Join Me at Jamboree! Registration Now Open

The 43^rd Annual Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree is now officially open for registration!

For more information and registration click here.

I will be there along with probably about 1700 other genealogists for one of the biggest family history shindigs of the year.

We will all once again be meeting up in Burbank, CA  in June 8 through the 10 of 2012.

This incredibly popular conference will be held at Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel at 2500 Hollywood Way in Burbank, California.

There will be Pre-events such as the Family History Writers Conference and Tech-Trax on Thursday, June 7. 

I'll be hitting the stage on Saturday for three exciting presentations:

Sharing the Joy: Inspiring Ways to Captivate the Non-Genealogists in Your Life
Saturday at 10:00 am
(in techie and non-techie ways - you can hear more about this class in the next Genealogy Gems Podcast episode) Learn creative ways to capture the imagination of your non-historian friends and relatives, while honoring your ancestors. The joy in genealogy isn’t just climbing your family tree, but building bonds with current and future generations, and this class will show you high tech and low tech ways to do just that. You are guaranteed to be inspired!

The Google Earth Scavenger Hunt – Fascinating Family History Fun!
Saturday at 2:00 pm
Getting your family involved in the family history can be challenging, but with Google Earth you will be able to grab their attention and get them willingly involved! In this BRAND NEW CLASS learn how to create a genealogy scavenger hunt in Google Earth that is exciting, interactive and rich with multi-media. Whether your relatives live next door or across the country, everyone can get involved, learn and make discoveries!

10 Ways to Add Volume to Your Family History with Video
Saturday at 3:30 pm
In this BRAND NEW CLASS you will learn ten ways that online video can add volume to your family history. Genealogists can use video in countless ways to learn more about their ancestors, enhance their online presence to attract others researching the same family lines, and create intriguing projects to be shared.

See you there!

Ancestry Posted Iraq War Veterans Social Security Numbers on Website Last Year

Ancestry.com accidentally posted personal information on more than 2,200 veterans on their website last year, potentially exposing veterans to identity theft crimes according to Stars and Stripes.

The U.S. Veterans Administration released the information to Ancestry after the company requested it through the Freedom of Information Act.  The records were supposed to contain only data on deceased veterans, but included information including social security numbers for more than 2,200 living veterans in error.

Read the entire article here at the Stars and Stripes website.

Pre-Order Now Available for Signed Copies of How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers

CLICK HERE to pre-order your signed copy of Everything You Need to Know About...How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers today.

As I was writing the final chapter of my brand new book Everything You Need to Know About...How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers, I knew I wanted to put the book to the test by showing a case study.  I had been pouring my passion for the topic of newspaper research into this new volume for months and had set aside my own genealogy research in the process. Chapter 11 offered an opportunity to pull an item off my own to do list and use it as the guinea pig for an example.

I really wanted to find a record of my Great Grandparents marriage in the newspapers. They were married just a year or two before the Great San Francisco Earthquake rocked the county courthouse.  The official record no longer exists.  Newspapers were my last hope.

As I put my proven process covered in the book through it's paces, I started to get a little nervous.  What if I didn't hit pay dirt?  I had used the steps and worksheets countless times before, but this was a challenging task, and I had a deadline.  All the worry was for nothing.  Not only did I find the small snippet in the classified announcing their application for a marriage license - I found dozens of articles new to me detailing my Great Grandfather's work with the I.O.O.F. to help those suffering after the earthquake, and his management of a recreational baseball team complete with his home address.  I fell in love with newspapers all over again!


With the final chapter written, and the book is in production, I now have the incredible pleasure of announcing that How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers is available for pre-order.  I can't wait for you to get this book in your hands and I'll be signing each and every pre-ordered copy personally.  The book will be officially announced at RootsTech and shipping will begin Feb. 6.  In the meantime, please check out this preview.  Be sure and click "Expand" to have it fill your screen, and turn your speakers on as you will hear an audio version of Chapter 1.  (Isn't technology fun!!)

 More by Lisa Cooke

CLICK HERE to pre-order your signed copy of Everything You Need to Know About...How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers today.

See you in the Funny Papers!

The Scoop on Family History Newspaper Research

What’s Black, and White and READ all over? Your Ancestors in old newspapers!

In fact, your ancestors could be anywhere! Most likely they were mentioned at some point in their own local paper, but they might also show up in a neighboring towns paper, or in a paper located thousands of miles away. 

There's nothing more exciting than finding information in an old newspaper that adds to your family history! But it's certainly not as easy as it sounds. That's why I’ve been working feverishly on a new book (that I can finally tell you about) that is going to give you the answers and resources you need to be successful finding your ancestors in the news. It’s called Everything You Need to Know About Finding Your Family History in Newspapers and that’s exactly what it is. It’s everything you need to know.

In this book I spell out a step-by-step newspaper research process and give you worksheets that you can copy and use again and again. There are tons of websites, search tips, and 3 very cool online tools that you probably aren’t using, but you should be!

Stay tuned because we’ll be doing an official launch very soon, and I’m going to have a very special opportunity for you to get a signed copy of the book first.  While you wait, get revved up for newspaper research by listening to my interview with Tom Kemp of GenealogyBank about what you can find in newspapers in Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode #124

Open publication - Free publishing - More cooke

How NARA Acquires and Stores Records

Have you ever wondered how the U.S. National Archives takes custody of records from federal agencies and makes them accessible to you?  In this new video they explain how they are now using the Electronic Records Archives, or ERA system to accomplish the task. ERA is not only a system for storing electronic records.  NARA is currently transferring permanent textual records on a daily basis using ERA. ERA replaces a paper-based system that could take months

Watch as the Department of the Navy demonstrates how ERA was used to transfer deck logs to the legal and physical custody of the National Archives. 

RootsTech Announces Ancestry.com as Keynote

#RootsTech has just announced  a panel of Ancestry execs as a unique "Keynote" at RootsTech 2012.  Here's the scoop from the RootsTech website:

"From the arduous task of scrolling through microfiche, to bringing family history research online, to taking your family tree with you on the go, Ancestry.com is leading the technology landscape for family history. With technology available to surface the 7 billion records and 29 million family trees on the site, Ancestry.com has the sophisticated engineering and systems in place to take on the challenges of the fast growing family history industry, while also creating an avenue for users to weave search results into an edifying and meaningful family history story.

Get the inside details of the technology behind Ancestry.com from some of their top technology leaders in this don’t-want-to-miss panel discussion, moderated by Tim Sullivan, President and CEO of Ancestry.com. The panel will also feature the following Ancestry.com leaders: Eric Shoup, SVP of Product; Scott Sorensen, VP of Development; Jonathan Young, SVP of Technology; and Ken Chahine, SVP of DNA."

RootsTech Schedule Announced and Last Chance for Discount

It was all over Facebook: Genealogists who didn't attend the #RootsTech conference debut last year lamenting their decision on Facebook and Twitter.

Indeed it turned out to be one of the family history highlights of the 2011.  And RootsTech 2012 is shaping up to be a "must attend" event for anyone interested in tracing their roots.

Thankfully there's still time to get in on the discounted ticket price of $149 (reg. $189), but hurry because it only lasts through January 13, 2012.

Everyone has waited with baited breath to see the class schedule, and it's finally here! It's packed with sessions for technology developers and genealogists alike.  I'll be presenting three sessions:

• Thursday, Feb. 2 at 11:00 Google Earth for Genealogy (a hands-on workshop!)
• Friday, Feb. 3 at 9:45 am Genealogy Blogs and Podcasts 
• Saturday, Feb. 4 at 1:45 pm Inspiring Ways to Captivate the Non-Genealogists in Your Life

I hope to see you in class and please stop by and say at my Genealogy Gems booth in the Expo Hall.  (And thankfully after a bit of an online genealogy uprising online you will have book seller booths to visit too!) You may also see me in the Media Hub where I will once again be interviewing the movers and shakers, as well as attendees to give you an insider's look at this exciting event.

The event is once again being held at the Salt Palace Convention Center just steps from The Family History Library- the greatest genealogy library in the world!  Click here to visit the website to learn more about the venue and nearby hotels.

Start off the New Year with no regrets - attend RootsTech 2012 and see what happens when genealogy and technology converge!