Visit the show notes page at Genealogy Gems. This episode is brought to you by our wonderful sponsors: StoryworthGive your relatives a meaningful gift with StoryWorth. Get started right away with no shipping required by going to   You’ll get $10 off your first purchase!  From Lisa: “I use MyHeritage for my own genealogy research. It makes all the difference!” Episode Topic: DNA Problem Solving  Maybe it’s as simple as having a ton of matches and not knowing what to do with them. How do you...

The top 10 genealogy records you can find for free at the Internet Archive website.

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 256 with Lisa Louise Cooke September 2021 Visit the show notes page at Genealogy Gems. This episode is brought to you by our wonderful sponsor: From Lisa: “I use MyHeritage for my own genealogy research. It makes all the difference!” Episode Topic: Interview with Nathan Dylan Goodwin, author of The Chester Creek Murders Author Nathan Dylan Goodwin () joins Lisa Louise Cooke for a conversation about writing, DNA, Criminal Cold Cases, and his new book The...

Lisa demystifies how to find genealogy records at the National Archives online catalog. Discover what you can find, what you will NOT find, how to use search operators, and how to use the Record Group Explorer.

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 254 with Lisa Louise Cooke July 2021 Visit the at Genealogy Gems. This episode is brought to you by: From Lisa: “I use MyHeritage for my own genealogy research. It makes all the difference!” Today’s Topic: Google Photos for Beginners Have you thought about using Google Photos but just weren’t sure how it worked or where to start? This episode will answer your questions and give you the confidence to use it effectively. In this introductory tour to Google...

In this episode we head back to 17th century New England with Lindsay Fulton of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org Lindsay Fulton is with American Ancestors and New England Historic Genealogical Society where leads the Research and Library Services team as Vice President. She is a frequent contributor to the NEHGS blog and was featured in the Emmy-Winning Program: Finding your Roots: The Seedlings, a web series inspired by the popular PBS series “Finding...

Lisa Louise Cooke explains step-by-step how to use a new tech tool at Chronicling America to help you find family history related photos and images. The tool is called Newspaper Navigator and it will not only help you find images, but it will also teach you about machine learning and AI.

How to get free online genealogical records for your family history at the Allen County Public Library’s Genealogy Center website. It’s the second largest genealogy library in the country next to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Librarian Allison Singleton joins host Lisa Louise Cooke.

Google Books has millions of free digitized items, and many of them can help you find your family history. I'll show you how to find genealogy records that can help bust your brick walls and learn more about your family's story.

Lisa Louise Cooke asks you 10 important questions to help you rate your readiness for a year of genealogy research success. The answers will ensure that you're ready to find and preserve your family history.

Learn the best strategies for finding free genealogy records online and offline.

Do you need a little help with a genealogy brick wall? A consultation with a professional genealogists can help! I'll show you how I filled in the blanks and updated my research plan after my consult. We'll discuss valuable genealogical records and strategies you can use.

How to Make a Video for Free with Adobe Spark Video In last month's episode we talked about how to construct a great story for video. In this episode I've got the ideal tool for you to use to make your video: Adobe Spark Video. Video is the perfect medium for sharing your family’s history. It captures the interest of the eyes and the ears. Adobe Spark Video is a free app and website tool that makes it easier than ever to create shareable videos.  Watch the companion video and read the full...

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 245with Lisa Louise CookeSeptember 2020 Don’t just gather genealogical information. Take the time to tell your ancestors’ stories! Video is the perfect medium for sharing your family’s history. It captures the interest of the eyes and the ears. In this episode my special guest is Kathy Nielsen. She’s a librarian from California who recently started creating videos. She’s going to walk you through the simple yet effective process she followed. Then I will share...

Top Tips for Searching at Ancestry.com You will find the complete notes for the topics discussed in this episode (and more) in the .  Getting Your History Digitized Our family’s history comes in many forms, and some of them over time can become obsolete. I shared in this episode my continuing progress on my own project of converting the rest of my old home movies that are in a variety of formats (8mm, mini DV, High 8, and VHS.)  I use Larsen Digital and have been extremely pleased with the...

Daniel Horowitz shares this powerful and inspiring story, discovers things along the way, and reveals why we all have lessons to learn from history.

Research Plans and Avoiding Distractions You will find the complete notes for the topics discussed in this episode (and more) in the show notes page here.  Getting Your History Digitized Our family’s history comes in many forms, and some of them over time can become obsolete. I shared in this episode my continuing progress on my own project of converting the rest of my old home movies that are in a variety of formats (8mm, mini DV, High 8, and VHS.)  I use Larsen Digital and have been...

Interview: Caryl Kidd-Osborn of the Shrubs to Trees – A Pay-It-Forward Genealogy Group on Facebook.

Genealogy expert Lisa Louise Cooke interviews: Lisa Lisson, Are You My Cousin? on Organization Andrew Lee, Family History Fanatics on DNA Kate Eakman, Legacy Tree Genealogists on Evidence & Proof

In this episode we’re going to delve into how DNA testing with companies like AncestryDNA, MyHeritageDNA, 23andMe and Family Tree DNA has changed our world. Lisa Louise Cooke interviews award-winning journalist Libby Copeland, author of the new book The Lost Family: How DNA Testing is Upending Who We Are about genetic genealogists, the Golden State Killer case, adoption cases, NPE and privacy concerns with DNA.

February 2020 I LOVE genealogy, mysteries and puzzle solving. Are you with me on that? Well in this episode we have not one by two tales of mystery. The first has a Valentine’s theme centered around a mysterious love letter. Professional genealogist Kathleen Ackerman will be here to share how a love letter that was missing its last page took her on a genealogical journey full of surprises. And our second story is a mystery full of twists,  turns and murder that will ultimately resurrect your...

The Genealogy Gems Podcast is the leading genealogy and family history show. Launched in 2007, the show is hosted by genealogy author, keynote presenter, and video producer Lisa Louise Cooke. The podcast can be found in all major podcasting directories, or download the exclusive Genealogy Gems Podcast app to listen to all the episodes and receive bonus content.  We are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Genealogy Gems app. We blazed a new trail back in 2010 when we launched the app –...

Hosted by Lisa Louise Cooke Recorded December 2019 My how time flies and it’s flying further and further way from when our ancestors’ got their photographs taken, which can make the task of identifying and dating them harder and harder. Do not fret my friend because I have the coolest free tech tool for you that can help you zero in on the date of your photos. David Lowe a Specialist in the Photography Collection of the New York Public Library will be joining me today to tell you all about...

Hosted by Lisa Louise Cooke Recorded November 2019 Federal court records are wonderful because they are so packed with genealogical information. But knowing which records are available and where to find them can sound daunting, and that stops many genealogists from ever tapping into them. In this episode our aim is to fix all that. Professional forensic genealogist Michael Strauss is here to pull back the curtain and introduce you to these valuable records. You know Michael from our Military...

with Lisa Louise CookeOctober 2019 NEWS: New and Returning genealogy-themed television Shows: A New Leaf on NBC A New Leaf will be included in the Saturday NBC morning programming block called The More You Know beginning October 5, 2019.  From the Ancestry Blog:  “Each week ‘A New Leaf’ will follow people on the cusp of key life inflection points, who using family history, genealogy, and sometimes AncestryDNA® analysis will go on a journey of self-discovery and learn from the past while...