Saturday, June 8, 2013

Just Another Day at Jamboree

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward

 Yes another day at Jamboree. It is a good day and only one more day to go and it is over for another year. But I have learned a lot of different things this year and am ready to try them out in my own research.



Today was another early day. I signed up for a breakfast. It sounded good six months ago and it still sounds good but not at this early hour. the special guest was Joe Mozingo - Travel the Path to the Mozingo Family Past - The Fiddler on Run: An African Warrior, His White Descendents, A Search for Family. Mr Mozingo has written a book detailing his journey to find his ancestors. The story and all the twists were really good

Six (6) classes today..........

"The Library of Congress:  and An Introduction and Overview",  with John Colletta PhD, FUGA....I am sure some of you remember Colletta  he has been in Sacramento many times. I really enjoyed both classes I took from him today. He says that the LOC is one of the country's greatest repositories for genealogical research. You may be aware that the LOC is a very huge facility and appears to be mysterious and scary. So he took us reading room to reading room- starting at the LOC, over to the Thomas Jefferson Building, and to the Madison Building. Going to all 20 reading rooms. Did you know that the buildings are connected through an  underground tunnel. Interesting! Orientation before you go.........  check out the online catalog, check the online digital collections, click on "Research Centers" for specific reading rooms, click on "ask a librarian" to ask a question. The Research Library has closed stacks. You use call slips to request materials, user ID Card is required, lots of security, there are coat checks available, lockers available, photocopying, cameras are encouraged but without flash, laptops are permitted, There is a cafeteria, snack bar, and food vending machines.  The Specialized Collections are open shelves and Specialized Catalogs. Ask the Librarian.  Syllabus gives lots of great information.

"Your Immigrants: How to Discover Their True Stories" with John Colletta PhD, FUGA ....  Each immigrant's story is unique. Colletta used three 19th century case studies. He discussed how to evaluate those facts and assemble them into a story that conveys both the drama and individuality of the emigration/immigration experience. Very interesting.

 
 


"Researching Your Germanic Ancestors Using Online Resources" with Leland Meitzler (I know the name must sound familiar to some of you........  he was at our Spring Seminar2013- think books)  .
Leland gave some great examples of where to find pictures, images, and websites for your ancestral German home (and it probably works for anywhere) We discussed translating online German websites. Don't be afraid to go to a website that is in another language.....  even though the translators aren't really accurate they would be good enough to translate a webpage.......  you would get the 'jist' of the what was being said.  FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com both have huge German databases. Ancestry World Version has a great maps. And two others that are free - Geogen Surname Mapping, and Verwandt.de German Surname Maps. The syllabus is full of  hot links for German research.

Today during the lunch hour I manned (womaned) the California State Genealogical AllianceCalifornia  table in the exhibit hall. Yes Root Cellar SGS is a member and  I am an individual member and  board member. Hey, it keeps me off the streets.

"Organizing, Researching, Mapping, Sourcing and Sharing with Legacy Family Tree" with Geoff Rasmussen. As many of you know Geoff will be our speaker for Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society Spring Seminar2014.  Check it out on our website. Legacy Family Tree version 8 will be out in a couple of months but by the end of the year, and he is demoing differences. We went over the Research Log and the To Do List, Research by Repository, Research On-The-Go, Research Guidance. It was a laid back session with audience offering suggestions and things they would like to see. Legacy and Geoff are really serious about making the program the best it can be and with your help. . are the one using the program so they do want to hear from you with your suggestions. Don't be shy.  Send in those suggestions to Geoff  AND another win-win situation, Geoff always has door prizes and today (along with yesterday) was my lucky day - I WON! What did I win? ....... Legacy 8.0 Family Tree manual and Legacy 8.0 upgrade when it is ready.  YEA!!  Thanks Geoff. See you in 2014 in Sacramento.

"No Vitals? No Problem! Building a Family Through Circumstantial Evidence" with Judy Russell, JD,CG...........  This was my first class with Judy Russell and I really enjoyed her presentation. She knows her stuff. She is very frank and straight forward but good and a great sense of humor. t When there is not birth, marriage, or death record for an ancestor, circumstantial evidence may help find his or her family of birth. We all have lots of women in our databases that we cannot  identify, we hit a brickwall with an ancestor and it is very frustrating. It is not easy and will take time and brain power but it is possible to ID some of these unknowns through circumstantial evidence. You need to go through the five steps in applying the Genealogical Proof Standards.



"What was Great Grandpa Really Like? (handwriting analysis) with Paula Sassi, CMG..... This just sounded interesting and it was but really so much more to it than you can ever imagine. Sassi says that from colonial times to the present, you can learn how to discern personality and behavior from the strokes of writing no matter what the time period or heritage of the person. She gave us lots of examples and what means what. But she has gone to school for this type of thing and has been certified and she has 30plus years of experience. She has traveled the world using her talents, uses it to help in employment and for fun. She says there are only 4 S's and one P that lets her interrupt English writing or any language including Chinese.

And that was my day...............  I need to start packing and getting ready to tomorrow. I will need to check out before classes start........  hotel has a secure room to hold luggage till after the conference (about 4p) Wish my luck for the grand prize................

One more day to go and it will be another good one. Looking forward to the classes I have picked out and anxious to learn ............  NITE!!



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