Saturday, April 30, 2011

My Favorite Technology for Genealogy


I love the internet.  Google, FamilySearch.org, Ancestry, Heritage, GenealogyBank, and a multitude of other site out there.
Digitalizing my family tree has been great. I have been experimenting with RootsMagic, Legacy, and Ancestral Quest to find which works best for me since PAF will not be moving forward.  I have it backed up by DropBox and I have uploaded it on Ancestry and Pedigree Resource file.  The latter I don't think I would have if I had realized it was going to be used other than reaching out with research.  I guess I have to say I mostly use my laptop. 
Oh, and yes, I love digital Scrapbooking. I never scrapbooked before because of the materials and space it took.   Now, with Corel Photo Elements and Paint.net , I am able to create scrapbook pages quite economically.
As you know, I recently received my Kindle, and have already found many free old genealogy research books that I can download, such as Chicago City Directories on Google.  It makes it easier to browse through.
click to make larger and hit back to return
I used Google Maps, PDF download of the Directories, and Paint.net to create a page that pinpoints where the Hero's great great grandfather lived in Chicago in 1855-1856.




  At the Library I have to say being able to scan and print from film is a great change from the old days of having to remove the film, take to a scan printer and print. 

All I have shared is probably way outdated already, but some of us are slow or financially handicapped to buy the flip scanners etc.. I do have a digital camera I am trying to get better at.
With that I will stop before I look anymore foolish.

4 comments:

  1. I didn't know Chicago directories were on Google Books! Thanks for sharing that! :)

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  2. Foolish, me don't think so! If you can do digital scrapbooking, you are not foolish, or outdated. I have yet to even try that! And, what is paint.net?? OOO, OOO, gonna have to go have a lookie see! Thanks for the lead!

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  3. You are definitely not foolish! I've dived into digital scrapbooking and you can see some of my family pages at www.familytreewriter.com.(You are most welcome to delete the link if you like!) Digital scrapbooking is huge fun, and I'm going to check out Paint.net, too!

    And say what?!! You can download city directories from Google Books!! Thank you soooo much for sharing that. (and, now I have to learn how to download books from Google Books!!)

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  4. It's been great to see how differently everyone goes about their search. I don't think you're outdated...I think you've managed to personalize! :)

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