Lights, Camera, Genealogy! The Best of the Genealogy Vloggers

This week some of us took a short break from the hustle and bustle of genealogical discovery, and went off to see what’s new in the geneasphere. One thing that jumped out at us was the number of genealogists recording videos online. Unheard of just a few years ago, today there are at least a dozen prominent genealogy ‘vlog’ channels, showing videos on everything from the importance of getting youngsters interested in genealogy to the particular challenges of tracing Afican-Native American family roots. There were too many great channels to list in a single article, but here are a few of our favourites.

Genealogy Gems

Genealogy Gems is one of the most established online genealogy shows. Its founder, Lisa Louise Cooke, records interviews with genealogy experts, tips for researching family histories, and advice for navigating the online genealogy world. Her accompanying Genealogy Gems website features even more podcasts, videos, and other resources – including some premium features.

Here’s an example of Genealogy Gems:

Elyse

Elyse’s video blog has been running for almost two years now, and currently comprises 29 separate videos. Elyse’s channel has some excellent introductory tips for genealogical research, as well as discussions on more general topics, such as the importance of getting young people interested in genealogy. Perhaps her biggest contribution, though, has been a series of videos on accessing US census records, offering fantastic advice on how to make use of the various census records available throughout the country. Elyse also runs one of the most well-known genealogy blogs, viewable here.

Here’s Elyse discussing US Census records:

GenealogyScrounge

GenealogyScrounge’s video channel offers an eclectic mix of genealogy advice. There’s particularly good material on genealogy and technology, and not just through the conventional channels. The author guides you, for instance, through how to use graphics software to restore damaged photos, how to use Google Scholar for intensive research, or how to navigate online newspaper archives. The channel has been running for a year and a half, and now features over 40 different videos.

Here’s GenealogyScrounge on using Google Scholar in your research:

So those are some of the best that’s out there, but undoubtedly there are others. Do you have a favourite genealogy video channel you’d like to share? Drop a link in the comments box and we’ll check it out.