I have just attended the National Genealogical Society Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, where 120 exhibitors displayed new research aids.
It was fun to see genealogy games! One is a set of playing cards, each card a member of your family tree, with family groups in the same colour. Go to www.ancestrygames.com to learn more. Family Odyssey (www.familyodyssey.com) is an exciting new game that allows the player to engage in mystery and intrigue against the background of historic moments during the time the player’s ancestors would have lived.
There’s lots of interest in DNA – this is one way those with common surnames just might find their families. Family Tree DNA was there (www.familytreedna.com). Read about the new Family Finder test, which gets around the father-to-son or mother-to-daughter requirements of the Y-DNA or the mtDNA tests. GeneTree (www.genetree.com) has a good basic tutorial which will help you to understand how DNA testing can help with your genealogy. Then there’s DNA Consultants (www.dnaconsultanats.com) – read about their fingerprint test.
What about an archival disc that is a permanent solution for long-term storage on DVDs? The M-driver etches information onto an M-Disc and has a 100+ years’ storage life (www.ODArchiving.com).
But what really fascinated me was Memory Medallions (www.memorymedallion.com). It’s a small disc, about the size of a two-dollar coin, containing a digital photograph and a short biography of a family member and affixed to their headstone. To access and view the memories, all you need is a cellphone.
Don’t forget New Zealand’s first Family History Fair, July 17th-18th, Kingsgate Hotel, Hamilton. Go to www.nzfamilyhistoryfair.org.nz for pre-registration.
