A Link to a Link to a Link

Ever feel like you do nothing but click and then click again to get to where you want to go on Internet? If so, you are not alone. Sometimes it can be fun and then sometimes downright annoying.

Now that my Salt Lake City stash is a thing of the past, I am working with what I discovered on my 2010 sojourn to Utah's genealogy mecca. I have more time to explore what I've missed this summer on Internet.

Sometimes I go directly to GoogleBooks to find a title that interests me or to WorldCat or to Historical Books on Family Search. That's not too many clicks of the mouse. But what if there's more on Internet that I'm missing? Then I begin a search on Google (not GoogleBooks) to look for a family surname or a family genealogy or a county history. That's when you begin clicking and clicking until your mind becomes a bit foggy and you are dizzy.

With more clicking I discovered a web page that I did not know excited until now. I am sure it will be a constant referral in my search for online data. In my daily blog reading, I like to read Harold Henderson's Midwest Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog. That's when I found a link to Genealogy Book Links.

The original information came from the Pro Genealogists' blog. I had to click there to find out more about Genealogy Book Links. Turns out a retired librarian who loved genealogy (Don't you just love a librarian who loves genealogy?) developed a searchable website for free online books. She did this three years ago. So, what was I doing three years ago besides moving? Now her 5,000 links consists of approximately 20,000 links with 7,500 in biography and family genealogies. Each week this wonderful librarian adds 300-500 new titles.

The Genealogy Book Links web page is easy to navigate. It's arranged by surname, locality, material type and also by topic. Just click on where you want to begin and you will see what books or periodicals are available FREE to be downloaded off Internet. Some are at GoogleBooks and some are located on other web sites. They are all downloadable in PDF format.

Keep in mind that in order to be downloadable they are older books, no longer under copyright. But some of the information is still interesting and good ... waiting for genealogists to explore. This is a great way to search at one site and eliminate some of the clicking to get what you want. What genealogist doesn't want a new adventure in old books?

Oh ... by the way you might want to click through blogs and see what you can find. Including the two above mentioned, some of my favorites are Genealogy Tip of the Day, Genealogy's Star, Granite Genealogy and Genealogy Roots Blog.

YGGG #1 --- Ruby

Celebrating a Finished Project

Have you ever had that wonderful experience of finding a new ancestor or information about somebody on your family tree? You want to jump for joy, do the happy dance and better yet tell somebody. Unless that person you tell is a genealogist, they usually are not interested in your good fortune.

So, genealogists, celebrate with me that today, August 22nd at 3 p.m. I had the wonderful experience of completing my stash of research papers brought home from Salt Lake City in June. It has taken me about ten weeks to navigate through the three foot tall stack, read them, evaluate the information and enter information into my family tree databases on the computer. I have scanned the pertinent papers, which actually was almost everything.

Last year when YGGG #2 and I went to the Family History Library I scanned microfilm to a flash drive. It was a new flash drive. Once home I was able to retrieve almost everything. Suddenly the flash drive crashed only producing error messages that it could not be opened. There was confirmed data there that I no longer could access. Not wanting two weeks of research ending up on a crashed flash drive, this year I decided to make copies which I could read, transcribe, evaluate and scan myself.

While it appears that nothing is left of my three foot stack of papers, I still have plenty of research to do. I am proud to say that I did good research, came home with a multitude of information and extended some of the pedigrees back three or four generations. I have enough leads to keep me busy for months. Well, at least until YGGG #2 and I head back to Salt Lake City in the spring of next year.

Throughout my research I have learned to never say never. You will invariably find an ancestor who did the unusual. Think out of the box and hope to discover that person. You should also review your own research and keep it current. New resources are being located, some digitized or somebody has written a book or article that will interest you. By today's research standards those books or articles are usually documented better than what we used twenty to thirty years ago.

A genealogist's work is never done. There will always be some mystery ancestor teasing and tormenting you to find them. It's like the old childhood game of hide and seek. I am always seeking and you better know that plenty of them are hiding. The challenge of genealogy is what keeps me going.

And going .... And going ... YGGG #1 -- Ruby

Expo Photo Collection

The last of my photos to share from the Kansas City Family History Expo that was recently held the end of July. The next Expo is coming up soon in Salt Lake City. You can read more about it here.

"Go Hubby" and I are heading down the road on a bike trip soon. I look forward to sharing some sights from our trip and hopefully we will locate an interesting historical site or library to share!

Burnin' up the pavement again.....want to come along You Go Girl #1? Nothing like the wind in your hair, rain in your face and bugs in your teeth! I will take along a few of those ancestors to keep me busy in the evenings around the fire. Maybe they will share some tales of their own.

You Go Genealogy Girl #2--Cheri

Arlene Eakle's Southern Research Classes

Arlene Eakle was one of the premier speakers at the Kansas City Family History Expo recently. This lady is such a joy to know and any time that you can sit and visit with her, you go away feeling as though your knowledge base has just widened, even if "learning" was not the original subject of the conversation! She is more than willing to answer direct questions to help anyone further your quest for more records or ancestors.

At Kansas City, she offered a fantastic array of classes which centered around researching in the Southern States including:

"What is the South?..and Why is it Different"
"Birth, Marriage and Death Records in the Southern States"
"Migrations of the Southern Church Groups to the Midwest: Routes and Sources"
"Want Land, Will Travel. Southern Land Records: State by State".

I was particularly interested in all her classes as I do research in NC, MS, TN and VA; her areas of expertise. Even someone who does not research those areas could have gleaned at the very least- a good history lesson! The Family History Expos always have a great selection of speakers including Gina Philibert Ortega, Leland Meitzler, Ron Arons, Lisa Alzo and many others but if you are lucky enough to attend one which features Arlene as a speaker, you will not go home without new ideas and great directions to further your research.

She always has a booth on site too and offers a very good selection of her own published books as well as some good books by other authors in the genealogy field. Some of her newest titles are "Genealogy in Land Records" and "Tennessee Research" and I was lucky to have purchased several of her titles as well as other great books at the Expo.Winter needs to hurry and come so I have more of those quiet evenings of reading!

Look for Arlene Eakle at the California Family History Expo in October where she will again present some very informative classes. Dr. Eakle also writes several blogs and started the Genealogical Institute Inc., in Tremonton, Utah.You can reach her or get links to her blogs HERE. The Family History Expo Channel offers several interviews with Dr. Eakle as well as with several of their other presenters.

by: You Go Genealogy Girl #2- Cheri

Arlene talks about Virginia research:

Kansas City Family History Expo-A Blast!

I can't believe it has been nearly two weeks since the awesome Family History Expo in Kansas City and they are already gearing up for the next one in Salt Lake City! Son, Jason , accompanied me to KC and attended the Expo with me. (I actually "invited him" to be my chauffeur). He was in for a surprise when he arrived at the Family History Expo as he expected a small conference and a few meetings! As usual, Holly and her group put on an exceptional Expo and we both had a wonderful time there. The class offerings were excellent and Jason who is a History major was more than pleased with what he learned. We also met some really great new friends from the world of genealogy, one of whom was Thomas MacEntee of Genea-Bloggers fame.

Thomas hosted several lectures which centered around the use of social networking sites to aid the genealogist. I attended his fine presentation on Facebook and went away with several new things to try out and some great tips on how to properly use Facebook: making it work for us as genealogists and how to "safely" set up a new account. I use Facebook daily but gleaned many tips for its productive use that I had never considered before. Thomas also presented a class on Social Networking: "New Horizons For Genealogists" and another on Twitter: It's Not Just "What I Had For Breakfast" Anymore. It was great to finally meet Mr. MacEntee! He welcomed us warmly to the Bloggers of Honor area and even passed out some of his famous badge ribbons to add to our name badges. Along with his Genea-Bloggers ribbon, I now proudly sport one that names me as QUEEN. (You Go Genealogy Girl #1 has one from the Loveland Co., Expo that says she is a DIVA...) Surely the Queen must rule!!!

Everyone there was super nice but Thomas made my son and I feel welcome right away! Thanks to him for adding to our fun Expo experience.

Thomas MacEntee also has a new book out this week called "Approaching the Lectern: How To Become A Genealogy Speaker". It is available as an e-book, epub for the Kindle, and in printed form. For a nice review of his book, click here to see the article by Susan Peterson on her Long Lost Relatives blog. For more information you can check out either of Thomas MacEntee's sites: Destination: Austin Family or The Connected Genealogist. I have the printed form on order and am anxious to see it. I know it will have great information to aid us with our genealogy presentations!

Tomorrow I will share some other personalities from the Expo...

You Go Genealogy Girl #2, Cheri

Vacation Is Over--For Now!

What a busy last two weeks! I have been on the road again but this trip was not with the company of You Go Genealogy Girl #1 in the drivers seat. On July 25th I headed east towards the Family History Expo in Kansas City. First stop was an overnight at the home of Girl #1 in North Platte, Nebraska. We shared some notes, updated our I-Touch family apps and visited about the upcoming Expo. Tuesday morning I headed to Hastings, Nebraska to visit with my cousin, Joy, for a day. She and I do not get many chances to be together so it was a really fun visit for me. We went out to eat, toured Hastings and took some photos of the old historical buildings in downtown. She showed me the way to the highway that I would leave on the next day before we returned to her house. We played on her new piece of body inversion equipment and then had some wonderful berry pie. Hanging upside down definitely gives one a new look at the world. We thankfully saved the pie until after play time! The evening went by fast while we played on the computer, looking up some of her ancestors on various sites. She wants to start doing some genealogy and she enjoyed finding some of her unknown great grandparents--a good start for her future research. She has a large garden which can be seen from her kitchen table window and the morning I left there we had pie for breakfast(acting like we were kids again!) I loved watching the birds and seeing her beautiful garden flowers. Wish we lived closer as our short visit brought back many of the fun times we had growing up together.

Wednesday, July 28th I arrived in Topeka, Kansas at the home of our son and his family. There I got to spend time with the grandchildren and do a little research at the small library of the Topeka Genealogy Society. It was a really nice facility and jammed full of good books and held a large variety of genealogy periodicals. I was quite surprised at their holdings given a fairly small building that houses the collection. My son accompanied me there and we even found some good family info which I did not have! On Thursday, son Jason, and I packed up and left for Kansas City to attend the Family History Expo on the 30th and 31st.

Bright and early on Friday, we checked in and prepared for the full day at the Expo. Our first stop was setting up in the Blogger area. I was an "honor blogger" for the expo and we handed out bags of jelly beans and business cards for the You Go Genealogy Girls while we blogged and twittered during the day. It was a very busy day indeed. Meeting all the other wonderful bloggers, attending classes, buying books, and getting acquainted with many of the people from the world of genealogy. It was such a fun day and the lectures were packed with awesome research aids and helpful information. Saturday brought another busy day too. We both attended some different lectures and a couple classes together. We came home with pages of notes to be organized and put in our syllabus for future reference. Jason is a history major and really enjoyed the two days. He was surprised at what Mom really did with my researching as he thought it was just gathering names and vital records. Genealogy took on a whole new aspect with him and he picked up some very useful information for his field of study. With respect to the study of history, he was thrilled to have a different perspective on researching other than the common college classes offer. He is ready to attend another Family History Expo. We had a wonderful time together, the first real Mother and son outing for the past several years!

As the Expo ended we again packed and headed back to Topeka, Kansas. I spent a couple more days with family there. We did a bit of shopping but mostly stayed in where it was cool with temps of 106° and heat index of 115°. I had planned on some time at the public library but stayed home with the kids due to the devastating heat! Tuesday, Aug 3rd was the day that all the family packed up to head to my home in Alliance, Nebraska. Everyone was meeting again at my house to gather up some of their kids who had been visiting family in Wyoming and Alliance. My grand daughter, Katelynn who is 10 rode back home with me. We drove 7 hours back to North Platte, Ne., where we spent the night again with You Go Girl #1. She was anxious to see all my new books and get copies of my notes from all the Expo lectures. She and I spent a fun evening discussing genealogy while Katelynn played with her cousin, Tyrah who was staying over with her Grandma. The girls had great fun and it was nice because they do not get to see each other very often either. (The You Go girls really are "grannies"!)

Wednesday when Katelynn and I got home, the rest of the family was already there and packed-ready to leave for several days of camping. We got out of one vehicle, hugged the dogs, changed luggage, unloaded most of the books, and piled into another vehicle for the trip to the lake. Are you tired yet?--I was! Off to the lake we went, boat and camper in tow. Son, daughter-in-law, seven grandchildren, two Grandfathers, other in-laws and more kids! Needless to say, the few new books that I took along to read while I was relaxing never saw the light of day. Fun in the lake for the kids, cooking out, fishing for the guys and sitting around camp took up the last four days of my vacation. It was fun having family here as we do not get together very often. However--

This You Go Girl missed having a constant internet connection while traveling. At my son's house where there was a 3G connection, I had to share with others and sometimes could not get online and I had no internet while at the lake. I was having serious genealogy withdrawal, new books were waiting at home, and the heat was not helping my mood.

Today, life is getting back to normal, family all headed home to Topeka yesterday and we got the camper home and stowed until next time. All my great Expo notes need to be organized and pictures need to scanned for Girl #1 who is working on an exciting new project. Salt Lake FHL findings are ready to be entered in Legacy, books need to be read, and papers need to be sorted--again. Starting tomorrow I will share some pics and findings from the Kansas City Family History Expo. Thankfully, vacation is over--for now!

You Go Genealogy Girl #2- Cheri

Weekly Genealogy Activities

It was Murphy's Law at the Family History Center Wednesday afternoon. The first reel of film had plenty of those "other people" in the proper time frame, just none of mine. Back to the drawing board to rethink what I need to do. The second reel of film had the will I needed. Plunked it on the reader-printer and the machine wouldn't work. I will have to find another copier or do it the old-fashioned way by hand. Grrr!

It was Murphy's Law Friday when I went to make copies and my printer produced the message "Ink System Failure." How dare it do that! I have tried everything in the manual and online troubleshooting but nothing works. Tomorrow will be devoted to trying to get assistance by telephone. Once I get through all the routine messages of push this for that and do I want it in English, I may get to the root of the problem.

Do you use Skype? Late yesterday afternoon my computer produced strange sounds from my Skype account. Sure enough, it was my nephew calling from their camp site. I got to see YGGG #2 and Go Hubby and their gang and visit with them. Looked like they were having fun. One of the twins and the five year old were hogging the web cam ... so cute. They related all their boating experiences. I would say that's Makin' Memories. When you can't be there, Skype's the way to go!

We can look forward to a hot week here in mid-Nebraska. It will be a great time to stay put at the computer, work on genealogy and hope nothing breaks down. Wherever you are ... have a genealogy fun week and a great day all day today!

Genealogy Multi-tasking

Hold yer horses! YGGG #2 is alive and well, just occupied. Aren't we all occupied? She doesn't multi-task too good when it comes to genealogy, family get togethers, vacations, packing, unpacking and cleaning house. While most of the Midwest Family History Expo attendees are home, she's hasn't quite gotten there.

YGGG #2 and her granddaughter, Katelynn, spent last night with me and just headed out the door for home base in Alliance, Nebraska. Some of her grandchildren, her son and daughter-in-law are already there. Once home she will unpack and start packing the camper and boat for a lake outing. Once the gang leaves in a few days to head home to Topeka, YGGG #2 will repack everything for vacation time with Go Hubby.

Now where does that leave time for genealogy? My condolences are extended to her as we all know she'd rather be doing genealogical research. Lucky me I'm heading to the Family History Center today to read microfilm.

In the meantime, YGGG #2 has asked me to tell you all that she'll return in due time to fill you in on her many genealogy adventures. Aren't you the least bit curious about mine?

YGGG #1 -- Ruby