25 August 2017

Free (for some) atDNA Analysis Workshop


Genetic Genealogy, using DNA to answer genealogical questions, is one of the hottest topics in genealogy today. Every professional researcher, really every researcher of any kind, needs a basic understanding of using the different DNA tests available, analysis tools, and writing about DNA analysis to incorporate it into research reports or essays. Researchers must understand how to correlate DNA evidence with documentary evidence to analyze a genealogical question, and they also must understand how to present DNA evidence in a format understandable by novices as one of the elements supporting a conclusion. A hands-on workshop helps understand the necessary skills.

Lone Star Chapter of APG is sponsoring a four-hour Autosomal (atDNA) Analysis Workshop at the upcoming 2017 TxSGS Family History Conference. Attendance will be free to all Lone Star Chapter of APG members. Non-members of the chapter must pay a registration fee ($50) to attend this limited-space workshop. The workshop will be on Saturday afternoon, 21 October 2017. The current schedule lists a 1:30pm start time, but the start time may change to 1:00pm. Check your conference schedule once you arrive.

This workshop is for researchers with high-beginner to intermediate level DNA knowledge and professional genealogists adding DNA clients. Topics covered in the workshop include a brief review of DNA inheritance and analysis tools for the match list, family trees, and DNA test results. A case study will illustrate DNA analysis, applying documentary and genetic evidence, and writing and reporting the results.


Lone Star Chapter members, or those who wish to renew or join the chapter to get this member benefit, should contact Treasurer Michael Belcher at mikeandvickib@mac.com. Michael can supply you with the code to enter during conference registration to get free registration for this four-hour workshop and he can assist with joining the chapter if you are not already a member. You must first be an APG member before joining the Lone Star Chapter.
(Note: the chapter website was not available at the time this blog was written.)

Conference and workshop registration is through the TxSGS website at http://www.txsgs.org/conference/registration/. Do not forget to enter the workshop code (obtained from Michael Belcher) or you will be charged for the workshop registration.

This workshop is presented by me. For those who may not know my background, I am co-author (with Blaine T. Bettinger) of the popular, first-ever genetic genealogy workbook, Genetic Genealogy in Practice, published by the National Genealogical Society (NGS); author of the online, self-paced course Continuing Genealogical Studies: Autosomal DNA, offered by NGS; coordinator of the first DNA courses presented at all four of the major genealogy institutes (GRIP, SLIG, IGHR, CAFG FGI); and the DNA Project Chair for the Texas State Genealogical Society and the Early Texans DNA Project. Other publications include a column on using DNA analysis for genealogical research in NGS Magazine from 2013 to the present, many DNA articles in TxSGS journal Stirpes, articles in the APG Quarterly, and other regional journals. More information and archived versions of many of these articles can be found at http://debbiewayne.com/pubs.php.


The Texas State conference is one of the biggest annual conferences in the area with many fine speakers known nationally, regionally, and locally. Check out all of the other informative sessions available from conference headliners J. Mark Lowe, CG, and Dr. Michael Lacopo as well as the many sessions presented by Deborah A. Abbott, PhD; Susan Ball; Andrew Carroll; Henrietta Martinez Christmas; Deena Coutant; Schelly Talalay Dardashti; Patti Todd Gillespie; Sara Gredler; Colleen (Robledo) Greene; Tony Hanson; Susan Kaufman; Andrew Lee; Devon Noel Lee; Janice Lovelace; Bernard Meisner; Kelvin L. Meyers; Betsy Mills; Jeannette Piecznski; Diane Richard; Mary Kircher Roddy; Michael L. Strauss, AG; Cari Taplin, CG; Lisa Toth Salinas; Angela Walton-Raji; and Eric Wells.

We hope to see you all there at this must-see event in Texas, 20–22 October 2017 in Katy (just west of Houston).



To cite this blog post: Debbie Parker Wayne, "Free (for some) atDNA Analysis Workshop," Deb's Delvings, 25 August 2017 (http://debsdelvings.blogspot.com/ : accessed [date]). © 2017,
Debbie Parker Wayne, Certified Genealogist®, All Rights Reserved

The words Certified Genealogist are a registered certification mark, and the designations CG, CGL and Certified Genealogical Lecturer are service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists®, used under license by board certificants after periodic evaluation.

The ICAPGenSM service mark and the Accredited Genealogist® and AG® registered marks are the sole property of the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists. All Rights Reserved.

14 August 2017

Free Access Week: All Censuses on MyHeritage


MyHeritage ( http://www.myheritage.com/ ) is providing free access to all census records in their collection. This includes U.S., U.K. and Ireland, Canada, and Nordic countries. Here is their announcement:

In celebration of our recent milestone—surpassing 8 billion historical records on SuperSearch—we’re happy to announce that we’re making all of our major census collections from the U.S., U.K. and Ireland, Canada, and Nordic countries free for everybody, for one week!

Starting on Monday, August 14, until August 20, no Data subscription will be required to access these documents, and you can search through this treasure trove of census records for free. That’s 94 collections, containing over 1 billion census records! Some of the census records are found exclusively on MyHeritage. This is available to users of MyHeritage as well as people who have never used MyHeritage before.

With our earliest census records dating as far back as 1657, and the latest ones extending until 1940, these records are an excellent way to learn more about the lives of your ancestors and to add details to your family tree.

More information can be found on the MyHeritage blog post which will be published shortly, here:
https://blog.myheritage.com/2017/08/record-week-search-one-billion-census-records-for-free/

Best regards

Daniel Horowitz
Genealogy Expert
daniel@myheritage.com | www.myheritage.com
MyHeritage Ltd., 3 Ariel Sharon St., Or Yehuda 60250, Israel


Take advantage of this fabulous offer to see what MyHeritage offers that differs from other subscription census sites and to take a look at those census records in non-USA countries that you may not have access to on other subscription sites. Thank you, MyHeritage.

I have no affiliation with MyHeritage except as a paying customer.



To cite this blog post: Debbie Parker Wayne, "Free Access Week: All Censuses on MyHeritage," Deb's Delvings, 14 August 2017 (http://debsdelvings.blogspot.com/ : accessed [date]).

© 2017, Debbie Parker Wayne, Certified Genealogist®, All Rights Reserved