Episode 2: Cool Tools for Genealogy Story Collectors
12/12/24 • 45 min
1 Listener
In this episode, co-hosts Elizabeth and Tami share the stories that got them hooked on genealogy.
Next, they discuss several tools for collecting, transcribing, and sharing your family’s stories (some are low-tech and free). They also offer story-collecting gift ideas for family members who missed the holiday get-togethers, as well as those who may be shy or less tech-savvy.
During What’s Happening, Elizabeth shares a call to action to support the Bring Our Heroes Home Act, and Tami shares a reminder to submit your nominees for NGS awards.
Finally, Elizabeth spills the tea on recent genetic genealogy lawsuits, but Tami “cleans up” with good news about recently announced RootsTech keynote speakers and kudos to an amazing 92-year-old FamilySearch volunteer.
TIMESTAMPS:
02:04 Tami’s “lost” family story
03:56 Elizabeth’s “lost” family story
Collecting Family Stories
08:01 The importance of listening and collecting stories
09:18 MyHeritage Live Memory
13:33 The Oral History Association
14:03 Vivid Pix Memory Station Software
17:19 StoryCorps
19:02 FamilySearch Memories
19:45 MyHeritage Mobile App
19:53 Pixstori
20:36 StoryMaps
21:43 Nominate someone for America 250
Recording & Transcribing Tools
24:12 Voice memo apps for iPhone
25:24 Otter.ai
25:53 Zoom transcription
26:53 Google Docs voice typing
Story Collecting Gift Ideas
28:32 StoryWorth
31:47 Storii
33:32 Remento
35:03 The DIY Way (low tech & low cost)
What’s Happening
37:00 APG supports Bring Our Heroes Home Act
38:35 NGS Awards
Tea Time
40:07 Genetic Genealogy lawsuits
42:33 RootsTech Keynote Speaker announcement
43:18 Kudos to FamilySearch Indexing volunteer Marilyn Clement
RESOURCES:
MyHeritage Live Memory - https://cm.myheritage.com/livememory/
Oral History Association - https://oralhistory.org/
Vivid Pix Memory Station Software - https://www.vivid-pix.com/memorystationsoftware/
StoryCorps - https://storycorps.org/
FamilySearch Memories - https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/tag/memories
PixStori - https://www.pixstori.com/
StoryMaps - https://storymaps.com/
America 250 (nominate someone) - https://america250.org/nominate/
Voice Recorder & Audio Editor (Apple app) - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/voice-recorder-audio-editor/id685310398
Zoom Transcriptions - https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0064927
Storyworth - https://www.storyworth.com/
Storii (Save 20% with code FESTIVE24) -
Remento (Save $15 with code SAVE15) - https://www.remento.co/
APG’s 1-Page Summary of BOHHA - https://members.apgen.org/ct.php?lid=346409795&mm=111054848883
Find your Senator - https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
Find your Representative - https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
NGS Awards -
In this episode, co-hosts Elizabeth and Tami share the stories that got them hooked on genealogy.
Next, they discuss several tools for collecting, transcribing, and sharing your family’s stories (some are low-tech and free). They also offer story-collecting gift ideas for family members who missed the holiday get-togethers, as well as those who may be shy or less tech-savvy.
During What’s Happening, Elizabeth shares a call to action to support the Bring Our Heroes Home Act, and Tami shares a reminder to submit your nominees for NGS awards.
Finally, Elizabeth spills the tea on recent genetic genealogy lawsuits, but Tami “cleans up” with good news about recently announced RootsTech keynote speakers and kudos to an amazing 92-year-old FamilySearch volunteer.
TIMESTAMPS:
02:04 Tami’s “lost” family story
03:56 Elizabeth’s “lost” family story
Collecting Family Stories
08:01 The importance of listening and collecting stories
09:18 MyHeritage Live Memory
13:33 The Oral History Association
14:03 Vivid Pix Memory Station Software
17:19 StoryCorps
19:02 FamilySearch Memories
19:45 MyHeritage Mobile App
19:53 Pixstori
20:36 StoryMaps
21:43 Nominate someone for America 250
Recording & Transcribing Tools
24:12 Voice memo apps for iPhone
25:24 Otter.ai
25:53 Zoom transcription
26:53 Google Docs voice typing
Story Collecting Gift Ideas
28:32 StoryWorth
31:47 Storii
33:32 Remento
35:03 The DIY Way (low tech & low cost)
What’s Happening
37:00 APG supports Bring Our Heroes Home Act
38:35 NGS Awards
Tea Time
40:07 Genetic Genealogy lawsuits
42:33 RootsTech Keynote Speaker announcement
43:18 Kudos to FamilySearch Indexing volunteer Marilyn Clement
RESOURCES:
MyHeritage Live Memory - https://cm.myheritage.com/livememory/
Oral History Association - https://oralhistory.org/
Vivid Pix Memory Station Software - https://www.vivid-pix.com/memorystationsoftware/
StoryCorps - https://storycorps.org/
FamilySearch Memories - https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/tag/memories
PixStori - https://www.pixstori.com/
StoryMaps - https://storymaps.com/
America 250 (nominate someone) - https://america250.org/nominate/
Voice Recorder & Audio Editor (Apple app) - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/voice-recorder-audio-editor/id685310398
Zoom Transcriptions - https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0064927
Storyworth - https://www.storyworth.com/
Storii (Save 20% with code FESTIVE24) -
Remento (Save $15 with code SAVE15) - https://www.remento.co/
APG’s 1-Page Summary of BOHHA - https://members.apgen.org/ct.php?lid=346409795&mm=111054848883
Find your Senator - https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
Find your Representative - https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
NGS Awards -
Previous Episode
Episode 1: Meet Your Hosts, RootsTech 2025, Black Friday Sales, & This Week’s Fave Tech Tools
In this episode, co-hosts Elizabeth Swanay O'Neal and Tami Osmer Mize introduce themselves and discuss their (long!) genealogy journeys.
Then, they share their thoughts on the upcoming RootsTech Conference and give an overview of upcoming Black Friday sales on genealogy products.
During Tea Time, they spill some tea on the latest genealogy social media scuffles and share kudos for an esteemed genealogist who recently earned high honors.
Finally, the duo shares which websites they've been hooked on for the past few weeks.
TIMESTAMPS
About the co-hosts:
- 00:40 Tami’s introduction and genealogy journey
- 01:43 Elizabeth’s introduction and genealogy journey
- 03:37 Elizabeth’s website, Heart of the Family
- 04:33 Tami’s website, Conference Keeper
- 08:49 Our vision for this podcast
RootsTech Conference 2025:
- 10:30 RootsTech 2025 is coming
- 10:47 In-person vs. virtual
- 13:05 Shopping at the RootsTech Expo Hall
- 14:42 The value of attending RootsTech
FamilySearch
- 15:48 FamilySearch celebrates 130 years
- 16:22 How we’re benefitting from FamilySearch’s work
- 17:44 FamilySearch Labs (full-text searching)
Black Friday/Holiday Sales on Genealogy Products:
- 20:25 Where to find our lists of Black Friday Sales
Tea Time:
- 26:08 Spilling the tea on social media rumblings
- 27:08 Kudos to David Rencher
Fave Tech Tools of the Week:
- 28:11 Elizabeth has been using a site called Character.ai
- 31:10 Tami’s been finding great stuff on MyHeritage’s Old News newspaper site
Resources:
- Elizabeth’s Website - https://www.thefamilyheart.com/
- Tami’s Website - https://conferencekeeper.org/
- RootsTech Conference - https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/
- FamilySearch - https://www.familysearch.org/en/united-states/
- FamilySearch Labs (full-text search) - https://www.familysearch.org/en/labs/
- Character AI - https://character.ai/
- Old News by MyHeritage - https://www.oldnews.com/en
- Tami’s webinar about Old News - https://fb.watch/w8x-z2r8Nw/
Please let us hear from you at [email protected] with your questions and comments!
Next Episode
Setting (and Achieving) Genealogy Goals for 2025
1 RecommendationsReady to set your genealogy goals? In this episode, co-hosts Elizabeth and Tami share strategies for setting and successfully reaching your goals, from education plans to specific research results. Elizabeth and Tami talk about their own goals for 2025 and how they plan to achieve them, including tips and tricks to ensure success.
During What’s Happening, they discuss the availability of the RootsTech Schedule and the RootsTech app for 2025, as well as the recently released BIRLS database from Reclaim the Records. Then, Elizabeth spills the tea on the extreme wait times when requesting NY State vital records. Tami brings the sweet tea, discussing FamilySearch’s goals for 2025.
Finally, during Listener Mail, Elizabeth shares where to find closed captioning for the Branching Out Genealogy Podcast.
TIMESTAMPS:
Genealogy Goals
04:34 Setting goals for the new year
05:03 Types of Genealogy Goals
08:35 Elizabeth’s goals for 2025
09:41 Tami’s goals for 2025
10:20 How Elizabeth sets and achieved a significant genealogy goal
15:43 How Tami sets and achieves her genealogy goals
What’s Happening
23:54 RootsTech Schedule & App
29:48 Reclaim the Records - BIRLS database
Tea Time
35:44 New York State Vital Records ordering wait times
40:43 FamilySearch’s Goals for 2025
Listener Mail
44:28 Where to find closed captioning for our podcast
RESOURCES:
GRIP Genealogy Research Institute (GRIP) - https://grip.ngsgenealogy.org/
Jill Morelli's Certification Discussion Group (CDG) - https://thecdgseries.wordpress.com/the-series/
Click-Up App - https://clickup.com/
Notion - https://www.notion.com/
Google Tasks - https://tasks.google.com/
RootsTech 2025 Class Schedule - https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/schedule?day=2025-03-06
RootsTech 2025 mobile app (Android) - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.familysearch.rootstech&hl=en_US
RootsTech 2025 mobile app (Apple) - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rootstech/id6474192974
Relatives at RootsTech - https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/relatives-at-rootstech-faqs
Reclaim the Records - https://www.reclaimtherecords.org/
BIRLS searchable database (Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem) - https://www.birls.org/
CBS6 Albany Video on NY Vital Records - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYGSG5PmquY&ab_channel=CBS6Albany
FamilySearch's goals for 2025 - https://www.familysearch.org/en/newsroom/what-to-expect-from-familysearch-in-2025
African Oral History project - https://www.familysearch.org/africa/sve/select-country
FamilySearch Labs A.I. Full-Text Search - https://www.familysearch.org/search/full-text
FamilySearch "Get Involved" app - https://www.familysearch.org/getinvolved/
FamilySearch "Together" app - https://www.familysearch.org/discovery/together/welcome
Branching Out Podcast on Apple (live transcripts) - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/branching-out-genealogy-podcast/id1782416781
Branching Out Podcast on YouTube (live transcripts) - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCswrxVYz2y65xXJve-e35WA
_______
We would love to hear from you at [email protected] with your questions and comments!
This episode is sponsored by Vivid Pix.
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