The Genealogy Guys Podcast #106 - 2007 September 12

The News includes: the launch of a new 9th The Generations Network, Inc., Web site at Ancestry Web site for Sweden (at http://www.ancestry.se); the introduction of DNA Ancestry (at http://dna.ancestry.com) and DNA testing services; and the announcement of Cook County, Illinois, births, marriages, and deaths online by January of 2008. Listener e-mail reports include: many Pennsylvania Land Records are now online at the Pennsylvania State Archives at http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/landrec.htm; the Birmingham [Alabama] Public Library has an interesting and fun video it ints collection on YouTube.com. Watch it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAxrLJ5nw_g. A posting in the Mental Floss Magazine's blog at http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/7710 discusses and shows photos of "Strange Gravestones."Drew delivers his weekly Genealogy Society Tip. George's Web site of the week is Genwriters: Writing for Future Generations, at http://www.genwriters.com. The site was created by Phyllis Matthews Ziller and contains extensive tutorial, how-tos, and reference resources for writing family histories, biographies, and other historical documentation. Drew talks about Chris Dunham's blog, The Genealogue, at http://www.genealogue.com/, and about the Challenges posted there. The information is fun and informative, and the Challenges are excellent practice in honing your research skills. The Guys then discuss the use of City Directories in your research and tips for using them. (With thanks to Amy Johnson Crow, CG.) The Guys then examine and discuss some old family photographs that Drew's brother has uncovered, and their attempts at identifying the subjects. We learn about a Jewish mutual aid society, and George suggests studying old photos' environment and surroundings for additional clues to dating and identifying clues.