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Friday, Aug. 15, 2008
7:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Registration
8 a.m.-6 p.m. Exhibit Hall
8:45 a.m. Welcome

9-10 a.m.

OPENING SESSION
Family Letters and the Story of an American Woman in World War II
James H. Madison
F-1
People far away in war almost always write home. Their wartime letters offer superb insights into other times and places and also into the meaning and importance of family and hometown connections. This session will focus on one woman who left her Midwestern home for service in England and France during World War II. Using her letters to family and friends, Professor Madison will tell her story and illuminate the importance and use of wartime letters for family history.

10:30-11:30 a.m.

Leaping to Erroneous Conclusions
Christine Rose
F-2
What did the record REALLY say? We often look at a document and quickly come to a conclusion as to what it means. But ... does it really tell us that? We will look at numerous instances where we can misinterpret the evidence.

Genetic Genealogy: An Introduction
Charles F. Kerchner Jr.
F-3
Presentation of the basics about genetic genealogy and DNA testing. What is DNA? What are the different types of DNA, where are they located and how are they inherited? This presentation will also discuss types of DNA markers, types of DNA tests used in genetic genealogy, how the sampling tests are done and how DNA testing can help with traditional genealogical research.

Using Government Documents for Genealogical Research
Curt B. Witcher
F-4
The U.S. government is among the largest publisher in the world, yet many genealogists do not think of using government documents in their research. In addition to federal government documents, there are state and local documents that can provide significant amounts of consequential historical information. This talk serves to un-puzzle government documents, provide the researcher with a sufficient working knowledge of government document access tools and indices, and demonstrate how incorporating government documents into one’s research will pay healthy dividends.

Pass It On – Part One
Bob Sander
F-5      (F-9 Pass It On  – Part Two)
Shared stories are the soil in which one’s family tree finds nourishment. Such stories bring verve, force and personality to mere names on a page and bring them to life. This workshop models how a professional storyteller finds and grows personal and family stories, and leads you to understand and use the process yourself. It is based on the notion that stories will grow and evolve incrementally if nurtured by repeated tellings to a variety of listeners.

In Part One, professional storyteller Bob Sander will model the nature of this endeavor through lecture, performance and co-creative interaction with the participants. In Part Two, Sander will facilitate as participants learn to use the same process to discover, develop and present their own stories.

LUNCH
Lunch will be available 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Take a break from the sessions, visit with your friends and experience the exhibit hall.

Menu
Summer salad buffet
Cookie or brownie
Coffee, iced tea

1-2 p.m.

One-Step Web Pages: A Potpourri of Genealogical Search Tools
Stephen Morse
F-6
The One-Step Web site began as an aid for finding passengers in the Ellis Island database. Shortly afterward it was expanded to help with searching the 1930 census. Over the years it has continued to evolve and today includes more than 100 web-based tools divided into 13 separate categories ranging from genealogical searches to astronomical calculations to last-minute bidding on eBay. This presentation will describe the range of tools available and give the highlights of each one.

Beyond Y-DNA
Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak
F-7
Surname studies using Y-DNA tests are a popular and obvious application of genetic testing for genealogical purposes, but are you aware of your other options? Come learn about mtDNA, SNP, BioGeographical and ethnic tests, as well as the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation and the Genographic Project, to determine if one or more of them is right for you.

WorldVitalRecords.com
David Lifferth
F-8
WorldVitalRecords.com provides affordable genealogy databases and family history tools used by more than 600,000 monthly visitors and more than 25,000 subscribers, receiving 9.4 million monthly page views. With thousands of databases, WorldVitalRecords.com makes it easy to extend your family tree.

Pass It On – Part Two
Bob Sander
F-9      (F-5 Pass It On – Part One)
Shared stories are the soil in which one’s family tree finds nourishment. Such stories bring verve, force and personality to mere names on a page and bring them to life. This workshop models how a professional storyteller finds and grows personal and family stories, and leads you to understand and use the process yourself. It is based on the notion that stories will grow and evolve incrementally if nurtured by repeated tellings to a variety of listeners.

In Part One, professional storyteller Bob Sander will model the nature of this endeavor through lecture, performance and co-creative interaction with the participants. In Part Two, Sander will facilitate as participants learn to use the same process to discover, develop and present their own stories.

2:30-3:30 p.m.

Using Federal Land Records to Locate Ancestors
Christine Rose
F-10
The case files of federal land records contain valuable genealogical data. Once understood, these records become a valuable resource. This session will discuss homesteads, bounty land, cash files and other data available in these records.

Finding Your Feminine Side: Mitochondrial DNA
Roberta Estes
F-11
The footprints of your ancestors are sprinkled throughout you in your DNA, waiting for you to unravel the key to the mystery. Come and learn what mitochondrial DNA testing can do for you and your maternal line genealogy. Heartwarming case studies provide wonderful working examples.

Title TBA
Dick Eastman
F-12

Convicts to the Colonies: Criminal Transportation Prior to the Revolution
Susan D. Kaufman
F-13
Prior to 1776 the colonies that became the United States accepted transported criminals to populate the land. Not all had committed heinous crimes, but some were transported to the colonies rather than to the gallows. Documents rich in the names of ordinary individuals offer a glimpse into the conditions in which two countries were dealing with population growth, one as an emigrating country, one as an immigrant country. A survey of the records discussing the convicts transported to the British colonies of America will be offered.

4-5 p.m.

A Century of Wedded Bliss: Indiana Marriage Laws 1791–1891
Betty L. Warren
F-14
This session will take a close look at the changes in the age of consent restrictions, residency requirements, and other factors of the legislative rules and regulations governing marriage in the state of Indiana.

Kerchner Surname Y-DNA Project
Charles F. Kerchner Jr.

F-15
The Kerchner Surname Y-DNA Genetic Genealogy Project was launched in February 2001, one of the first such projects in the world. This session will discuss the goals, process and results of starting and conducting a Y-DNA surname project to use Y-DNA testing to aid traditional genealogical research.

Footnote.com
Beau Sharbough
F-16
This noncommercial demonstration shows what’s to be found on Footnote.com. Footnote.com has content agreements with the National Archives and Records Administration, FamilySearch.org, and the Allen County Public Library, among others. The lecture will include search tips as well as a discussion about user-contributed content to be found on the site.

What Color Ellis Island Search Form Should I Use?
Stephen Morse
F-17
In April 2001 the Ellis Island ship manifests and passenger records went online. A few weeks later the One-Step Ellis Island Web site was created to make this resource easier to use. Since that time the One-Step site has been greatly expanded to include new search capabilities and an array of color-coded search forms. This talk will describe the evolution of the site from both a historical and a practical perspective, and provide a beacon for navigating through this color maze.

EVENING PROGRAM

6-7 p. m.
Reception, Cash Bar

7 p. m. Banquet

Megan’s Mini-Film Festival
Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak
F-18
The mini-film festival will focus on DNA testing as seen through the lens of individual experiences. Three episodes of DNA Stories, a RootsTelevision.com series, will be featured: A Tale of Two Fathers, Were They Sisters? and Did She Marry Her Cousin?

Menu
Garden fresh green salad
Petite prime rib of beef
Chef’s choice of starch and vegetables
Roll
Black Forest cake
Coffee, iced tea

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Saturday, Aug.16, 2008
8 a.m.-4 p.m. Registration
8 a.m.-4 p.m. Exhibit Hall
8:45 a.m. Welcome

9-10 a.m.

OPENING SESSION
Cases That Make My Brain Hurt
Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak
S-19
How could brothers also be uncle and nephew? How could a soldier killed in Korea be alive 55 years later? How could the 1853 death of a toddler in Scotland help solve a Civil War history mystery? Come and hear!

10:30–11:30 a.m.

Doing Effective Genealogical Research in Libraries
Curt B. Witcher
S-20
So often genealogists miss the tremendous research treasures in libraries and archives because they are not effective researchers. This talk focuses on understanding the four major types of libraries – academic, private, public  and special – as well as on organizing one’s data in a manner that can be effectively presented to a librarian, archivist or record custodian for review and consultation. In addition, techniques will be provided for “scouting” a research facility before actually arriving and functioning well in a wide variety of research institutions. 

Using Little-Known and Neglected Sources
Christine Rose
S-21
In this lecture a variety of records will be discussed, from land to federal to court and military. The examples presented will open many doors to the researchers who think they’ve examined everything.

Automated Search Tools
Beau Sharbough
S-22
Using GenSmarts, Google and features of sites such as Ancestry.com and Footnote.com, you can find the needles in that huge haystack.

The Lost Colony DNA Project

Roberta J. Estes
S-23
How did 115 Englishmen and women come to be lost in the Virginia wilderness in 1587? Mystery, murder and intrigue ... come and find out for yourself. Will we find them using DNA technology?

LUNCH
Lunch will be available 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Take a break from the sessions, visit with your friends and experience the exhibit hall.

Menu
Sandwich buffet
Fruit salad
Cookie or brownie
Coffee, iced tea

1-2 p.m.

Driving You Bonkers: Accessing State Hospital Records for Family Research
Alan January
S-24
State hospital records are a gold mine of information for family medical and personal research. Alan January, director of Patron Services for the Indiana State Archives, will discuss Indiana's experience with managing access to state hospital records and explain how HIPAA impacts confidentiality statutes in Indiana and other states.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Indiana State Archives

Playing Hide and Seek in the U.S. Census
Stephen Morse
S-25
Even before the 1930 census was unlocked in 2002, researchers began wondering how they were going to locate the records they were searching for. The lack of indexes was going to present a real challenge.

Several solutions to this problem have since evolved. The One-Step Census Web site presents a street aid for finding records (and has since been expanded to include 1910, 1920 and 1940). A similar aid exists on the NARA Web site. Commercial Web sites also have developed extensive indexes that are available for a fee. This presentation describes and contrasts various solutions of searching in these census years.

Preserving Family Photos
Beau Sharbough
S-26
A demonstration of how to scan and restore photos using your scanner and some inexpensive software. We'll also discuss how to take care of the originals and ways to share the photos with others.

Where DID I Find That Document?
Betty L. Warren
S-27
This session will examine suggested techniques for acceptable source citation with examples of sources specific to genealogical and family history research, such as census records, oral interviews, land records, tax lists and the Internet.

Sponsored by the Indiana Chapter of Palatines to America

2:30-3:30 p.m.

Turning Your Research Into a Family History
Nancy A. Massey
S-28
This presentation introduces the basics of turning your family history into a book. It is assumed you have already researched your family’s history and are ready to put that information into a book to be shared with others. Items to be covered are the process of deciding the focus of your book, the organization of the book, and how to use your imagination and creativity to create a publication that will be cherished by generations to come and other researchers.

Avoid the Crooked Path! Genealogical Problem Solving
Christine Rose
S-29
Demonstrates with overheads and case studies how to zero in on the goal, reduce the problem and stay on the path to solve it. A great motivational talk.

Innovative Tools to Connect Families
David Lifferth
S-30
Discover FamilyLink.com, Inc. products and services, including WorldVitalRecords.com and FamilyLink.com, as well as social networking Facebook applications such as We’re Related, Family Groups and My Will. Learn why FamilyLink.com, Inc. products have rapidly become ranked among the top family and genealogy tools around the world.

Newspaper Research: A Mirror of History
Susan D. Kaufman
S-31
Newspapers are reflective of the thoughts, morals, events and times of the communities and society they represent. Although content can vary, and information might have a specific “agenda,” finding that vital piece of information, a vital record, a list of immigrants or even just the “goings on” of the community your family was a part of offers a greater insight into and a picture of their lives.

4-5 p.m.
Remembering Our Ancestors
Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak
S-32
The author of Honoring Our Ancestors and In Search of Our Ancestors shares favorite stories from both books. Let yourself be amused, amazed and touched by stories of the many creative ways people have developed to pay tribute to those who came before us, as well as tales of how some stubborn brick walls have come tumbling down in the most unexpected ways. You'll leave convinced that our ancestors want to be found as much as we want to find them, and equipped with some creative ways to pay tribute to them.

Deep Linking and Deeper Linking: How to Get the Most Out of Existing Search Applications
Stephen Morse
S-33
Deep linking provides a means of optimizing the information extracted from existing third-party Web sites in general, and from search applications in particular. Various means of deep linking will be introduced in this session, including URL editing, using search forms and placing a man in the middle. These very techniques are used by many of the tools on the One-Step Web site. Methods of blocking others from deep linking to your Web site will be described, and the legalities of deep linking also will be discussed.

The purpose is not to make you an expert at improving other people's Web sites. Rather it is to expose you to the techniques that were used on the One-Step Web site and give you a better appreciation for what is there and how to use it. No knowledge of Web programming is required, but if you have such knowledge, you will be able to apply the ideas presented here yourself.

Title TBA
Dick Eastman
S-34

Who Went Where…And Did What?!
Curt B. Witcher
S-35
Directories can provide the researcher with so much consequential data in attempting to develop a context in which to conduct meaningful family history research and to find all the records available for a specific area during a particular time period. Too often genealogists think of directories only in terms of city directories, and then only as a source for placing a person in an urban area for a particular year. However, many more directories exist, including institutional, professional and occupational directories, as well as “directories of directories,” just to name a few. This lecture identifies different types of directories, discusses the type of information one can hope to find, and provides the researcher with ideas for locating directories.

Speakers’ Biographical Information

M. Teresa Baer, native Hoosier and managing editor of family history publications at the Indiana Historical Society Press, has written numerous genealogical articles for The Hoosier Genealogist (now THG:Connections) and has spoken on family history topics throughout the state. Baer holds an MA degree in comparative history, a B.A. in history, and an international studies certificate from Indiana University.

Vicki Casteel, visual collections archivist at the Indiana State Archives, has worked primarily with the photograph collections; the Board of State Charities records, including those on the eugenics movement; and the Camp Morton records.

Dick Eastman, author of Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter, a weekly electronic publication, is a frequent international lecturer, editor and consultant.

Roberta J. Estes, a professional scientist and business owner in the information technology arena (B.S. Computer Science; M.B.A.; graduate work in geographic information systems), has been an obsessed genealogist since 1978 and was one of the early DNA surname administrators and pioneer adopters of DNA analysis for genealogy. In 2005 she established DNAeXplain to provide personal DNA results analysis and genealogical services to surname project administrators and individuals seeking assistance with their results. She currently manages more than 20 surname projects, including the large regional Cumberland Gap Y-line and mtDNA projects with several hundred participants; co-administers the American Indian project; serves as an advisor to the Melungeon project and other groups; and has appeared in national publications and on television. Her genealogy specialty is Southern colonial records, focused primarily in Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina.

Autumn C. Gonzalez is a reference librarian with the Genealogy Division of the Indiana State Library. She holds an M.L.S. from Indiana University in Indianapolis and B.A. in liberal studies from California Baptist University. Prior to coming to the Indiana State Library, she held positions at the Lawrence campus of Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis and Carmel Clay Public Library.

Suzanne Hahn is director of reference services at the William Henry Smith Memorial Library at the Indiana Historical Society. Before joining the IHS staff in 2000, she worked at the Library of Congress and Center for Naval Analyses in Washington, D.C.

Alan January is director of patron services for the Indiana State Archives. Since 1993 he has worked on managing records from seven closed state hospitals and developmental centers.

Susan D. Kaufman is currently manager of the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, Houston Public Library. She has been a genealogy librarian for more than 20 years, including six years at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Ind., and has worked with local, state and national genealogical societies both as a board member and as a conference presenter. She is a director for the FGS board and a district representative for the Texas State Genealogical Society.

Charles F. Kerchner Jr. is a retired professional engineer and has been a genealogist for more than 33 years, authoring several tutorial and help papers on Pennsylvania German research and the field of genetic genealogy (www.kerchner.com). He was a pioneer in genetic genealogy, launching in February 2001 the Kerchner Surname Project, one of the first dozen surname projects by a genealogist. The author of Genetic Genealogy DNA Testing Dictionary (www.ggdictionary.com), he currently manages more than 30 genetic genealogy projects, including a study to document the DNA markers found in the Pennsylvania German ethnic group. In 2005 he helped launch the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (www.isogg.org) and now serves as coordinator of the Mid-Atlantic section.

David Lifferth has been the president of World Vital Records, Inc. since October 2006. Formerly a content engineer for MyFamily.com/Ancestry.com, he has been involved in releasing more than 1 billion individual records online, including UK census, military records, and birth, marriage and death indexes. Other database projects include the Executive Excellence Instant Consultant CD; the Littler Mendelson National Employer 1998, 1999, and 2000; the LDS Church Magazine CD, containing 30 years of Ensign and other magazines; and the award-winning California State Bar CEB Practice Libraries 1996, 1997 and 1998. Lifferth holds a business degree in information management from Brigham Young University.

James H. Madison is the Thomas and Kathryn Miller Professor of History and former chair of the department of history at Indiana University, Bloomington. His books include The Indiana Way: A State History; Eli Lilly: A Life; A Lynching in the Heartland: Race and Memory in America;and Slinging Doughnuts for the Boys: An American Woman in World War II. Professor Madison is the recipient IU’s Sylvia E. Bowmen Distinguished Teaching Award, the Organization of American Historians’ Distinguished Lecturer honor and the Indiana Historical Society’s Hoosier Historian Award. He serves as a member of the Indiana Historical Society’s Board of Trustees.

Nancy A. Massey is currently the Indiana Room Assistant at the Hamilton East Public Library, where she assists patrons with their genealogical research. Recently appointed Hamilton County Genealogist by the Indiana Genealogical Society, she is also a teacher and presenter on genealogical topics. Massey has self-published family histories on her husband’s family and currently is working on a family history on her own maternal line. She earned a B.A. in history from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Stephen Morse is the creator of the One-Step Web site, for which he has received both the Outstanding Contribution Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies and the Award of Merit from the NGS. He was the recipient of the first-ever Excellence Award from the Association of Professional Genealogists. Morse also is a computer professional with a doctorate in electrical engineering. He has held various research, development and teaching positions; authored numerous technical papers; written four textbooks; and holds four patents. He is best known as the architect of the Intel 8086 (the granddaddy of today’s Pentium processor), which sparked the PC revolution 25 years ago.

Rachel M. Popma is the assistant editor for family history publications at the Indiana Historical Society Press and an adjunct faculty member at Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis. She holds a B.A. from Ball State University and a M.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She began researching her family history at the age of 10 and is a former volunteer for Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness.

Christine Rose, CG, CGL, FASG, has lectured extensively at national conferences (including the NGS, FGS and GenTech) and many regional and local seminars. She has served on the faculty of the National Institute on Genealogical Research in Washington, D.C., and as an instructor and coordinator of Samford University’s Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research since 1992. In 1987 she was awarded the American Society of Genealogists’ prestigious Donald Lines Jacobus Award for two Rose genealogies. Rose is a co-author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Genealogy.

Bob Sander, a fourth-generation Hoosier and Indianapolis resident, is a co-founder of Storytelling Arts of Indiana, which brings the best storytellers locally, regionally and nationally to Indianapolis for an annual festival, a six-month storytelling series, and special events that promote the art and use of storytelling. He is a recipient of Frank Basile Emerging Stories and Telling History Through Stories grants and in 2001 was awarded a Creative Renewal Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis. His work draws on history, family stories and folktales and has been commissioned by such diverse organizations as the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, General Electric, RCI, the Indiana Humanities Council, the IHS, and public radio and television.

Beau Sharbrough, Houston native, received a B.A. in philosophy from Texas A&M University in 1977. His programming career began in 1980, and he is presently a product manager for MyFamily.com. He is the founder of the FGS Web site, the GENTECH Web site and the Lexicon Working Group, and a former president of GENTECH. He writes regularly on technical topics in family history, with an occasional overdose of humor, and maintains the RootsWorks.com Web site.

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak is Chief Family Historian and North American spokesperson for Ancestry.com and a co-founder of the pioneering online television channel Roots Television. She is an internationally known speaker, researcher, and consultant, and her work has been featured in such television series as Ancestors, They Came to America and African American Lives. Her Honoring Our Ancestors Grants Program has provided support for more than 75 genealogical initiatives, including the U.S. Army’s repatriation project, designed to trace the families of soldiers killed or missing in action in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War and establish a DNA database to assist in identification of repatriated remains. An award-winning author, her latest book is Trace Your Roots with DNA: Using Genetic Tests to Explore Your Family Tree (with Ann Turner, M.D.).

Betty L. Warren, secretary in the genealogy division at the Indiana State Library, has presented genealogy programs since 1989 and is a volunteer at the Johnson County Museum of History’s genealogy department. She is the immediate past-president of the IGS and has earned professional certification as a genealogist from Brigham Young University. Warren owns a family history research business, Be It Remembered and sits on the IHS Genealogy Program Advisory Board.

Curt B. Witcher, MLS, FUGA, is manager of the Historical Genealogy Department of the Allen County Public Library and curator of its Rare and Fine Book Collection. He is former president of NGS and FGS, and founding president of the IGS. Witcher is also a member of the editorial board for THG: Connections.

Abbreviations
B.A. Bachelor of Arts
CG Certified Genealogist
CGL Certified Genealogical Lecturer
FGS Federation of Genealogical Societies
FASG Fellow, American Society of Genealogists
FUGA Fellow, Utah Genealogical Association
IGS Indiana Genealogical Society
IHS Indiana Historical Society
M.A. Master of Arts
M.B.A. Master of Business Administration
MLS Master of Library Science
NGS National Genealogical Society

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