TechTips

Using Google Search to its Full Potential

James Tanner — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:00:48 +0000

Google.com is easily the most popular website on the entire Internet. Its popularity is based primarily on its sophisticated search engine’s ability to find information for its users. As genealogists we are the beneficiaries of the vast amount of data that can be found using Google. But in my experience, very few of the users [...]

Online United States Census Records

James Tanner — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:30:21 +0000

The U.S. census was authorized by the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. It has occured every ten years beginning in 1790 and it is a very useful tool for tracking families across the country and through time. Presently, the censuses from 1790 to 1940 are available online in some form or another. There are also [...]

Understanding Basic Electronic Audio

James Tanner — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:45:09 +0000

Genealogists, for the most part, have concentrated on written or published records, but just think how significant it would be if you could hear your great-grandfather tell about his life in his own words. Presently, we have the opportunity to make those recordings and preserve our audio heritage. This is one good reason for understanding [...]

Under One Roof — Video Conferencing with your Family Revisited

James Tanner — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:30:31 +0000

In our highly mobile world economy, it is not unusual for families to live across a county or even in different countries around the world. There are several very useful and inexpensive ways to keep in touch and collaborate on family history both with audio and video using your computer, tablet or smartphone. Nothing about [...]

Maximizing your Data Security Locally and Online

James Tanner — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:23:47 +0000

Cloud computing has most recently been touted repeatedly in the media as the wave of the future. Although the term is frequently used in a nebulous way to refer to any online computing activity, cloud computing is really a simple concept. You use third-party online resources to operate programs and to store data rather than [...]

Using Creative Commons Licenses for Sharing your Genealogy

James Tanner — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:30:14 +0000

Many commercial entities and individuals in the genealogical community are well served by the protection offered by copyright law. Their primary motivation is making a profit and copyright law has evolved, by and large, for just that reason, to preserve the profits of the authors and creators or original works. But a large segment of [...]

Understanding Email

James Tanner — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:20:33 +0000

Email (short for electronic mail) has become ubiquitous. Transmitting messages electronically has been around since days of the telegraph and Morse code, but it is only since the advent of almost universal networking services and personal computers that sending text messages has begun replacing all other forms of written paper-based communication. As an indication of [...]

Using Pinterest for Genealogy

SavingStories — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:00:36 +0000

I recently became curious about Pinterest after seeing a few articles. I wanted to see how it was being used for genealogy. Currently, you must request an invitation to join. Fortunately, my friend and colleague, Toni Carrier, of Lowcountry Africana sent me an invitation. Finding Pinners of Genealogy I set up my Pinterest profile and [...]

Adding to your Genealogy with Online Digital Newspapers

James Tanner — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:25:17 +0000

Throughout the world, local and national organizations, including governments, are realizing that much of their national heritage, culture and history has been chronicled in newspapers. Most newspapers have been printed on cheap paper and deterioration of the paper is threatening to have newspapers disappear before they are preserved. As a result, newspaper digitization projects are [...]

Understanding Copyright vs. the Creative Commons

James Tanner — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:00:14 +0000

If you share your original genealogy research online, that part of your work that is original and not names, dates and facts is likely covered by copyright law. Copyright protection applies to all original works of authorship, fixed in a tangible medium of expression from which it can be perceived either directly or with the [...]