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Mailing Lists, Facebook and Farmville - Taking Inventory of Your Research Toolbox

This week a mailing list I subscribe to had an interesting discussion: Does Facebook have a place in genealogy research? The response from the subscribers on the list surprised me. While I expected some people not to be interested in Facebook I was surprised that some found little to no value in what Facebook had to offer.

While Facebook will never replace 'boots on the ground' research it does offer the people doing family research a chance to connect with LIVING people. Sometimes I think that genealogists forget that searching and finding living people can be just as important as finding their ancestors.

Using Facebook or any other social networking platform allows genealogists to reconnect with their immediate family and find distant cousins. I have reconnected with many first cousins that I have not seen for over 40 years. I have also 'met' second and third cousins who have helped me round out family stories and identify people in family pictures.

Will Facebook replace Rootsweb, Ancestry.Com or FootNote? No, but it does allow us to draw people in who do not consider themselves genealogists, but may have information and artifacts that may enhance or jumpstart our research.

Think about it - do you know where that family bible is that you have always heard about... It could be in the attic of a distant relative who could care less about genealogy, but loves playing Farmville!

Editor Interview

Interviewed for job as Editor in Chief of a national magazine. I think I did OK but who knows. At any rate, I was so happy to be included in the first cut...honored really. I've worked hard on all of the publications for which I've been responsible.

This job would be much bigger and very high profile. I'd have to kick everything I do up a notch. The opportunity is coming a bit sooner than I had hoped. I was planning on pursing this type of thing when I retired. But I decided I have to strike while the iron is hot. Who knows when the spot will open again? So wish me luck!

Post Sarasota

Sarasota was fun; however, I hardly got to go to any of the presentations...well actually there were only a few that I was interested in. I got to those so I shouldn't complain. It just wasn't a good year for me as far as breakout sessions were concerned.

I have scads of FSGS newsletter work to do. The February issue should be jammed packed. I'm hoping that the "fishing" I was doing at the meeting pays off in articles from new writers. I get so tired seeing my own name in print. I'm gonna start making up nome de plumes just for fun. I once wrote under the name Crystal Klear Wrighter (say it)and had a whole company guessing who Crystal was. The writers made up all sorts of wild stories about who Crystal was. Perhaps I can come up with a fun one for a genealogist.

I ended up with a cold. It started in my head and dropped to my chest. I'm sure I ran into the germ somewhere in Sarasota. I've lost my voice twice. It's such a pain.

On the plus side, I'll have four days to do all sorts of things that I've been meaning to do. Writing, writing, writng, printing, printing, printing, emailing, emailing, emailing...you get the idea. I have a newsletter competition to enter, a book to update, and other projects to work on.

Garry and I will go out for dinner on Thursday. I might even be able to get out into my garden (heaven!).

Going to Sarasota

Garry is bach it this weekend because Pattie, Cathy and I are off to Sarasota for the FSGS Annual Conference. For me that means meetings since I'm the newsletter editor, and therefore, on the board. With the vendor table added to the mix, I'm not sure how many sessions I'm going to be able to get to attend. It should be a fun weekend.

FSGS Newsletter

Today, I found a new website that I'd like to write about in the February 2011 issue of the newsletter. I've written to the owners of the website hoping that they will want me to do the article.

I also bought a fishing vest today. I'm planning on wearing it--diginity be damned--at the state conference next week. I'm hoping to snag a few article writers for me and for Cori. We'll see what I'm able to scare up in the way of help in filling the pages.

Pack Peddler's Place: Birth of Everyday Genealogy

Pack Peddler's Place: Birth of Everyday Genealogy: "Everyday Genealogy What are you suppose to do with all the notes and handouts you accumulate while attending genealogy meetings, seminars, o..."

FSGS Newsletter

As of this week the newsletter is with the printer. So now it's a matter of waiting to get the print version out there. I've already deployed the email version. I'm not hearing much so far. Sometimes it seems to take a few days before I start hearing anything positive or negative about it.

Now the hunt for the next "find" is on. So far I've pretty much managed to unearth something new for each issue. I suppose I'll run into something over the next two months.

One interesting item is that Barnes & Noble seems to going into the eBook publishing business for self-publishing on their reader (Nook). It looks interesting...something that genealogist shouldn't ignore.

Pattie and I are off to the St. Pete meeting tomorrow. It's the first time we are going. Sharon Tate Moody is speaking. So we thought we'd go on an adventure. It will be interesting to see if Sharon remembers us.

Paint Presentation

I've been tinkering with the Paint presentation again. It's a fun little item. I created the presentation in Google Docs and shared it with Pattie. We can both go in and edit. Also, when we get ready to do a presentation, we can do it from any computer located anywhere in the world. Welcome to cloud computing! The presentation template in Google Docs is a bit quirky but still managable. The topic should be a fun one. We're booked to do the first one in July 2011 at the FGS meeting in Tampa.

I've also been working on the FSGS newsletter. I'm the editor. The issue is turing out to be a good one. I managed to snag an article from George G. Morgan. I'm hoping to get more national/internation figures like him to contribute. It's a matter of me plunking up the nerve to approach people and ask them...and then accepting "No!" gracefully in the hopes that I'll get an occassional "Yes!" We'll see how much nerve I can work up.

I'm making progress on my "tree" book but my family saga is dead in the water. Maybe over the winter I can revive it. Pattie has all of these ISBN numbers that we have to use up...

Everyday Genealogy: Everyday Genealogy to be available on iPhones!

Everyday Genealogy: Everyday Genealogy to be available on iPhones!: "Just wanted to let you now that Everyday Genealogy will also be available as an iPhone application this fall! And I made sure that it will w..."