My sister-in-law, Camille Ridd Elder, is sharing today about the wonderful Epson FastFoto Scanner. At RootsTech 2019, I met Jack Rieger, product manager at Epson, who told me all about the Epson FastFoto Scanner. Watch the Facebook live video here: RootsTech 2019 FastFoto Scanner Interview. Epson gave us a loaner unit of the FastFoto to try out and share on our blog! Camille scanned all our Elder (and Ridd) family photos and shares her experience here. In the last few decades our media uses have changed enormously. I’m only 22, and I still remember VHS and cassettes! Now I grab...
In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss one of our new favorite tools, Lucid Chart! After Robin Wirthlin, our genetic genealogist friend and guest blogger, wrote about using LucidChart, and helped Nicole get started using it, we quickly realized how useful it is when doing client projects involving DNA matches. We talked about how Diana found her sister's biological parents with DNA diagramming complex relationships of matches with MindMup, a free open source Mind Map program. Now she uses LucidChart. We also mentioned some other alternatives. Links Seeing the Big Picture: 3 Ways to Chart Your DNA Matches...
Joseph P. Price, a professor of economics at BYU, presented at Education Week about his innovative Record Linking Lab. Summarizing from their website, the purpose of the Record Linking Lab is to improve the quality and coverage of the FamilySearch Family Tree by developing tools that link families and individuals across records. Those assisting in this effort include BYU students and academic researchers; yet the Record Linking Lab also works with FamilySearch.org. Their big ideas include automated indexing, extraction of genealogy data from digitized books, and linking people with "sparse data," like those in yearbooks or books listing those who died...
When he was 9 years old, my grandpa got shot in the cheek while playing cowboys and Indians. He told us this story over and over, showing us his gold tooth that replaced the one that got shot out. I made the story into an illustrated storybook for my children. I'm going to share how I did it today as part of our "Family History for Children" blog link up. This month's theme is about creating family history related gifts, since Christmas is coming up and if you're going to make a book for Christmas, you'll have to get it...
I'm excited to talk about innovation again as a RootsTech ambassador! This article is about some of my favorite innovations that I learned about at RootsTech and also about the changes coming for RootsTech 2018. With the announcement from RootsTech that they are moving away from the Innovator Showdown to the all new "Innovator Showcase" at the 2018 conference, I've been thinking about my favorite family history innovations that I learned about at RootsTech. Here's my list: JRNL - I learned about JRNL at RootsTech 2016. Their online platform for keeping a journal is just what I needed to keep...
Family Tree Prints is a new service that helps you create custom family tree charts for you to download and print in ten minutes. Jane from Family Tree Prints reached out to me and asked me to try creating a complimentary chart in order to share my experience. I was impressed! There are many features that allow you to customize your chart. I have been frustrated in the past with the way charts turn out when printed from genealogy software programs, so I know there is a real need for this service. I asked my four-year-old daughter if she wanted...
At RootsTech in February, a reader pointed us to a new app for finding family names for the temple. It's called "Take A Name" by Kinpoint. I tried it out, and it's pretty great! Within about 15 minutes, the app scanned my tree and found 70 names and 174 ordinances. It also told me how I was related to each person, which I really like. I know many people who want to take their family member's names to the temple, but are overwhelmed by using FamilySearch to search for people. This app is a great way for the beginner...
Today Diana presented at the BYU Family History and Genealogy Conference about Mind Mapping. Here is a link to view her presentation on google slides: Look at Your Family in a Whole New Way: With a Mind Map Questions from the class: Can you use Google's MindMup 2.0 with an iPad? I'm not sure. I couldn't find any mobile apps for MindMup, and their tagline is "free online mind mapping," so that makes me think that it works on web browsers. Please share in the comments if you are able to use www.MindMup.com with your iOS web browser. Can I...
"Which of the judging criteria was most important to you during the judging process?" I was sitting down with the judges after the RootsTech 2017 Innovator Showdown Finals, feeling pretty lucky to be surrounded by such experienced, knowledgeable people. "Business viability." "Innovative technology." "Pitch." And then an answer I wasn't expecting... "Impact." Dalton Wright, a partner at Kickstart Seed Fund, said that while he was looking for business viability, he was also looking for an idea that would have an impact. Wright's own past ventures include Alta Ventures Mexico, Mexico's first early stage venture fund, and working with a team of researchers...
It's time to think about what you want to bring with you to RootsTech. With only two weeks left, you'll want to download the RootsTech app, choose your classes, download the syllabi, and decide how you're going to take notes. Here are some suggestions to help you do this (and otherwise enjoy the conference)! This post contains affiliate links. If you click the link and make a purchase, we receive a small commission. Thanks for the support! 8 Tech Tools to Bring to RootsTech 1. Tablet/iPad or Lightweight Laptop: Last year I brought a bulky laptop and got really...
