8:00 - 9:00 a.m Registration
9:00 - 10:00 a.m.
1A Jane G. Haldeman – Lab – Getting the Most Out of Your AncestryDNA Results // Genetic, Technology
You spit in the tube, mailed it to Ancestry and now you have your AncestryDNA results ... what do they mean? How do you get more out of that list of DNA Matches? This hands-on workshop will focus on what you can learn from looking at the Matches Predicted Relationship, the amount of Shared DNA, the Matches’ tree and Shared Matches to help determine who might be the Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA).
Prerequisites:
- Have tested with AncestryDNA.
- Have an Ancestry tree linked to your DNA. If possible should have a minimum of 3 generations. Can be a private tree.
- Have an Ancestry.com subscription.
1B Lisa Louise Cooke – Update Google! What’s New // Research, Technology
Google continues to evolve and change every day. In this session, Google Guru Lisa Louise Cooke will give you an update on the most recent Google changes. Then she will unleash advanced search strategies for genealogy that you probably aren’t using, but are ‘must-haves’ in order to get the best results possible. Here are tips and tricks you can put into practice right away.
1C James M. Baker – Finding the Hardest Ones With DNA // Analysis, Genetic
Case studies are used to illustrate the best strategies to find ancestors if you need to fill in gaps in your family tree back in the 6th and 7th generations. The discussion shows how to blend data from Ancestry, FamitlyTreeDNA and GEDMATCH.
1D Marty Acks – An Introduction to WikiTree, the Free Global Family Tree // Genetic, Research, Technology
WikiTree is a free community of genealogists dedicated to growing an accurate single family tree using DNA and traditional genealogical sources. In this program, you will learn the key features of WikiTree, be shown how you can easily get started on the site and learn numerous tips and techniques to get the most out of your time on WikiTree.
10:00 - 10:30 a.m. Break
10:30 - 11:30 a.m.
2A Jane Haldeman – Lab – Getting the Most Out of Your AncestryDNA Results // Genetic, Technology
REPEAT. See 1A for details.
2B Lisa Louise Cooke – Create a Free Google Earth Map Collection for Your Research // Geography, Technology
Come to this session and you’ll walk out with potentially thousands of free historic maps organized for your family history research. And the good news is, you don’t need a lot of tech know-how to do it! You’ll learn how to find free digital maps for your ancestral locations, add them as permanent map overlays to Google Earth and then organize them into your personal map reference collection. We will also cover best practices for keeping them organized so that they continually enrich your research.
2C James M. Baker – Finding the Hardest Ones: Seven Strategies // Problem-solving, Research
Case studies illustrate seven strategies to find the most challenging data: (1) collaborating with other genealogists; (2) search engine research; (3) digging in giant tomes; (4) checking property/tax records; (5) broadening the search; (6) performing on-site research; and (7) analyzing DNA evidence.
2D Robert Allen – The Wonders of Find A Grave // Research, Technology
It’s a wonderful genealogical website – and it’s free. With input from many volunteers, it contains great information on tens of thousands of people. Its two main search engines, “Search by Name” and “Search by Cemetery,” can lead you to data, pictures, obituaries and more regarding your ancestors and relatives. Plus, it has special features like “Searching for Famous People” and “Adding Flowers and Notes.” We will discuss the many ways to search the website, some tricks of using it, ways you can add information, how to identify others researching the people you are finding, how to create “virtual cemeteries” and more.
11:30 - 1:00 p.m. Buffet Lunch
1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
3A Jane Haldeman – Lab – Introduction to Using GEDmatch // Genetic, Technology
Want to play in more than one DNA pool? Use tools not available with some DNA testing companies? GEDmatch is a free DNA utilities website created and run by volunteers. GEDmatch is free, but some advanced tools are available for a small fee. With GEDmatch you can match people from other testing companies, make chromosome comparisons with your matches and have access to advanced tools unavailable on other websites. This workshop will help to make sense of the free “One-to-Many” matches tool, the One-to-One compare tool, how to compare your matches in the Chromosome Browser, use the Comparison Matrices and understand your results. This is a hands-on workshop.
Prerequisites:
- Have tested DNA with one of these companies: AncestryDNA, FTDNA, WeGene, MyHertitage or 23andMe
- Have received your DNA results
- Uploaded your Raw DNA file to GEDmatch, www.gedmatch.com, see Raw DNA file Uploads instructions.
- Please upload at least 2 days before the workshop for your GEDmatch results to be available.
3B Lisa Louise Cooke – Genealogy On the Go With Mobile Devices // Technology
Tablets and smartphones are built for hitting the road and are ideally suited for genealogy due to their sleek size, gorgeous graphics and myriad of apps and tools. In this class you will discover the top apps and best practices that will make your mobile device a genealogical powerhouse! (iOS and Android).
3C James M. Baker – Elementary, My Dear Watson! Solving Your Genealogy Puzzles with Clues You Already Have // Analysis, Problem-solving, Research
Case studies show problem solving methods where key data are missing – without embarking on new research – by analyzing data such as naming patterns, birth/marriage witness data, inheritance data, sibling data, timelines, family migrations and other data already in your database.
3D Liz Ross – What About Women? // Analysis, Problem-solving, Research
Women make up about 50% of the population, but seem to present about 85% of the difficulties: almost invisible legally, changing surname at marriage and living with kin in old age. Tour the documents and techniques useful for finding the other half.
2:00 - 2:30 p.m. Break
2:30 - 3:30 p.m.
4A Jane Haldeman – Lab – Introduction to Using GEDmatch // Genetic, Technology
REPEAT. See 3A for details.
4B Lisa Louise Cooke – How to Organize All This Genealogy Stuff // Organization
Save yourself future frustration and disappointment by putting a solid genealogy organizational plan in place for all the types of items that will be coming your way. I personally use the systems that I am sharing with you, and they have proven to be reliable and efficient. We will cover systems for four types of stuff:
- Organizing All This Paper! The Physical Items Organization System.
- Organizing All That Genealogical Data! The Family Tree Data Organization System.
- Organizing All These Digital Files! The Digital Organization System.
- Organizing All that Web Information! The Online Notetaking System.
4C James M. Baker – I Thought He Was My Ancestor: Avoiding the Six Biggest Genealogy Mistakes // Problem Solving, Research
Case studies are presented to show how to avoid the biggest mistakes, including trusting family myths; believing that the posted family trees are accurate; connecting the wrong “same name” people; and believing that all original family records are accurate.
4D Jacquie Schattner – Top 10 Genealogical Tricks and Tips // Technology
A review of top genealogical websites and how to use them most efficiently. Tricks and tips on websites such as FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com and even Google. Many people use these websites but do not know how to get the most out of them.
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