Episode 33 - Census, Blogs, Silhouettes, Gadgets, oh my!

Published Nov 11, 2007

Episode 33 Show Notes

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iGoogle:If you haven't created your own genealogy iGoogle homepage just listen to Episode 15 and of course it's all covered step-by-step in my book Genealogy Gems - Ultimate Research Strategies. 

Upcoming Conference Appearance:FamilySearch and My Ancestors Found have just announced that they are co-sponsoring the Family History EXPO at the Dixie Convention Center in St. George UT on Feb. 8 & 9 2008.  I'm very excited to let you know that I'll be teaching a class on how to use Google for your family history research. 

All of the old Edison recordings on this episode are courtesy of the University of California at Santa Barbara

GEM:  This old dog learned a new trick â or how I got in touch with my own podcast:Hereâs a new technique for retrieving a past podcast episode and being able to have just that one episode come up on the page. This is great because itâs easier to read through, and you then have a URL address in your browser that you can copy and paste if you want to send it to someone.

Here's how to do it:

From the Genealogy Gems.TV homepage click the PODCAST button
Which will take you to the Podcast show notes page. 
Look down the right hand side of the page  and click on the orange RSS button right below the word Syndication.  This opens up a page that gives you all the show notes in a simple text format. 
There's a box in the upper right corner called "Displaying?." 
Start typing "iGoogle" in the box and it will immediately start showing only episode show notes that include that word.
Look down the show notes in the results to find the one you want.
Click the blue title (ex. "Genealogy Gems Episode 15") and you will get the complete episode 15 show notes on one podcast page.  At the end of the show notes is the direct download link for episode 15 if you want to listen to the episode or save it to your hard drive.  This is how you can listen from the website, because the media player, even though it still appears will only play the most recently published episode. 

GEM:  Google Gadget for American Memory:Here's a follow up to the segment on The Library of Congress American Memory project from episode 32.   You can now add American Memory to your iGoogle page! 

How to get the American Memory Google Gadget:

Go to your iGoogle homepage.
Click the link in the upper right corner that says Add Stuff
In the upper right corner is a Search for Gadgets Box.
Type in the words American Memory
the American Memory Search gadget will appear
Click the Add It Now button (it will turn yellow and say Added.)
Go back to your iGoogle homepage
Your new gadget in the upper left corner of your iGoogle page.

GEM:  Genealogy Podfading:I really appreciate your partnering with me to keep the Genealogy Gems Podcast from podfading as so many others have done.  Christmas is a great time to lend your support.  Our sponsors are established, trusted and secure, and your information is ALWAYS private.  Thank you friends!

GEM:  Silhouettes by Kathryn Flocken:Here's another little blast from the past gem in Episode 6.  I got an email from Kathryn recently which included a really neat short video about the silhouette work that she does:

Video:

Kathryn Flockens Paper Portraits webpage

Silhouette of genealogy podcaster Lisa Louise Cooke by Kathryn Flocken

GEM:  History of the Census and Its Samples:There are 2 areas to explore: 

Measuring America: The Decennial Censuses from 1790-2000It contains a record of all census questions, enumerators instructions, and brief histories of every census.And...Histories of Enumeration Procedures for Each Census: The procedural histories provide detailed information on the collection and processing of each item on the questionnaire. You will learn how enumerators were selected, how they were trained and supervised, and how the public was prepared for the census takerâs visit.

If you'd like to learn more about how the history of the census and a website like this can be of real help to you in your own family research, go to the July 2007 Genealogy Gems newsletter back issue and read the article featuring a listener question that was answered using this history of the census information.   

Email Me with comments and questions

I hope you're busily working on your Family History Christmas Wreath from episode 32.  There are 4 videos there on the website to walk you through how to do that.  Have fun!