2014 Genealogy Year in Review: Episode 79

We’ll discuss major genealogy news to happen in 2014, the best family history websites of 2014, and tips from the best webinars to take place this year.



Ep. 79: December 2014





Back to the episode list







In this episode:







News from the Blogosphere with Diane Haddad



Diane and Lisa review the top genealogy stories of 2014.







101 Best Websites: Genealogy News



Allison gives her favorite sites for keeping up on genealogy news:



* Ancestry Insider* DearMYRTLE* Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems Blog* Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter* Rootsweb* Get the entire list here!







Family Tree University: Best Webinars of 2014



Tyler’s Top 4 Webinars and Tips



Using DNA to Solve Family Mysteries by Blaine Bettinger



Sometimes it’s just as important to consider what DNA can’t do for your genealogy, as it is to know what it can do.



What DNA can do:



* Examine deep ancestry (1,000’s of years ago)* Examine recent ancestry (within past 500-700 years)* Identify unknown genetic relatives* Test genealogical hypotheses & answer family mysteries* Reveal family secrets!



What DNA can’t do:



* Tests will NOT return a family tree* Testing alone cannot always determine relatedness* DNA alone rarely solves mysteries – combine DNA and traditional research



Making Evernote Effortless by Lisa Louise Cooke



Evernote is an excellent tool for source citations. For instance, you can take a screenshot of citation details on Ancestry.com, and then include a URL back to the webpage.



Photo Editing and Retouching for Genealogists by Nancy Hendrickson



Scan your old photos in color, even if the image is black and white. Even a black and white image can have subtle variations in shades of gray. By scanning in color, you are able to better draw out that contrast.



Cloud Genealogy Crash Course with Randy Whited



There is so much more to the cloud than just online storage. Of course, backup is a major component, but the uses far surpass the obvious. Randy talks about Google Drive and Evernote, of course, which allow you to access your genealogy notes from any computer with an internet connection. He also discusses apps to pull information off of the internet and save it to review later, such as Pocket, Feedly and the Evernote Web-Clipper. He even goes into photo sharing—saving your old photos to the cloud—and collaborative online family trees.







The Publisher’s Desk with Allison Dolan



We want to hear how Family Tree Magazine has helped you in the past decade and a half—and feature some of you on the show.