Archives for GENEALOGY HOW-TO’S
Research resources
Images Ebay for images of places - then follow that search and you'll receive an email when new items are added Pinterest 500 px Google image search - and you can use this to try to discover the source for a photo you already have - just drag the jpg and it will try to find that photo on other sites Youtube - search for history videos and real estate sale videos often includes images…
Scanning and Restoration Services
Diana has a Master's Degree in Archaeology with specialties in historic documentation and photography. She has 40 years experience in genealogy and digital photo restoration. Her own collection contains nearly 5,000 photos, documents and objects from her family. Collection Scanning Send your originals for professional high resolution scanning and preservation. I will carefully scan both sides of your photographs, postcards, letters, drawings, newspaper clippings and documents. Original photos will be returned in archival storage sleeves…
The Nonie Puzzle SOLVED
For years I struggled to confirm my great grandfather's name. He is listed clearly on one of his children's birth certificates as Nonie Monroe Thornton along with his wife Agnes Elkins. My aunt told me that he had drowned at a young age leaving his wife and 3 young sons. The problem was that I could not find Nonie in any records besides his sons' death/birth certificates, including the 1900 census he should have been…
[TIP] Transcribing old documents
Do you have lots of old scribbled letters and other documents that need to be transcribed? Not a great typer? Use your phone! There are several free dictation phone apps that allow you to read aloud and it will transcribe. They're amazingly accurate. I recently tried "Dictate" (free version has ads, but they're not too distracting and the premium version might be worth it if you're using it a lot). Dragon Dictation is another one.…
Lightroom and genealogy
I use Adobe Lightroom extensively in my genealogy. Primarily, I use it to catalog, edit and organize my photos. I have thousands. Then I use plugins to quickly upload the photos to two online locations: Zenfolio, a photo hosting site for photographers, and a Wordpress blog I created for articles and other information about my family. Lightroom and Photoshop are available from Adobe through their subscription plan or you can buy it outright still I…
My genealogy software
Family Tree Maker on my PC. I've used FTM since version 2 (I still have the old floppies!). Mackiev has done a pretty good job taking over the program. They are improving it and it works pretty well now. to host my trees. I have a full subscription which gives me access to all their records, as well as fold3 and Ancestry apps on my iPad and iPhone. Note: I still LOVE the Ancestry APPS…
Digitizing your Photos – Captions
OK, so you've just spent two weeks scanning your box full of family photos. GREAT! Don't stop there, because this is not much better than not scanning them. The next step is to IDENTIFY them - IMMEDIATELY. Why captions/metadata are critical The caption will travel with the photo. Programs like Lightroom read the metadata and use it to group photos into collections or find a photo. If there is only one person in the photo,…