Are You Ready to Ride the Genealogy Wave?

In the new episode of The Genealogy Gems Podcast it's time to shake off winter and do some genealogical channel surfing!

First grab your surf board and get ready to ride the wave of the final segment of my interview with Darby Hinton who played Fess Parker's son for 6 years on the old Daniel Boone series. In this episode Darby is going to tell us all about his brand new television series that he's working on called Hintons Living History.

Next we'll Hang 10 with Ken Marks, the executive producer of another new television series called Legend Seekers that is coming to PBS stations around the country.

In Episode 22 of Family History: Genealogy Made Easy podcast I talk with Ken about this new show that features the discovery and portrayal of real life family history stories.

And in this follow up interview in Episode 62 of The Genealogy Gems Podcast, Ken is going to give us a personal look at the brand new website that just launched this week, and how you can submit your own family stories for inclusion in the series! So grab your remote and get ready to channel surf the genealogy wave!

The LOC is Cool, Dude!

The Library of Congress recently anncounced that it will begin sharing content from its vast video and audio collections on YouTube and iTunes in an effort to continue reaching out to a broader audience. The new Library of Congress channels will appear on these web site services within the next few weeks.

This is pretty cool considering the wealth of historical materials the Library of Congress exclusively holds.

The LOC describes the type of content they will publish as including "100-year-old films from the Thomas Edison studio, book talks with contemporary authors, early industrial films from Westinghouse factories, first-person audio accounts of life in slavery, and inside looks into the Library's fascinating holdings, including the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence and the contents of Lincoln's pockets on the night of his assassination."

YouTube and iTunes? Hhmm...Is the LOC watching Genealogy Gems?! :-)

250,000 New Names Added to U.K. Database

Additions to the Deceased Online Web site include...

• 5 more councils upload data
• 4 London councils now online
• Angus is Scotland's first to join up
• Cemetery maps and headstone photos now online

Deceased Online has added nearly 250,000 new names at www.deceasedonline.com. You can now see cemetery records for the London boroughs of Brent, Havering, Islington and Camden as well as Angus Council in Scotland.

Check out the detail of their digital cemetery maps - which show exactly where graves are located - and, for some graves, high quality photographs of headstones showing inscriptions. You can see exactly what they've got at www.deceasedonline.com by clicking on 'database coverage'.

The Web site also boasts that 1,000,000 more new names are coming soon.

Tired of Mousing? Windows Touch Let's Your Fingers Do The Walking

If you have a laptop, then you've probably gotten familiar with the touch pad. It's one of those features you might hate at first but soon learn to love. I know I have.

Microsoft is looking to launch the next phase in Touch technology with multi-touch controls. Imagine being able to manipulate photos or rotate digitized census records so that you easily read the name of the street written in the margin by the census taker with the flick of a finger.

Touch enabled Windows 7 is expected to be released at the end of 2010. And a "release candidate" for users to test drive is set to be available at the end of May.

The video above demonstrates some of the touch possibilities. And you can read more about it here at the BBC News.

400 Years of London History Online

1 in 2 Brits with ancestors in collection, including J.K. Rowling, David Beckham and Patsy Kensit

• 77 million records when complete, including workhouse, parish, school
• Famous names include Oliver Cromwell, Samuel Pepys and William Blake, as well as ancestors of contemporary celebrities JK Rowling, David Beckham, Patsy Kensit and Britney Spears
• An estimated 165 million people around the world has an ancestor in the collection, including more than half of the British population.

The definitive collection of records detailing the rich history of London and its inhabitants over 400 years is available online for the first time today at leading social and family history website Ancestry.co.uk, in partnership with London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Library Manuscripts following a competitive tender by the City of London to digitise and exclusively host their collection online.

Starting with records from London’s infamous Victorian workhouses memorably depicted by Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist, the London Historical Records, 1500s-1900s will include more than 77 million records, providing an unprecedented insight into the colourful history of one of the world’s greatest cities.

Key record types include parish and workhouse records, electoral rolls, wills, land tax records and school reports. According to a recent family history survey, more than half of the current British population will have an ancestor in the London Historical Records, 1500s-1900s.

Furthermore, it is estimated that approximately 135 million people from the U.S., Canada and Australia will also be able to trace ancestors in the collection due to London’s status as the city at the centre of the British Empire for centuries.

Assembled over time direct from various London institutions, the collection includes the names of millions of ordinary Londoners alongside famous and infamous figures from the city’s past. Notable examples include Oliver Cromwell’s marriage record, the baptism record for poet Samuel Pepys and the burial register listing for writer and statesman John Milton.

A number of modern day celebrities can also find ancestors within the collection. JK Rowling’s 3x great-grandfather, William Richard Rowling, appears in the Mile End marriage registers for 1872, while Patsy Kensit’s ancestor Thomas Kensit can be found in Shoreditch Baptism records from 1815. David Beckham’s London roots are also well documented; with his 3x great- grandparent’s marriage listed in the collection. Even international pop star Britney Spears can find her great-grandfather, George Portell, listed in the Tottenham marriage records for 1923.

The workhouse or ‘Board of Guardians’ records now online contain the names of anyone who was born, baptised or died in a London workhouse in the 19th and early 20th century. During this time, men, women and children who couldn’t support themselves were forced to live in these institutions, working long hours in tedious jobs in exchange for minimal food and board.

The conditions were kept intentionally poor to deter others and unofficial beatings or starving of inmates were not unheard of. Overcrowding was also a major problem, compounded by the influx of Irish immigrants after the potato famine of the mid 19th century. While conditions improved slightly in the early 20th century, the workhouses were still a feared ‘last resort’ by most until their abolition in 1930.

The workhouse records cover 12 key London regions. Also included today are a variety of workhouse creed registers, admissions, discharges, apprenticeship papers and lists of ‘lunatics’.

Workhouse records are just one of the record types which comprise the London Historical Records, 1500s-1900s. Others include:

Parish Registers - from 1538, priests had to keep records of all baptisms, marriages and burials in their parish. These records are taken from over 10,000 Greater London parishes, and as they pre-date both civil registration and censuses, they are the essential ‘next step back’ for people wishing to trace their family history beyond the 19th century

School Admissions and Discharges - contain records taken from 800+ London schools dating from the early Victorian times through to 1911. They provide admission details and information about millions of London students

Non-Conformist Registers - details the birth, baptism, death and burial of religious dissenters who did not worship at the established church in England from 1694 to 1921. The majority of the records are for Methodist, Baptist and United Reformed churches, although there are smaller collections of other denominations such as Quakers and Seventh Day Adventists

Diocesan Divorce Exhibita - one of a number of interesting records from the London diocesan courts, when applying for divorce, a husband or wife would submit evidence for their partner’s marital failings, including love letters, witness accounts and sworn testimony, which were then kept on record.

Eisenhower's Final Diaries Open to Researchers

ABILENE, Kan. - The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum marks the 40th anniversary of President Eisenhower's death with the opening of his final personal diaries from 1966, 1968, and 1969. The last diary entry was made in late January 1969. Eisenhower died just two months later on March 28, 1969.

"The new diaries show that Ike was still very much engaged in the world of politics and affairs, even in the twilight of his life," said Karl Weissenbach, director. "These priceless diaries show that he was in firm control of his mental faculties despite failing health."

Eisenhower writes that he started the diary in 1966 "to make notations of any physical discomfort or ailment so as to answer my doctor's questions concerning my health." Although medical problems dominate the volumes, Ike found space to comment on the issues and personalities of the day, including the economy, civil rights, Vietnam, and the 1968 presidential elections. "Scholars will find President Eisenhower's opinion of President Johnson to be of particular interest," added Tim Rives, supervisory archivist.

In addition to the public release of President Eisenhower's diaries, the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum announced a marked increase in the expansion of the Library's archival and museum collections. Weissenbach states, "I am pleased to announce we have acquired an additional 800,000 pages of records, 7,200 photographs and 4,000 museum artifacts through an active solicitation program in the last three years. This initiative is a win-win situation for scholars, the public, teachers, students, and museum visitors," Weissenbach said. The Library's archival holdings have more than doubled from 12 million pages in 1966 to over 27 million pages in 2009.

"As we mark the passing of President Eisenhower in 1969," Weissenbach said, "we note with pride that the presidential library's archival and museum collections continue to see an increase in use. This solidifies the Eisenhower Library and Museum's reputation as one of the nation's premier research institutions."

The Eisenhower diaries are now available for researchers in the Eisenhower Library in Abilene. The research room is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. - 5:15 p.m. Due to the heavy demand for access to the newly-released diaries, there may be a time limit imposed upon researchers wishing to examine them.

For more information about conducting research at the Library, please call 785-263-6700 or toll free 1-877-RING IKE. The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, a federal non-partisan institution, is one of twelve presidential libraries operated by the National Archives and Records Administration. To learn more, please visit www.eisenhower.archives.gov.

Latest Version of Leading Genealogy Software Now Available to the Public

SPRINGVILLE, Utah. — March 25, 2009 — RootsMagic, Inc. today announced the official release of RootsMagic 4, the latest version of the award-winning genealogy software which makes researching, organizing, and sharing your family history easy and enjoyable. With the release comes a free trial version of the software as well as a discount offer for owners of other software products.

Impressive New Features
“RootsMagic 4 is the biggest release in our 20-year history of making genealogy software,” said Bruce Buzbee, president. “We’ve updated RootsMagic to work with the latest genealogical technologies available today, while staying true to our mission to make family history easy, accessible, and fun.”

RootsMagic 4 boasts an impressive list of new features including integrated web search, improved SourceWizard for citing sources, sharing events among multiple persons, creating pre-defined groups of persons, person and place mapping, recording DNA tests, and improved navigation and data entry. RootsMagic 4 is also one of the only desktop genealogy programs certified to work with “New FamilySearch”.

Freeing Your Data
“A common request that we hear from people is that they don’t want their data to be trapped in their computer,” said Michael Booth, vice-president of development. “One of the most popular features in RootsMagic 3 is our ‘Shareable CD’ which puts your data and pictures onto a CD or DVD along with a special copy of RootsMagic. You can then give the discs to family and friends and they don’t have to buy or install anything. It’s all there on the disc.”

“We’ve taken that a step further in RootsMagic 4,” explains Booth. “One unique and exciting new feature is ‘RootsMagic To-Go’. It allows you to install RootsMagic onto a USB drive and transfer data between it and your computer. This gives you the freedom to take RootsMagic and your data wherever you go- to work, on vacation, to the library- anywhere.”

Free Trial
A free trial version of RootsMagic 4 is available at http://www.rootsmagic.com. The trial version allows a person to import their data, add information, and play with RootsMagic's major features without any time limitation. “We’re so excited about this new release, we wanted to give everyone a risk-free option to try it for themselves,” said Buzbee.

Users of other genealogy software products will find it easy to experiment with RootsMagic 4 using their own data. RootsMagic can directly import data from PAF, Family Tree Maker (through 2006), Family Origins, and Legacy Family Tree. It can also read data using the popular GEDCOM format.

Pricing
RootsMagic 4 is available for only $29.95. Existing RootsMagic and Family Origins users may upgrade for only $19.95.

Discount Offer
For the first time in company history, users of other genealogy software programs can receive a competitive upgrade discount. Through May 31, 2009, users of Personal Ancestral File (PAF), Family Tree Maker, Legacy Family Tree, or The Master Genealogist may purchase RootsMagic 4 for only $19.95, saving $10 off of the regular price.

More information about the competitive upgrade can be found at http://www.rootsmagic.com/upgrade.

About RootsMagic, Inc.
For over 20 years, RootsMagic, Inc. has been creating computer software with a special purpose- to unite families. One of our earliest products- the popular “Family Origins” software, introduced thousands of people to the joy and excitement of family history.

That tradition continues today with “RootsMagic”, our award-winning genealogy software which makes researching, organizing, and sharing your family history fun and easy. “Personal Historian” will help you easily write and preserve your life stories. “Family Reunion Organizer” takes the headaches out of planning those important get-togethers. And “Family Atlas” creates beautiful and educational geographic maps of your family history.

For more information, visit www.rootsmagic.com.Source: RootsMagic, Inc.

Jamboree 2009 Program Now Available For Download

From the Southern California Genealogical Society:

Hot off the Presses! Wait...it's not even ON the press yet. Our blog readers get an early peek at the 2009 Jamboree Program, complete with the session schedule, descriptions of classes, speaker bios, and registration forms. Download it here.

Share this link to your relatives, genealogy society members and other genealogists and family historians. Help spread the word about the exceptional program that is planned for Jamboree 2009.

If you haven't stopped by the Jamboree section of the website lately, you'll find several updates, including FAQs, area hotel and lodging suggestions, a parking map, and lots of hints on how to make the best out of your Jamboree experience.

Sometimes Crime Does Pay - For the Genealogist!

Sometimes when our ancestors do the crime, we can "do the time" at our computer locating their Court Criminal Case Files! Ancestry recently announced that the following new databases have been added to their collection:

Criminal Case Files of the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Maryland, 1795-1860; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M1010, 4 rolls); Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Criminal Case Files of the U.S. Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York, 1790-1853; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M885, 6 rolls); Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Criminal Case Files of the U.S. Circuit Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1791-1840; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M986, 7 rolls); Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

US District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, New Orleans. Criminal Cases, 1870-1871; (National Archives Microfilm Publication P2102, 4 rolls); Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

About U.S. Circuit Court Criminal Case Files, 1790-1871
This database contains images of criminal case files of the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Maryland, Southern District of New York, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and Eastern District of Louisiana, New Orleans, covering the years 1790-1871. Types of documents found in these case files include bills of indictment, please of denfendants, affidavits, subpoenas, petitions, warrants, and bonds.

In the last episode of The Genealogy Gems Podcast you met Darby Hinton who was just 7 years old when he signed on to play Israel, the son of Daniel Boone (played by Fess Parker) in the 1960s hit TV series Daniel Boone.

Most recently he has been producing a new television series pilot starring his own family called Hintons Living History where he hopes to show American families how inexpensive and fun it can be to get out and participate in historical re-enactments across the country.

Now in Episode 61 of the Genealogy Gems Podcast I get an opportunity to apply the genealogical research strategies that I talk about regularly on the show and help Darby climb his Hinton family tree.

And also in this episode, I'm very excited to have Steve Nickle, President of familylink.com on the show. He's going to give us a sneak peek at an exciting new web site they'll be launching in just a few months. The web site is called GenSeek, and Steve graciously and candidly shares specifics on what you can look forward to with this innovative site.

Fewer Words Can Say Alot About Family History

Sometimes a blog post doesn't need to be wordy to be powerful.

Here's a wonderful example...

Here's A Great Way To Navigate Your Research

The world of genealogy research gets bigger and broader every day. In addition to the old standards like courthouses and cemeteries, we now have databases, online family trees and digitized documents (and so much more!)

Wouldn't it be nice to have a tool that would help you navigate your genealogical research? In Episode 20 of the Family History: Genealogy Made Easy podcast you will get just that!

This great tool is one that the pros have been using for years. But you don't have to be a professional genealogist to use it by any means. It's the Genealogical Proof Standard, and my special guest on this episode is Mark Tucker of the ThinkGenealogy blog who has become an expert on the subject.

Mark shares his expertise with you in this episode answering questions like:

What is the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS)?

What are the specific steps of the process?

In which situations should you use it?

And many more.

It’s a fast and furious introduction to the the Genealogical Proof Standard, so put on your driving goggles and get ready to navigate your research with the GPS!

Got Swiss Ancestors? Get Swissinfo!

BERN, Switzerland, March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- http://swissinfo.ch is launching a multimedia networking platform for Italian-speaking Swiss emigrants and their descendants. People from around the world who have their roots in Ticino and the valleys of the southern Graubunden tell of their ancestors. In its Swiss-Italian Migrations special, swissinfo.ch - the international voice of SRG SSR idee suisse - takes an in-depth look at this wave of emigration.

The 19th and early 20th centuries saw tens of thousands of people emigrate abroad from remote areas of Ticino and the Italian-speaking valleys of Graubunden. They journeyed to Australia, the United States and to other countries in Europe in search of a better life.

swissinfo.ch is devoting a multimedia special - in English and Italian - to this emigration wave. The reports, with many videos and slideshows, explain the historical reasons behind the outflow of people from Switzerland. Included are interviews with migration and genealogy experts. Background information and documentary features give readers a clear impression of southern Switzerland then and now. swissinfo.ch also visits descendants of emigrants and reports on how they live now.

The dossier allows people who live abroad but have Italian-Swiss roots to find out more about their ancestors. In addition, swissinfo.ch offers a blog in which they can swap family histories in text and photo form. A genealogy database enables users to search for people and families with roots in Italian-speaking Switzerland. swissinfo journalists reporting Australia, California and Britain will be blogging about their own experiences.

Go to "Swiss-Italian Migrations" in English

1940 U.S. Federal Census Substitute and Much More

It's always interesting to get a sneak peek at what we can look forward to in new records and services coming online. Here's the latests from Ancestry.com...

1940 U.S. Federal Census Substitute
Expected Launch Date: March
Est. Name Count: 100m
Est. Image Count: 2m
Over 2,000 city directories for 1940 and surrounding years. 45+ states represented. These 1940 city directories will be grouped with other 1940 content on already existing on the site in a 1940 Census Substitute search group. City directories are the forerunners of phone books. The head of household is usually listed, often with address and occupation. These can also serve as off-year census substitutes.

1880 U.S. Federal Census Improved - New Images
Expected Launch Date: March
Est. Name Count: 50.4m
Est. Image Count: 1.1m
New higher quality images, in many cases, fixing completely illegible images. 50 million individuals were enumerated in the 1880 United States Federal Census. 1880 is the second of the U.S. censuses we'll be improving over the coming months with improved images and indexes (1900 was the first, released late last year).

U.S. Historical Newspapers Collection - Update
Expected Launch Date: April
Est. Name Count: 500m
Est. Image Count: 10m
Papers from hundreds of new cities and small towns will be added. Read history as it was happening in papers dating back to the 1700's. The full-text index and Advanced Image Viewer deliver highlighted search hits on every page.

U.S. Public Records Index - New Data/New Format
Expected Launch Date: April
525 million new records from the 1950s to the 1990s with a new format, including address of residence and birth date.

In addition…
In addition to these four huge additions, each with millions and millions of names (1880, 1940, Newspapers and USPRI) over the next few months, we will be launching a steady stream of high value projects. These include vital records from Maine, Utah, Montana, Vermont and New York and unique additions to military and immigration collections.

Site Performance & Scalability: Ancestry continues to work on their site performance and site scalability. They have had a dedicated Development team working on site performance over the last couple of months. In the last month, they have implemented a number of additional improvements to how the Web pages are constructed to reduce their load time. Also, they have also been reaching out to customer volunteers to install performance monitoring software on their machines to analyze exactly what they are seeing. This kind of focus will be critical for Ancestry.com going forward given the growing number of factors in the site performance equation on both the Ancestry.com and user sides: browsers, plug-ins, virus protection, PC resources, complexity of site pages, richness of experience, etc. The company says they are not yet where they want to be but they are making progress. On the infrastructure side of things, they recently upgraded the servers that house the Ancestry.com member tree system.

New Features Rolling-out:
Lifespan filtering: They will be making a number of search algorithm improvements over the coming months to address customer comments. The first one is rolling out next week. They call it “lifespan filtering” internally. Today, their searches return records that are clearly outside the date ranges entered by the user. Lifespan filtering will stop this practice.

Member-to-member messaging: Ancestry will be making improvements to member-to-member messaging system to bring it all online. This way members don’t have to worry about losing emails in their email boxes. They will all be available for use on Ancestry.com. You can read and reply to messages and create folders for saving and organizing messages. Like with their current member-to-member messaging system, your actual email address will remain private unless you choose to share it. Also, by having the messages online, Ancestry is able to provide a recipient more info about the person sending the email such as their research interests and Ancestry.com contributions. This is supposed to make for a richer experience for members communicating with each other on Ancestry.com. This feature also launches next week.

RE: Message threads between two members. Messages back and forth are captured as a conversation such that you can refer back to the entire discussion thread after the fact. Also note on the right side how Ancestry will show the senders Ancestry.com profile if one exists on Ancestry.com.

Free E-Book Offer From Family Tree Magazine

Family Tree Magazine is giving away a free e-book to those who sign up for our free, weekly E-mail Update newsletter. The book is our 42-page Best of the Photo Detective, a step-by-step guide that helps you examine old family photos for hidden clues to when they were taken and who’s in them.

Family Tree Magazine’s E-mail Update newsletter delivers the latest news, tips and resources for doing family history research. Sign Up Today.

D-Day 65th Anniversary National Commemoration

ABILENE, Kan. - The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum is proud to announce its partnership with the "Big Red One" 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley's United Service Organizations (USO) to mark the 65th anniversary of D-Day. The three-day national commemoration will be held June 5 - 7, 2009, on the grounds of the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum.

"The partnership with the USO and Fort Riley will help us to make this the largest national commemoration. We are also working closely with our city government and collaborating with several national organizations," states Director Karl Weissenbach.

Operation Overlord is known as one of the most important military campaigns in history. Abilene's own hometown hero, Dwight D. Eisenhower, commanded the allied forces who stormed the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, leading to the liberation of Europe and bringing an end to WWII. Eisenhower later became the nation's 34th president.

As details are confirmed updates will be posted to the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum's web site and Facebook pages. Events will include a scholarly symposium, USO dance, military and civilian re-enactors, military vehicle displays, parade, Salina Symphony performance, information booths and more.

To learn how you can assist in underwriting costs of the National D-Day commemoration activities, please contact the Library at 785-263-6700 or toll free 1-877-RING IKE. You can also visit the web site at www.eisenhower.archives.gov. The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, a nonpartisan federal institution, is one of twelve presidential libraries operated by the National Archives and Records Administration.

Check It Out: RootsMagic 4 in Public Beta

The folks at RootsMagic have done it again! They've managed to take a terrific product and make it even better!

At the recent Family History Expo in St. George, Utah I had a chance to get a tour of RootsMagic 4 with company founder Bruce Buzbee. Stay tuned to this blog for that interview.

Here are the latest details straight from RootsMagic...

SPRINGVILLE, Utah. — March 4, 2009 — RootsMagic, Inc. today announced RootsMagic 4 public beta, the latest version of the award-winning genealogy software which makes researching, organizing, and sharing your family history easy and enjoyable. During the public beta period, all are invited to download and experience the software, free of charge.

Impressive New Features

“RootsMagic 4 is the biggest release in our 20-year history of making genealogy software,” said Bruce Buzbee, president. “We’ve updated RootsMagic to work with the latest genealogical technologies available today, while staying true to our mission to make family history easy, accessible, and fun.”

RootsMagic 4 boasts an impressive list of new features including integrated web search, improved SourceWizard for citing sources, sharing events among multiple persons, creating pre-defined groups of persons, person and place mapping, recording DNA tests, and improved navigation and data entry. RootsMagic 4 is also one of the only desktop genealogy programs certified to work with “New FamilySearch”.

Freeing Your Data

“A common request that we hear from people is that they don’t want their data to be trapped in their computer,” said Michael Booth, vice-president of development. “One of the most popular features in RootsMagic 3 is our ‘Shareable CD’ which puts your data and pictures onto a CD or DVD along with a special copy of RootsMagic. You can then give the discs to family and friends and they don’t have to buy or install anything. It’s all there on the disc.” “We’ve taken that a step further in RootsMagic 4,” explains Booth. “One unique and exciting new feature is ‘RootsMagic To-Go’. It allows you to install RootsMagic onto a USB drive and transfer data between it and your computer. This gives you the freedom to take RootsMagic and your data wherever you go- to work, on vacation, to the library- anywhere.”

Free and Available Now

RootsMagic 4 beta is available now for free at http://www.rootsmagic.com/preview. “We’re so excited about this new release, we wanted to give everyone a risk-free option to try it for themselves,” said Buzbee. Each person who wishes to participate will be given a registration key which will allow them to download and experience the software for the duration of the public beta period.

Users of other genealogy software products will find it easy to experiment with RootsMagic 4 using their own data. RootsMagic can directly import data from PAF, Family Tree Maker (through 2006), Family Origins, and Legacy Family Tree. It can also read and write data using the popular GEDCOM format.

The public beta also gives users the chance to give feedback and suggestions to improve the software. “Customer feedback is essential to us. All of the changes and improvements in RootsMagic 4 are in direct response to needs and desires expressed by our users,” said Booth. Buzbee added, “We’ve already received invaluable comments and suggestions from the early testers and we’re looking forward to hearing from the general public.”

About RootsMagic, Inc.

For over 20 years, RootsMagic, Inc. has been creating computer software with a special purpose- to unite families. One of our earliest products- the popular “Family Origins” software, introduced thousands of people to the joy and excitement of family history.

That tradition continues today with “RootsMagic”, our award-winning genealogy software which makes researching, organizing, and sharing your family history fun and easy. “Personal Historian” will help you easily write and preserve your life stories. “Family Reunion Organizer” takes the headaches out of planning those important get-togethers. And “Family Atlas” creates beautiful and educational geographic maps of your family history.

For more information, visit http://www.rootsmagic.com/ .
Source: RootsMagic, Inc.

Episode 60: Interview with Darby Hinton of the 1960s TV Show Daniel Boone

The Genealogy Gems Podcast celebrates its second birthday with this 60th episode published this week. And I've invited a very special guest to help us celebrate: Darby Hinton, who played the son of Daniel Boone on the hit TV series Daniel Boone that ran from 1964 to 1970.

Darby is currently working on a television pilot for a new series called Hinton Living History which sounds right up our alley!

In part one of my interview with Darby we talk about his TV career which started before he could even walk, and landed him in movies like The Son of Flubber, and later on TV shows like Mr. Ed, Wagon, Train, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and The Big Valley. But of course we all know him as Isreal the son of Daniel Boone, played by the wonderful Fess Parker. Darby had a fascinating childhood meeting the likes of Walt Disney, and having Charlton Heston for a godfather.

Then in the next episode we’ll climb the Hinton family tree and I’ll share my research findings with Darby and his lovely wife Shan. Darby’s curiosity about his family tree was piqued during a recent visit to North Carolina where he was shooting a documentary about the real life of Daniel Boone. The Hinton clan’s North Carolina roots run deep and I’ll be adding the names of his direct ancestors to that family tree.

And in the final segment of the interview in episode 62 Darby’s TV resume and new found interest in history merge into an exciting new television show that involves his entire family, called Hinton Living History. Darby and his wife Shan and their fours kids strike out into the heart of America to explore history first hand hoping to inspire families across the country to do the same.

So put on your coon skin cap and tune in to Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 60.