Genies’ Winter Workshop

Saturday, February 4^th 10:00 – 12:00 A.M.

Le Mars Public Library Meeting Room

Have you ever wished someone could sit at your side and help you through a puzzling facet of genealogy? Our aim is to do just that in February! We want to help you where you are at. We will have 7 tables, with different topics and each with an experienced genealogist who will bring their laptops – who would love to answer your questions. It will operate like the Sioux City Home Show. You can walk up to any vendor/table and ask the presenter questions galore and see a demonstration. We will have two tables of Family Tree Maker since so many members have ordered this new version – one table will be for beginners. You can email the presenters with specific questions ahead of time and you can bring your own laptop if you wish. All sessions are FREE!

1. Beginner’s Family Tree Maker, Version 12: Lorna Brandt, Cherokee

This session is for those who have never used a genealogy software program before (or are fairly new at it). It will cover how to get started entering names, dates and places. It is easy to add immigration, baptism and burial records. Obituaries can be included in the “notes” part. The fun part is being able to choose and print some reports. Different kinds of reports will be on display. You will learn to how make a gedcom file and how to back up your family tree file to a flash drive.

2. Family Tree Maker, Version 12: Madeline Meyer, Odebolt

A trial subscription to Ancestry.com is included with the purchase of FTM2012. You will see how easy it is to go online for research and enter information in your family tree. Using a portable printer (HP Deskjet 1000 @$55) makes it easier to record information. Features to be shown will be Tree Sync, Photo Explosion Album, a printed Companion Guide and other items found in a Family History Tool Kit. A handout will be available and questions are welcome.

3. Flip-Pal Portable Scanner and Picasa Photo Software: Steph Fleenor, Ida Grove

This session will cover how to use the Flip-Pal scanner, from the basics of how to scan a normal size picture, to how to scan and stitch a large picture so it will be preserved forever in a digital format. It will also cover how to use Picasa photo software. This is great photo software that offers both 'face tagging' and 'location tagging'. You can 'face tag' all of your relatives and find every picture you have of them in a few clicks.

4. Creative Internet Searching of Genealogical Websites: Linda McKay, Elk Point

Even dumb questions can have a useful answer! Learn how to make your web browser sniff out local, regional, national and international records. There are a myriad of free sites and paid-membership sites, and we can critique the pros and cons of a number of them. Plus, we'll talk about how to "network" with other people who are researching YOUR ancestors. That familial network grows with each generation going back in history, and your internet buddies -- even if they are 14th cousins 8 times removed -- can help you discover your roots! Take away a handout listing web addresses, what they'll give you, and how to search.

5. Beginner Family Tree Book Publishing: Shirley Skadeland, Cherokee

This session will be very basic and will give ideas on how to start a project such as this. It will discuss choosing and collecting the information desired in the book and some of the resources that can be used. It will help you decide what format you wish to use and discuss some of the problems you may encounter using Word. For those who have not done something of this nature before it will give you some ideas. A completed family tree book will be on display.

6. Advanced Family Tree Book Publishing: Linda Mohning, Remsen

This station will teach you the basics of using Microsoft Publisher 2010. You will learn how to insert text boxes and photos, how to make columns, how to use connecting links between pages so text will flow between text boxes on consecutive pages, how to set page design guides. This session will also cover how to copy documents to a CD or flash drive for safe-keeping. It will also describe how to use 1 and 2-page spreads, enter page numbers, import a table, save as a pdf file, send to a commercial printer and more. On display will be a Legacy instruction book, tutorial CDs, several sample history books, Christmas letters, and newsletters. Handouts, with step-by-step instructions for first-time users, will be available.

7. Legacy, Version 7.5: Linda Mohning, Remsen

One nice thing about Legacy 7.5 is that there is a version available in German, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish and Czech. If you have relatives across the pond who don’t know English very well, this will work for them in their native language. It makes sharing with them very easy. In this session, you will learn how to begin entering data in a family tree, making backups, importing/exporting gedcoms, making reports, listing source citations and more. Legacy has a standard edition that is FREE. You can download it from their website at http://legacyfamilytree.com/

**Use your BACK KEY to return to the Computer Genies Website.