Just as I was getting comfortable with Facebook, Google launched its own social network called Google+. I've experimented with it for a couple of weeks now and think it could be the next big thing. I am especially excited about its Circles and Hangouts features.

Circles

One thing I have not liked about Facebook is that if I want to write a post about genealogy, that post goes to ALL of my friends - friends from high school, church, acquaintances, friends I didn't know were my friends, etc. Google+'s implementation of circles solves that. When I want to post a message for my genealogy friends, I simply add the Genealogy Circle (in blue below).

To share with my family and friends, I add those circles:

If I only want to read posts from my Genealogy circle, I just click on its category in the Stream section on the left, and now I can read posts from my genealogy friends.

Hangouts

Hangouts are really cool! Hangouts are where you and up to nine others can be in a video call all at the same time. You can see and hear everyone else. Whoever is talking automatically appears in the larger video screen. All you have to do is have a webcam, Internet connection, and your Google+ account. You can hang out with everyone in your family circle and have a mini family reunion. Or hangout with other genealogists. One of my circles is a Legacy Employees circle - we did a hangout this morning with me, Dave (president), Ken (vice-president), and Luc (developer). It's a great way to communicate when you're not all in the same office. One thing I wish it would do is let me share my screen with others. I'll have to stick with my GoToMeeting.com account for the time being. Best of all - hangouts are free.

Google+ Account

If you don't yet have a Google+ Account, visit http://plus.google.com. You will have to create a free Google account to join. I think accounts are now open to the public, but if not, send me an email and I'll send you an invitation.

The Google+ Start-Up Guide

For a great overview of Google+, view the Google+ Start-Up Guide here. When you get there, just click on the big slide, and to advance to the next slide, just click.

What do you think?

Those of you with a Google+ account, what do you think? Is it going to catch on?

If your idea of being organized is "the living room floor" then we "kindly" invite you to register for our free webinar presented by Karen Clifford, Organization for Success scheduled for Wednesday, August 3, 2011.

Webinar Description

Have you ever found a relative sharing erroneous data on your favorite research line? You're willing to take the time to politely point out those errors (to prevent others from being misled), but the complexity of how to explain your years of research settles upon your brain like a fog. You rally to the attempt, only to be thwarted by an inability to quickly locate the key supporting documents. After hours of effort, a numbing paralysis sets in at the realization that in order to adequately explain your conclusions, you will need to reconstruct your research process. The result - thousands of individual family relationships that could be explained just STOP, or end up in heaps of unsubstantiated opinion files on the Internet. People have asked me over the years, how I can research hundreds of families in the same week, return to a specific spot where I left off fifteen years ago on a client's line, and in a short review period take off again. The best way to prevent a wasteful repetition of work is by consistently using an organizational system that weaves together paper files, research notes, to do lists, evidence located, and conclusions reached. This incredibly simple, yet very successful organizational system has been successfully used by thousands of genealogists. With this system, the essential evidence and its supportive explanations are located in a safe retrievable place, available for constant re-examination. This frees the mind to focus on a new hypothesis, to creatively compile a life-time of work, or to calmly summarize your work for others. In fact, this organizational system makes the entire research process more efficient.

The live webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, August 3, 2011, so register today to reserve your virtual seat. Registration is free but space is limited.

Add it to your Google Calendar

With our brand new Google Calendar button, you will never forget our upcoming webinars. Simply click the button to add it to your calendar. You can then optionally embed the webinar events (and even turn them on and off) into your own personal calendar. If you have already added the calendar, you do not have to do it again - the new webinar events will automatically appear.

About the presenter

Karen Clifford develops and teaches multiple online genealogy courses at colleges in California (www.mpc.edu) and Utah (www.slcc.edu). She is an Accredited Genealogist®  Professional and a Fellow of the Utah Genealogical Association. She has been President/CEO of Genealogy Research Associates (www.GRAonline.com) (a California corporation with offices in Utah) since 1997. Her years of professional research work lead to authoring college textbooks and do-it-yourself guidebooks covering both traditional and electronic genealogy research including books published by Ancestry (Becoming an Accredited Genealogist), the Genealogical Publishing Company (The Complete Beginners Guide to Genealogy, the Internet, and Your Genealogy Computer Program, updated 2011), and Genealogy Research Associates (Digging Deeper: Using Essential Pre-1850 Records, 2011). She was the founding President of the Monterey County Genealogy Society, a Director of the Monterey California Family History Center, a President of the Utah Genealogical Association, a Vice President of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, and a Vice Chair of the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogist (ICAPGen) where she continues to oversee Test Development and Test Quality Control.

The ICAPGenSM service mark and the Accredited Genealogist® and AG® are registered marks of the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists. All Rights Reserved.

Webinar time

The webinar will be live on Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at:

• 2pm Eastern (U.S.)
• 1pm Central
• 12pm Mountain
• 11am Pacific/Arizona
• 6pm GMT

Or use this Time Zone Converter.

Here's how to attend:

1. Register at www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/webinars.asp today. It's free!
2. You will receive a confirmation email containing a link to the webinar.
3. You will receive a reminder email during the week prior to the webinar.
4. Calculate your time zone by clicking here.
5. Click on the webinar link (found in confirmation and reminder emails) prior to the start of the webinar. Arrive early as the room size is limited to the first 1,000 arrivals that day.
6. Listen via headset (USB headsets work best), your computer speakers, or by phone.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Here's a great question from Michele,

Let's say you have a picture of two people together. You attach the photo to the first person and fill in the caption, date, and description. Is there any way to copy and paste it to the other person so that you don't have to fill out all that stuff again?

Yes, Michele. This is very do-able in Legacy. If I understand your situation correctly, you have linked a picture of the couple to the first person, as in the example below:

To quickly add this same picture to the other person, follow these steps:

Right-click on the picture and click on Copy.

Next, open the other person's Picture Gallery, and in one of the blank spaces, right-click and click Paste from Legacy clipboard. Your picture is now linked to both individuals.

Personally, in this case I would link this "couple" picture to their marriage. Then I would open my picture editor software to make a copy of the original (using its Save As command). Using the Crop tool, I would then make two pictures out of it - one for each person. Then, back in Legacy, I would link these individual pictures to each person. Doing so would give me a nice picture pedigree. Just be sure to make a copy of the original before doing any cropping.

There are a lot of other ways we could go with this discussion, maybe we ought to do a webinar about it? What do you think? Any other ideas out there about this topic?

Today's webinar, Google Images and Beyond, presented by Maureen Taylor, is now available in our webinar archives. In addition to her overview on using Picasa (Google's image editor and organizer) Maureen had some terrific ideas on finding photographs of our ancestors.

View the recording

If you could not make it to the live event, the 1 hour 47 minute recording of Google Images and Beyond is now available to view in our webinar archives. Visit www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/webinars.asp to watch. It will be available to watch for free until August 1, 2011.

Congrats to the door prize winners

• GENViewer - Joan Savage
• Watch Geoff Live - Leslie Chisholm
  
  • Adding a Death Certificate
  • Adding a Marriage Record
  • Adding an Obituary
• Preserving Family Photographs webinar CD AND Preserving Your Family Photographs Book - Nira Chambliss
• MP3 of AskMaureenTaylor's 1st Teleseminar - Wayne Payzant and Cindi Hobson

Pre-order the webinar-on-CD

Own your own copy of Google Images and Beyond by purchasing the webinar-on-CD for just $9.95. It includes the recording of the class, the complete Q/A session, and 4 pages of handouts. 1 hour 47 minutes. Click here for more information or to purchase.

Special discount coupon

The special discount coupon of images that was announced during the webinar is valid for 10% off anything in our online store through Monday, July 25, 2011.

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

• Organizing for Success with Karen Clifford - Wednesday, August 3, 2011
• Newspapers for Genealogists with Tom Kemp - Wednesday, August 17, 2011
• Best Internet Resources for African American Genealogy with Angela Walton-Raji - Wednesday, August 31, 2011
• Watch Geoff Live: Adding a Census Record - Wednesday, September 7, 2011
• Facebook for Genealogists with Thomas MacEntee - Wednesday, September 14, 2011
• Researching Your Connecticut Ancestors with Marian Pierre-Louis - Wednesday, September 21, 2011
• "Ah hold your whisht and tell me the true story": Uncovering your Irish Family History with Jennifer Geraghty-Gorman

Click here to register.

England and Mexico Collections See the Lion’s Share of the New Additions

The recent collection updates at FamilySearch.org are too diverse to summarize—seigniorial and notarial records, bishop’s transcripts and parish registers, citizen lists, court case files---well, okay, you get the picture.  The largest collection updates this week are from England and Mexico—eight million records and images between the two countries’ collections. Another 4 million records and images were added for Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Sweden, USA, and Wales. Search the records online now at FamilySearch.org. See the list below for more details.

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer–driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter–day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch has been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

I just completed my "practice session" with Maureen Taylor (making sure the audio/video connections are working well) and she showed me some of the things she will be demonstrating in tomorrow's Google Images and Beyond webinar. I was blown away with what she showed me, and you will be too.

If you haven't yet registered for this free webinar, do so at www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/webinars.asp. Be sure to join at least 15-20 minutes early tomorrow to ensure that you are one of the first 1,000 to attend.

If you want to test your microphone...

I'm also hoping to "open up the mics" for the Q/A session at the end, so if you have a headset or microphone, and you want to ask your question live, you'll be able to. I'm going to open the webinar about 15 minutes early so those who want to test their microphones can (DearMYRTLE did this in her Google+ workshop webinar I attended this weekend - great idea Myrt!). If you want to test your mic, I will ask you to click on the "hand-raising" button, and I will then open your mic for the test.

Door prizes

We've got another great collection of door prizes that we'll be giving away.

• GENViewer software (a Legacy add-on program)
• "Watch Geoff Live" 3-pack webinar CDs
  • Adding a Death Certificate
  • Adding a Marriage Record
  • Adding an Obituary
• Maureen Taylor's Preserving Family Photographs webinar CD AND her Preserving Family Photographs book
• 2 - MP3s of AskMaureenTaylor.com's 1st Teleseminar

All you have to do is be present during the live session to be eligible to win. Of course, we will also have our traditional webinar coupon code too.

Hope to see you all there!

Legacy Charting Companion, a Legacy Family Tree add-on program developed by Progeny Genealogy, has a free update available to download. This update adds the industry's first and only Descendant Fan Chart plus a couple of other minor additions.

I love Fan Charts. They make it simple to visualize several generations of ancestors. A Descendant Fan Chart is similar, but instead of going back in time to display ancestors in the fan, it displays the descendants of the center person. Take a look at Asa Brown's Descendant Fan Chart below.

The half-circle (click on image to enlarge):

The full-circle:

Interesting, isn't it?

How to get the update

The new Descendant Fan Chart is included in Legacy Charting Companion 2.1.1 and later, and is available free for existing customers of this add-on software. (Legacy Charting Companion is different than the Legacy Charting which is inlcuded in Legacy.) To update, just click on the link in the email you received when you purchased the product. If you have questions, contact Progeny Genealogy's support at [email protected].

More information

For more information on Legacy Charting Companion, or to purchase for just $19.95, click here.

Most genealogists have heard a little about how genetic testing can help prove, verify, or even disprove a pedigree or difficult research problem. Thanks to Dr. Ugo A. Perego's webinar yesterday, we all now know a lot more about what to expect from a DNA test. And thanks to a new partnership we've recently made with Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation and GeneTree.com, these DNA kits are now available to purchase from our online store.

Two different types of tests are available. The Y-DNA test helps you learn about your paternal line and the mtDNA test helps you learn about your maternal line. Here's the extended descriptions:

Enhanced Paternal Lineage Test (Y-DNA 46 marker)

Testing your Y-DNA is an ideal way to learn more about your direct paternal line (the lineage connecting you to your father, your father to his father, and so on). You receive your Y-DNA profile of 46 markers and a Y-DNA haplogroup prediction. Use your haplogroup prediction to discover the early origins and migrations of your paternal ancestors. Use your Y-DNA profile to find DNA cousins in GeneTree’s genetic-genealogy database. Any person you find with a matching Y-DNA profile is your paternal relative, some distant, some recent. By contacting and collaborating with your DNA matches, you can investigate, verify, and discover more information about your paternal line. This test is available to males only. Price: $179.

Click here for more information or to purchase.

Enhanced Maternal Lineage Test (mtDNA HVR-1,2,3)

Testing your mtDNA is an ideal way to learn more about your direct maternal line (the lineage connecting you to your mother, your mother to her mother, and so on). You receive your mtDNA profile and mtDNA haplogroup prediction. Use your haplogroup prediction to discover the early origins and migrations of your maternal ancestors. Use your mtDNA profile to find DNA cousins in GeneTree’s genetic-genealogy database. Any person you find with a matching mtDNA profile is your maternal relative, some distant, some recent. By contacting and collaborating with your DNA matches, you can investigate, verify, and discover more information about your maternal line. This test is available to males and females. Price: $179.

Click here for more information or to purchase.

Is Griffin Brown part of MY family?

Some of you think I talk about my Brown families too much. I probably do, but I've learned more about genealogy by studying the Browns then by any other way. And now I hope to use DNA testing to solve a brick wall.

Asa Brown had four known children by his first wife, Elizabeth. I know who children two and four are, but children one and three are still a mystery. I believe that child three is Griffin Brown, but have not yet proved it. The way I see it, I have two choices. First, I can continue with traditional research methods to prove or disprove his position in the family or second, I can use genetic testing to prove or disprove his position in the family. Let's say that through genetic testing I learn that Griffin does NOT belong to the family. Case closed. Now I can use my resources to try to find the real child number three. I suspect, however, that the tests will show that Griffin does belong to the family. So while the price of a DNA test seems a bit high, it could save me years (and hundreds or thousands of dollars) of chasing after the wrong guy.

So this is my plan. I need to identify a living, male, Brown descendant of either child #2 (Nathan ) or child #4 (Lorenzo) and have his Y-DNA tested. Then I would compare that DNA with that of a living, male, Brown descendant of child #3 (Griffin). If the DNA matches up, then I know that Griffin does in fact belong. Make sense?

I'll let you know what I learn. And if you see a guy dancing in the street, it just might be me doing my latest Genealogy Happy Dance.

Google Calendar has changed my life. I have access to my day's events on my computer, cell phone, and my refrigerator. And because both my wife and I have shared our Google Calendars with each other, we have access to each other's events. When she adds an event to her calendar, it also shows up on mine. At any time, I can hide her calendar from mine so I am once again just seeing my events. When I am at the ball game, and my son's coach announces the time/place of his next practice, I pull out my cell phone, add the event, and it is instantly available on our calendars at home.

Learn more about Google Calendar at http://calendar.google.com.

New! Legacy Family Tree Webinar Calendar

Thanks to Google Calendar, we have just made it easier for you to remember our upcoming webinars. All you have to do is:

1. Have a Google Calendar
2. Click on the "Add to Google Calendar" button below

Then, answer 'Yes' to this question:

The Legacy Family Tree Webinars calendar now shows up in my Other Calendars section of my Google Calendar:

Notice that I have three calendars: Geoff's (me), Tanya's (my wife), and the webinars calendar. I can display the events of one, two, or all three at the same time just by clicking on the calendar's name. It is very simple.

We invite you to add our Legacy Family Tree Webinars calendar to your Google calendar. When we add a new event to our calendar, it will automatically show up on yours, as long as you are displaying it in your Google calendar. Give it a try and let us know what you think.

We are pleased to announce Maureen Taylor's Google Images and Beyond webinar, scheduled for Wednesday, July 20, 2011 at 2PM Eastern U.S. Maureen's photo research tips and techniques will help you locate missing family photographs or locate previously unknown ones. This webinar will also feature information on photo rights/permissions and usage for print and the web. Plus a special segment on Picasa, Google's image organizing software.

The live webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, July 20, 2011 so register today to reserve your virtual seat. Registration is free but space is limited.

Add it to your Google Calendar

With our brand new Google Calendar button, you will never forget our upcoming webinars. Simply click the button to add it to your calendar. You can then optionally embed the webinar events (and even turn them on and off) into your own personal calendar. 

About the presenter

Maureen Taylor is an internationally recognized expert on the intersection of history, genealogy, and photography. She has been featured in top media outlets, including The View, Better Homes & Gardens, the Boston Globe, Martha Stewart Living, MSNBC, New Morning (Hallmark Channel), Life Magazine, DIY: Scrapbooking, PBS Ancestors, Claritin's Moment of Clarity, Creative Memories' Lasting Moments, Dear Myrtle, and Satisfaction Magazine. Maureen is the author of a number of books and magazine articles, as well as a contributing editor at Family Tree Magazine. Find her on the web at www.maureentaylor.com.

Webinar time

The webinar will be live on Wednesday, July 20, 2011 at:

• 2pm Eastern (U.S.)
• 1pm Central
• 12pm Mountain
• 11am Pacific/Arizona
• 6pm GMT

Or use this Time Zone Converter.

Here's how to attend:

1. Register at www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/webinars.asp today. It's free!
2. You will receive a confirmation email containing a link to the webinar.
3. You will receive a reminder email during the week prior to the webinar.
4. Calculate your time zone by clicking here.
5. Click on the webinar link (found in confirmation and reminder emails) prior to the start of the webinar. Arrive early as the room size is limited to the first 1,000 arrivals that day.
6. Listen via headset (USB headsets work best), your computer speakers, or by phone.

We look forward to seeing you all there!