Books Archives - Genealogy Literacy

One little detail that I left out of my previous post was a very special RootsTech Eve event: GSI – Genealogy Solves It – DNA Mystery Dinner! This brand-new DNA/genealogy based murder mystery dinner was created by authors and DNA chums, Nathan Dylan Goodwin and Diahan Southard. These two are well known genie celebrities – you may have read one of their books, or attended a class given by either. Regardless, I’m sure you’ve heard their names over the years.

Just in case you haven’t a clue who I’m talking about…. With DNA as the foundation of their work (and careers) – Nathan writes genealogy/DNA murder mystery fiction books – Diahan writes and teaches about DNA and genealogy – the pair decided to create a unique experience that not only educated but greatly entertained their audience!

R-L: Author Nathan Dylan Goodwin, Robert Bristow

Author Diahan Southard signing one of her books.

Sealed evidence bag – they warned us not to open them until the proper time – “we’ll know if you tamper with them!”

In review, I can honestly say I was a tad jolted at the attendance price tag when one of my friends excitedly sent me the announcement. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $150. However, here’s what we got for that price – personally signed copies of both of their current titles: Your DNA Guide and The Sawtooth Slayer (a $50 value). Attendees also received a lovely dinner with dessert. A goodie swag bag (embellished with gold glittery event acronym on the side) was also provided that included the case workbook, a mechanical pencil, a 60% off coupon from MyHeritage, and a sealed evidence bag with tons of little clues to help solve the case. (Really loved the sealed evidence bag – nice touch!) In other words – all of this fit very nicely into that price tag.

Then, for the next four hours, each attendee had to work on solving the case – with their fellow team members at the table. If you just groaned at the thought of four hours – I am delighted to report, it passed very quickly because we were all having so much fun! I really had my doubts about their ability to create an event that could entertain and educate without overwhelming us with DNA fundamentals. But the details that went into the creation of this event made it a delight from start to finish.

Can you see that our table got just as messy as if we were trying to solve a real case? Proof we were really into it!

I’m going to concentrate on the details for a second – without revealing the nuts and bolts of their event. The hosts were all dressed in steampunk inspired costumes. The workbook was professionally printed on very high quality paper with gradual lessons that utilized the clues encountered along the way. There were fun moments when we had to roam about the room and ask for other clues, which got us up out of our seats. There were special celebrity genie guest appearances in the form of videos that took on character identities from the Sawtooth Slayer – including a surprise guest in the room (Shhhh – Rich Venezia!) and surprise video from CeCe Moore congratulating us on our work!

Where’s Rich Venezia? Do you see him in the crowd?

Once we got to open the sealed evidence bag, the red viewer and sealed envelopes for phased openings kept us all busy and in hot pursuit of the killer. What a feat they pulled off! To keep a large group of seasoned genealogists laughing, entertained, and engaged for four hours is nothing short of a miracle. I don’t think I spotted one bored person in the room. Oh – and BTW – I was one of the winners of a year’s subscription to the full MyHeritage site! That was a fun little nugget of adventure as we looked for gold stickers on our chairs.

Top Secret – Some of the tools and clue packets inside the evidence bag.

This was such an epic night – and I am comfortable declaring it a rousing success! The word on the street is that they intend to create more of these events in the future – and perhaps – even some virtually! My advice to them on a virtual model – make sure the cost includes shipping everyone the swag, evidence bag and clue packets – these demonstrate the time and effort that went into making this event – plus, it’s a fun, tactile, way to get your hands dirty in the genealogy and DNA!

Be watching their websites to catch future events – you don’t want to miss out on this unique genealogy/DNA experience! BTW, as a post script – Nathan put out a link to gauge interest in future events (both in-person and virtually) – please visit his site to express your support!

Bibliophile in the making: Reading Wuthering Heights on the back of my Grandpa’s pick-up = goofing off for an AP English assignment back in High School.

As you can probably tell, I’m addicted to books, and have been all of my life. Yes, I do take advantage of e-book offerings from my public library, as well as request e-journal articles via Interlibrary Loan – but I still enjoy the feel of picking up a book. And yet, with the shift to online databases and digitization, I sometimes have to remind my staff and patrons that the books on our shelves contain many things not found online. Here are just a few features that a genealogist may find useful:

Family and local histories that were only published in very small runs – sometimes, only a few of these titles exist worldwide – but still firmly under copyright protection.
Land record/plat studies – again, usually only published in short runs, but amazing work that can help you map out your ancestor’s land.
Personal memoirs – either for one person, or a collection of local memories – again, usually published in a small run, and still under copyright.
Record transcription collections – so, why not go look at the original? The original may no longer exist due to disaster, or illegible writing/ink.
Subject bibliographies – these collections can help with identifying extant records and repositories.
Atlases – getting a birds-eye view of migration routes or the local community of your focus.

Stalking Genealogists:

Print resources in the Kentucky Historical Society Library

I have a confession to make – I recognize the seasoned genealogists who come into my library on a regular basis – and I stalk the resources they use. These are not the genealogists that run to Ancestry the moment they settle in for research – nope – they usually grab a cart and load up on books. Regardless of the fact that I have been researching genealogy for decades, I believe it is vital to maintain a learning spirit. Understanding that as we follow different research paths with each new project, we continue to develop our skills with each new resource we use. We could all research for millennia and not fully know about all of the resources out there. But by examining the pile of books these genealogists are using, I have been introduced to wonderful resources that I may have never discovered without a bit of genealogist stalking. And this is a lesson I often give my staff – When you are back in the stacks reshelving, pay attention to what you are putting away. Is this something that could be useful to your research in the future? Is this something that may be useful to another patron who asks for this type of information? We are fortunate to be surrounded by so many wonderful resources, and even shelving should be an act of learning.

Information Seeking Behavior:

Book Scanning Station at RootsTech 2019 – hosted by Family Search

How we seek information is vitally important to our rate of research success. After all, even the GPS requires a “reasonably exhaustive search” when formulating a genealogical conclusion. And just to be clear, a reasonably exhaustive search cannot be completed online only. Some of you may argue that there are enough primary sources in digital format that removes the need to seek anything further. Well, someday, that may be true, but statistically, in 2019, that’s just not feasible. While digitization has multiplied electronic resources at an enormous rate, there are still billions of records that have not been digitized, nor will they be in the near future. And I’m not even including archival collections in that number. The staff numbers alone will not support digitizing complete archival collections – at least not in our lifetime, unless resource and technology catch up to the weight of the task. Also, don’t forget that copyright will always be an obstacle to digitization unless strict access standards are applied. And by ignoring these digitization limitation facts, your information seeking behavior will fall flat in the success department.

Genealogy Book of the Day:

Share those books that make your genealogy glitter sparkle!

Calling all bibliophile genealogists! As we post our favorite family photos, recipes, ephemera – we rarely post about our favorite genealogy books. Of course, “favorite” is a misleading word. It would be better to say “favorite at the moment”. Because the project we are currently focused on guides our research path – often introducing us to new or forgotten research gems. So…be watching my social media feeds (Twitter/Instagram) for those moments when I discover a great genealogy or history book worthy of sharing. I will use the hashtag #genealogybookoftheday or #historybookoftheday to alert followers to a new discovery, or rediscovered favorite. Feel free to join along as this is not a daily prompt, so you don’t need to feel any pressure about scrambling to find a book each day. But think about your favorites and share them periodically to remind us all about the wonderful print resources available. As you post, just explain why this is your current favorite, and what you learned by using this resource. What is it about this book that makes your genealogy glitter sparkle?