#daniel ear

Registration starts at 8:30 am on April 8 at the Pinckney Library. Cost is $25 payable via cash, check, or credit card.

Schedule of Events

8:30-9:00 AM - Registration and check-in

9:00-9:15 AM - Welcome & Introduction of featured speaker, Daniel Earl

9:15-10:30 AM - Ancestors in Context: Putting History in Your Family History - Our ancestors had rich, full lives between census years.You will learn how to leverage four types of records to fill out your ancestors’ lives. The speaker will use examples from his own family to illustrate how he was able to utilize these four record types to add depth to his family's history. Handouts provided.

10:30-10:45 AM - Break and Networking

10:45-12:00 PM - Living on Cloud 9: Genealogy Beyond the Binder - We live in a fast-paced, digital, on-the-go world. Genealogy is no different. Imagine being able to bring all of your research files with you on every trip. Using cloud-based storage allows the genealogical researcher to access all of their files anywhere any time. This course will compare several different cloud-based storage servers as well as look at different ways to organized digital files in order to minimize space and find documents faster. Handouts provided.

12:00-1:00 PM - Lunch Break - Lunch is included for an extra cost of $7 or a list of local restaurants will be available for those wishing to have lunch off site.

1:00-2:15 PM - Crowdsourcing Your Genealogy: Rethinking Brick Walls - Many beginning genealogists feel like they are working alone. That feeling of isolation comes to the fore when we work on brick wall problems in our research. This presentation looks at using other researchers in a simple and strategic way known as crowdsourcing. Using crowdsourcing can help genealogists to break down their brick walls faster and more cost effectively than other methods. This presentation covers five major websites that genealogists can use to power through brickwalls, as well as the online etiquette needed to maximize effectiveness, and how to use crowdsourcing in local society meetings to increase the effectiveness and attractiveness of those meetings. Handouts provided.

2:15-2:30 PM - Break and Networking

2:30-3:45 PM - Funeral Homes and Family History: They're Dying to Meet You - Most genealogists know to look in a cemetery to find their ancestors, but what about the funeral home? Funeral home records can provide loads of genealogically rich information. You will learn what types of records are typically found in funeral homes, how to locate these resources online and "in the field", as well as real life examples of how to search for ancillary clues in funeral home records. Handouts provided.

3:45-4:00 PM - Wrap Up & Closing

Speaker Bio for Daniel Earl

I got my start in family history at age 10 when my father took me to the grave of my great-grandfather; that sparked a lifetime of interest in family history. I have spent the last 25 years researching my own family history and helping others make history a part of their story.

I am associated with the following groups and organizations: The National Genealogical Society, The Genealogical Speakers Guild, The Michigan Genealogical Council, The Mid-Michigan Genealogical Society, Clinton County Michigan Genealogy, The Hungarian Genealogical Society of Michigan, French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan, The Next Gen Genealogy Network.

I have experience doing research in the United States Midwest, Mid-Atlantic United States, New England, Eastern Canada, United States Southwest, Eastern Europe, Great Britain, and Ireland​