Family Matters has moved – just around the corner. It’s now a part of the Moultrie Creek Gazette . You’ll find all the Family Matters genea-tech stuff and a lot more at the Gazette. If you’re using a news reader, update to our new feed address . No related posts.

Managing four blogs can be quite a chore and I find it’s taking more and more time away from the things I really like to do – like family research, photography and writing. So, I’ve decided to do a bit of simplification and consolidation and the result is Moultrie Creek Gazette . The Gazette is one blog organized in magazine style with sections instead of separate blogs. Each section has its own character, which I hope to expand as the site develops. At the moment, all of the content is consolidated in one RSS feed , but the plan is to offer optional feeds for each ...

The only woman to be awarded a Medal of Honor – so far – wanted a commission in the Army. And that’s just the beginning of her story. You’ll get it all and learn more about the history of our country’s highest military honor in this month’s Shades of the Departed magazine . Don’t take my word for it . . . Find out for yourself! No related posts.

I’m looking forward to a Scribd app for both the iPhone/Touch and iPad, but in the meantime, the current workaround of emailing yourself a document to open in the device is working beautifully on my iPad. From the document page on Scribd, click the Mobile button in the toolbar above the document. Select the Send to My Device option, then enter your email address. Now go to your iPhone or iPad and check your email. When the message arrives, it contains your document as a PDF attachment. Both iPhone and iPad can read PDF documents. Click on the attachment to open it. While this ...

Michelle from The Turning of Generations and Dave Weller of Tree Rings have honored me with the Ancestor Approved Award. This award is the brainchild of Leslie at Ancestors Live Here and asks that the recipient list ten things she has learned about any ancestor that has surprised, humbled, or enlightened her and pass the award along to ten other bloggers who she feels are doing her ancestors proud. Some of the things I have learned include: Although we aren’t related to William Barrett Travis, the commander of the Alamo, as Grandma claimed [She had us related to anyone named ...

One of the truly delightful things about online social marketing and the book business is the book sample. Over at Scribd , you’ll find all kinds of book samples and both the Kindle and iBooks bookstores include these little delights. A sample is a taste of the book – enough to get you hooked to buy it. Grab the sample of Raquel Welch’s new book, Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage , and you’ll definitely be wanting the rest of that story! My favorite samples are cookbooks because there are always several recipes included in the sample. Today I grabbed a sample of In a ...

If you haven’t been keeping up, The Personal Archive series continues with a discussion of Flickr as a photo archive . No related posts.

As the arrival date for my iPad gets closer, the buzz continues to grow regarding this fascinating device. I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited about a gadget before. I’ve been an ebook reader since the days of the Palm Pilot and I’m looking forward to enjoying the updated experience expected with this new device. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m fascinated with the benefits electronic publishing offers the family historian. It gives us an affordable way to share our research in a living document that is constantly updated as new information ...

I recently discovered a fabulous source for iWork templates (JumSoft ) and in the process was re-introduced to email stationery. Stationery has been around almost as long as email and just about every email client app – and many webmail systems – have some level of message customization. Back in the days of dialup, many Internet providers frowned on stationery because of the extra “weight” it added to each email message. Those days are gone and it’s time to bring back the joy of stationery again! I’ll be the first to state that stationery is not ...

The research guides section of WeRelate continues to grow. It includes general information like how to get started in genealogy research and useful research sources. There’s a huge selection of location pages and outside sources such as the USGenWeb and the FamilySearch Wiki. And there are a growing list of topical guides ranging from the Cemetery Research Guide (one of my favorites) to DNA Research and Genealogy. If you have any research resources from an area or topic you are researching, you are encouraged to add them to those research pages. Every little bit adds value to ...

If anyone with an iPhone and the free Ustream app can broadcast live video on the web, why can’t genealogy societies find a way to include those of us who can’t attend in person? Yes, actual attendance is the best conference experience, but schedules, distances and budgets often tend to make that an impossible option. Today, a growing number of online providers are offering virtual conferencing platforms which allow either a virtual conference running alongside the actual conference or as a stand-alone option. By offering a virtual element to a brick and mortar conference, ...

Would you like to try blogging but find it a bit intimidating? You’re in luck! Today there are several delightful blog platforms that are so fun and easy anyone can use them. If you can send an email, you can blog! Yes, it’s that simple. I’ve written several articles about Posterous and how you can blog and post to your favorite social sites all in one operation. It makes a great family blog by allowing multiple contributors and it supports including photos, videos, audio and documents in your posts. Another platform, Tumblr , offers all the posting ease of Posterous ...

If you don’t have a Skype account, WHY? Skype costs you nothing, works on Windows, Mac, Linux and a growing number of portable devices, and gives you the ability to connect to any other Skype user worldwide – for free! What can you do with Skype? How about talk as much as you want as often as you want with family and friends anywhere in the world? With a webcam, you can enjoy video conversations and even participate in special events like birthday parties. Skype also provides a text messaging platform that’s great for virtual collaboration – just leave the message ...

These days, an online presence is one of the best research tools you can have. It serves so many purposes: A place to publish your family history – in the order and at a pace that suits you. A place to document your research efforts. A place to meet and network with other researchers for both information and support. A search-engine friendly advertisement of the surnames, regions and ethnic groups you are researching to attract other researchers. If you have posted to a genealogy message board of belong to a mailing list, you have the experience needed to expand your online ...

Wherever you store your historical documents, photos, videos and such, you need to spend some time providing information about each item to not only document the standard “who, what, where and when”, but to also make it easier for others to find your treasures. This is called indexing and is quite simply the virtual version of the old library card catalog – only much more powerful. Your indexing efforts will make it easier for search engines to find your stuff when your research cousins key in their search criteria. Fortunately, most online storage platforms provide ...