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Boot Camp Digital Downloads from Hack Genealogy

Interpreting Your FTDNA and 23andMe Results

Have you tested your DNA with Family Tree DNA or 23andMe and received your results?  Are you confused not only by what they mean, but how to use them as part of your genealogy research?  And if you’ve tested with AncestryDNA or another company, why are the results somewhat different?  Plus, if you’ve taken the Health part of the 23andMe test, what can you do with the results?  There’s so much to learn with DNA testing and genetic genealogy.  Right? 

Interpreting Your FTDNA and 23andMe Results Boot Camp is probably the perfect way to learn how to put those test results to work in your genealogy research.  Join DNA expert Mary Eberle for over 3 hours of recorded webinars PLUS some amazing handouts! 

Family Tree DNA: Learn how to navigate your Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) results both on the FTDNA website.  This webinar will also provide an overview of the third-party tool, DNAGedcom, and how to use it to analyze your FTDNA results. 

23andMe: Learn how to best use your 23andMe results.  This webinar covers both the genealogy portion and the health information that 23andMe provides. 

Using Y-DNA, Mitochondrial DNA, and X-DNA for Genealogy Research

Have you been using the information learned about in the Getting Started with DNA and Genealogy Boot Camp?  Or maybe you missed the first boot camp, but you have a basic understanding of using DNA for genealogy research?  Have you discovered how to use other types of DNA tests such as Y-DNA, mitochondrial DNA, and X-DNA in your research?  If you’re ready, then Using Y-DNA, Mitochondrial DNA, and X-DNA for Genealogy Research Boot Camp is for you! 

Join DNA expert Mary Eberle of DNA Hunters for over 3 hours of recorded webinars PLUS some amazing handouts! 

Using Y-DNA, Mitochondrial DNA, and X-DNA for Genealogy Research: Understanding when these types of DNA can help (and when they won’t) is crucial.  Learn how these types of DNA can be used to answer your genealogy questions. 

Case Studies with Hands-on Exercises: Y-DNA, Mitochondrial DNA, and X-DNA can be useful in the right situation.  We’ll explore case studies where these types of DNA helped determine relationships between matches, find the birth parent, and more. 

Getting Started with DNA and Genealogy

Have you taken one or more DNA test, but really haven’t made an effort to start using the information for genealogy research?  Also, are you sure you used the right type of DNA test or the best DNA testing vendor? 

Lately, so much has changed in the DNA landscape.  If one of your genealogy goals is to really “up your DNA genealogy game” and make a solid commitment to using DNA and connect with other testers then the Getting Started with DNA and Genealogy Boot Camp is for you! 

Join DNA expert Mary Eberle of DNA Hunters for over 3 hours of recorded webinars PLUS some amazing handouts! 

Introduction to Using DNA for Genealogy Research: Want to start using DNA for genealogy research but want guidance on the best approach?  Received your DNA results and want a better understanding of them?  This talk covers DNA basics, available tests, where to test, and how to develop your DNA testing plan. 

Using Autosomal DNA for Genealogy Research: Autosomal DNA (atDNA) provides the most useful information for most genealogists.  Learn how to analyze your atDNA test results and how to find common ancestors with your DNA matches. 

Finding Birth Families Using DNA

Every day, adoptees and other with unknown parents, such as foundlings, donor-conceived individuals, and others are able to find their birth families with DNA testing.  DNA is a powerful tool that can be used to find a birth father, for example. 

Typically, after someone has their DNA tested at one of the DNA testing companies, distant relatives are found, such as second, third, or fourth cousins.  From this, family trees are built “up” to grandparents, great grandparents, and further back.  Overlap in the matches’ trees are found, oftentimes using “Mirror Trees.”  Then, trees are built “down” to include all discoverable descendants of those ancestors. 

This online education event is intended for people searching for their own biological parents and those with parents or ancestors who were adopted or otherwise have unknown parents.  Join DNA expert Mary Eberle of DNA Hunters for over 3 hours of recorded webinars PLUS some amazing handouts with Finding Birth Families Using DNA Boot Camp! 

Using DNA for Adoption & Unknown Parentage Work: In many states, adoptees have no or limited rights to information on their birth families.  This is why DNA is important for many adoptees looking for their birth families.  Learn techniques and resources for adoptees and others with unknown parents. 

Adoption & Unknown Parentage Case Studies: This webinar describes two case studies of adoptees.  Both used DNA to find their birth families.  Learn the steps required for each case. 

Photo Organizing

Are you overwhelmed with the sheer volume of family pictures spread around your computer, phone, photo albums, file folders, and memory boxes?  Do you have heritage family photos that you’re concerned about preserving?  How do you start?  What’s the priority?  Where do you save photos… and how do you share them with family members?  Learn from Ben and Hilarie Robison of Legacy Tale how to use technology to simplify these tasks and finally get your “photo house” in order, plus avoid future photo overwhelm. 

In this two-part webinar, Hilarie will teach you how to scan old photos with a scanner or your phone, with proper settings for storing as well as printing so you can preserve and share those priceless heirloom pictures.  In his signature style that makes complex technology understandable for everyone, Ben will clearly explain the basics of digital photo management and sharing so you can efficiently manage your mountains of digital photos going forward.  Together, this husband-wife team will teach you how to manage the mess and preserve what’s precious. 

Preserving Old Photos and Documents through Digitization

Decide what matters

Use a flatbed scanner

Use a phone app scanner

Make basic corrections

Digitize documents, newspaper articles, and more

Q&A (interspersed throughout)

Organizing Digital Memories

Make a plan

Use cloud storage

Share your photos

Understand file formats

Set appropriate resolution

Capture details in metadata

Q&A (interspersed throughout)

With this digital download, you get both recorded webinars totaling 3 hours of genealogy education, and 19 pages of handouts!  You’ll have unlimited access to these materials and learn how to finally get your family photos organized and digitized! 

Cemetery Research

With Halloween fast approaching in the US, our thoughts turn to cemeteries as creepy places where ghosts hide.  However, genealogists know that the graveyards have rich genealogical details waiting to be unearthed.  The Cemetery Research Boot Camp Digital Download is perfect for those looking to improve how they research genealogy using cemetery records AND cemetery visits. 

Join family history expert Devon Noel Lee of Family History Fanatics for over 3 hours of recorded webinars PLUS some amazing handouts with Cemetery Research Boot Camp! 

Snapping Better Gravestone Photographs: Go from Point-and-Shoot to Beautiful.  Photographs of headstones and grave markers are fantastic resources to mark the final resting place of our ancestors and can provide rich genealogical details.  Despite the ease of taking photographs with digital cameras, why is the quality of grave marker images still no better than the photos from the 1970s?  In this session, we’ll talk about the tips and tricks to take better photographs while at the cemetery, including avoiding the biggest error (capturing yourself on the stone!) 

Why are Two Unrelated Men Buried in Someone Else’s Plot?When you discover two unrelated individuals buried in a family plot, can you determine their connection?  As people migrated into and out of the Mid-West, some burial plots were inherited by relatives who stayed behind.  If the funeral records no longer exist, can you still determine the familial connection between individuals?  In this session, we’ll walk through a case study of how Earl Wiggins and William Geiszler, who are not close kin, wind up interred in a plot that isn’t a family line of either man. 

With this digital download, you get both recorded webinars totaling 3 hours of genealogy education, and 8 pages of handouts!  You’ll have unlimited access to these materials and learn how to finally get going on your scrapbooking projects! 

Power Scrapbooking

Every year, you take photos by the thousands and rarely do anything more than storing them on the computer.  For decades, scrapbooking has been the solution to the picture accumulation problem, but it has also been a curse.  Scrapbooking is too crafty or too time-consuming.  It doesn’t have to be that way. 

With summer behind you, take a look at that camera roll on your phone or your memory card.  In a few short weeks, you can create a family treasure that captures your memories and preserves your family history.  If you’d rather tackle your photo flood taking over your home from the past 30 years, you too can solve your photo overload. 

The Power Scrapbooking Boot Camp is perfect for those who have tried scrapbooking and lost their fire.  Also ideal for beginning scrapbookers who know how to drag and drop using any computer service! 

Join family historian and scrapbooking expert Devon Noel Lee of Family History Fanatics for over 3 hours of recorded webinars PLUS some amazing handouts with Power Scrapbooking Boot Camp! 

I Feel the Need for Speed: Power Scrapbooking Principles: Before you learned to type, you needed to learn your alphabet and how to make words.  In Power Scrapbooking, you have to prepare to assemble your pages before you can become the ultimate human assembly line in memory-keeping page creation.  The first portion of our boot camp will teach you the Power Scrapbooking steps that help you leave the start line at breakneck speeds. 

Let’s Get Digital: Creating Scrapbooks at Mixbook or with Photoshop Elements: Power Scrapbooking relies upon digital scrapbooking.  Nothing beats the speed of using the computer to combine your photos and stories together.  This portion of the boot camp will demonstrate how to power through creating a summer themed scrapbook using Mixbook.com’s online design service.  And we will close out the webinar with a demonstration of using Photoshop Elements for those with more customized needs. 

With this digital download, you get both recorded webinars totaling 3 hours of genealogy education, and 11 pages of handouts!  You’ll have unlimited access to these materials and learn how to finally get going on your scrapbooking projects! 

Additional DNA Tools and Concepts

Have you been using the information learned about autosomal DNA in the Getting Started with DNA and Genealogy Boot Camp?  Or maybe you missed the first boot camp, but you have a basic understanding of using DNA for genealogy research.  Are you ready to advance to new tools such as those offered on the free website, GEDMatch?  GEDMatch has additional tools for analyzing your DNA results.  It also lets you find new matches!  And what about using other types of DNA test such as Y-DNA, mitochondrial DNA, and X-DNA in your research?  Additional DNA Tools and Concepts Boot Camp is probably the perfect way to learn more about DNA testing and genealogy. 

Join DNA expert Mary Eberle for over 3 hours of recorded webinars PLUS some amazing handouts! 

GEDMatch – Powerful Tools for Analyzing DNA Results and Finding New DNA Matches: GEDMatch is a free, third-party website offering additional tools to interpret your DNA results.  Tools include a chromosome browser.  GEDMatch accepts DNA test results from Ancestry, FTDNA, and 23andMe.  It can be a great way to find new matches.  Learn how to use this helpful website. 
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Using Y-DNA, Mitochondrial DNA, and X-DNA for Genealogy Research: Understanding when these types of DNA can help (and when they won’t) is crucial.  Learn how these types of DNA can be used to answer your genealogy questions. 

Interpreting Your AncestryDNA Results

Have you tested your DNA with Ancestry and received your results?  Are you confused not only by what they mean, but how to use them as part of your genealogy research?  To be honest, I’m in the same boat!  I tested back when the AncestryDNA test was in “beta” testing and I really haven’t put the results to use.  I really want to not only understand my ethnic breakdown but also how to make the results part of my family history research. 

AncestryDNA: AncestryDNA has the largest database of people tested, helpful tools for analyzing your DNA test results, and many family trees posted by people who’ve tested.  Learn how to interpret your DNA results from Ancestry.​

Ancestry DNA Hands-on Exercise: In this hands-on exercise, we’ll go through steps to sort through your matches and makes sense out of them.  We’ll also discuss the best way to approach your matches to set the stage for developing a productive relationship with them. 

Solving Family Mysteries with DNA

So let’s say that you’ve taken a DNA test and you’re still looking for a better way to find that elusive ancestor since no other documentation exists.  Or maybe you were adopted or your parent was.  How do you handle these “family mystery” situations which can become quite convoluted and complex?  There’s a technique called Mirror Trees that I just learned about.  It’s a great way to help in these kinds of mysteries. 

I don’t know about you, but I also have matches that are close, but I have no idea who they are—or their name is there, but they don’t have a tree.  That valuable match is sitting in my match list, but they are a total mystery to me.  There has to be a better way than what I am doing and I could use some help! 

Join DNA expert Mary Eberle of DNA Hunters for over 3 hours of recorded webinars PLUS some amazing handouts with Solving Family Mysteries with DNA Boot Camp! 

Mirror Trees: Mirror trees are trees built based on matches’ trees.  They’re often used in unknown parentage cases.  However, they’re also helpful for breaking down brick walls further back in your tree and determining how your matches are related to each other and to you.  Learn how to build and use mirror trees. 

Best Tools for Researching Difficult DNA Matches: Have a really strong DNA match, but that the person doesn’t even have a name, let alone a tree?  This webinar covers both free and subscription-based websites to help your detective work.  It also covers the clues that can be used to figure out who matches are, where they’re from, and other important information.  These new insights into your mystery can help you figure out your connection to them and place them in your family tree.