Join us for a day-long virtual genealogy event hosted by Waco Public Library, the Genealogy Center, Central Texas Genealogical Society, the Geneaology Network of Texas and the Texas State Genealogical Society!

All of the pre-recorded videos will be available through a special website accessible only by New Braunfels Public Library users.

2022 Genealogy Workshop Agenda:

9:00 – 10:00 am Deciphering Handwriting in Genealogical Records Difficulty: Intermediate

Joseph B. Everett, MLS, AG, Family & Local History Librarian (BYU Library)

In this age of technology, reading handwriting is becoming a lost skill, but it is essential for success in genealogical research. It is not enough to rely on computer indexes, when they exist, to find and interpret records, as these only include a portion of the information and often contain errors. Learn about techniques and tools for improving your skills in deciphering handwritten documents. Information about developments in handwritten text recognition will also be included.

10:10 – 11:00 am Improve, Expand, and Enrich your Family Tree – With Tax Records!  Difficulty: Beginner

Doug Waggoner, Family Historian    Sponsored by: Waco-McLennan County Library

With some simple techniques, you can use tax records to expand your knowledge of your ancestors.  You will discover new relatives, differentiate between people with similar names, and break through brick walls.  You will also learn far more about where and how they lived.

11:10 – 12:10 pm Choosing Genealogy Services & Software Difficulty: Intermediate

Tony Hanson, Family Historian

This presentation will provide a high-level overview of the capabilities offered by ‘online genealogical services,’, ‘genetic DNA testing services’ and ‘family tree software providers’ with the goal of helping participants make informed choices from the wide range of products and services that are currently available.

12:25 – 1:35 pm Building and Researching Your Family Tree Difficulty: Beginner

Bill Buckner and Hannah Kubacak, Genealogy Center (Waco-McLennan County Library)

Budding researchers will learn the basic concepts, skills, search strategies and resources needed to get started researching their family tree. Join us as we walk through the process of recording what you already know, getting organized, collecting, and evaluating the information you find.  Learn to navigate online and print resources for records of ‘genealogical value’ – vital, cemetery, obituaries, census, immigration records and more!

1:45 – 2:35 pm Citing Sources Without Stressing Out Difficulty: Beginner    Sponsored by: Denton Public Library

Amy Johnson Crow, MLS, founder and lead educator at Generations Connection, host of Generations Café podcast

Citing sources is one of those things in genealogy research that tends to make us kind of kind of twitchy. We know we should be doing it and we want to do them right… so we tend to stress out about it. But there is a key to thinking about citing sources—and it won’t raise our blood pressure.

2:45 – 3:35 pm Making the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center Your Research Assistant Difficulty: Beginner      

Curt B. Witcher, MLS, FUGA, IGSF Manager, The Genealogy Center Senior Manager, Special Collections, Allen County Public Library This presentation will provide one with an up-close look at the resources of this national family history collection, emphasizing the many resources that are free from anywhere. Participating in this presentation will help one truly make the Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana their research assistant.

3:45 – 5:00 pm How to Approach and Solve Brick Wall Problems with DNA Difficulty: Intermediate

Sara Allen, Senior Librarian, Allen County Public Library, Genealogy Center

Learn steps to take to evaluate your brick wall problem, learn best DNA tests to use for different problems, and how to work with the DNA results and genealogical research to solve the problem.   We will also go over several case studies that utilize these strategies.

5:10 – 6:00 pm United States Migration Patterns: Why They Left, Where They Went, and the Stories They Left Behind Difficulty: Intermediate    Sponsored by: Waco-McLennan County Library

LeAnne McCamey, professional genealogist, publisher, author, and owner of American Genealogical Research Services

This program provides a broad overview of migration touching on the reasons to study migration and the keys to understanding migration. The four distinct migration time periods are briefly addressed in addition to the reasons people migrated and finding the documents and records they left behind during their migration. Instruction is given in the methodology of developing a migratory tracing of an individual or family.