18 July 2007

Free Family History Videos

If you have access to high-speed internet you might want to check out four short videos by Robert Ragan who "has been actively involved with computers and genealogy since the 1980s and is a former director of a Family History Center in Jacksonville, Florida."

He has three videos with the series title Online Genealogy Information Gathering Method. Find them here: Part1, Part 2, Part 3. In parts 1 and 2 he shows step-by-step how to assemble and search a word processor file using the results of a Google search for a name and place combination. It will ensure you preserve the information found, even if the website disappears. I haven't done this on a consistent basis, as he recommends, but do use the technique from time to time when compiling information for an article. Part three shows how to do this using Google Docs and Spreadsheets rather than a stand-alone word processor.

A fourth video shows the use of the Google toolbar, not something I personally use.

You might want to check out Ragan's other free genealogy resources and commercial home study course.

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for these how-to's. There was some good stuff in the google toolbar, but I find I can get the same effects of using the toolbar when I just keep my home page to google.

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  2. Ned: I don't see additional benefit in the toolbar either, and am concerned that another utility, beyond the many add-ons I a have in Firefox, will further slow down response time.

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