Meetings

The society holds meetings on the third Tuesday of each month, 6:30-8:00 p.m., in the McLane Room (third floor) at Temple Public Library, 100 West Adams Avenue, in Temple. Every month (except December, when we hold our annual Christmas party), a program follows the business portion of the meeting.

Each of our meeting programs during 2018 included an on-line presentation available through a subscription with genealogy expert Lisa Louise Cooke and her genealogy and family history multi-media company Genealogy Gems. The programs proved helpful and interesting, and members voted to renew the society’s subscription for 2019. Nancy Kelsey and Kathy Taylor have developed a schedule for this year that includes presentations by Cooke on a variety of topics of interest to genealogists. Please join us for our meetings and take advantage of the opportunity to benefit from Cooke’s expertise.

We are working to complete our meeting program schedule for 2020. However, our January meeting is set and described below.

NOTE: Our schedule is set and we will make every effort to avoid changes. However, lack of availability or technical difficulties with a presentation may necessitate schedule adjustments during the year.

2019 Schedule

January 15 – Beyond Family Tree Maker: How to Take Control of Preserving Your Family Tree Information

Are you taking care of your family tree, and all that research and the legacy it represents, in the best possible way? Here is a solid game plan for taking care of your family history research. Lisa Louise Cooke shares her personal experience and approach. Then, she will encourage you to do your own homework, ask the same questions, and most importantly put a reliable plan in place for protecting your family history.

February 19 – Institutional Records

From schools and orphanages to prisons, hospitals, asylums, workhouses, and more, there is a good chance one or more of your ancestors might be found on record in one of the many types of institutions. In this video, we will cover some of the methods for finding institutional records that may contain information on your ancestors.

March 19 – Five Ways to Enhance Your Genealogy Research with Old Maps

In this video, you will learn:

· Which historical maps that every genealogist should use, including Sanborn maps, census enumeration district maps, plat maps and more

· Some of the best online resources for finding old maps

· How to locate offline historical maps

· How to create and save your own historical map collection

· Techniques for using old maps in your research

April 16 – Ten Ways to Add Volume to Your Family History with Video

In this Genealogy Gems premium video, you will learn how genealogists can use video in countless ways to learn more about their ancestors, enhance their online presence to attract others researching the same family lines, and create intriguing projects to be shared.

May 21 – Getting Started with Genetic Genealogy with Diahan Southard

Many genealogists have hopped on the DNA testing bandwagon only to face test results that they do not understand. Like a new toy, it just takes someone who knows how, to show you how! There are only three questions you need to ask (and answer!) in order to get started: Which test should I take? What will I get from the testing? Will it help? Diahan Southard (YourDNAGuide at Genealogy Gems) will walk you through the process in a fun and easy-to-understand way.

June 18 – Google Books for Genealogy

Twenty-five million digitized and searchable free books are at your fingertips. Learn how to make the most of this goldmine chock full of historical data! You will discover the best techniques for finding fully digitized book FAST, and search secrets for locating genealogical data. Learn to capitalize on and translate the foreign language volumes from your ancestor’s homeland. Then we will go beyond the obvious and track down maps, images, photos and more.

July 16 – Your Guide to Cloud Backup

Backing up your files is a mandatory move if you want to protect your family history. In this video, we will clear the clouds and answer your questions so that you can protect your data with confidence. You will get answers to questions like:

· What is cloud backup?

· Why should I use cloud backup?

· How does cloud backup work?

· Is cloud backup safe?

· What should I look for when selecting a cloud backup service?

· My personal cloud backup choice

August 20 – Genealogists Guide to Dropbox

Dropbox is a free / subscription Cloud-based service that allows you to synchronize all types of files among all of your computing devices. It is ideal for files that you want easy access to from mobile devices because so many other apps are compatible with Dropbox. In this 30-minute video, we will learn more about what it is and how you can use it in conjunction with your genealogy research.

September 17 – Beginning Evernote

Evernote is a free tech tool that enables you to instantly capture and retrieve everything that is important to your research. Cloud storage of your notes allows you to access them from any computing device, no matter where you are. OCR adds another level of search-ability.

October 15 – The Big Picture in Little Details

Often times the road to assembling the big picture in your genealogy is paved with lots of little details. In this video webinar class, we’ll explore examples of how to inspect the big picture genealogical problems we face, and identify the little clues that can use to move our research forward.

November 19 – How to Find Essential Apps for Genealogists

In this video, we cover:

· Identifying the task that you want to accomplish

· Three apps that every genealogist can enjoy right away

· Knowing where to look for apps for genealogy

· Automating the process of finding apps

December 17 – Annual Christmas Party

Please join us for fun and fellowship, 6:30-8:00 p.m., in the McLane Room at Temple Public Library. Bring a side dish, appetizer, or dessert to share (for 5-6 people). Coffee and iced tea provided. Anyone preferring another beverage should bring their non-alcoholic beverage of choice.

January 21, 2020 - Using DNA for Genealogy

BCGS member Judy Tyler will share her experience using DNA test results to get around a road block in her genealogy research.