The Genealogy Guys Podcast #255 - 2013 September 2

The news includes:

• The Guys’ new book, Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques, is now available in softcover and Kindle formats.
• George received an award on 23 August 2013 from the Association of Professional Genealogists, the 2013 Excellence in Writing Award, for his articles in the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly (APGQ).
• The Genealogy Guys Podcast has been named by Family Tree Magazine as one of the 101 Best Web Sites of 2013.
• RootsMagic announced new tutorial videos at RootsMagicTV on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/RootsMagicTV.
• MyHeritage has announced a new global photo archive at http://www.myheritage.com/photos.
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies has released a new mobile app for year-round information and annual conferences. The iOS version for iPad and iPhone is available at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fgs-app/id689433117?ls=1&mt=8 and the Android version is available at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fgs.fgsapp.
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies and FamilySearch have announced that they will be holding a joint conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 12-14 February 2015. The conference will include RootsTech 2015 and the FGS 2015 Conference, with separate registrations.
• Ancestry.co.uk has added nearly 900,000 digitized and indexed records of the Clandestine Marriage and Baptism Registers 1667-1754. These include Fleet Prison, King’s Bench Prison, The Mint, May Fair Chapel, and others.
• Ancestry.ca has added the newly released 1921 Census of Canada in browsable format, with indexing promised soon.
• Ancestry.com has announced the release of Family Tree Maker 2014 for PC. You can purchase it at a 30% discount through 9 September 2013. At http://www.ancestry.com/cs/apps/products.
• Wills of English World War I soldiers have been indexed and are available online at https://www.gov.uk/probate-search.
• FamilySearch has released another huge set of records at its website, and Drew mentions highlighted collections.
• Findmypast.com has recently added 200 volumes of digital books about Canada to its website. Information dates back to the 1600s in more than 71,000 pages.

Listener email includes:

• Jenny discusses, English and Welsh BMDs, joining a local genealogical society, Clooz software, and using Family Tree Maker to sync with the online family tree she has uploaded to Ancestry.com.
• Michelle updates us on her success in obtaining NARA Railroad Retirement files from Atlanta.
• Katie discusses access to cemeteries, and provides an excellent example of the Congressional Cemetery (not associated with the U.S. federal government) and its excellent preservation and information access. Visit their site at http://www.congressionalcemetery.org.
• Mac reminds us that this is the time of year, with back-to-school deals at office supply stores, to purchase your genealogical office supplies at sale prices.
• Jenny wonders why people are adding icons and decorative graphics – non-photos – to their family trees at Ancestry.com. This causes unnecessary “hints” to be generated and wastes space on Ancestry.com’s servers.
• Mike asks about DNA testing, and asks what are the best types of tests to have performed.
• Timothy asked for an update on the project concerning the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. Drew discusses the funding of the project by the State of Florida, the start of the exhumations of remains, and more details.

While at the FGS Conference, George interviewed Rick Kincaid, Project Manager for Operation Ancestor Search, and Kim Harrison of Ancestry.com. They discuss this collaboration between the Sons of the American Revolution and Ancestry.com, involving the Veterans Hospitals in the U.S. You can reach Rick Kincaid at rkincaid@sar.org or (502) 588-6147 to learn more and to get involved.