Reminder: DuPage County Genealogical Society Annual Conference to Take Place on Saturday, February 25, 2012

Hi Everyone!

I previously posted this information in September 2011 and thought now is a good time to remind everyone of this upcoming DuPage County Genealogical Society Annual Conference that will be coming up on February 25, 2012.  There is still plenty of time to fit this conference into your calendars.  Even on the last day you can attend as walk-ins are welcomed.  This is always a great conference and it looks like that the speakers for this year will continue that tradition. 

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It is never too early to be aware of upcoming genealogy programs! 

I want to remind everyone of the upcoming Annual Conference that is held by the Du Page County Genealogical Society.  You can visit the main web site of the society to find out more about them and what is available at their site at www.dcgs.org.

Their conference will take place on Saturday, February 25, 2012 at the Hilton Garden Inn in St. Charles, IL from 8 AM until about 4 PM.  At 8 AM, you can register as a walk-in if you have not previously registered, have some morning refreshments that you can buy and take a look at the materials available for purchase from the vendors that are also participating at the conference.  The actual genealogy presentations will start at 9:00 AM.  The last series of genealogical presentations will start at 3 PM.

The Annual Conference Theme is “Tracking Your Ancestors’ Footsteps”.

I have previously mentioned this upcoming annual conference at our own programs and have provided those in attendance with a paper handout of the conference details.

I encourage everyone to visit the Du Page County Genealogical Society Annual Conference Information directly at the following link:

• 2012 Du Page County Genealogical Society Annual Conference Program Guide

 At their site in the above link you will find out all the details about the upcoming program such as:

• Information about the Hilton Garden Inn and driving directions to the facility.
• Registration Fees (Walk-Ins are welcome.  Supplied lunch cannot be guaranteed but there are plenty of places in the local vicinity to have a lunch on your own.)
• Program Titles, Times and Speakers.
• Speaker Biographies
• Vendor Information
• Other Societies Information
• Information on Previous Annual Conferences

I am a big proponent for attending these one day, all day local conferences.  You will be exposed to multiple genealogy presentations that you can choose to attend throughout the day.

There are 4 segments of programs that occur.  One is at 9:00 AM, one at 10:30 AM, one at 1:30 PM and one at 3 PM.  Within all the time segments you will be able to pick from 3 programs that will be occurring.   You will be attending one of the segments that is of interest to you.  So you will actually be able to hear four unique programs among the 12 that will be offered.

The speakers that will be offering their unique presentations are:

• Maureen Brady
• Tony Burroughs
• Jennifer Holik
• Paul Milner
• Juliana Smith
• Loretto (Lou) Szucs

These speakers are some of the best of the best that you can encounter as you expand your genealogical knowledge.

I have previously attended this conference.  It is one of the best conferences that you can attend in the local area.  If you have never attended such an all-inclusive one day conference, then this is the one to experience.  The location is close, the facility is great, the organization is superb, the programs are outstanding, the speakers are top-rated, the vendors have great material and other societies are represented!

You will have a great genealogical learning experience in one day that will expand your genealogical knowledge and assist you further in your own research efforts.

Take a closer look at the Du Page County Genealogical Society Annual Conference Information by clicking on the link I provided above.  All of the information about the conference can be found here.

Our library provides one program per month.  Here is your chance to hear four presentations by top-rated speakers in one day.

I don’t think you will be disappointed.

This may seem like it is a long time away.  But we all know how time flys.  Mark your calendar now for this date so it does not slip by.  You will not be sorry!

Tony Kierna
Genealogy Coordinator
Schaumburg Township District Library

“Who Do You Think You Are?” NBC Genealogy TV Show Announces “Celebrities” For Season 3 Starting February 3, 2012

Hi Everyone!

Mark February 3, 2012 at 7 PM Chicago time for the return of “Who Do You Think You Are?” to NBC TV.

I also finally see that a list of the “stars” that will have their ancestries revealed has finally been released.  The “stars” you will see in 2012 episodes will be:

• Martin Sheen
• Marisa Tomei
• Blair Underwood
• Reba McEntire
• Rob Lowe
• Helen Hunt
• Rita Wilson
• Edie Falco
• Rashida Jones
• Jerome Bettis (football)
• Jason Sudeikis
• Paula Deen (cooking)

Here is a link to what I found online that provides more information:

“Who Do You Think You Are?” 2012 Cast Of Featured Stars

Mark your calendars for this eagerly awaited start of a brand new  season of popular genealogy on TV.

Tony Kierna
Genealogy Coordinator
Schaumburg Township District Library

Wall Street Journal Publishes Another Genealogy Article on January 11, 2012; “Digging Deeper Into Roots With Spruced-Up Ancestry.com”

Hi Everyone!

Once again I have to give thanks to a very observant participant at our monthly genealogy programs who made me aware that the Wall Street Journal published another genealogy article on January 11, 2012.  The title of the article is “Digging Deeper Into Roots With Spruced-Up Ancestry.com”.

Thank you once again to “eagle-eye” Bruce H. for making me aware of this recent publication.

You can read the entirety of the article online at the following link:

January 11, 2012 Wall Street Journal Genealogy Article Titled “Digging Deeper Into Roots With Spruced-Up Ancestry.com”

I guess you can tell that genealogy is a “hot” topic these days what with more and more data being digitized and made available online as well as the NBC genealogy show titled “Who Do You Think You Are” to have another new season premier on February 3, 2012!

The article is very insightful on how the world of genealogy is migrating faster and faster into mobile “apps” and not so much “desktop” apps.  It makes you believe that if you do not have a smart phone or a tablet device that you are falling farther and farther behind.  The author includes references specifically to the iPhone and iPad.  The author obviously likes touch screen applications which most desktops are not dominant at this point in technology development.  But smartphones and tablet devices thrive on touch screen technology.

So take a look at the full article from the Wall Street Journal at the above link.

It might just painfully reinforce how many of us are falling farther and farther behind the curve even when we feel we are doing just fine!

Thanks again Bruce H. for being so observant and sharing your discoveries with me to share to others.

Tony Kierna
Genealogy Coordinator
Schaumburg Township District Library

Steve Szabados, A Frequent Participant At Our Monthly Genealogy Program, And Genealogy Speaker, Has Published A New Book; “Finding Grandma’s European Ancestors”

Hi Everyone!

Many of you may know Steve Szabados as  many things.  (Maybe we will all now have to call him “Stephen” based on his name on the book cover!  For now he will still be “Steve”.)  Some may know of him as a fellow genealogy research colleague.  Some may know of him as a participant at genealogy programs, ours included.  Some may know of Steve as a genealogy lecturer.  Some may know of  Steve as a genealogy teacher, especially those doing Polish research. 

But now Steve has made me aware that he is now an author!  Congratulations Steve!

Steve has published a book titled “Finding Grandma’s European Ancestors”.  His book is now available to purchase from Amazon.com for $12.99.  You can find information about this book authored by Steve at Amazon.com at:

Steve Szabados’ Book “Finding Grandma’s European Ancestors” At Amazon.com.

Steve Szabados

I hope to be able to purchase the book through Steve and add it to our own library’s circulating collection for genealogy.

Steve was kind enough to share a pre-copy of his work in progress to give him some feedback.  I had to apologize to Steve early on because I was so fixated with the information in the pre-copy material that I spent more time gathering information for my own Polish research than I did giving him some meaningful feedback on his material, presentation and style!!

So I now anxiously await being able to see and purchase for the library the final version of his informative work, especially since it can benefit me directly to pick up some tips for my own Polish, Eastern European genealogy research.

I hope to be able to see him and congratulate him in person if he will be able to attend our February 14, 2011 program with Craig Pfannkuche.

Many of you know Steve through all of the ways I mentioned at the beginning of this post.  Now you will get to see another side of Steve – as author!

Congratulations again to a great guy!

Tony Kierna
Genealogy Coordinator
Schaumburg Township District Library

Handout Material From Caron Brennan’s Program On Social Media And Genealogy on January 10, 2012 Now Accesible In This Post As PDF Files; You Can Access All Of The Links She Reviewed

Hi Everyone!

I inadvertently pressed the “publish” button in WordPress and published an empty post that just had the title of the proposed post.  Sorry about that.  Ignore that one and use this post as the intended post.  The title of the post is the same as the empty one.

I want to make available immediately the handout material that Caron Primas Brennan included as part of her presentation last night at our library’s genealogy program on “Social Media and Genealogy”.

I won’t take the time right now to provide a summary of the program but rather just provide you with the PDF handout material so that you can easily get connected directly to the links Caron included in the documents.  You won’t have to retype the site addresses.  Just use the links directly in the following documents when you open them.

Caron had 3 handouts.

The 3 documents you can access directly from these links are:

January 10, 2012 Genealogy Program Social Networking Handout

January 10, 2012 Genealogy Program Family 2.0 Sites

January 10, 2012 Genealogy Program Selected Blogs List

I want to thank Caron for allowing me to be able to include the handouts in this post.  They are so much more easier to use and get to all the sites she mentioned when it is available as an electronic file as the above are.

Enjoy the handouts.

Click your way through the large amount of sites Caron was showing us in the various categories she identified.

Give some of them a try if you are not familiar with them.

Jump into Genealogy Social Media.  Upload some family tree material!  Upload some pictures!  Start a blog!  Get yourself out there through these conduits and you and your genealogy research may more readily be discovered by the cousins you so long to connect to.

Tony Kierna
Genealogy Coordinator
Schaumburg Township District Library

(Incorrect Empty Post – Ignore) Handout Material From Caron Brennan’s Program On Social Media And Genealogy on January 10, 2012 Now Accesible In This Post As PDF Files; You Can Access All Of The Links She Reviewed

Northwest Suburban Council of Genealogists (NWSCG) Next Program Scheduled for Saturday Morning, February 4, 2012 At 10:00 AM – “Investigating the Resources @ ChicagoAncestors.org” by Sandra Trapp

Hi Everyone,

I just received a program notice from the Northwest Suburban Council of Genealogists indicating that their next genealogy program is scheduled for Saturday morning, February 4, 2012 at 10:00 AM.

Please remember that the society will be meeting on a new day, at a new time and at a new location starting with programs in August 2011.

The society will be meeting on Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 10:00 AM at the Arlington Heights Senior Center at 1801 W. Central Rd. in Arlington Heights, IL.

Please be sure to view the link below that will get you to the program description material supplied to me by the society. 

The speaker for the morning program will be Sandra Trapp.  The speaker will present a program titled “Investigating the Resources @ ChicagoAncestors.org“.

Researchers can arrive as early as 9:30 AM to have informal conversations and share knowledge and seek research advice.

Please take a look at the full PDF announcement of the program by going to:

Northwest Suburban Council of Genealogists (NWSCG) February 4, 2012 Program Notice

You will find more details about the program location, the program contents and some information about Sandra Trapp, the speaker for the morning from the above link to the program information.

Tony Kierna
Genealogy Coordinator
Schaumburg Township District Library

January 2012 Schaumburg Township District Library Genealogy Program Handouts Uploaded As A PDF for January 10, 2012 Genealogy Program

Hi Everyone!

I have added the January 2012 Schaumburg Township District Library Genealogy Program Handouts as a PDF file into the PROGRAM HANDOUTS Category on the right sidebar of the blog.

Here is a direct link to the January 2012 Handouts for your convenience:

January 2012 Schaumburg Township District Library Genealogy Program Handouts

Take a look at it if you choose to browse through it in advance of our Genealogy Program that will take place on Tuesday evening, January 10, 2012 at 7:30 PM at our main library location at 130 S. Roselle Road in Schaumburg, IL.

You can read the handouts online or you can save them as a PDF file to your own computer for reading offline and more detailed searching through all of the contents.

You will also note that I have started “highlighting” in this uploaded PDF key points within the handout  by using  the “yellow highlighting” function within Microsoft Word.  This will allow your eyes to visually see key points within the handouts that I want to emphasize.  I hope you will enjoy being able to more easily see these key points within the set of handouts through this highlighting technique.  I plan on highlighting within the Handout file on a going forward basis.

Please note that the Handouts PDF file has embedded Bookmarks to allow you to move to the handouts of interest to you quickly without having to scroll through the entire document.  Just open the Bookmark window in the PDF file and select the handout of interest for quick access.

You can also get to the handouts of interest to you quickly via the Table of Contents at the beginning of the document.  You will find hyperlinks that will get you directly to the handout of interest to you from the Table of Contents.

Please note that you can access directly any and all URL Links that you find within the Handouts PDF.  You can get directly to the website being mentioned from within the handout being mentioned.

Enjoy the handouts.

Tony Kierna
Genealogy Coordinator
Schaumburg Township District Library

January 2012 Schaumburg Township District Library Genealogy Newsletter Uploaded As A PDF for January 10, 2012 Genealogy Program

Hi Everyone!

I have added the January 2012 Schaumburg Township District Library Genealogy Newsletter as a PDF file into the NEWSLETTER Category on the right sidebar of the blog.

Here is a direct link to the January 2012 Newsletter for your convenience:

January 2012 Schaumburg Township District Library Genealogy Newsletter

Take a look at it if you choose to browse through it in advance of our Genealogy Program that will take place on Tuesday evening, January 10, 2012 at 7:30 PM at our main library location at 130 S. Roselle Road in Schaumburg, IL.

You can read the newsletter online or you can save it as a PDF file to your own computer for reading offline and more detailed searching through all of the contents.

Please note that the Newsletter has Bookmarks and Hyperlinks within the document to make for fast navigation from within the Table of Contents.  You can quickly get to the spots that interest you from the Table of Contents.

Enjoy the newsletter.

Tony Kierna
Genealogy Coordinator
Schaumburg Township District Library

Reminder: Our Next Genealogy Program at STDL Is Tomorrow January 10, 2012

Hi Everyone!

It is that time once again when we will be having another Genealogy Program at the central location of the Schaumburg Township District Library on Tuesday evening, January 10, 2012 at 7:30 PM.  We are located at 130 S. Roselle Road in Schaumburg, IL.

There is no pre-registration required in order to attend the program.  There is no fee charged to attend.  Anyone can attend this program.  You do not have to be a library card holder with the Schaumburg Township District Library in order to attend.

Here is a summary of the information about the program:

Caron Primas Brennan

The Genealogy program will be held on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 7:30 PM in the 2nd floor Classroom.  The guest speaker for the evening will be Caron Primas Brennan.  Caron will present a program titled “Social Networking for Genealogy: Family Trees, FaceBook, Blogs and More”.

Social networking is a collaborative process in which information (comments, photos, news, videos, links) are created and shared.  There are many ways to use social networking for genealogy research, whether you want to share your  family tree, swap pictures, find new places to look for information or get “how to” tips.   Ancestry Family Trees, Facebook groups, shared family web sites, and blogs are all part of the new world of social networking.  You do not have to be a computer expert to benefit!  Come find out who is looking for you!

Caron loves history, biography, puzzles and a good mystery, which makes her perfectly suited to genealogy research!  She has been researching her family history since a 6th grade school project got her interested.  She has been using the computer and internet since before it was “cool”.  She uses The Master Genealogist as her primary software and also uses Family Tree Maker and Ancestry to share with others in her family.  Caron’s only vice is genealogy research so she has subscriptions to many resources including Ancestry.com, Genealogybank.com, NEGHS, Footnote, and Godfrey Memorial Library.  She belongs to several local genealogy groups and is the Webmaster and Newsletter Publisher for CAGGNI (www.caggni.org).

The doors to the room will open at approximately 7 PM so participants can pick up any handouts, review books and journals and interact with other participants.  Tony Kierna, the STDL genealogist, will start the program at 7:30.  Introductions of new participants will occur as well as a brief review of handouts and genealogical matters.  It is expected that the guest speaker’s presentation will start at around 7:45-8:00 PM.  We will end the session by 9:30 PM.
 
For further information contact Tony Kierna at 847-923-3390.

Tony Kierna
Genealogy Coordinator
Schaumburg Township District Library