RootsTech London Recap


     The first international RootsTech was held this past weekend at the ExCel London exhibition and conference hall. For three days, family historians and genealogists from around the globe packed in to hear speakers deliver knowledge on a host of topics and network with companies and like-minded peers.

I was not able to attend but did follow along on Twitter and with the free recorded sessions that are available on the RootsTech website.

Day 1

The first day of sessions at RootsTech focused on the big picture, giving an overview of the major genealogical services that are available to us all - Ancestry, FamilySearch, MyHeritage, and Findmypast.

Gregg Richardson’s session covered FamilySearch and the ability to upload various types of family history items. Using straightforward examples and real-life situations Gregg discusses family memories; why they are indispensable to your ancestry journey, and ways these stories can connect us with the past.

Sunny Morton’s session was a vivid reminder for us all to branch out our research and not get stuck in the rut of only using one service while neglecting the others. She also tackled the question of, "Which service should I use?" in her lecture, explaining that the service providing the information you need is the correct one for you to use. In other words, branch out and get to know what is available to you. She gives a good overview of the types of records that are available at each site mentioned, as well.



Day 2

The sessions available for the second day of RootsTech London were all about British genealogy and Irish genealogy.

Researching these two can be difficult as record coverage is spotty. This infographic from Maurice Gleeson’s lecture sums up this idea in a concise visual manner:


Maurice’s session was a detailed talk you’ll want to watch over and over about the various resources available to seek out possible records for your Irish ancestors. As you can see from his infographic above, tracing Irish genealogy can be quite a task, but knowing where to look is essential in getting results.

Else Churchill’s sessions focused on 20th and late 19th century records for British genealogy. These records present their own set of challenges so, same as with Irish family history, knowing where to look is key for success.

Using some non-traditional records such as electoral rolls, phone books, and union records, Else shows us how we can still build out a life history for our 20th century British ancestors.



Day 3

DNA was the topic du jour for the final day of the RootsTech free sessions. These two sessions are essential to watch if you want to know more about DNA testing basics. Both Michelle and Debbie provide real-world examples to walk you through various DNA examples as they explain how DNA can help with your ancestry exploration.

The main idea that both of these sessions emphasize is that DNA alone is not a “magic bullet” for your research, as Debbie says. DNA is used in conjunction with other genealogical data to help further support research.



I had a fun time following along on Twitter and seeing people meet up for the first time in person. The sessions were informative and easy to follow, often with questions following the talk.

I’m looking forward to the rest of the talks becomming available next year! I’m still catching up on last year’s sessions!

- Patricia
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How to Attend RootsTech London 2019 for Free


     RootsTech London 2019 will be held October 24 - October 26 at the ExCel London. Most of us genealogy nerds stateside won’t be able to attend the festivities of the three day event, but there are a couple of ways to still get in on some of the action.

Free:
RootsTech will be holding a livestream for three events per day for free. These nine sessions consist of the daily keynote speakers of the general session as well as six lectures.

The livestream begins at 2 AM PST, 5AM EST. The sessions will be available on-demand following the livestream, so don’t worry about setting that alarm clock.

I will be watching all of the lectures but am most looking forward to the two Saturday classes on DNA basics and Friday’s lecture on Irish Genealogy.

Below is a list of sessions:

  • Comparing the Genealogy Giants: Ancestry, FamilySearch, Findmypast, and MyHeritage - Sunny Morton
  • Discover Your Family at FamilySearch: Photos, Stories, and Memories - Gregg Richardson
  • A Strategic Approach to Irish Genealogy - Maurice Gleeson
  • Tracing 20th Century English Ancestors: The Joys and Challenges - Else Churchill
  • DNA is Dynamite: How to Ignite Your Ancestral Research - Michelle Leonard
  • Getting Started with DNA - Debbie Kennett

You can find a full schedule at the RootsTech schedule page.

Also, if you do happen to find yourself in London, entrance to the exhibition hall is free and they do have plenty of free events scheduled to keep attendees busy between sessions.

Paid:
For those wanting a bit more, virtual passes are available for £49, or about $61. These paid passes allow access to an additional 20 sessions for nine months following the event.

Of course, most sessions at RootsTech are available online for free after a certain period of time. The information won’t be quite as up-to-date, but it is still highly relevant.

What sessions are you most looking forward to? Any favorites from last year?

- Patricia
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Should Find A Grave Implement a Waiting Period?


     There’s been some buzz again in the genealogy community regarding a waiting period for posting memorials at Find A Grave.

Specifically, I’ve seen the suggestion for implementing a waiting period for non-family members before being able to post a memorial. Other suggestions include that only immediate family would be able to create an entry during this waiting period.

Current Policy:

The current policy at Find A Grave in a very compact nutshell is as follows:
  • You can add an entry for a deceased person if there is not a current memorial for them already in the database.

  • If they were cremated or do not have a traditional burial, there are options for that during the creation of their memorial.
Why are people asking for change?

There are many stories out there from Find A Grave users that had memorials of close family or friends created by someone other than direct family or close friends, usually within a very short period following the death. This is insensitive to the grieving families and does not allow time for everyone to be notified.


So what is the intended purpose of Find A Grave, anyway?

Their goal states:

"Find a Grave’s mission is to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present final disposition information as a virtual cemetery experience.

Basically, they function as a virtual cemetery allowing people to browse cemeteries and burials from around the world from the comfort of their pajamas and laptop.

What Find A Grave is NOT.

Find A Grave is not a memorial site. It is not a genealogy site.

I think a couple of things contribute to blurring the lines between online cemetery and gravesite index, and a memorialization site.

  1. Entries on Find A Grave are referred to as memorials. Not that I have an issue with this language being used, but I do feel this is a contributing factor to the misunderstanding of what the site is intended for.

  2. Lax active enforcement of site guidelines and general copyright.

The selected comments in the graphic above give a fair appraisal of the main ideas people are upset about:
  • Finding out their loved one died via Find A Grave
  • Someone else creating an entry for a close relative
  • Someone had to take time during their grieving process to go create a memorial for fear someone else would do it first
  • Someone else will make a memorial for your family or friend and then not turn it over to relatives
  • Lack of privacy regarding living people's names added in copied obituaries

While these seem like good arguments at face value, I cannot seem to agree with them as reasons to implement a delay in record creation. For instance, the only way you would learn a loved one or close friend died via Find A Grave would be searching the database for living people.

Having a non-relative make a profile for a person is not against community standards or policies. By using the website and agreeing to the terms of service, you agree to this understanding. Anyone can create a profile. That is the whole point of the site: an online index of cemeteries and gravesites.

What does Find A Grave say about using newspaper obituaries and other 3rd party sources?

Directly from their FAQ:

Find A Grave does not discourage the legitimate indexing of the deceased through obituaries or other 3rd party accounts. Newspapers represent a very good source of information as a public record. We ask that those who index and memorialize the deceased from newspapers and other 3rd party accounts do so with full respect of copyright, refrain from adding information about living people, and respond generously to the family of the deceased. Find A Grave takes no position on the appropriate timing of submitting such indexes.


While many of these complainants have valid issues, the banning of memorials for a timeframe after death or creation of memorials by someone other than close friends or family will not prevent these issues from happening.

Incorrect information happens not only on Find A Grave, but also on birth certificates, death certificates, cemetery records, census records, and countless other records.

Incorrect information is a regular part of genealogical research.

We cannot use the incorrect information excuse as a reason for banning entries for a set time after death. We can, however, use the proper channels to request information be corrected to fact or corrected to exclude copyright protected or private information – first through the profile manager and then via website staff if the change isn’t made. Backing documentation is always helpful during these issues.

Overall...

The discussion on a waiting period for Find A Grave isn’t a new discussion in the community. Amy Johnson Crow discussed this several years back on her blog.

I wholeheartedly agree with a suggestion she made then, which was to stop displaying the numbers.

Many users, just as Amy recounts in her contact with the Find A Grave user who created her father-in-law’s profile before his obituary was even published, are just in it for the numbers. They want to source as many profiles as possible. By hiding numbers, we can avoid this kind of competition that breeds sloppy work.

Find A Grave is a wonderful resource, and we should recognize it for what it truly is to fully embrace what it can do for our research. It is not perfect, but it is incredibly valuable and the contributions it has made to family research over the last couple decades have been priceless.
- Patricia
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New Choctaw Research Resource Available!

     Recently, I came across a newly available, two-volume set of incredibly rare Choctaw family information from the mid-19th century and wanted to share my delight!


     This set was digitized and uploaded to Archive.org by Alabama Department of Archives and History, and are linked below:

     Volume 1
     Volume 2

     These two volumes were published as evidence presented with a court case, and gives an outline of various family units of Choctaw claimants in the case. While this information in itself might be difficult to pick up and use for research, there is also mention of marriages and relationships between Choctaw and settlers, which might help break through some brick walls.

     And don’t we all love that feeling?


     The ‘Search Inside’ feature on Archive.org will be your best friend when dealing with nearly 2,000 pages of information.

     Not to be ignorant of what this book details, we should also remember that this book is a detailed outline of how lands were taken without permission, and people were slaughtered without just cause.

     I link to Alabama Department of Archives and History over on my Genealogy Resources page because they have an extensive searchable digital collection available to the public.

    In addition to their online collections, they are also active on social media including Facebook, a blog, and twitter. Go check them out and keep discovering!

- Patricia
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