Lesson 7

Technology and Family History

In the last Lesson you learned one way to organize the information that you have gathered so far. For many years people who have gathered information on their Family Histories have done so the same way you did. Writing it down.  But today, things are changing, due to the popularity of the Internet. Genealogy has been around for a long time but due to technology is has become one of the most popular hobbies in America allowing many people to become family history detectives.

New technology has affected the search for ancestors in three ways:

The Internet allowed people to access the records housed in libraries, archives and other family history research centers, share what they’d found with relatives and friends and allowed people to organize information in personal databases. I

CHECK out the following links to see how the internet has helped people find their ancestors.

Genealogy without the Dust

Twigs & Trees

ACTIVITY 1

Using the family group record (LINK), fill out the information for your own immediate family first. You will then make a family group record for your father and/or your mother that will include their parents and siblings. Then you create one chart for each grandparent, and so on. Keep creating these charts until you run out of information or have created  done for 2 of your 4 grandparents, whichever comes first. You’ll find that your family group records will have some blank spaces on them, too. That’s just fine. As you learn more about each ancestor, his or her family will come into focus.

Your ancestral chart and family group records are like the magnifying glass a detective carries with him. They will help you discover more clues to your family story. Armed with these tools, you’re ready to further explore the world of records.

Let’s take a look at what might be available online to answer your family history questions .

 Give it a try to see what kind of information you might find on one of your ancestors!

Post a query at this site, if you’d like.

This site is full of goodies - from databases to how-to information. Just take a look.

http://rootsweb.com

If you haven't already done so try searching the RootsWeb database for one of your ancestors.

ACTIVITY 2

Write a brief paragraph about the way computers and the Internet have affected family history hunting. SAVE your document to your portfolio.

Questions to Consider.

1. How has the Internet changed how people discover their family history?

2. What are the advantages of using the Internet to find your family history?

3. What are some things you need to be cautious about when getting information from the Internet?

What I have learned?

Technology has given family history detectives amazing tools to help their research progress, they can share, store, and obtain information faster than ever before. In Lesson 8 you will learn about Vital Records and how they can assist you in your search.

Self-Assessment

Use the Writing to Inform Rubric to evaluate your Paragraph on Technology. Although the Rubric is designed to evaluate a report the same information is necessary to develop a good paragraph. CREATE a document entitled  Lesson 7 Technology Self-Assessment. Record the grade  you gave yourself according to the rubric and SAVE the document to your Portfolio.

To Lesson 8