Today's Technology for Genealogy

Investing time in learning how to use a few organizational tools can streamline your family history research efforts and give you more time to actually DO YOUR RESEARCH. And you don’t have to spend money on software to realize the benefits.

For each of the four sessions, presenters Sheri Snodgrass and Stacy Weaver will walk you through the basics and provide helpful insider tips and shortcuts. You will receive a thorough handout for each class that will help you keep learning on your own after the conference is over.

Sheri and Staci will be available at the library after the conference to answer additional questions specific to conference topics. Be sure to bring your laptop.

Using Spreadsheets for Genealogy:  Whether you’re an expert at spreadsheets or you’ve never tried to use them, you should have this tool in your genealogy research toolbox. This session will demonstrate spreadsheet basics and provide examples of how you can enhance your research documentation and analysis.

Photo Digitization and Scanning Basics:  Preserving family photos can be an overwhelming task. What is the best way to organize and preserve the actual photos and keep track of digital images? This session will cover strategies for how to scan your images and documents to preserve and share them with family. 

Protecting Your Computer Research:  You’ve invested hours of time and effort to capture your family research. Where will you be if your computer doesn't start, or your laptop is lost or stolen? This session will offer tips for securing your data and how to add this vital step to your regular research process.

Airtable Basics:  This cloud-based database is one of the newer tools being adopted by genealogists and it’s free to use. Airtable is a spreadsheet, but it's so much more. You can manage a research log, create a timeline, and track FAN club members and DNA matches all in one place. This session will address the basics of using Airtable to organize and help analyze your research.

Join the conference at the IGS Library in the East Village of Des Moines or join on Zoom.

All sessions will be recorded and available to all registrants for a limited time after the conference.  

We are extending the library hours before and after the conference. We will be open Friday, April 19th and Saturday, April 20th until 7:00 pm.