DNA Day -- Websites, Blogs

Third-party Help &/or Tools

http://www.dnaadoption.com/
https://isogg.org/
https://www.gedmatch.com
https://dnagedcom.com/



Good Blogs for DNA all the time...

https://dna-explained.com

http://blog.kittycooper.com/

http://annettekapple.blogspot.com

http://thegeneticgenealogist.com

http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/

https://segmentology.org

https://cruwys.blogspot.com/

http://www.genealogyjunkie.net



Specific pages:

https://genealogyjamboree.blogspot.com/2017/05/genealogy-world-jambofree-friday-june-9.html

https://genealogyjamboree.blogspot.com/2017/05/dna-world-roundtables-jambofree-friday.html

https://dna-explained.com/2017/04/24/which-dna-test-is-best/  --  ***

https://dna-explained.com/2012/10/01/4-kinds-of-dna-for-genetic-genealogy/ --  ***

http://vita-brevis.org/2017/05/through-wringer/

https://segmentology.org/2017/05/07/format-for-ancestrydna-notes/

https://segmentology.org/2017/05/17/amount-of-dna-vs-number-of-matches/

https://www.yourdnaguide.com/  --  her "Quick Guides" are EXCELLENT; look for sale pricing

https://www.legacytree.com/blog/going-beyond-ethnicity-estimates-in-dna-testing?utm_source=aff&utm_medium=kittycooper&utm_campaign=blog

http://blog.kittycooper.com/tag/dna-spreadsheet/

http://blog.kittycooper.com/2017/05/norwegian-or-english-dna-predictions/

http://www.genealogyjunkie.net/x-dna-inheritance-charts.html

https://www.igenea.com/en/mitochondrial-dna

Slide Sources
http://www.businessinsider.com/comparing-genetic-similarity-between-humans-and-other-things-2016-5

https://isogg.org/wiki/Autosomal_DNA_testing_comparison_chart

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_DNA#/media/File:Mitochondrial_dna_lg.jpg

http://www.livescience.com

www.igenea.com

https://www.familytreedna.com

https://dna-explained.com/2017/04/24/which-dna-test-is-best/

https://knappsonian.wordpress.com/category/dna/

http://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2008/12/21/unlocking-the-genealogical-secrets-of-the-x-chromosome/


Three Main Testing Companies

23&Me  --  https://www.23andme.com/
Ancestry  --  https://www.ancestry.com/
FamilyTreeDNA  --  https://www.familytreedna.com

Things to Do Now

• Record what you already know (paper or electronic) or find that box in the attic ...  Work on your pedigree chart &/or family group sheets
• Talk with the eldest family member or your 'family historian' or someone else
• Read something about genealogy in general...educate yourself!
• Try a free or trial version of a computer-based (software) database AND/OR try a cloud-based platform for organizing your family tree

Useful Links

Links

LA County Library  --  see the Heritage Quest post on this blog for instructions

FamilySearch
familysearch.org

Chronicling America --  Library of Congress historic newspapers
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

Bureau of Land Management Land Records
https://glorecords.blm.gov

DAR Genealogical Research Databases
http://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search/?Tab_ID=1

Cyndi's List
http://www.cyndislist.com

USGenWeb Project
http://usgenweb.org

WorldGenWeb Project
http://worldgenweb.org

One-Step webpages by Stephen Morse  -- censuses, immigration, and more
stevemorse.org

GENUKI  UK & Ireland Genealogy
http://www.genuki.org.uk

RootsChat  (predominantly UK and places they emigrated)
http://www.rootschat.com

Genealogy Guys podcasts  -- oodles of free podcasts on genealogy
http://www.genealogyguys.com

Find A Grave  --  see post in this blog

http://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/genealogy --  Ellis Island immigration

https://thegenealogycorner.wordpress.com/2017/03/22/understanding-spanish-surnames/


"The Big Four"

FamilySearch.org (free)

Ancestry.com (subscription service with some free features; available free at FamilySearch centers, select public libraries, and select organization libraries)

MyHeritage.com (subscription service with some free features)

FindMyPast.com (subscription service with some free features; available free at FamilySearch centers)



Software Products 

Cyndi's List section on software products and reviews
http://www.cyndislist.com/software/

Legacy Family Tree  (PC)  --  commercial database website with lots of freebies, especially webinars (
http://www.familytreewebinars.com/upcoming-webinars.php

Roots Magic
http://www.rootsmagic.com

Ancestral Quest
http://www.ancquest.com

Reunion (Mac only)
http://www.leisterpro.com


Cloud-based Tree Sites

Commercial sites with various $$ options and combinations of "free" options:

Ancestry.com
MyHeritage.com
FindMyPast.com

Other options

WeRelate -- in cooperation with Allen County Public Library; one unified tree?
WikiTree
Geni.com (now owned by MyHeritage)
FamilySearch -- one unified tree; now has 'personal tree' option?

Accessing Heritage Quest through the LACo Library

 Researchers can use the Los Angeles County Library website for genealogical research from home and for free (our tax dollars hard at work) !  You must have a library card and the number that's on it: the 13-digit number that begins with the four one's.  Even if you are already signed into your library account, you will still need to use your number again at the separate databases.

First, go to the main library website.  It looks something like this:

2.  Find the "Research" link in the top bar and click on it.

3.  That click brings you to the Databases & Online Resources page.  There are lots of great resources here.  Some are more likely to be of use for genealogy than others.  Several of the newspapers there are useful for research in the last 30+ years.  Explore those later on your own.  But the red arrow here points out the biggie for genealogy, cleverly titled "Genealogy." 

4.  Clicking on Genealogy bring you to this page.  Now, click on the link for Heritage Quest, shown here with a red arrow:

7.  This is the portal to Heritage Quest.  Type your 13-digit library account number into the 'Barcode' box and then click on 'Connect." (Your library password is not used at all.)

8.  Clicking on <Connect> brings up the Heritage Quest main index.  You may find the Census section and the Books section of most use when you start your research. Census research will be our main topic in Week Two of the workshop, so getting in and playing around before next week might be helpful.

Using Find A Grave

• Over 160,000,000 graves/interments, primarily USA but is worldwide
• Not-so-recently purchased by Ancestry.com, but not yet fully indexed there
• Free site, but there are ads to work around.  You can pay $5 to remove ads from an individual memorial

FYI -- Others such sites include:

• Billion Graves  -- about 10 million graves?; known for mobile app
• Interment.net 
• Deceased Online  --  UK; $ component

How can it support your genealogy research?

1. finding and verifying ancestors
2. record keeping
3. finding researchers / cousins

Back to Find A Grave...

Home Page  --  Famous, FAQ, forums 

To sign-up, on the home page, click on <Not a member? Join Now!>
searching free and not signed in 

or, I can sign in...

• virtual cemeteries
• add graves
• link individuals
• add info

Finding and Using County Histories & Mugbooks

For the origins of these books and more info, see
http://ancestories1.blogspot.com/2012/08/tuesdays-tip-county-histories-and.html


Importance of LOCATION

• geography: terrain, adjacent to
• gotta see historical maps!
• history: groups, early settlers, changes in jurisdictions/boundaries

First: find out that books exist
Second: find where/how you can read it

Not all are online! 

1. US GenWeb

• A county's content pages may not be the same as their "archives" site

• <Search> on a site may or may not search the entire site

               2.  Worldcat …   & then use Inter Library Loan through the South Whittier Library

• [but many of the county histories are reference books and will not travel]

               3.  Also try:

• libraries: state, county, towns, groups/churches

• regional?

• historical society?

• genealogy society?

• not all are (effectively) online

Once you find a book, remember:
If you only search the index of a county history, you have missed a lot!

• title pages -- yes, there may be more than one in a single book
• forematter
• table of contents
• multiple indexes with info or separate prefaces OR even a separate book!
• history of a region or area of the county --  may not be fully integrated, but may have categories to a timeline/discussion
• do NOT limit your search by stated years

Not Proof…just clues!

• read locale history thoroughly
• read entries for neighbors and family -- often more data there!
• evaluate carefully
• use info to find primary sources
• triangulate data from independent sources

LACo Library resource:  HeritageQuest
      -- a library tool available through the Los Angeles County library system
      --[step-by-step instructions in the Workshop webpages]



4 Additional Online Options  --  at the library or at home

• Google Books  --  http://books.google.com
• HathiTrust Digital Library  --  http://www.hathitrust.org
• FamilySearch  --  https://familysearch.org  …  <Search> … <Books> … and you land here  [you can find books here, but depending on the copyright agreement, you may have to go to a local Family Search Center and use their computers] //  some of these load very slowly at home
• Internet Archive  --  https://archive.org

Nothing like holding a book in your hands…

• Los Angeles Public Library -- downtown; basement; catalog online but not in WorldCat 
• Southern California Genealogy Society -- Burbank; large collection; online catalog
• Huntington Beach Public Library  --  good collection; mostly in WorldCat
• and others from WorldCat...

What to do to Solve a Problem

The Brick Wall Metaphor
[the following excerpted from Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques, p. xv]
"…get up close to the wall and examine (it) in detail, checking to see if there are any weaknesses you can push through.
…with a sledgehammer…keep striking the wall as hard as you can…this might take a while.
…examine the ends of the wall, and see if there's a way to travel around it.
…describe your brick wall to each person that you encounter.  Maybe someone else has an idea…
… get a large number of people to help you all at the same time. … forming a human pyramid that you can climb…over the wall.
…return home and bring back a ladder.
...Hire a demolition expert who has years of experience…
…follow one of the either paths, and return to this brick wall later…maybe it will have crumbled a bit or you'll have some additional ideas…"

Use Best Practices
Read more about genealogy in general: books, blogs, magazines/journals, websites

Read more about developing your skills. 
Here are some examples: the first 3 are in the County Library catalog.  The last three three can be obtained through Inter-Library Loan, but #6 could be difficult.

1. The Genealogist's Companion & Sourcebook  by Emily Croom  (1st or 2nd Ed.)
2. Mastering Genealogical Proof by Thomas W. Jones
3. Advanced Genealogical Research Techniques by George Morgan & Drew Smith
4. The Family Tree Problem Solver by Marsha Hoffman Rising (1st Ed.) [2nd Ed. co-authored by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack]
5. Becoming an Excellent Genealogist: Essays on Professional Research Skills edited by Meyerink, Tolman, & Gulbrandsen
6. Pitfalls and Possibilities in Family History Research by Pauline Litton

Get organized

• have a database
• filing system
• research log

Have a clear goal

Most importantly, what is your specific problem?

• Not specific: "I want to know all there is to know about Fred Zellnikoff."

• Specific: "Who are the parents of the Norton Bates who married Betsey Sweet in Essex, Chittenden, Vermont in 1816?"

Review all the info you already have on the question.  (Seriously consider throwing everything you have on Norton Bates up in the air and reading everything as you re-organize it all!)  What are your sources? … Is there any info you really should verify before starting this search? 

Talk it over with someone, even a non-genealogist is ok.

Write up what you have and what you want as though you are sending it to a professional researcher…you might be surprised by what you find in the process!

Location, location, location!
http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2014/06/more-sources-than-you-can-imagine-five.html

More Sources than you can imagine -- Five Steps to their Discovery by James Tanner.  Excerpt below:

"Step Two -- Begin your search for records, not for people.
Too many inexperienced genealogical researchers start immediately looking for names and dates rather than understanding what kinds of records might be the most useful given the times and places where events may have occurred in an ancestor's life."

Read more about the locale where they came from and the locale where you think they should be.  Have you looked at all the county histories in both areas? In all the areas their children (not just your ancestor) moved to?

What kind of records exist in the target locale?

1. Family Search Research WIKI -- https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Main_Page
2. US GenWeb -- http://usgenweb.org

Local historical society &/or genealogy society               email list, websites, blogs
County historical &/or genealogy societies                      publications
State historical &/or genealogy societies                          benefits ...


Make a Timeline

FAN techniques

• Family [all siblings, all kids, all spouses…]
• Associates [travel/migration companions, deeds, witnesses, clergy, same occupation/boss, …]
• Neighbors [20 families both directions on censuses; census "boarders" most often related…]