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Family History on the Cheap: This presentation demonstrates real world tools and tips for cutting the cost of researching your ancestors. Examples include using eBay, free software, free online resources and collaboration with other researcher. JVW Capturing Memories in a 3-Ring Binder: A
Collaborative Family Project Want to make sure that all
your children have copies of important photos? Want to make sure that your
grandkids know some of the family stories? Want to share your genealogical
research? Can’t afford to publish a “real” book? Here’s
what we and our associated families have done toward solving this problem. JVW and BBW Curlicues & Chicken
Scratch: Reading Yesteryear’s Handwriting: Penmanship styles, shortcuts and dialect sometimes
make old documents look like chicken-scratch—but these tips will help
you read that handwriting. BBW Migration - Knowing
Why Will Help You Learn the Who, When and Where: Migration With A Technology Twist: This migration lecture is a bit different because it demonstrates some very useful software, online services and other technology tools that genealogists can use to help track and understand the migrations their ancestors made. Software demonstrated includes ANIMAP, GenSmarts, DeedMapper and Centennia. JVW Researching Methodist Records: We're Not Called METHODists for Nothing! Methodist records are better than those of many mainstream Protestant denominations. Learn what records are kept, where to find them, how to access them, and how to decipher the unique terminology used in these records. BBW What the Pros Know – Tips from 15 Years
Working on Other People’s Lines: This talk is a collection of tips and tricks that
I’ve learned in over fifteen years of full-time researching. Some of
them save time; others save money, many relate to finding lost or obscure
records, but most show how to glean the most from the records we encounter
most often. Using real-world examples, I include an open Q&A so you can
ask for help with your brick wall. JVW Identifying Safe Computing: This
lecture is based on a similar computer lab scheduled for presentation at the NGS national
conference in Lost in the Census: Learn how to search more effectively using indexes, search engines, and plain old common sense to find that ancestor who is lost in the census. BBW Courthouse Research: Our Courthouse Research With a Technology Twist: This lecture
demonstrates proven hardware, software, and online tools and techniques to
help your research in county courthouses. These include preparing for the
visit, using digital cameras at the site and using portable computing tools
during and after the visit. JVW Way Down in A Systematic Approach to Evidence: The presentation introduces improved concepts for
analyzing evidence by the typical genealogist. Learn why thinking of primary
and secondary sources isn’t as effective as understanding primary and
secondary information. Using “cheat sheets” to learn to think in
terms of direct vs. indirect evidence and original vs. derivative sources,
this talk is based on material in the special ‘Evidence’ issue of
the NGS Quarterly and other
readings. An extensive handout and worksheet are included for all who attend.
JVW Was Your Grandmother a Relict? What Do Those Old Words Mean? * If your ancestor had a "good sister," were his other sisters bad? How could a woman have a father-in-law if she never married? Some terms describing kinship, legal status and occupations don't mean now what they meant then. BBW "Kodak Moments"--Finding the Vital and Not So Vital Events in Your Ancestor's Life:Vital records research basics. Learn where to look for these powerful and fundamental sources, what they can tell, how to spot obscure clues and how to avoid pitfalls. JVW Indexing is More Than A-B-C: * If it isn't indexed carefully, researchers may miss valuable information in your book. Learn how to create a helpful index. BBW Rats in the Family Tree: * Every family has a few shady characters, the kind
who get hauled into court, chased out of town, thrown out of church and
written about in the newspaper. Use the trail these rats leave to gather
information about them and your more respectable ancestors as well. BBW A Pig In a Poke -- Misleading, Misunderstood and Misused Resources: I found her!! ...but is the source right? Sources can be accurate, helpful, misleading, false, and impossible to evaluate. And one source can be all of these. But, which is which? Knowing how to practice healthy skepticism, especially on the Internet, can save time and trouble. Using examples, we'll learn how to glean the gold from the glitter and how to assign surety to our conclusions. JVW Is It All for Naught? Ensuring That Your Work Survives You: * You’re documented your ancestors and gathering family memorabilia, but are you doing enough to preserve all of that? Unless we understand which improper practices can destroy our “old stuff,” and unless we learn the computer's strengths and weaknesses, all our effort and much of our family history will be lost. This lecture presents strategies for preserving these resources. JVW Ya Gotta Know The Territory! *Take a tip from the "The Music Man," "Ya Gotta Know the Territory!" Use the many research aids (no-tech as well as high-tech) to learn about your ancestor's time and place so you can discover where he's hiding. BBW It Ain't Necessarily So--Myths We Want to
Believe: * Myths
and truths about using computers in family history research. An update and
expansion of the NGSCIG Luncheon speech at NGS97 Valley Forge, this talk lays
out useful truths about the value and utility of computers in genealogical
research, while addressing some of the shallow myths that need debunking. JVW File Management and How to Install Downloaded Software: This talk details both a basic understanding of what if going on and a step-by-step demonstration of creating, finding and managing the digital files that contain all of the work we do on computers. A systematic approach to setting up your own folder structure is also provided, both in the lecture and in the handout. JVW Simple Steps to Keep Computers Healthy: * Increase the safety and speed of your computer by learning a few simple procedures before your computer dies with 2,000 ancestors on the hard disk! JVW Texshare--Finding Your People at this Productive Site: Texshare is a wonderful and free tool provided by the
Texas State Library to all What Genealogical Authors Need to Know About Style: Choosing
a title, developing a consistent style, formatting pages, dealing with silly
sentences produced by genealogy software, coding and collating the index,
compiling the front matter--publishing houses have professionals to guide
these decisions. Most genealogists don't. These are skills we must learn to
make our work present well. This session also suggests where to go for help,
questions to ask the printer, and ideas for low cost advertising. Sharing Information with the Rest of the Family:* Tested tips for
capturing the interest or relatives who aren't genealogists--and getting them
to share what they know with you. Presented at NGS 2000, JVW = Lectures presented
by John Vincent Wylie
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