Who Do You Think You Are? Revised Episode Schedule

NBC's hit series Who Do You Think You Are? has genealogists everywhere excited for more! It has just been announced that the schedule has been extended by one week, which is great news for all the fans out there.

Here is the schedule for the remaining episodes:

April 2 - Brooke Shields
April 9 - Sarah Jessica Parker (repeat)
April 16 - No episode
April 23 - Susan Sarandon
April 30 - Spike Lee (Season Finale)

So if you're a fan of the show, keep showing your support and encourage your family and friends to check it out! Who knows - maybe they'll get the genealogy bug too!

(posted by Lacey Cooke, Associate Editor)

A New Source of Help for Google Books

One of the Google’s many resources is Google Books, which allows you to browse through books and magazines of almost any topic imaginable. (Have you checked out Ancestry magazine back issues at Google Books?) But if you’ve been having trouble using the site, want more information, or want to connect with other users, the new Google Books Help Forum is now up and running!

The forum allows you to get answers directly from a team of forum guides as well as other users who may know what you are looking for. You can post your question directly in a new discussion, or you can browse other posed discussion questions. When the forum team has answered it, the discussion will have “Answered” written in green below the link.

You can also sort the list of questions by recent activity, date asked, and popularity. Or you can choose to look at questions that have been answered or unanswered. In addition, Google Books Help Forum has a blog, which you can find a link to on the left side of the forum page. This is a wonderful way for new users or even the most experienced users to get help with any aspect of using Google Books. Good luck finding those genealogy gems!

Lots of New Stuff at Genealogy Gems

New Episode: 84
Featuring my interview with Bryce Roper, Product Manager at FamilySearch.

New Media Player:



New Web Site Address:  www.GenealogyGems.com
Yes, now you can use our new dot com address as well as our GenealogyGems.TV address to get to the podcasts!

Are you new to the podcast?  Download our free Genealogy Gems Toolbar.  
It's the easiest way to 1listen to the podcasts, and get instant access to great genealogy content from anywhere on the web!

Free Web Demo Tomorrow March 17, 2010 on Newspapers at the Library of Congress

Chronicling America Live-Web Demonstration: "Extra! Extra! More than 1.7 Million Pages Online" - Wed., Mar. 17, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. EST

Extra! Extra! More than 1.7 Million Newspaper Pages Now Online

Get the news of yesteryear here! Explore contemporary reports of the fight for women's rights, St. Patrick's Day celebrations, baseball scores, earthquakes, and more! It's the news you want and the news you need from Chronicling America, the Library of Congress gateway to America's historic newspapers, published between 1880 and 1922. Join Library of Congress staff for a sampling of century-old headlines and articles of significant events that echo in the headlines of today.

When: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time; 1:00 Central; noon Mountain; 11:00 a.m. Pacific; and 5:00 p.m. GMT.

To attend, go to OPAL at http://www.opal-online.org/ . From the Quick Links column on the left, choose Auditorium.

1. Returning OPAL participants should click on the phrase "Click here to enter the room" in the center of the screen.
2. First time participants should follow the directions highlighted in the gray rectangle in the center of the screen.
3. Type your name (no password is required) and click "Log on" to enter the online conference.

NOTE: Allow yourself time to download the small software plugin needed to participate in the conference. Depending on your network security requirements, you may need assistance from your local technical support group to download and install the plugin. Actual installation should be very quick, depending on your computer and connectivity. For a complete description of system requirements, seehttp://www.conference321.com/masteradmin/systemreqs.asp?id=rs1641902f62b4 .

Tips for first time users can be found at http://www.opal-online.org/firsttimetips.htm .

To learn more about programs sponsored by the Library of Congress Digital Reference Section, see Virtual Programs & Services -http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/ .

To learn more about Chronicling America, see http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/ .

To learn more about the Library's Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room, see http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/ .

To register for an orientation to the Library's online materials, see http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/orientation.html .

Rare Video of The Man Behind Who Do You Think You Are?

Realscreen on location: Wall to Wall's Alex Graham

We've heard much from Ancestry, Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky on the U.S. version of the TV series Who Do You Think You Are? that is climbing the ratings in popularity.  However, Alex Graham is THE man behind the show.  WDYTYA is his baby in the UK, and partnership with him was critical to it's crossing the Atlantic.

I've been aware of Alex for several years.  He is the CEO of the British media production company Wall to Wall.  As Alex mentions in this video interview at the RealScreen Summit 2010, along with Who Do You Think You Are?, Wall to Wall is best known for their PBS House Series. The most recent House mini series featured me and my family in "1867."  

The House Series did well for Wall to Wall until it unfortunately fell prey to the "unreality" of Reality TV editing and conflict manufactured by an over zealous production crew that occurred in our mini-series. And it was that decline that made me skeptical of WDYTYA? coming to the U.S.  However when their focus is not conflict but rather inspiration, Wall to Wall does an admiral job of it.

Watch the 4 minute video at the RealScreen website.  And try to ignore the hand puppet that is Alex's right hand :-)

A Sign of Success - Who Do You Think You Are? U.S. Version Sold

The website WorldScreen.com is reporting today that The U.S. version of the genealogy focused TV series Who Do You Think You Are? has been sold by Outright Distribution into Australia and New Zealand.

The series which is being produced by Friends star Lisa Kudrow of Is or Isn't Entertainment and the British production company Wall to Wall premiered in the U.S. on NBC on March 5, 2010 with an episode featuring Sarah Jessica Parker.  I had an opportunity to preview tomorrow night's episode featuring Emmitt Smith and I can tell you now that you'll be glued to your TV.  It's riveting! (Tune in Friday, 8:00 p.m.)

According to the article Australia’s Nine Network and New Zealand’s Prime have licensed the rights to the show which has also been presold to Rogers Broadcasting in Canada, DR Denmark, MTV3 in Finland, SVT in Sweden, RTE in Ireland and DBS in Israel. 

This is good new for the future of the show because international distribution helps make it a financially viable product.  Dare we hope for a season two?  One way to make sure - tune in Friday nights at 8:00pm. and visit the official website often.

If I don't say this I think my head will explode

I've been reading the blogs and Facebook postings about Who Do You Think You Are? and there's an odd theme that keeps rearing it's head that IMHO is off the mark.  I'm surprised that this particular criticism of the show continues to surface because I think NBC, Ancestry and the producers have been pretty straight forward about what the goal of the show is.  They probably didn't think they had to say what the goal is not.

The goal of the show is entertain and captivate the audience by taking someone that most folks know and can identify with (a celeb) and have them share their personal journey of discovering a line of their family history; sharing the excitement of uncovering clues, facts and insights, and their new found connection with American History. (If NBC succeeds, they make money and the show gets a second season.  For Ancestry, their goal is that viewers will head to Ancestry.com and try a search.  If they succeed, they make money, and they stay in business.)

The goal is not to provide a how to class on conducting genealogy research.  

In fact, I say "thank goodness!" that teaching the research process is not their goal.  If is were, you'd see the show replaced by re-runs of The Jay Leno Show faster than you can say "peacock." 

And I have to ask the genealogists out there who are bemoaning the lack of detail about how and where documents were found in the making of the show:  Would you really want that?  Would NBC really be the most qualified entity to provide such instruction?  In fact, dare I say it, would Ancestry really be?  (They have GREAT online documents, but instruction on the research process doesn't appear to be one of their goals either!)

My answer is, No, of course not.  

Let's drift back to the hey day of genealogy entering America's consciousness - the debut of Roots.  Hands down, Roots did more for genealogy than anything else in recent memory.  I don't recall seeing a single document, courthouse, or National Archives employee in that series.  And if we had seen that it would have diluted from the incredible impact it had on all of us.  

Alex Haley and the TV network showed us what was possible - showed us our connection to history - showed us the stories just begging to be uncovered in our own family tree!  We did not walk, we RAN to books, classes, Family History Centers and other resources to learn more about how to do what Alex did.  His aim was true and he nailed it:  He INSPIRED us to want to know more.  

Inspiration is what it is all about. I think that perhaps the genealogist out there, many of whom teach classes on the subject, have perhaps just forgotten for a moment that inspiring your students is goal #1. If you can't do that, all of the technical information in the world will go in one ear and out the other. 

So I count my lucky stars that Who Do You Think You Are? doesn't try to be a classroom for research.  I am very confident that all of the talented and experienced genealogists out there are primed to step in and take on that role for the thousands of newbies who catch the bug after watching the show.

By the way, Kudos to Lisa Kudrow and NBC for including as much history, documents and archive visits as they do in the series.  If you listen carefully to Lisa's interview, (on Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 81 , Genealogy Gems Premium Episode 41, and in the video interview below) you will hear her comment on how they had to fight to include what they did.  Don't underestimate her words.  She says it in passing, but I'm sure that bringing as much history as they did to network TV was a HUGE uphill battle.  There are lots of TV types out there who think Americans can only handle 15 second sound bites.  TV is big business and all about the money.  

So I'm giving NBC and Lisa Kudrow high marks for believing in the American viewing audience.  And we as genealogists will take it from there!

If you'd like to learn more about how to research your family history, I invite you to listen to the Family History: Genealogy Made Easy podcast.  It's free and will walk you through the research process step-by-step.