Sharing - Free Charts! Fan, Pedigree, and a Name Cloud

This is an example of the Fan Chart from the: BYU-Idaho Family History Center Blog

TreeSeek has partnered with FamilySearch and Geni.com to provide users with a number of free charts including a fan chart, a few types of pedigree charts, and a name cloud. Click on TreeSeek.com to try it out.

The home page looks like this:

Click on "My Trees" or the "Start Now!" button to go to this page:

From here you will login. Choose to login to either your FamilySearch account or Geni account. (Currently no other online trees are supported.)

Click on "Create Tree". You'll be brought to a page where you choose the person you would like to be the start of your tree...usually yourself, one of your parents, or one of your children. Then click on "Create Data Set". It may take a few minutes to generate. Then you will see this page:

In the dropdown box above the "Create Chart" button, you can choose from three different size pedigree charts, a 9 generation fan chart, or a "name cloud". After selecting the type chart you want, click on "Create Chart". A box will open that allows you to either "open" or "save". You may save it to your computer and then print it. My print box allows me to choose either one page, a poster, or a tiny image on a page (multiple and booklet...neither of which are very practical). Make your choice and click on "print".

Here's an example of the name cloud:

The name cloud should be printed from your browser's "print" option.

TreeSeek is in Beta. For this reason, you may see the site change over time, or there may be a glitch or two. Click on "Give Feedback" to let the TreeSeek people know what you think!

Technology - New Indexing App for iOS and Android

FamilySearch is keeping up with techies and people on the go by offering an app for FamilySearch Indexing on iOS (Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad) and Android operating systems. Download the app at the Apple App Store or the Android Market. Click here to read more about it...and then get it on your phone. As Mary Jane Saylor, a fellow genealogist friend, said, "It's more addicting than Angry Birds!"

This screen shot shows the snippet view from which you index a name. You can also tap to have the whole page opened on your screen. Be sure to read the guide before you get started. It's simple to use, though, and quite fun!

Sharing Family History - Word Search Puzzle

A simple way to share some information with all ages in your family is to create a word search puzzle. Choose themes like "Ancestors' Surnames" or "Occupations of Your Ancestors" and make it fun for your family to meet their ancestors. 

Go to DiscoveryEducation.com's PuzzleMaker and choose Word Search to create something like this:

Ancestors Occupations and Avocations

H R C L M C D R A D C X T T O A

M P R U E B A N F F O P V W S U

L T Z E C K N R X A T H I O I A

N Y X N H N R U P N T Z N R W R

R S J Q A C Y E A E O J O F X E

Z F K M N U A I D H N N T A D M

U W C Q I E R E I N M T A F R R

A P G T C A T G T O I R E G E A

K C A J R E B M U L L B Z R K F

U V U B Q G I L C W L K K P A G

S C I B Q L D R I B W T A O M P

K L N A M E R I F O O O P B O U

K M C P R H F K T A R V C D T B

W P F V R Q V D P L K Z B U U I

L V N D C W Q I D Y E Y F G A M

S H O E M A K E R D R N W G X A

AUTOMAKER

BOOKBINDER

CARPENTER

COTTONMILLWORKER

FARMER

FIREMAN

IRONMOULDER

LIBRARIAN

LUMBERJACK

MECHANIC

SHOEMAKER

TEACHER

You can print directly from your browser or copy and paste it into another application like Microsoft Word. Solutions can be printed, too. 

At Discovery Education's website you'll see other puzzle options. The simplest is this word search, but give others a try. 

You can also do a web search for other websites offering free puzzles. Just check to make sure it's really free (or not too pricey for you) before investing a lot of time into creating a puzzle you may have to pay for in order to print.

Blogs - They Can Help Your Reseach

The word "blog" is short for web log...a "log" that you keep on the "web", or Internet. Blogs can be compared to newsletters, magazines, or emails. A person with knowledge about a particular subject can "post" information in a blog. 

Information is added to a blog with the most recent post at the top of the page. You can scroll down through the blog to read the posts, clicking at the bottom of the page to reveal more posts. Sometimes there is a "blog archive", a "search box", or a list of  "labels" on a blog that can help you find content you're interested in reading.

By reading genealogy blogs you can learn new methods to research, record, and share your family history. Sometimes blogs have links to other websites or to other blogs that can help you learn more.

Here is a list of a few blogs that might help you with research:

Genealogy Roots Blog - http://genrootsblog.blogspot.com/

Renee's Genealogy Blog - http://rzamor1.blogspot.com/

The [Official] Ancestry.com blog - http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/

The Unoffical Blog about Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org - http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com/

Genealogy Insider (Family Tree Magazine) - http://blog.familytreemagazine.com/insider/?p_pagealias=genealogyinsider

You can do a Google search to find more blogs. Just enter something like "Top Genealogy Blogs" into the search box. (No quotation marks necessary.)

If you like a blog you're reading, you can click on "Follow" or "Subscribe". You can then set up a "dashboard" or a "reader" to read new posts without having to go back to the blog repeatedly. All of the blogs you "follow" or "subscribe to" are stored neatly in one place so that you can read new posts on all of them without having to click around the Internet.

This is what the "Subscibe" button often looks like. It often says "RSS Feed"

Sometimes it looks like this.

The arrow is pointing to the "follow" button that can be found on some blogs. It's a bit different than a subscription, but will still create an area where you can read many blogs in one place.

Get in touch with me if you'd like to set up a "Reader" or a "Dashboard". In less than 30 minutes you can be reading blogs like a pro!

Help Index the 1940 US Census

Watch this short video and then click on the link below to be taken to the site where you can sign up to help index The 1940 US Census.

Click The 1940 US Census to sign up to index the 130+ million names of the individuals enumerated in the 1940 Census. Who do you know that's in it?

We'll try indexing in class so that you can be ready when the census is released on April 2, 2012.