Those of us who work in genealogy live in the past. Like those mediums on television who “talk to
the dead,” we also communicate with the dead, but more on an intellectual level
than in actuality. Our thoughts dwell in
old streets, ancient houses, and tragic battlefields.
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My friend Jim Antley is a man who works with all kinds of
technology. He is an artist, he designs
graphics, and he makes videos for people in the professional world to promote
their art, their businesses, whatever.
As I noted in the announcements at the bottom of my previous blogs, Jim
is our guru at our weekly genealogy group meeting in Belmont, NC. Recently we ventured into a new field for
most of us. Jim is teaching us how to
make short videos to use in our genealogy work.
Jim has a massive body of work on his ancestors, spread over
North and South Carolina. He catalogs
and films cemeteries and individual gravestones, contributing them to Find A
Grave. He is in the process of getting
GPS coordinates for all his grave sites.
This is a marvelous thing when you have one grave in an enormous
cemetery with thousands of sites. With
the GPS coordinate you can bring up Google Maps, change to satellite image, put
in the numbers and it will pinpoint on that map exactly where your grave site is
in that massive cemetery. What a change
from having to trudge up and down all the rows searching for a particular name.
Using Google Maps, he has also made his own virtual map with every one of his
cemeteries pinpointed by that little blob thing they use. Then when you want to find a certain
cemetery, you click on the list provided and you will see exactly where it is
in the state. Or reversely, you can
click on one of the little blobs and see which cemetery that one is, and the
directions to get there.
But my point is – Jim is into technology. In explaining the reason for making the
videos in our meetings, he said “One day
I realized that my great grandchildren, and some of my grandchildren will never
know me. They might see a photo of me,
but to hear and see me speak would be a completely different thing from a one
dimensional picture. In making little
short videos on different subjects, or telling family stories, I can talk to them;
tell them what I think about things.
They can get to know me.”
This is a wonderful idea.
These little videos can be inserted onto your facebook page, into a
blog, or even on your tree at Ancestry.com.
But it is a tricky thing trying to get a video into a tree at
Ancestry. If you click on the “media”
button on one of your Family Pages, say the page for Grandpa, there will only
be the option to film yourself with your computer cam to make a short
video. As you know, these cams do not
make the highest quality pictures, but that is all they offer. We believe that we have discovered how to get
a better film on to your tree. After
brainstorming at one of our meetings in Belmont, we worked out what you need to
do. With your camera or cam-corder, you
make a good film of whatever you want; pictures, collages, scenery/landscape,
or a person telling a story. This is a really good idea – having a live person tell a story about the family. Then you upload this film to YouTube. Now in WORD, write a very short “story”
explaining what your video is about. And
you tell the reader that to see the video, they must go to the place on the
Family Page, on the lower right, below all the citations, to a place called “Web
Links.” Here is where you insert the
URL for your film on YouTube. Then you
upload your information “story” onto the family sheet.
So now, just like you import photos and documents to your family sheet,
you can now put information to bring up a video about that person or family. We think that is marvelous and lots of fun.
You will notice in my writings I am always bringing up the notion
of “FUN!” You must get out of
your research/computer/typing place and meet people who will bring new ideas to
your work. That is fun. New people = new ideas = FUN!
So as much as we love to rummage through the attics of the sixteen,
seventeen, and eighteen hundreds, we must now and then join the modern world
and rummage through the 21st century “cloud!”
Happy rummaging!
________________________________________________________
Exciting things always happening in
my little Genealogy world. Had to restart my blog to straighten out some kinks. I think everything is now working correctly. You will find all postings listed in the "archive" section above. In future writings
I will ponder the mysteries we all pursue in research, meander through my mind
where whispers of long passed relatives reach out to me, and get down to the
"nitty-gritty" hard work involved in this endeavor called GENEALOGY.
Hope you find it interesting and come back to me if you have comments on
these subjects or find some connection in my family lines. See My Family Lines tab at the top.
________________________________________________________________
We have a genealogy forum every
Tuesday in Belmont, NC. If you live nearby, come join us from 1:00 to
3:00 p.m., at the J.Paul Ford Recreation Center at 37 E. Woodrow Ave. Each week we explore a different aspect of genealogy including research, storage possibilities, story telling/sharing, genealogy technology,
brick wall help, etc. You can find us at: http://belmontgenealogyclub.blogspot.com/. Of course, when a member in the group needs help, or if someone new comes
along with a problem, a "brickwall" or such, we drop what we are
doing and all jump in to explore with them. Lots of fun!
_____________________________________________________________
The new Genealogy
Group formed in Gastonia, NC, is coming right along. Two good meetings so far. They meet the first Thursday of the month
in the NC History Room, second floor, at the main Gaston Public Library on
Garrison Street in Gastonia. Meeting time 7:00 - 8:30. Linda Klocker who has had previous
groups in Belmont and in Mountain Island Lake will be leading this new venture.
Whether you are a beginner or an experienced searcher, come meet the
group.
________________________________________________________
Robert Carpenter has announced
his annual class for Beginning Genealogy at Gaston College in Dallas.
Starting Thursday Sept. 19 through Nov. 21, 2013 (10 sessions) from 7 - 9
p.m. on Thursday nights. WHO SHOULD SIGN UP? Any person interested
in learning about genealogical research regardless of your level of experience.
Emphasis will involve research strategies, introducing students to
various sources, deciphering documents, and will conclude with a trip to the
State Archives in Raleigh. Anyone with questions about signing up should
contact Robert by email at rcarpenter2@charter.net. As
one who has been there, I can tell you this is a marvelous class for beginners
and intermediates. Robert is considered to be one of the foremost
historians for Lincoln and Gaston Counties, and his head is full of wonderful
genealogical "stuff!" He is currently a professor of history at
Belmont Abbey College.
SIGN UP by contacting Gaston
College at 704-922-6251 or 704-922-6353 or Email Beth Hollars
at hollars.beth@gaston.edu. They are busy running all over the
school so be persistent in calling. If you leave your number, they will
come back to you.
Robert has an Advanced Genealogy
Class for 10 sessions starting late in January each year. This class is
so popular that previous students state that "they have failed the
class" so that they can return each year, and there is a bunch who return
each season to experience the class again. Take if from one who has
"failed" over and over in order to take the class again. And I’ll be there again in January 2014!
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