DIRT session was well attended. We had a variety of subjects.  

The first hour was:

New Items for discussion:

   - 52 Questions was a success in 2019, Lynn will send out

     an email to find out who wants to participate in 2020

   - Land Grant presentation: need 3 case studies, 3 states, first

     to request will get a case study done

   - GoogleGroup - to have members of DIRT ask questions and

     get answers from group - resounding yes - cover details

     at next meeting

   - Lynn will develop a survey for DIRT members for input

   - Introduced new FamilySearch.org - Research wiki -

        - Guided Research - try it

1) RootsTech 2020:

    - link to 18 free Live Streaming: Click here

    - Also provided 159 Handouts to DIRT mbrs at meeting

1) Cool new apps on FamilySearch, Ancestry, and Find A Grave

       Click here for handout:

       see 2 of the RootsTech Live Stream for more information

2) Bob's Corner on Special Collections: Click here

Second hour was focused on Beginners

1) Ancestry DNA color coding recommendation: Click here

2) Step #2 Organize and cite sources

    - Organize handout: Click here

    - Cite sources handout: Click here

    - Research Log: Click here

    - If you want the xls spreadsheet on citations, send an email

      to Lynn Baker

Covered a number of topics today:

1) Figuring out who is your Cousin - see chart: Click here
2) Bob's Corner - Newspapers at CCPL : Click here
3) What is new at Ancestry.com
4) Best 10 MyHeritage Databases (free at FHC)
5) Main topic: AncestryDNA - How to Use the Tools: Click here
    - Setting up your security and linking your tree
    - DNA Matches - color coding and exploting
    - Thrulines - how to use and also show on pedigree tree
6) Upcoming local genealogical events
7) Available webinars

A great upcoming event in Charleston and a good website for Tennessee research from Brenda and Debbie.

Event:
Location: Old St Andrew’s Parish Church, 2604 Ashley River Road, Charleston, SC 29414
Program title: Researching Your Scots-Irish and Irish Ancestors
Hosts: Old St Andrew’s Parish Church, SC: Gillian Hunt and Fintan Mullan  from the Ulster Historical Foundation
Date: Wednesday, 18 March 2020
Time: 10:00- 17:00
Cost: General Admission - $25 (Additional $15 for a Tea Room Lunch)
Website for more information: https://www.ancestryireland.com/charlestonregistration/

Website for Tennessee research: Click here

Our Kickoff of Beginner 1 Session:

Great to have so many attendees and the new comers interested in genealogical research.
We covered the introduction of our Blog site: Click here
Then reviewed the materials available in a USB Flash drive given to all the new comers (10), some of the provided materials were:   To get Family Tree Maker: Click here

1) Genealogy Checklist (pdf): Click here
2) Person Page checklist (doc): Click here
3) Genealogy Checklist (xls): Click here
4) Genealogy Research Log (xls): Click here
5) Where do you find information (pdf): Click here

Contents of beginner USB Drive: Click here

Started the stages for a beginner, starting with #1 Research Known Information

The handout given to all our attendees was: Click here

The challenge for all attendees: (1) order Family Tree Maker (Lynn Baker will come to your house and give you a 1 hour introduction session, (2) get a FamilySearch.org account, (3) get an Ancestry.com account (do not need to keep the subscription).

Bob's Corner: Click here

Upcoming events on Charleston:
Feb 16 (Sunday) 2:30-3:30 PM: Topic "The Mayflower Society and How to Prove your Lineage"
hosted by Charleston Chapter South Carolina Genealogical Society: Location: Mosonic Temple, 1285 Orange Grove Rd, Charleston, SC 29407
Feb 29 (Saturday) 2:00 - 3:30 PM: Topic "Find Millions of Free Genealogy Records on FamilySearch", South Carolina Room (3rd floor) Charleston County Public Library: Location: 68 Calhoun Street, Charleston, SC.

Updates:

Recently replaced the DIRT blog follow button so it now works.  For those of you who have been asked to follow and accepted, please let me know if you get this update, send me a separate email - thank you.

Working on a new googlegroups approach where anyone in our club can post a topic (question) and others can then answer it if they have something to contribute (all using email - no new technology required).  I hope this will help with breaking down brick walls.  This is in beta test with several of our members and will go live after discussion at the next DIRT meeting on 12 Feb 2020.

I have removed the Blog follow button and replaced it with one that works.

Please take some time to put your email in the Follow spot so you will be automatically notified of updated blog posts.

22 Jan 2020 DIRT Meeting summary

Our meeting today was well attended and we had 3 new members join us.  Our focus items for this meeting were:

1) Review and feedback on the Genealogy Fair 2020 "Working Together - New Discoveries"
2) Summary of 2019 Genealogy activities
3) Bob's Corner focused on the card catalog in FamilySearch.org: Click here
4) List of Webinars since last meeting
5) Deadends : Know Alternate Approaches discussion, see two handouts
    Click here for Genealogy Checklist
    Click here for Alternate Sources
6) Each of the 5 tables used a different website to explore finding more information about Obituaries
7) Each of the 5 tables selected 2 people with death dates and used one or more sources to find obituaries on those individuals - hooray - most tables found new information from obituaries of their ancestors
8) Upcoming events for Feb/Mar were shared