Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

Time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

 It’s Saturday Night again – 

Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision. 

1)  Who are your favorite genealogy researchers, speakers or writers?  Who do you learn from?  Please list ten or more genealogists who contribute to your genealogy education and experience through books, magazines, videos, podcasts, social media, websites, blogs, webinars, seminars, conferences, presentations, workshops, meetings, other ways or venues, etc.  

Who do I learn from? To answer this question, I also need to think about my learning style. While my husband will search for a YouTube video on how to do something, I search for written directions.

When it comes to improving my knowledge of genealogical research, the same is true. I tend to prefer the written vs the video format.

That said, there is a video format that I’ve found very helpful: Special Interest Groups. I have been a regular participant in Topeka Genealogical Society‘s Computer Interest Group for the past few years. While their meetings conflict with my volunteer hours at the Nemaha County Historical Society, weather allowed me to pariticpate in TGS’s recent SIG: Brick Wall Research. Because I thoroughly enjoyed this Brick Wall SIG and learned a lot, I’m going to try and rearrange my schedule to participate in future meetings.

Participating in these SIGs was not my first experience with learning via ZOOM. That honor would go to Mondays with Myrt. Participating in Mondays with Myrt exposed me to a variety of techniques and guaranteed that I kept up to date with genealogy news.

So how do I keep up now that Dear Myrtle has retired? I read genealogy blogs. Each morning after reading a Kansas newspaper, I use Feedly to browse thru genealogy blogs, reading those of interest to me. I have over 240 blogs in my Feedly account. I also belong to quite a few genealogy and history groups on Facebook. While I don’t spend a lot of time on Facebook, I do see posts that help me learn about regional resources.

While I gravitate to the ‘written’ word, I at times use videos. Even though I am subscribed to quite a few genealogy related YouTube channels, I tend to watch genealogy related videos when I’m seeking an answer to a specific question. My YouTube statistics would likely identify GenealogyTV and Ancestry’s Barefoot Genealogist as the channels I watch the most often. Another source that I turn to at times is Legacy Tree Webinars.

Over the years, I’ve found that genealogy conferences are a great way to learn and to connect. I’ve been a ‘Not at RootsTech’ participant for quite a few years. (RootsTech 2024 Registration) I really enjoy this conference becaust it

• provides exposure to new ideas,
• provides exposure to well known genealogists and
• allows me to connect with others via Relatives at Rootstech.

While it has been quite a few years since I took a genealogy related ‘course’, I will be starting a yDNA course offered by Your DNA Guide starting on Monday.

So who are my favorites?

• Your DNA Guide – Diahann Southard
• Genetic Genealogist – Blaine Bettinger
• GenealogyTV – Constance Knox
• Barefoot Genealogist – Crista Cowan
• Legal Genealogist – Judy Russell
• Evidence Explained – Elizabeth Shown Mills
• Genea-Musings – Randy Seaver
• Archivist – Michele Simmons Lewis (on Facebook)
• Genealogy Bargains – Thomas MacEntee
• Dave Nicolson – Crawford yDNA Project Administrator
• Empty Branches on the Family Tree – Linda Stufflebeam
• Genealogy a la Carte – Gail Dever
• Family History Fanatics – Andy and Devon Noel Lee
• Ancestor Hunt – Kenneth Marks
• Genealogy’s Star
• Kentucky – Tennesssee Research Associates – Mark Lowe
• Genealogy Tip of the Day – Michael John Neill
• Climbing My Family Tree – Marian B. Wood