Saturday, September 28, 2019

Three More Days Until The Genealogy Guys' Big Announcement!

It's only three more days until The Genealogy Guys make their big announcement. October 1st is the big day!

Mark your calendar to watch The Genealogy Guys Blog, The Genealogy Guys Podcast & Genealogy Connection Facebook page, our Twitter feed, and genealogy media outlets all over! We'll even have a special podcast to mark the event!

George and Drew are very excited and know you will be too!


Wednesday, September 25, 2019

RootsMagic Shares Insights into the Upcoming RootsMagic Version 8


The much anticipated release of Version 8 of the RootsMagic software is generating a great deal of excitement. Michael Booth has been posting insights about what's coming at the RootsMagic blog. You'e sure to want to read his posts at the RootsMagic Blog at http://blog.rootsmagic.com/.

The Road to RootsMagic 8 (Part 1): Easier than Ever  at http://blog.rootsmagic.com/?p=3245




Mike is sure to be posting additional articles about the new software, so be sure to check the blog frequently for these insights and other interesting articles.

MyHeritage Sessions fron MyHeritage LIVE in Amsterdam Are Available FREE!


We're delighted to announce that sessions from MyHeritage LIVE 2019 in Amsterdam are now available on MyHeritage Education to watch online for free!
You can view the sessions with videos of the presenters and a close up of their slides.
For a full list of sessions, lectures, and panels, read our blog post.
2019-09-24 16_09_49-MyHeritage Live Recap on Vimeo
In addition, here is a fun recap video featuring some highlights from the conference. This clip is a must-see!
We invite you to share the informative lectures and the highlights video with your readers, followers, members, and friends.
Best regards,The MyHeritage LIVE team

Friday, September 20, 2019

Yearbooks Can Reveal Great Clues

Academic yearbooks or annuals from public schools and universities can provide a wealth of information and clues about your ancestors and their associates. They can provide photographs of the people and of the environment in which your family members spent a significant period of their formative years. You can see the buildings, the instructors, the students and the ways they dressed and wore their hair, school and/or athletic uniforms, the various groups and their activities, and the individual “biographical sketches” that accompany the seniors’ class photographs. These bios may often contain cryptic or mysterious references to school-year hi-jinx and adventures. However, they are always interesting for their references to the activities and organizations in which the student participated. They often include the aspirations for the future that the student has projected.


In addition, you may learn about ancestors who were faculty at the school, college, or other institution. For example, I recently found an entry for my great-uncle, John Allen "Jack" Morgan at Middlebury College in Vermont from 1917 that significantly expanded my knowledge of his educational background, his academic employment, his professional affiliations, and the beginning of his academic employment at the college. The photo from the period was also a great addition to my collection. What a great find!

Source: Ancestry.com Yearbook Collection

Yearbooks may be among family possessions or in the libraries for the institution attended. Used bookstores may be a source for locating them. There also are digitized yearbook collections online at Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, Classmates.com, and other websites.

Here are some other images that I found in about twenty minutes in the Ancestry.com Yearbook Collection.

Mary Allen Morgan, my father's sister, at Peace Institute in Raleigh, NC, in 1925

Samuel Thomas "Tom" Morgan, my father, at Davidson College in 1927

Sara Edith Weatherly, my mother, at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC, in 1929

 
In addition to portrait photographs, there may be a biographical notes about the individual's interests and activities while in school. Other photographs of people involved in sports, academic clubs, dramatic activities, and casual cavorting can add great insight and context.

Don't overlook yearbook collections in your research. They can truly add a great deal to your understanding of your ancestors' lives.


The Clock is Ticking Until Our Announcement on October 1st!


The Genealogy Guys are soooooo excited! The clock is ticking until our big announcement on October 1st. We know you will be excited too.

Be sure to mark your calendar and read this blog, our Facebook page, The Genealogy Squad Facebook page, our Twitter feed, and genealogy media outlets everywhere.
The Genealogy Guys Podcast, the Genealogy Connection podcast,
and The Genealogy Guys Blog are productions of
Aha! Seminars, Inc. ®

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Limited Time: RootsMagic users save 50% off MyHeritage

Just received from Rootsmagic.

Limited Time: RootsMagic users save 50% off MyHeritage

If you've ever clicked one of the little light bulbs next to the name of someone in your RootsMagic file, you are familiar with the wonderful world of WebHints.  With WebHints, RootsMagic can automatically search your favorite genealogy record sites including MyHeritage, Ancestry, FamilySearch, and Findmypast.

Get 50% off the MyHeritage Data subscription

If you aren't already familiar with MyHeritage, they offer some amazing tools and record collections which can help you overcome genealogical brick walls. And MyHeritage is currently offering RootsMagic users a 50% discount on their data subscription*. But this limited-time offer expires Sunday, September 22, 2019.

People ask me all the time if a particular site is worth it. MyHeritage has billions of historical records, vital records from 48 countries, millions of newspapers going back to 1803, and much more!  They even have a huge collection of US yearbooks that I found my mom's 7th grade picture in (from 75 years ago)!  But since everyone's ancestors are different, I always say that the only way to decide if a site is worth it is to see if it has information that is useful to you personally.

If you are using RootsMagic 7 but haven't tried the WebHints, click the little light bulb on some of your family members that you might not have done as much research on, and check out the MyHeritage hints.  If they look useful, you can click here to take advantage of the discount. Remember, this special offer expires on September 22, 2019.

The Data plan gives you full access to all historical records on MyHeritage, including:
  • 10 billion international historical records: birth, marriage, death, military, immigration, and census records
  • Automatic Record Matches to your family tree
  • Record Detective™ finds new records that are related to the records you are viewing
  • Photo Discoveries™ reveal photos of your ancestors automatically
  • Vital records from 48 countries
  • Millions of historical newspapers dating back to 1803
  • New yearbook collections from the U.S.
  • Exclusive collections available only on MyHeritage
  • One billion records added on average every year
  • Priority customer support via phone and email 24/7
Save 50% off a full-year data subscription now!
*Offer valid for NEW MyHeritage or BASIC MyHeritage users only, valid through September 22, 2019.

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

ONLINE LIBRARY PATHFINDERS

The term ‘pathfinder’ refers to finding aids created by libraries, and often these include guides to genealogical materials found in their facilities. There are also pathfinder research guides for specific geographic locations, record types, and other topics. 
Some of these are available in printed form when you visit a library. However, you'll find that a wealth of these are also found on many libraries' websites, usually in PDF format. These can be conveniently accessed from your home during times when the library is not open. They can help you learn in advance of a research visit what materials a library holds in their collections so that you can prepare yourself for a more effective research trip. 
However, don't overlook the fact that they can also be collected from multiple library websites to form a convenient and inexpensive personal reference library.


Sunday, September 8, 2019

Big Announcement Coming on October 1st!


The Genealogy Guys will be making a 
major announcement on October 1st.

Watch this blog and our Facebook page!





Saturday, September 7, 2019

New MyHeritage Education Center Announced in MyHeritage LIVE 2019

This announcement was received from MyHeritage today.



MyHeritage Education
We have great news! During MyHeritage LIVE, our annual MyHeritage user conference, we just announced MyHeritage Education: a new online resource center for enhancing your understanding of the MyHeritage platform and to help you make the most of your family history research.
Available in English, German, Dutch, French, Swedish, and Norwegian, the new Education Center includes loads of learning materials that will help you learn about every facet of MyHeritage. Articles, how-to videos, and webinars cover a wide variety of topics, including plenty of tips for everyone from beginner family history enthusiasts to seasoned genealogists.
We will be adding new languages in the future, and we will be constantly be adding new content in each language.
Whether you’re a new MyHeritage user, just starting your journey into family history research or a genealogy veteran, MyHeritage Education is sure to benefit you and help you make the most of your MyHeritage experience. 
Read more about this exciting new site in the blog post, and feel free to share it with all the world. 
Don’t forget to follow the MyHeritage LIVE live stream throughout the conference on the MyHeritage LIVE website or the MyHeritage Facebook page

Daniel HorowitzGenealogy Expert

MyHeritage Acquires Promethease and SNPedia

The following announcement was made today at MyHeritage LIVE in Amsterdam.



Today we are announcing MyHeritage’s acquisition of SNPedia and Promethease, through acquiring the company that owned and operated them, River Road Bio, expanding our intellectual property in medical genetics. This marks our first consumer health acquisition and our 10th acquisition since MyHeritage’s founding. Promethease will be made free through the end of 2019 and SNPedia will remain a free wiki resource for academic and non-profit use.

SNPedia

SNPedia.com was launched in 2006 and is a wiki that contains a broad, community-curated knowledge base linking between genetic variants and medical conditions, as well as traits, citing over 30,000 peer-reviewed scientific publications. It is the primary encyclopedia and de facto go-to resource for information about genetic markers and has evolved to cover 110,413 genetic variants. SNPedia operates under a Creative Commons license, wherein it is a free resource for academic and non-commercial use, with only MyHeritage having the right to utilize it commercially. MyHeritage plans to maintain SNPedia as a free resource under the same terms and will utilize this comprehensive knowledge base to enhance future versions of MyHeritage’s DNA health products.

Promethease

Promethease.com is a literature retrieval service. It allows consumers to upload their raw DNA data (from services such as Ancestry.com, 23andMe, and others) and automatically compare it to SNPedia to see relevant scientific findings regarding their genome. The Promethease service currently costs $12, and offers consumers the option to store their DNA data. Since its launch in 2008, Promethease has become one of the world’s most popular consumer health services by allowing customers to obtain information based on their unique genetic makeup. Following this announcement, MyHeritage is transforming Promethease into a free service, effective today, and this free promotion will run until the end of 2019. MyHeritage intends to keep Promethease separate from its MyHeritage DNA health product line. Unlike Promethease, MyHeritage does not provide any health reports based on DNA data uploaded from other vendors. All of MyHeritage DNA’s health reports are based on clinical validation of the underlying DNA data.

“The acquisition of SNPedia and Promethease expands MyHeritage’s intellectual property in medical genetics. Going forward, SNPedia will empower us to broaden the scope of health reports provided by the MyHeritage DNA Health+Ancestry test and propel it to become a global market leader in consumer DNA testing. We are happy to keep SNPedia as a free resource for the academic community and for consumers,” said Dr. Yaniv Erlich, Chief Science Officer of MyHeritage.

“We are pleased with the acquisition by MyHeritage. We expect this to extend SNPedia’s contribution to even more consumers and thereby improve millions of lives through MyHeritage’s popular DNA testing platform,” said Dr. Greg Lennon, co-founder of SNPedia and Promethease.

DNA Data

Promethease currently contains hundreds of thousands of raw DNA files uploaded by customers who have tested with services such as Ancestry.com, 23andMe, and FamilyTreeDNA. The vast majority of Promethease customers are from the United States. As of November 1st, 2019, for existing non-European Promethease users only, the DNA data that is on Promethease will be copied to the MyHeritage website into new user accounts that will be created for them. Users who have uploaded DNA files to Promethease will retain ownership of their data (MyHeritage asserts no ownership rights over the DNA data), and manage it on the MyHeritage website in private accounts accessible only to them, and receive free value-add services, in addition to the accounts they will continue to maintain on Promethease.

The accounts that will be created on MyHeritage for Promethease users will enjoy the special benefit of receiving not only free DNA Matching for relatives, but also free Ethnicity Estimates. Currently, users who upload their raw DNA data to MyHeritage receive free DNA Matches, but do not get Ethnicity Estimates. This extra feature is accessible for a  one-time unlock fee of $29 or by purchasing a site subscription. This benefit will be offered to Promethease users for free when their DNA is uploaded to MyHeritage, thereby saving them money and providing them with a free service that other users do not automatically receive. Some additional features will still require an unlock fee or a subscription, such as the Chromosome Browser. To learn about all of the benefits that will be available for free to Promethease users whose DNA kits will be uploaded to MyHeritage, read our DNA upload policy.

Non-European Promethease users who are not interested in having their DNA data and accounts copied to MyHeritage can log in to Promethease and delete their DNA data permanently before November 1st, 2019, and their DNA data and accounts will not be copied. Promethease users will also be able to delete their DNA data and accounts permanently from MyHeritage and Promethease at any point thereafter. MyHeritage will de-duplicate the DNA data so that DNA kits that have already been uploaded separately to MyHeritage by the same users will not be copied over to MyHeritage again. For new users who sign up to Promethease on or after November 1st, 2019 and upload DNA data, it will be copied to new accounts created for them on MyHeritage on an ongoing basis.
People who wish to take a genetic health test or receive health reports are encouraged to purchase the MyHeritage DNA Health+Ancestry test, which is based on clinically validated genetic markers and robust scientific research.

Privacy

Promethease will send an email notification to all of its users in the coming week with details about the acquisition by MyHeritage and instructions regarding the potential data copy for non-European users, and instructions for opting in by European users. MyHeritage applies a strict privacy policy regarding DNA data, has never sold or licensed it to any third parties, and its privacy policy prohibits it from doing so without receiving explicit informed user consent. For as long as Promethease users have not granted such informed consent explicitly to MyHeritage, MyHeritage will never sell or license their DNA data to any third party.

Thanks,
The MyHeritage Team

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

MyHeritage to Stream Genealogy and DNA Lecture Tracks from Amsterdam

Just received from MyHeritage:


AmsterdamHeader2_1560414753_large_1560414753
Hi George
We are just a couple of days away from an exciting weekend in Amsterdam, and we are thrilled to announce that we will live stream the genealogy and DNA lecture tracks online throughout the conference!
The live stream will be available on the MyHeritage LIVE website and on the MyHeritage Facebook page, so please tune in from 9:00 a.m. Amsterdam time on September 7th. If you need help calculating the time difference to your local time zone, you can use https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/
Make sure to visit the conference website to see the full schedule.
We’d appreciate your sharing the live stream details on your social channels so that people around the world can take advantage of the fascinating sessions that will be delivered by top genealogy and DNA experts.
Don’t forget to post and share all your MyHeritage LIVE experiences using the conference hashtag: #MyHeritageLIVE, and follow MyHeritage on FacebookTwitter, and Instagram
Best regards,
The MyHeritage LIVE team

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Exciting Announcement Coming October 1st, 2019!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

The Genealogy Guys will be making an exciting announcement on October 1st!