Family: Interviewing Relatives
Planning interviews with family members include determining proper questions, equipment to use, and other aspects. Here are some suggestions you may find helpful.
EQUIPMENT
As a journalist, I know that using more than one device is a good idea. There’s no telling when one will not cooperate. I prefer to use a digital sound recorder with an external microphone, and a video camera (with sound) as well. I also take notes and work from a list of questions.
Make sure you have a digital camera to take shots of documents or old photos; bring a small tripod one along (best: those with legs that can be twisted into any angle or used against your arm or shoulder to stabilize the camera). Not expensive, they take up very little room.
A portable scanner – getting smaller and less expensive every year – is another good idea to copy unframed photos and documents; always check the backs of photos and documents for notes, inscriptions, dates, etc. Use your digital camera to shoot framed photos hanging on the wall.
Practice using your equipment ahead of time – so you won’t waste time or annoy the person with technical glitches. Remember to take the lens cap off the video camera! If using battery-operated devices, bring along spares (or chargers). The Boy Scouts have it right: “Be Prepared.”
Read on for more information about arranging an interview, how to interview, questions to ask and sharing information.
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One blogger’s story: Denielle Radcliff Koch
There are more than 2,000 genealogy blogs – known as geneablogs - in cyberspace, and more appear every day.
While some focus on a researcher’s own family, or specialize in a certain country, town or ethnicity, others provide assistance to researchers via tips and tricks of the trade.
Blogger Denielle Radcliff Koch, 29, of North Carolina, fits into several categories with two working blogs and another in planning.
Her mother always told stories about her family. In her teens, Denielle dabbled in genealogy by just talking to relatives. She began seriously researching when her great-grandmother passed away soon after her daughter’s birth.
“Once I got going, I was hooked.”
When she first began researching, her daughter was a colicky baby and Denielle and her husband were on a very tight budget. She couldn’t afford to pay for genealogy website subscriptions. Library visits with the baby weren’t in the cards, either.
“So I started searching the internet to see what I could find for free. I was surprised to find that there’s actually a lot of stuff out there. “
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Interview: Jeanette Finlayson – Central Queensland Family History Association
This week we talk to Jeanette Finlayson from the Central Queensland Family History Association. Queensland is a large state in Australia’s northeast.
Tell us a bit about yourself, Jeanette. How did you get into family history research and why are you so heavily involved with it now?
I am a retired teacher. Many years ago, I was having a conversation with one of my cousins from my Mother’s side. He was saying how fortunate we were that our ancestors had the foresight to migrate to this country. Of course, I agreed with him, and then thought how little I actually knew about their story, so I decided that as soon as I retired I would find out as much as I could about my maternal German ancestors and my Irish paternal ancestors. I have now been researching for 14 years, and have been richly rewarded by what I have found, and the people I have met. The story of my ancestors was one of hardship and sacrifices, and required great courage in their fight for survival in their new country. I am greatly indebted to them for the comfortable life I have today.
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MyHeritage.com Interviews Anne Bradshaw, author of True Miracles with Genealogy
Anne Bradshaw is the author of the genealogy bestseller “True Miracles with Genealogy” and has written books for more than twenty years. She was born in England, is a spouse, a mother and grandmother, and has lived in the USA for many years. Besides writing books Anne has a personal blog and a website for her latest book.
MyHeritage.com talked to Anne about her interesting bestseller, her background and her kinship with the legendary singer Phil Collins.
For the people that didn't read your book could you tell us what it is about?
"True Miracles with Genealogy" contains fascinating family-history research stories. They’re the kind of stories where you know that ancestors were making things happen. Material came in from the USA and many other countries such as England, Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands. Each story is unique. It was inspiring to learn about the many different ways descendants discovered information.
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Family Festival: Catch the family spirit!
The first-ever "One Family, Many Faces" festival drew throngs of families to the MyHeritage workshop with 50 computers manned by a team of 15 experts.
This overwhelmingly successful experience in interactive multi-generational family history was attended by families of all backgrounds and ages and took place at the Museum of the Jewish People, September 26-28, in Tel Aviv.
A record-breaking 1,500 family trees - adding some 32,000 individuals - were created at the three-day event. That count is now more than 40,000 because families are continuing to build their trees at full speed.
Parents brought babies, toddlers, young children and teens. Aunts and uncles arrived with nieces and nephews.
Grandparents brought their grandchildren so that they could share in the experience. Young children - to whom computers are an ordinary part of life - helped their non-technological grandparents.
Working side-by-side at computers were young couples just starting their lives together and senior couples recording details for their own parents and grandparents.
MyHeritage is all about uniting families, whether it is discovering new relatives or building a family tree together.
We spoke to several families and asked them why they were there:
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User Story: To Russia, With Love
John Phillips, a 78 year old pensioner from Sydney, has created a wonderful documentary “To Russia, With Love” about his wife’s search for her family.
For 67 years his wife Netalija and her cousin Marianna thought each other was dead, after being separated in the battle of Leningrad in 1941. The documentary records the first emotional meeting of Netalija and Marianna, and their families, after 67 years. It is dedicated to Dr Janis Licis who saved Netalija, her mother and brother from the German slave labour camps.
Netalija and her brother Ernest
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User Story: Irakli Murtskhvaladze uncovers a plethora of family members
For many of us, researching our family history can be a long and slow process. Not so for Irakli Murtskhvaladze, who has uncovered 200 relatives in a short space of time!
Irakli lives in Tbilisi, Georgia and is CEO of TBC TV, a leading television studio in Georgia. Situated at the juncture of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, Georgia is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, Turkey and Armenia to the south and Azerbaijan to the East.
Georgia has a population of approximately 5 million people, with 1.2 million living in Tbilisi, the capital. Although Irakli was born and lives in Tbilisi, his family name comes from the Western part of Georgia – Lechkhumi.
Irakli said that it was thanks to MyHeritage.com that he discovered that one of his friends and colleagues was a relative! Continue reading "User Story: Irakli Murtskhvaladze uncovers a plethora of family members" »
Daniel Horowitz – Genealogy and Translation Manager of MyHeritage.com – August genealogy USA tour. Part II of II
Read part 1 here.
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| Photo by Nancy Adelson |
In addition to my work at the IAJGS Philadelphia conference and keeping up with MyHeritage.com responsibilities, I was also happy to meet our newest MyHeritage team member Laurence Harris, the Genealogy Advisor UK.
Schelly Talalay Dardashti (who writes the MyHeritage Genealogy Blog) also attended the conference and both of us enjoyed talking with Laurence over the six-day event.
Laurence was very helpful during my workshop and we three got together to exchange ideas, talk about the genealogy field and even managed a quick lunch out of the hotel in spite of the hectic conference schedule. Laurence will be working from London, where he lives with his family.
As part of my theoretical family vacation - there is no such thing for a workaholic genealogist addicted to the computer - we went to Pennsylvania State University to visit my brother-in-law, who's studying for his master's degree. The Blair County Genealogical Society, in Hollidaysburg, PA kindly re-scheduled their usual meeting day to fit in with my travel plans.
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Daniel Horowitz – Genealogy and Translation Manager of MyHeritage.com – August genealogy USA tour. Part I of II
After a month and a bit more on the road, I'm now back home. It's time to take a break before my interview on Sep. 15 with Susan E. King and tell you all about my genealogy tour in the US during the month of August.
My first stop was in New Jersey where I spoke to the Genealogical Society of Bergen County in Ridgewood. More than 50 people heard about the latest MyHeritage.com tools to help genealogists with their research and families to better stay in touch.
The public library where the society meets has a large genealogy section with old phone books, genealogy magazines (old and new), a nice collection of books with family information, and many computers, printers and copy machines. The library is about to redesign the space to give researchers more space and to access additional materials.
Continue reading "Daniel Horowitz – Genealogy and Translation Manager of MyHeritage.com – August genealogy USA tour. Part I of II" »
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