What is a podcast?

Podcasting, a word combining a reference to Apple's "iPod" and "broadcasting", is a method of publishing audio files to the Internet, and allowing folks like you to subscribe (usually free)  so you can receive new shows automatically. (More on how to do that below) It first became popular in late 2004, and has grown tremendously in popularity since then. 

The beauty of a podcast show is that, unlike a radio show, you can listen whenever and wherever you want to.  And if you miss something good, you can rewind and go over it again.  It puts you in control of your listening while getting current and useful information on exactly what you want to hear about - which is of course GENEALOGY! 

Does it cost money to subscribe the Genealogy Gems Podcast?

Nope -  It's absolutely FREE!

Whatâs the Genealogy Gems Podcast about?

My goal is to provide folks who are researching their family history with nuggets of  inspiration and innovation to help them get the most of out their research time.   Episodes are published on a weekly basis, and run from approximately 25 minutes long.  Show Notes with "how to" info, photos, and reliable resources are also published weekly at www.genealogygemspodcast.com. 

So how do I subscribe to the Genealogy Gems Podcast?

 If you donât already have itunes installed on your computer â

• Go to http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
• Enter your email address in the box on the left & click the âDownload itunes 7.1 Freeâ? button
• Follow the prompts.
• Once installed, open up itunes on your computer

 Now youâre ready to subscribe to Genealogy Gems Podcastâ

• Use your curser to highlight the following address:  http://genealogygemspodcast.com/rss
• Press the Control key and the letter C key on your keyboard at the same time to COPY the address to your computerâs clipboard
• In itunes, Select ADVANCED and SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST from the menu
• A small window will open. 
• Press the Control key & the letter V key at the same time on your keyboard to PASTE http://genealogygemspodcast.com/rss into the box.
• Click OK

The podcast will automatically load into the Podcasts section of your itunes Library. You will now receive new episodes whenever they are published, & be able to listen to them in itunes anytime you want!

Do I have to have an ipod to listen?

Absolutely not.  You have lots of options to listen, but here are the easiest:

In Itunes  (where you have subscribed to this podcast.  See "How do I subscribe" FAQ above.) 

• Open itunes on your computer by clicking on your desktop icon.
• In the left column under LIBRARY click Podcasts (these are the podcasts that are in your library file on your computer)
• All your podcasts will be listed on the screen
• Click the triangle to the left of the name "Genealogy Gems Podcast".  This will "open" the podcast so you can see all the episodes.
• Double click the episode you want and it will begin to play in itunes. 

On this website - just click the media player in the upper right corner of each show.

Of course I love using my ipod to listen whenever and wherever I want.  I just plug it into my computer's USB plug, open up itunes and itunes automatically loads my ipod with new episodes it has "caught" for me since the last time I plugged it in.  Hence the term "podcatcher"!

How can I get started in researching my family tree?

A big thanks to Bill Puller of the Genealogy Tech Podcast, for mentioning the Genealogy Gems Podcast in his March 7 blog.  I really recommend that you check out his blog / podcast.  He's got a real handle on the technical side of genealogical research & thank goodness he's sharing it with the rest of us! 

Before I get to the Episode #3 show notes (below), I want to be sure that folks new to podcasting know  How to Subscribe to this podcast for FREE:  

If you don't already have itunes installed on your computer... 

1. Go to http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/ 
2. Enter your email address in the box on the left & click the "Download itunes 7.1 Free button 
3. Follow the prompts. 
4. Once installed, open up itunes on your computer 

Now you're ready to subscribe to Genealogy Gems Podcast... 

1. Use your curser to highlight the following address:  http://genealogygemspodcast.com/rss  
2. Press the Control key and the letter C key on your keyboard at the same time to COPY the address to your computer's clipboard
3. In itunes, Select ADVANCED and SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST from the menu
4. A small window will open. 
5. Press the Control key & the letter V key at the same time on your keyboard to PASTE http://genealogygemspodcast.com/rss into the box.
6. Click OK

The podcast will automatically load into the Podcasts section of your itunes library.   You will now receive new episodes whenever they are published, & be able to listen to them in itunes anytime you want! 

GEM:  GOOGLE ALERTS & EBAY FAVORITE SEARCHES (what I refer to as Ebay Alerts) 

GOOGLE ALERTS: 

Check out Bill Puller's podcast Episode #8 of the Genealogy Tech Podcast.  You can create a thousand!    (Idea:  Start with those items you highlighted in your family journals (See episode #2 below) 

EBAY FAVORITE SEARCHES: 

Here's how to create a Favorite Search in Ebay... 

1. Enter keywords in to the All Items SEARCH box and click SEARCH
2. (Consider clicking the Search title and description box to insure you are getting everything)
3. Once you get the search refined to give you good results, click ADD TO MY FAVORITE SEARCHES (just below the search line on the right side of the screen)
4. This opens a window where you can elect to create it as a new search, or replace one of your existing searches.  Usually you will just be creating a new search.  Make sure the EMAIL ME box is clicked so you will receive email notifications when new items are listed.  You can choose how long you want to receive emails.  (This can be modified at any time through MyEbay)
5. Click SAVE SEARCH

You'll probably receive your first emails tomorrow morning! 

Examples:
LARSON screwdriver...

San Joaquin Cotton Oil bale of cotton... 

Here's a link to my current Ebay listings   

GEM: FAMILY HISTORY DISPLAYS  

Shadow Box...

Wall Display... 

I'd love to hear from you!   Email me  with comments & questions.   

GEM:  Transcription of Family Journals & Letters

Start with what you know.    Then talk to your oldest relatives first before you lose them.   

• Ask for letters and journals 
• Invest time into combing through and transcribing them into a digital format (such as a Word document) 
• Print it out and go through it with a highlighter 
• Highlight, names, places, dates, etc. 
• Create a list of the highlighted items and do a Google search on each (both text & images where applicable) 

Transcription is worth it! 

One of my inspirations:  the autobiography of my husband's grandfather Raymond Harry Cooke born March 6, 1894 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.    This journal led to the discovery of the following photograph...

The Rose Theatre Staff  in 1914 (Material courtesy of the City of Regina Archives":

Bottom left corner: Raymond Harry Cooke.  To his upper right, Miss Belle Osborne.  They later married, and remained so for over 50 years.

Please email feedback and questions.   I read every single email.  And be sure to let me know how you heard about the podcast.   

Episode 01 February 25, 2007

by Lisa Louise Cooke

My goal in creating this podcast is to provide you with inspiration and innovation to help you get the most of out your research time.  There's never enough time to work on your family tree, is there? So when you have some precious moments to dig into your roots, you want to be mining gold nuggets, not dead ends. 

Genealogy Gem: Google.com allows you to restrict search results to a specific website.  

1 - Go to your favorite genealogy website
2 - Highlight the website address (URL)
3 - Hit the Control key and the letter C at the same time on your keyboard  (this copies the website address to your computer's clipboard.)
4 - Go to Google.com
5 - Click in the Google search box to place your cursor there
6 - Hit the Control key and the letter V at the same time on your keyboard  (this pastes the website address in the search box that you just copied from the other site.)
7 - Hit the HOME key on your keyboard (this takes your curser to the beginning of the URL address in the search box)
8 - Now type a keyword you want to search (a surname for instance)
9 - Hit the space bar on your keyboard
10-Then type SITE: (be sure to include the colon after the word SITE:)
11- Click the SEARCH button

You will receive search results just like a regular Google search, except these results show only pages where your keyword appears in the website you chose to search, rather than every website on the internet!

Believe me, once you use this gem, you will never go back to slogging through hundreds of pages that have nothing to do with your family.  Try it today!

I hope you'll subscribe to this podcast so you won't miss a single gem packed episode.   Email me with feedback, suggestions, and questions.