Day 2 of the RootsTech 2025 Conference is in the books.
I had signed up for 10 classes for today; two more than yesterday.
* My "first" class of the day actually began at midnight! (However, for me, that was the end of a long yesterday!) This class was Sea to Shining Sea: How to Research in Every U.S. State presented by Andrew Koch. It was a short class - only about 25 minutes, - but it was chock full of information, i.e., how and when states were formed; maps marked with the year the states joined the union; and reminders to find out the vital record privacy restrictions for a state you're researching in, and what states did their own census.
* After I awoke this morning, my first class of the day began at 10 a.m. with Mindy Taylor presenting Analyzing Evidence: A Research Game Changer. Let me just quote the class description here, as it was a heavy class:
If conclusions in genealogy are rarely 100% certain, how do you know your genealogical conclusions are as correct as possible? How much evidence do you need? If two sources say different things, how can you decide which source is most likely correct? Come learn how to analyze and correlate sources, information, and evidence using generally recognized principles. Analyzing the evidence will help you look for original records, alert you to errors, and strengthen the credibility of your conclusions so you can be confident in your genealogical research results.
Wow. A ton of information early in the morning. It was a really good class. Mindy explains things well and used great examples from her own family research. It gave me lots to think about how I go about coming to conclusions in my own research. For example, an ancestor's birth date can be listed as several different dates. This class made me think I need to document how I came to my own conclusion(s) when weighing different pieces of information and deeming one to be correct. More importantly, that I need to explain my conclusion and how I got there, as if explaining it to a friend who has never done research.
* At 11:30 a.m., I attended the RootsTech Innovation and Tech Forum 2025. Leaders from several companies, Adobe, Family Scribe, Storied, MyHeritage, Remento, and Ancestry, spoke on new innovations and features they have or are releasing shortly. I am going to look into Adobe Express since it is free. I am also going to take a look at Remento. They send prompts for your relatives to share stories about their lives via video and then Remento puts them into a book with a QR code that will take you to the video your loved one recorded. Sounds very interesting. I am also definitely going to take advantage of Ancestry's feature, Recognize Ancestors, that allows you to upload photos with people in them who are unknown to you. Ancestry will compare that photo with the millions on their site and perhaps make a identification for you! I'm very excited about trying it out.
* My first afternoon class was A Deep Dive into the US Census Records by Miles A. Meyer. This class was chock full of information, and Mr. Meyer is a good and knowledgeable speaker. To be honest, I am going to have to watch this class again after RootsTech.
* The next class was Getting Started Part 5: Searching Smarter: Making the Most of Your Time and Resources by Dr. Sarah Reed and Kristina Kaufman from BYU. Let me just say it - I tend to fall down rabbit holes very frequently when I am researching. Especially using Ancestry hints... I just jump from one person to the next. So I thought this beginner class on making the most of my time would be good for me. The class leaned heavily on the use of a research log, which is really what saves time and headaches. I have never used one. Every year I tell myself I'm going to begin utilizing them, and I never do. And guess what? I end up searching the same record in the same place multiple times. Or I hunt for a piece of information only to discover that I already have it. I save obituaries from Ancestry only to find that I have already downloaded that exact obituary and have just never tied it to my person in Family Tree Maker. So, yes, I know I need to start using a research log. May this be the year!
- In between classes this evening, I managed to find a sample online of a research log in Excel. I was able to tweak it some, and I hope I will use it.
* The book, Genealogy Standards, was the basis for my next class, The Importance of Developing Research Plans, by LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson. It covered the importance of developing research plans, which is an essential step in meeting the Genealogical Proof Standard: "reasonable exhaustive search." The examples she used went deep and were very thorough.
* My next class was Telling Stories with DNA: Case Studies from PBS' Finding Your Roots by none other than the Genetic Genealogist herself, CeCe Moore. Of course this was one of my favorite sessions! This season, for the first time, Henry Louis Gates Jr will be in the guest seat and find out the identity of his 2nd great-grandfather. CeCe went through the process of how she discovered the identify using DNA. It took 12 years of research to get the answer Henry Louis Gates had wanted to know his entire life. This episode airs on April 8, 2025. I can't wait to see it!
* Following CeCe was a short little information presentation called Navigating the Mayflower Families Silver Books: A Guide for Genealogists by Bonnie Wade Mucia. I did not even know these books existed. The General Society of Mayflower Descendants publishes a series of 44 books called the Mayflower Families Silver Books, a compilation of descendants of the original Mayflower passengers for 4-5 generations. I have already ordered the volume containing my Mayflower ancestor, Stephen Hopkins.
* Next was Davina Wilcock (with her divine English accent) presenting Considering Other Record Sets and Resources. She encouraged her students to branch out and not look for records in just one location - which I am very guilty of doing. She gave examples of other places to search such as churches, museums, libraries, trade unions, etc. While I know not everything has been microfilmed or is online, I do get lazy and just sit at my computer doing searches on Ancestry. I need to branch out.
* My last class for the day was Navigating German Genealogy Research by Stephen Wendt. This was a short presentation but it was full of maps, dates, and examples. I have German ancestors, including my elusive 2nd great-grandfather, George Schwalls Sr, who evidently did not want anyone in his new country to know where he was from! I have yet to find the information on any record, and I have been searching off and on for YEARS. I have a friend who swears he was a spy. LOL.
So another full day of learning. I noticed today that a lot more of the instructors included a copy of their slides for download, in addition to the class syllabus/handout. That was great.
I have a light day tomorrow with only five classes. But I have a two page list so far of things I want to do or check out.
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