My All Time 5 Favorite RootsTech 2022 Classes
Every time I come to RootsTech I struggle with parts of myself that want different things. There’s a part that wants to do better research and dive deep into the obscure records. There’s another part that loves everything about stories and life histories and how to make them sound better and be better. Still another part just wants to have fun with all of the cool tech that is showcased at these events. So what do I do as a genealogist at Rootstech 2022? I take a sampling of all of these different areas because all of it is good for the soul. So let me share my favorites in this article…
Best Practices for Involving Children in Family History
This was a simple and cute video about ways to inspire children. I was instantly drawn to this one because I’m constantly trying to help my daughter love family history. This video shares that children love hearing stories about people that they know. So stories about themselves, their parents, and grandparents is a perfect place to start this journey. She also shared how showing pictures, labeling heirlooms, telling family stories as bedtime stories, writing about your own life, making flashcards, etc. all help to involve children in their family history.
Personal History Interviews with Todd Hansen from The Story Trek
Another fun one with the host of the BYUTV show The Story Trek. Todd shares how simple it is to have a good and meaningful interview without getting bogged down in names, dates, and places. This is why the show has done so well because he gets at the heart of the interview instead of at the data. I really loved this one!
Providing Discovery Experiences
This class was focused on taking a volunteer and answering their family history question in front of an audience. The speaker did her research on that question before the class, then led her volunteer through what she found. The volunteer doesn’t know any of it before the class so it’s just as much of a surprise to them as it is to the class. She has found this is one of the best ways to inspire people to do their family history.
Using ArkivDigital to Unlock Your Swedish Family History
I like to stay on top of my knowledge about Scandinavian genealogy. So this class was perfect for refreshing what I already knew and adding small tips that makes my research easier. I was excited to see many of her tips that I can add to my own research and teaching. But this class is also good for the beginner researcher who is just wanting to research their Swedish ancestry. ArkivDigital is only a Swedish website. For Norwegian and Danish ancestry you’ll have to look elsewhere.
Soren Christensen and the Life-Cycle Strategy
For any of you who are just beginning Danish genealogy, then this 3 part series is great for you. This class is part 2 of that series, but I was intrigued by the Life-Cycle strategy since I’ve never heard that label before. But I found that the label is a new way of stating an old research pattern. Basically, you follow your ancestor that you’re researching from birth to death through record hopping. If you find a marriage record first, then you can go to their children’s birth records next. Or if you find a census record first, then you can either start with the couple’s marriage record or go to the children’s birth records. You can also go backwards and find the couple’s birth records or immigration records. So it’s an interesting strategy that she explains more about.
Last Thoughts on RootsTech 2022
They did a fabulous job at sharing as much as they could in this industry. Rootstech 2022 was just as good as last year with their virtual things and even improved in some areas such as the virtual Expo Hall. They had a sweepstakes where if you visited 20 vendors, then you were entered into a $10,000 reward from Priceline for a vacation. That got me interested! But I was quite pleased with this year’s production of it and look forward to next year.
And as always…good luck and happy hunting!
Tiffany
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