Here is my Week 1 Genea-Blogger Games update.  I have done well in some categories and not so well in others, but have metaled in all categories, which I consider a win.  With a week left, I hope to accomplish a couple more metals, particularly a few more of the Platinum variety.

1. Go Back and Cite Your Sources!: 39 Citations – Gold Metal
2. Back Up Your Data!: Task E completed – Bronze Metal
3. Organize Your Research!: Task E completed – Bronze Metal
4. Expand Your Knowledge: Tasks A, C, D, E completed – Diamond Metal
1. Footnote page for Marcantonio Maria Casillo
5. Write, Write, Write!: Tasks A, C, E, F completed – Diamond Metal
6. Reach Out & Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness: Tasks A, B, E, F, G completed: Platinum Metal!!!

Day 2 of the Genea-Blogger Games took a backseat to Valentines Day.  I had pre-posted my Wordle‘s on Saturday night, leading to a new medal in the Expand Your Knowledge category for completing task E.  Counts at the end of day two:

1. Go Back and Cite Your Sources!: Bronze
2. Back Up Your Data!: None
3. Organize Your Research!: None
4. Expand Your Knowledge: Silver
5. Write, Write, Write!: Bronze
6. Reach Out & Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness: Silver

In honor of Valentines Day I have created Word Mosiacs at ImageChef.  The first is for my paternal side and the second for my maternal side.

1. Go Back and Cite Your Sources!
1. Citation Count: 11.  Currently at Bronze ranking with distinct possibility of Platinum
2. Back Up Your Data!
1. Task Completion: None, aiming for the Gold here, but may only get a Silver.
3. Organize Your Research!
1. Task Completion: None, despite all the source citation.  I should organize all those sources later this week.  Goal here is a Gold.
4. Expand Your Knowledge:
1. Task Completion: A(Make a GoogleMap of an ancestral town), which you can view here.  I will get a Platinum in this event, as I LOVE these types of activities!
5. Write, Write, Write!
1. Task Completion: F(Participate in a 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy Challenge), during which I made a GoogleMap shown here and helped me medal both #4 and #5:-)  I am aiming for a Platinum here, as writing is the whole point of being a blogger.
6. Reach Out & Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness
1. Task Completion: A(Comment on a new Geneaology Blog) – very easy with all the wonderful new blogs.  G(Use follow feature on Blogger-based Genealogy Blog) – did this after making comments above.  F(Join a society) – I received my membership kit for APG today.  Not sure yet if this counts, will have too look into it.  Currently at either Silver or Gold Level.  Anticipate Platinum Level by end of Games.

Amy Coffin at the We Tree blog is challenging bloggers to become better genealogists, with a new prompt each week through her 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy:


Week 7:  Play with Google Maps. This is a helpful tool for determining the locations of addresses in your family history. Where your ancestral homestead once stood may now be a warehouse, a parking lot or a field. Perhaps the house is still there. When you input addresses in Google Maps, don’t forget to use the Satellite View and Street View options for perspectives that put you were right there where your ancestors once stood. If you’ve used this tool before, take sometime and play with it again. Push all the buttons, click all the links and devise new ways it can help with your personal genealogy research. If you have a genealogy blog, write about your experiences with Google Maps, or suggest similar easy (and free) tools that have helped in your own research.


I learned about the miracle of Google Maps for genealogy, particularly for timelines, while at the Genealogy Reference Desk Institute.  I have been meaning to play with them ever since and this weeks challenge gave me the perfect opportunity.  I recommend looking at the help articles, as they are very clear and concise and helped my greatly.



View German Ancestral Villages in a larger map


This is my map on my German (with a couple in the Alsace Region of France) ancestral towns.  I will be living in Hamburg – way up at the top if you scroll the map up – and hope to visit these places over the next five months.  If you click on the map, I listed each ancestral line who lived in each town so that I remembered who was where.  This is also one of my GeneaBloggers Games entries.

I love watching the Olympics every other year and will be following the games in Vancouver,particularly the skating, the skiing and the curling (which is a sport I have to take up, as it is the only way I will ever get to the Olympics;-))

Luckily, while I am spending all that time watching TV I can now participate in the Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games!  As a new contestant, I will carry my flag high:

My flag represents a part of my diverse heritage.  I was born and raised the the USA, the background flag in this conglomeration.  To me, the US represents diversity, a mix of cultures and backgrounds.  I also have the Italian and United Kingdom flags.  Growing up, Italian was the culture I most identified with and what my family most often talked about being.  In genealogy, the ancestors I have traced the most and with the most success are those from the United Kingdom, namely in the Kent area of England.

During the games I will be participating in a wide variety of events:

• Go Back and Cite Your Sources!
• During this event you will see me whirl through my RootsMagic program, catching up to un-cited sources and, with the help of Evidence Explained, getting them up to par.
• Back Up Your Data!
• After citing all my sources the last thing I need happening is all of my hard work disappearing, so I will be backing up all of my digital sources.  I will also be working on backing up paper sources, but I am not anticipating to medal very high on that.
• Organize Your Research!
• In this event, I will dive feet-first into my blue bin of genealogy paperwork and come out with binders and page protectors.  This event will be part two of the source citation biathlon.
• Expand Your Knowledge!
• Maps, timelines and wordles, oh my!  Watch as technology is used for the creation of new and unusual research techniques!
• Write, Write, Write!
• With all my new sources, organization and knowledge, I will astound judges and spectators alike in the number and frequency of blog posts – even when I am not there (the miracle of pre-publish).
• Reach Out & Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness!
• The games are all about connecting with others and what better way to do that than through Genealogical Acts of Kindness?