Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Facial Recognition Software - A Helpful Genealogy Tool

Before I get to the second half of my course review from Sunday, I wanted to point out a couple of very helpful tools I've found in MyHeritage.com and Picasa 3. I recently started scanning in photos - some of people who I recognized; some, I didn't. Using facial recognition tools, I was able to identify quite a few people - to the delight of those related to people in the pictures :)

Here's how:

Wordless Wednesday - Well, Not Exactly

Some context: These are my boyfriend's grandparents, Joseph & Gertrude (Eller) Davies, taken around 1944. Joseph was a pilot for the USAAF. On June 4, 1944 (two days before D-Day), Joseph and a few other soldiers were killed when their plane malfunctioned and crashed. At the time she received news of her husband's death, Gertrude was 5 months pregnant with my boyfriend's father.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Before You Enroll in the National Institute of Genealogical Studies (Some Practical Information for Prospective Students)

I have already completed one course at the National Institute of Genealogical Studies. In summarizing the helpful information I have learned, both about NIGS in general and about genealogy, I found that it would be best to split this information into two posts. In the future, I will be able to spread my posts out over the course of completing a class.

In this first post, I will describe some information that will be helpful to prospective students of the Institute, including some of the practical considerations that need to be addressed before a student can start his or her studies.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Newbie Musings

I'm a relative newbie, both to blogging and to genealogy. I thought it would be interesting to share my research so far with others, as well as my experiences as a genealogy student. I am studying at the National Institute for Genealogical Studies, towards both a general certificate and a certificate in German Records. Most of my ancestors came to the United States from Germany, some from Italy, and many from various other parts of Europe.

I plan on trying to post about twice per week - one post about my own research progress, and one on a topic helpful to genealogy students - classes to take, websites to use, etc.

Hopefully, this will generate some discussion among my fellow students. It's difficult to underestimate the value of having other students around to support you, and this is sometimes difficult to find in an online class (although NIGS is very collaborative in many ways).

So, any other students out there, from NIGS or otherwise?