Genealogy 101 - Fueling Your Passion with Podcasts

Last week, I wrote about ideas for creating your own genealogy conference right at home. I'd like to expand on that theme with some suggestions for the auditory learners.


Make iTunes your friend. This free software is available from Apple, and no doubt any iPod users already know about this. What I love about iTunes is the ability to subscribe to podcasts. These are informational and educational "radio shows" that can be downloaded (usually free) into your iTunes library. You can listen on your computer or transfer them to your portable device, mp3 players, etc. It seems like I spend a lot of time in my car, so rather than listen to the sports and weather reports on my radio, I can turn my car into a temple of learning!


Here are some genealogy podcasts to get you started:

• Family Tree magazine podcast
• Genealogy Gems podcast
• Family History Expos podcast
• Genealogy Guys podcast

These are just a few of the genealogy podcasts that are available. To find more, visit the iTunes store (located in the iTunes software) and enter "genealogy" as your search term. You can then narrow the search down to "podcasts" and find those podcasts of interest to you. Right now, I have more than four days (24/7) of genealogy podcasts downloaded for future listening. I can listen to one of the shows while at my computer, or I can download several episodes to my mp3 player to listen to in the car or while walking.

My next recommendation is a commercial site, Audible.com, which is now an Amazon.com company. I've subscribed to this service for several years. It seems like I don't have that much time to sit down and read a real book anymore, so I've opted for the audio version instead. Over the past month, I've spent a lot of time traveling and have "read" five audio books. Audible has a huge selection of history books, as well as any other topic that might interest you. As with iTunes, Audible has a free software download so you can listen to your books from a computer file, transfer the books to your portable device or even listen to live streaming of the books from your online library at Audible.

Now for an even better option - a FREE resource for downloadable audio books is your local library. For example, the Lincoln, Nebraska city libraries offers a huge variety of audiobooks available for download to your mp3 player. You can reserve the audio book, just as with a real book, and when your turn comes, you can check it out for download or listen to it on your computer during the checkout period. As with iTunes and Audible, there is software you need to download to be able to listen to your books. To find out if your library offers this service, check out the Overdrive.com web site.

If you just can't get enough of your genealogy and history fix, add audio to your day. It's especially great for those long waits at doctor's offices!

If you have a favorite genealogy podcast or audio resource to share, please leave a comment below.

Lancaster County, Nebraska web site - cemetery records may go online

The Lincoln Journal-Star reported last week about the makeover of the Lancaster county web site.  Buried at the bottom of the article is information of interest to genealogists, which states that "villages will be able to place cemetery records on their websites, with the help of free software provided by the county, to help families and relatives find graves and for genealogical  research." The article quotes a county official who says, "They can list all of the people in their cemeteries."

This is, indeed, great news for those of us who are seeking ancestors and relatives in Lancaster county!

The Lancaster county web site has links to the official web sites for the following Lancaster county communities: Bennet, Davey, Denton, Firth, Hallam, Hickman, Malcolm, Panama, Raymond, Roca, Sprague, and Waverly. At this time, the only communities with their own standalone web sites are Firth, Hickman and Waverly. But it's a start!

The fact that someone in county government had the foresight to provide software so that cemetery interments may be made available online is commendable. As genealogists in Lancaster county, we need to encourage these communities to make use of the resource that is available to them. Perhaps the communities are interested in doing the cemetery project but are in need of volunteers. Let's step up and see if we can help!

Happy Independence Day Weekend!

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It's 10 p.m. - Do You Know Where Your Blog Is?

A blogger buddy, Dr. Bill Smith (Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories), has posted on his Facebook page that his blog and Google account disappeared for no known reason. As one of his fans and followers, I'm hopeful that Google/Blogger will get the situation resolved quickly.

What hits home is the question: What would you do if your blog disappeared? While I make a habit of backing up my digital family history files regularly, it never occurred to me to back-up my blog. Many of us bloggers put a lot of time and effort into our blogs. It would be devastating to many of us to suddenly be faced with losing everything.

As soon as I read Dr. Bill's message, I immediately started saving all of my blog posts to OneNote - one of my favorite "print to file" programs. That may not be the best solution, but it is a solution. Another option is printing each post to an Adobe pdf file. Maybe some of my fellow bloggers are using software that automatically saves your blog on your local computer.

If you have other suggestions about how to Back Up Your Blog, please post them in the comments section below.

Nebraska Genealogy Events in July

Mark your calendar for the following genealogy events in Nebraska.


July 13 - Lincoln-Lancaster County Genealogical Society - Wyuka Cemetery at 141 Years - presentation by Ed Zimmer. More Information on the LLCGS web site. Lincoln.


July 15 - Brown Bag Lecture - Wearing the Hempen Neck-Tie: Lynching in Nineteenth-Century Nebraska - presented by Jim Potter. More information on the Nebraska State Historical Society web site. Lincoln.


For other upcoming events, check out the full calendar of Genealogy Events in Nebraska on LongLostRelatives.net. To add your event, email me at sooznebr@gmail.com.