstones were found for the same woman in a Kentucky cemetery.

Listener email includes:

Jenny asks about English and Welsh BMD digitization; joining a local genealogical society; the Clooz software program; and the sync feature on Ancestry.com family trees and Family Tree Maker software.
Ed talks about downloading our podcast and about his experiences with RootsMagic software.
Cris discusses the Social Security Death Index (SSDI), also known as the Social Security Death Master File.
Richard discusses his use of Legacy Family Tree software, Ancestry.com family trees, and publishing his tree on RootsWeb.com.
Cheryl raises the topic of how to name and label photographs, and Drew discusses metadata.
Marina has a suggestion for Noi about place names in Germany, and suggests the book series Map Guide to German Parish Registers.

The Genealogy Guys Podcast #255 - 2013 September 2 Sep 04, 2013

Show notes

The news includes:

The Guys’ new book, Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques, is now available in softcover and Kindle formats.
George received an award on 23 August 2013 from the Association of Professional Genealogists, the 2013 Excellence in Writing Award, for his articles in the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly (APGQ).
The Genealogy Guys Podcast has been named by Family Tree Magazine as one of the 101 Best Web Sites of 2013.
RootsMagic announced new tutorial videos at RootsMagicTV on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/RootsMagicTV.
MyHeritage has announced a new global photo archive at http://www.myheritage.com/photos.
The Federation of Genealogical Societies has released a new mobile app for year-round information and annual conferences. The iOS version for iPad and iPhone is available at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fgs-app/id689433117?ls=1&mt=8 and the Android version is available at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fgs.fgsapp.
The Federation of Genealogical Societies and FamilySearch have announced that they will be holding a joint conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 12-14 February 2015. The conference will include RootsTech 2015 and the FGS 2015 Conference, with separate registrations.
Ancestry.co.uk has added nearly 900,000 digitized and indexed records of the Clandestine Marriage and Baptism Registers 1667-1754. These include Fleet Prison, King’s Bench Prison, The Mint, May Fair Chapel, and others.
Ancestry.ca has added the newly released 1921 Census of Canada in browsable format, with indexing promised soon.
Ancestry.com has announced the release of Family Tree Maker 2014 for PC. You can purchase it at a 30% discount through 9 September 2013. At http://www.ancestry.com/cs/apps/products.
Wills of English World War I soldiers have been indexed and are available online at https://www.gov.uk/probate-search.
FamilySearch has released another huge set of records at its website, and Drew mentions highlighted collections.
Findmypast.com has recently added 200 volumes of digital books about Canada to its website. Information dates back to the 1600s in more than 71,000 pages.

Listener email includes:

Jenny discusses, English and Welsh BMDs, joining a local genealogical society, Clooz software, and using Family Tree Maker to sync with the online family tree she has uploaded to Ancestry.com.
Michelle updates us on her success in obtaining NARA Railroad Retirement files from Atlanta.
Katie discusses access to cemeteries, and provides an excellent example of the Congressional Cemetery (not associated with the U.S. federal government) and its excellent preservation and information access. Visit their site at http://www.congressionalcemetery.org.
Mac reminds us that this is the time of year, with back-to-school deals at office supply stores, to purchase your genealogical office supplies at sale prices.
Jenny wonders why people are adding icons and decorative graphics – non-photos – to their family trees at Ancestry.com. This causes unnecessary “hints” to be generated and wastes space on Ancestry.com’s servers.
Mike asks about DNA testing, and asks what are the best types of tests to have performed.
Timothy asked for an update on the project concerning the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. Drew discusses the funding of the project by the State of Florida, the start of the exhumations of remains, and more details.

While at the FGS Conference, George interviewed Rick Kincaid, Project Manager for Operation Ancestor Search, and Kim Harrison of Ancestry.com. They discuss this collaboration between the Sons of the American Revolution and Ancestry.com, involving the Veterans Hospitals in the U.S. You can reach Rick Kincaid at rkincaid@sar.org or (502) 588-6147 to learn more and to get involved.

The Genealogy Guys Podcast #254 - 2013 July 28 Jul 30, 2013

Show notes

The news includes:

Information about the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference and the Illinois State Genealogical Society Fall Conference.
WikiTree has added a DNA feature.
Findmypast.com.au has released new content for the Royal Naval Division service records (1914-1920).
Findmypast.com has announced that it will be adding the Periodical Source Index (PERSI) to its site in coming months.
Findmypast.com.au has secured the rights to publish all of the registered wills from New South Wales from 1800 to 1952.
Drew provides a recap of highlights in the newly released images at FamilySearch.
RootsMagic has released an update to RootsMagic 6 that introduces Problem Alerts.
RootsMagic has a YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/RootsMagicTV at which you will find shorter training videos. These supplement the Webinars/Online Classes at their website under the Learn tab.
Megan Smolenyak has announced that one of The Guys' Down Under: Florida video episodes, about the Flying Zacchinis, has been re-released and is available at http://megansmolenyak.posthaven.com/584139.
Origins.net has released many more older records at its website.
Saving Memories Forever has announced a strategic partnership with the Association of Personal Photo Organizers (APPO).

The mail includes:

Susan asks if The Guys' new book, Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques, will be available in digital form. It is now posted at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in electronic formats and those will be available when it is released in September. Preordering is already available.
Melody asks for guidance on how to download the podcast from our website.
Stephanie has a question about Polish Armed Forces records for those persons who escaped Poland after Hitler's invasion in 1939 and who fought with the Allies. George cites a good Wikipedia article titled "Polish Armed Forces in the West" at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_armed_forces_in_the_west.
Lisa asked about the Facebook group that deals with organization. Drew points her to "The Organized Genealogist" group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/organizedgenealogist/.
Connie asks about SSDI records at Ancestry.com that add place of death from the "Last Benefits" field of the online records.
Elaine asks questions about how and where we store our digital photos and about how we share those photos with others.
Elizabeth LaPointe has developed an e-booklet titled The 1921 Canada Census User Guide that will be available when that census is publicly released. Its price is $5.95 CDN and copies can be reserved by sending an email to GenealogyCanada@aol.com and including "1921 Census" in the subject heading.
Jenny has a question about linking Family Tree Maker trees at Ancestry.com.
Mary asks about the expression "first generation American."
Noi has some questions about locating a German place name for Noi's great-great-grandfather.
Steve asks about how to locate information about his grandfather who he thinks was a census enumerator in Chicago for the 1940 U.S. federal census.

Drew also discusses the Family History Information Standards Organisation.

The Genealogy Guys Podcast #253 - 2013 June 26 Jun 28, 2013

Show notes

The news includes:

Drew has been appointed as Chair of the Family History Information Standards Organisation (FHISO).
RootsMagic is now Share+ Certified by FamilySearch.
Early Bird Registration for the 2013 Federation of Genealogical Societies' Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on August 21-24, 2013, ends on July 1st.
Canada's Heritage Minister asks the Library and Archives Canada to reconsider restoration of funding to help museums preserve local history.
The 1921 Census of Canada will be made available to researchers in the near future.
A new season of Who Do You Think You Are? will begin on TLC (The Learning Channel) on July 23, 2013.
The Digital Public Library of America has been launched.
findmypast.com provides free access to its Irish Records Collection from June 27-30, 2013.
findmypast.com has updated its Irish Petty Session Court Registers with 2.5 million new records.
Drew tells listeners about DNA research that has identified the potato blight responsible for the Irish Potato Famine, using leaves from an herbarium.
findmypast.com added 3 million baptism, marriage, and burial records from Westminster in London.
findmypast.com has added 23 million records and 121 million newspaper pages from around the world.
Drew shares information about major collections added to FamilySearch, including 5.7 million images to the New Massachusetts Land Records Collection (1620-1986).
Moorshead Magazines has announced the publication of a new title, Tracing Your Colonial American Ancestors.
Geni.com continues to enhance its offering with the addition of Record Matching and Smart Matching tools.
Synium Software has released MacFamilyTree 7 and MobileFamilyTree 7, with special pricing for new and existing users through July 31, 2013.

Drew reminds listeners how to subscribe to the podcasts.

Listener email includes:

Richard provides a suggestion for how to learn to pronounce names.

George discusses meeting someone on Facebook who was able to photograph wills in the Maryland Archives of his fifth- and sixth-great grandfathers in his Alexander line.

The Genealogy Guys Podcast #252 - 2013 June 5 Jun 08, 2013

Show notes

Drew shares his three remaining interviews from RootsTech 2013:

Elissa Scalise Powell, President of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, discusses BCG's upcoming 50th anniversary celebration and what genealogists might want to know about becoming certified.
Janet Hovorka, The Chart Chick, tells Drew all about her newest project, Zap the Grandma Gap, a book, workbook, and website that helps connect children and their families to fun genealogy activities.
David Pogue, a well-known technology writer and presenter, provides an entertaining interview that ranges from discussing apps to playing a virtual ocarina. But even Drew can surprise David with an app he's never heard of!

The Genealogy Guys Podcast #251 - 2013 May 21 May 22, 2013

Show notes

Drew shares three more interviews from RootsTech 2013:

Alec Tritton and Else Churchill describe an upcoming genealogy conference in the UK: Exodus: Movement of the People.
Lisa Louise Cooke, host of The Genealogy Gems Podcast, talks about using iPads and other tablets for genealogy, which she covers in detail in her latest book Turn Your iPad into a Genealogy Powerhouse.
Syd Lieberman, a renowned storyteller and one of the keynote speakers for RootsTech 2013, shares his ideas about the importance of stories.

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