RootsTech 2019--Day 4

Day 4 of RootsTech 2019.  Here is my take on Saturday's happenings from the viewpoint of someone who is #NotAtRootsTech

Saturday's Live Stream

Trace the Story of Immigrant Ancestors in 3 Steps (Power Hour)-- D. Joshua Taylor explained the importance of knowing the context of your immigrant's arrival into the country.  Ashley gave us some great ideas on where to search for the customs passenger and immigration lists. "Don't be afraid to use wildcards in your searches of the online databases."  Fred talked to us about the naturalization process and records and how they have evolved over time.

Examining Your DNA Matches with DNA Painter--Jonny Perl
Really enjoyed Jonny Perl's session.  Loved that he showed his earliest version of what would eventually become DNApainter.  He explained the process of painting Chromosome match segment data and also gave a tour of the site.  My hope is that many of my AncestryDNA matches will watch this and want to use this great tool. They will need to upload to a site which has the Chromosome browser so they can get the segment data which is not available at AncestryDNA

Saturday General Session: Jake Shimabukuro
Blown away by Jake Shimabukuro's talent.  Who doesn't like to sing along?  Loved it!
The Winner of the RootsTech FilmFest '19 was Enge Van Wagoner's "My Name is..."

Leading with Science at 23andme
Sarah Laskey spoke about the science behind the 23andme health studies.
Genetic Data + Survey Answers = Discoveries

The Silent Language of the Stones: Reading Gravestones through Symbols and Carvings --Joy Neighbors
This session contained so much information.  She talked about the types of stone used and gave the time period in which each type was popular. This brought back some good memories of my own Cemetery touring. Joy is the author of "The Family Tree Cemetery Field Guide."

Saturday's Hottest News
The announcement of the winner of RootsTech FilmFest and the date for RootsTech 2020 which will be February 26–29 were the top news of the day.

A big THANK YOU to all who helped make RootsTech and #NotAtRootsTech possible.  Be sure and check out the recorded sessions posted at RootsTech.org

RootsTech 2019--Day 3

Day 3 of RootsTech 2019.  Here is my take on Friday's happenings from the viewpoint of someone who is #NotAtRootsTech

Friday's Live Stream

Why and How to Put Yourself into Your Family History--Curt Witcher, Amy Johnson Crow, Scott Fisher  What a moving presentation.  Amy shared some of her family stories and reiterated the importance of recording our stories.  "Experiencing stories alter our brains and make us better individuals," said Curt Witcher.  Scott Fisher gave us some great points to consider when planning the interview(Who? What? When?)  The Q & A portion made me cry.  I was reminded of my Grandmother when an attendee asked what to do when interviewing a family member who has Alzheimer's or dementia.

Essential Considerations for DNA Evidence--Blaine Bettinger
I LOVED this session!  Blaine covered so many things that we should consider when we are evaluating our DNA matches--Confirmation Bias, Tree Completeness, Pile Up Regions, Small Segment Matches, Segment Frequency, Total Shared DNA.  Catch this when they post today's sessions!  You won't be sorry!

Friday General Session: Saroo Brierley
What an AMAZING story!

Getting the Most Out of Billions of Records on MyHeritage SuperSearch--Mike Mansfield
Mike introduced us to the tree Sync feature between the FamilySearch tree and MyHeritage tree and how it was handling exceptions and conflicts in data, especially as it pertained to LDS researchers and maintaining the integrity of the FamilySearch tree.  He showed examples of the tree features and MyHeritage's SuperSearch.  He also discussed the new tool Theory of Family Relativity that premiered this week.

Discover Your Japanese Ancestors--Valerie Elkins
Valerie explained that while the Japanese are excellent record keepers they value their privacy.  When researching Japanese ancestry you need to understand the Japanese culture Names are laid out differently.  The Japanese have 3 different alphabets and use a different calendar.  They also have male heir adoptions and she offered an explanation of that.  The Koseki is a Japanese family registry.  Why did my Colonial Americans not have those?  Very informative presentation.

The Research Road Map: Your Path to Success--Amy Johnson Crow
We need research goals and a question we want to answer.  "Phrase it in the form of a question.  Pretend you are on Jeopardy." Review what you already have....your notes and your sources.  Identify holes in your research or opportunities.  Use a Timeline.  Evaluate your sources.  Is there a better source available now?  Amy gave a really great explanation of sources, information, and evidence and the two types of each of these. Be sure to check out her genealogy podcast, Generations Cafe.  It's available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify.  She is a wonderful speaker and above all an inspiring teacher.

Friday's Hottest News
MyHeritage announced that they are donating an additional 5000 kits to DNA Quest, a project they initiated which is helping adoptees to find their biological parents.  All of today's sessions were great and my news-feed was buzzing with people talking about the new AutoCluster tool at MyHeritage as well as the new Ancestry tools.

RootsTech 2019--Day 2

Day 2 of RootsTech 2019.  Here is my take on Thursday's happenings from the viewpoint of someone who is #NotAtRootsTech.

Thursday's Live Stream

Making the Leap—Becoming a Professional Genealogist (Power Hour) --Luana Darby, Valerie Elkins, and Anne Teerlink  If you are thinking of going professional as a genealogist, this session was so FULL of great information.  Make sure you download the handout.  This presentation made me so glad that I have never wanted to go Pro. Not that I don't aspire to have my research at the professional level.  So glad they are now streaming the Q & A for the sessions today.

Finally! German Church Records and How to Use Them on FamilySearch--Trish Melander
Trish told the story of how the German Church Records were saved by Paul Langheinrich.  These are on FamilySearch and she showed how to navigate to them either using Records or Catalog.  I also enjoyed the case study by Karl Bodamer.  Loved the use of the Geogen site.  This has given me several ideas on where to search when working on my daughter's paternal lines.

Thursday General Session: Patricia Heaton--It was fun hearing from Patricia Heaton.  She's a funny lady.  She was so excited about her DNA reveal.

What You Don't Know about Ancestry (Sponsored by Ancestry)--Crista Cowan
YouTube feed was not working on this Livestream but I did manage view via the RootsTech.org homepage.  I think everyone wanted to hear what Crista had to say and that broke the feed. She talked about the new tools at Ancestry:  MyTreeTags™, DNA Matching List. and ThruLines™. ThruLines have replaced DNA Circles although you can still view your circles at this time if you have DNA tested.


Heirloom, Documentation or Junk: What to Keep or Toss--Janet Hovorka
What's important to keep? Preserving your personality.  Who should inherit specific items? Organize and explain what you can now. Preserve your digital materials. Who will you pass the torch on to...who will best preserve your precious items'  She also brought up the need for a Digital Will.  Definitely, something to think about.


Perilous Assumptions: Revisiting Those First Finds--Kris Rzepczynski
Love the case studies especially the one of the letter found in the WWI records.  An amazing account!  I've been researching for almost 30 years.  I need to revisit ALL of my earlier research.  Sometimes we build our own brick walls..


Thursday's Hottest News
The official announcement of the new Ancestry Tools.  Also monitoring social media and genetic genealogy Facebook group members' post as they worked with the new tools was insightful.  The announcement that GeneticAffairs' AutoClusters would be coming to MyHeritage was officially made and that option appeared on my account at MyHeritage this morning.

Link to RootsTech 2019 Day 1  --

RootsTech 2019--Day 1

Today was the first day of RootsTech 2019.  Although I'm not physically there are many ways to participate.  Here is my take on Wednesday from the viewpoint of someone who is #NotAtRootsTech.


Wednesday's Live Stream

What’s New at FamilySearch?--Ron Tanner(FamilySearch International) talked about the exciting additions at FamilySearch as well as some new tools in the works.  I like the expanded fan chart(see mine below)  Also high-speed possible duplicates.  He also talked about an upcoming feature which will allow corrections to indexed images.  This is something that has been needed for a LONG time and I'm so glad to hear that's in the works.


Hear Them Sing! Social History and Family Narrative--Rebecca Whitman Koford CG, CGL
What a great reminder of something I need to do more of--write the stories of my ancestors.  She talked about using timelines to pull the history together.  I LOVE timelines.  They are such a great help in our research.

Uncovering Family Stories with British and Irish Historic Newspapers--Myko Clelland(FindMyPast)
Lots of great information on wildcard searching in this session.  Excellent list of the different types of articles in which you may find ancestors.  Get the App and download the handout!  It contains links to Newspaper sites, some of which are free.

Connecting Your DNA Matches--Diahan Southard
Great outline of what a genetic network is and how to create them.  Also, some tips about how to search for ICW(in-common-with)ancestors.  She also included a bit about the new features ThruLines(at Ancestry) and MyHeritage's Theory of Relativity.  I loved that she gave examples of why these are HINTs.and some situations where the suggestion is wrong.  I always enjoy Diahan Southard's presentations.


Wednesday's Hottest News

Today's hottest news--Genetic Network tools from MyHeritage(Theory of Relativity) and Ancestry(ThruLines).  Ancestry also has several other tools including TreeTags and AncestryDNA Custom Groups

The most exciting news for those with African American ancestry beyond the new tools for use with DNA research would be the donation of $2 Million dollars by the LDS church to the International African American Museum.


I also love the Extended Fan Chart mentioned in Ron Tanner's presentation.

My personal favorite announcement was that the GeneticAffairs' Autocluster tool will now be part of the MyHeritage Tools.  A VERY busy day!.

RootsTech: In Person, Live-Streaming or thru Social Media--something for everyone

More Badge Styles Available at
The Zombie Genealogist's Blog

Rootstech 2018 runs February 28th - March 3.  If, like me, you can't be there in person, don't fret.   Several of the presentations will be Live Streaming.  Check the Schedule and also be sure to check the #RootsTech and #NotAtRootsTech hashtags on social media to keep up with all the happenings.    Also check out LDC: The Zombie Genealogist 's  #NotAtRootsTech Survival Guide 2018 Edition    Lots of GREAT ideas and there are badges.  💖💖