Did you know that only about 30% of the records at FamilySearch are indexed?
That means that if you search the site only using the basic search, you are only looking at about 1/3 of all the available records on the site! What could you be missing?

Join us as we look at where to find these records; what is in them and how to search them.
We will also look at techniques for viewing, saving and downloading these records.

You will be amazed at the treasures you will discover and what you will learn!

Instructor:  John Marostica

This class is free.  Please register in advance to save a seat and receive a handout.

The April FOURTH SATURDAY CLASS (Co-sponsored by Austin Groups for the Elderly -AGE, and The Austin Genealogical Society – AGS) for AGS members only:

Family Tree Maker 2017 (Updated) – 101 – Navigation and Getting Started

Student expectations:

Basic computers skills that include: keyboard familiarity, mouse uses (both left and right-click buttons), and Windows 7 or newer navigation/software application interactions. General understanding of genealogy including understanding of terms such as “facts”, “sources”, and “media”.

In this class you’ll learn the basics of Family Tree Maker and begin to familiarize yourself with the application. You’ll learn how to navigate, understand the file structure, start a Tree, identify and understand panels and tabs and their differences.

The Particulars:CLASSTIME:

10:00 TO 12:30
LOCATION: The Computer Lab at Austin Groups for the Elderly, 3710 Cedar St., Austin, TX 78705 (but check out the following, please!)

ACCESS: The lab is not normally open on the weekends, the Cedar Street main door will be locked. Access will be from the back parking lot on HOME LANE, then up the ramp to the back door.

HOME LANE PARKING LOT: There is a small, free parking lot behind the building along Home Lane that can be accessed from an entrance (marked on the MAP BELOW in Orange) on 35th Street (between Home Lane and Cedar Street) Handicap spaces are at the far north end of the lot facing Home Lane.

STREET PARKING: The lot will likely not be full on Saturday. If the lot is full, or If you prefer, you can park in the neighborhood along Home Lane (west side) and along 35th Street (north sideonly),

HOME LANE ENTRANCE: From the parking lot facing the back of the building look left. There is a ramp up to the left and then right to the back entrance for the lab. Once you enter the building through the back door, the lab is to your left and left again (marked on the map in Yellow)

SOMEONE WILL MAN THE DOOR UNTIL 10:05. If you arrive late, class will have to be interrupted to let you in, so please arrive early – have a cup of coffee or tea and visit your fellow classmates. If you do arrive late, text the Instructor at 512-922-4541 to have someone come let you in.
See you there!

Seating is limited to 10 participants. Pre-registration is required and limited to AGS members. A Wait List will be created for participants, if needed. If you cannot attend, please contact Dianne Holley to open the seat to someone on the wait list.

Join us for an overview of the U.S. Censuses from 1790 to 1940. We will look at each census in general, learning which questions were asked and what extra components may be included to help us with our family history research.

Instructor:  Debbe Tipping

This class is free.  Please register in advance to save a seat and receive a handout.

The May FOURTH SATURDAY CLASS (Co-sponsored by Austin Groups for the Elderly -AGE, and The Austin Genealogical Society – AGS) for AGS members only:

Family Tree Maker 2017 (Updated) – 102 – Adding Data

Student expectations:

Basic computers skills that include: keyboard familiarity, mouse uses (both left and right-click buttons), and Windows 7 or newer navigation/software application interactions. General understanding of genealogy including understanding of terms such as “facts”, “sources”, and “media”.

This class is a continuation of our first Family Tree Maker class. It will walk through the process of entering data into your family tree. It will focus only on entering facts, notes, media, and basic sources. The class will be using hands-on exercises to follow along with and learn the material. There is a pre-requisite expectation that those attending are comfortable navigating on a PC and hold a general understanding of genealogy including an understanding of terms such as “facts”, “sources”, and “media”.

The Particulars:CLASSTIME:

10:00 TO 12:30
LOCATION: The Computer Lab at Austin Groups for the Elderly, 3710 Cedar St., Austin, TX 78705 (but check out the following, please!)

ACCESS: The lab is not normally open on the weekends, the Cedar Street main door will be locked. Access will be from the back parking lot on HOME LANE, then up the ramp to the back door.

HOME LANE PARKING LOT: There is a small, free parking lot behind the building along Home Lane that can be accessed from an entrance (marked on the MAP BELOW in Orange) on 35th Street (between Home Lane and Cedar Street) Handicap spaces are at the far north end of the lot facing Home Lane.

STREET PARKING: The lot will likely not be full on Saturday. If the lot is full, or If you prefer, you can park in the neighborhood along Home Lane (west side) and along 35th Street (north sideonly),

HOME LANE ENTRANCE: From the parking lot facing the back of the building look left. There is a ramp up to the left and then right to the back entrance for the lab. Once you enter the building through the back door, the lab is to your left and left again (marked on the map in Yellow)

SOMEONE WILL MAN THE DOOR UNTIL 10:05. If you arrive late, class will have to be interrupted to let you in, so please arrive early – have a cup of coffee or tea and visit your fellow classmates. If you do arrive late, text the Instructor at 512-922-4541 to have someone come let you in.
See you there!

Seating is limited to 10 participants. Pre-registration is required and limited to AGS members. A Wait List will be created for participants, if needed. If you cannot attend, please contact Dianne Holley to open the seat to someone on the wait list.

Tips on doing research in the 11 southern states which formed the Confederacy: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Research in these states can differ from northern states because the southern states tended to be mainly agrarian with few large cities and the people tended to move more frequently, immigrating west and south with each generation. Research topics will include using census, probate, land, marriage bonds, church, civil, military records, etc. in areas where many records may have been destroyed. We will discuss how to find your ancestors who fought for the Confederacy and some of the myths about the south and slavery.

Millijon Crowell has been researching her own southern ancestors for over 40 years including five ancestors who fought for the Confederacy.

Instructor:  Millijon Crowell

This class is free.  Please register in advance to save a seat and receive a handout.

Once you make the decision to ‘cross the pond’ to find your ancestors ‘home land’, there is an almost irresistible urge to start searching foreign records, but remember, you can’t plan a trip if you don’t know where you are going…

Join us as we learn how to find the information about your ancestors town of origin in records on this side of the ‘pond…’ first!

Instructor:  John Marostica

This class is free.  Please register in advance to save a seat and receive a handout.

The July Fourth Saturday Class is for AGS members only. It is co-sponsored by The Austin Genealogical Society (AGS) and Austin Groups for the Elderly (AGE).

Taming the Digital Tiger – Genealogy process and documents and how to manage them.

Genealogy research could be fun, except for those Documents! Find them… Copy or download them… And then what?

Whether you are a seasoned family history researcher or a first timer, you know, or soon will, that those precious documents you’ve found to tell your family’s stories will accumulate to the point of overwhelm! It is akin to holding a tiger by the tale (yes, pun intended 😊).

The AGS Fourth Saturday Class with Genealogist Dianne Holley will show you how to wrap your arms around that Tiger and learn to process, use, and manage those documents from download to disposition.

Covered in this class will be:
• How to capture a document and easily keep track of where you got it.
• How to process a document – find its clues, make it easier to read.
• How to easily create a filing system that manages numbers of documents with the same or different surnames.
• How to easily SAVE the source information (aka, “Citation”)
And much more.

These two and ½ hours can change your genealogical life for the better.

Class fee is $10.00. This is a computer lab. Seating capacity is 10. Pre-register below and click submit pay the class fee with PayPal.

The Particulars:

CLASSTIME: 10:00 TO 12:30
LOCATION: The Computer Lab at Austin Groups for the Elderly, 3710 Cedar St., Austin, TX 78705 (See map below and check out the following, please!)

ACCESS: The lab is not normally open on the weekends, the Cedar Street main door will be locked. Access will be from the back parking lot on HOME LANE, then up the ramp to the back door.

HOME LANE PARKING LOT: There is a small, free parking lot behind the building along Home Lane that can be accessed from an entrance (marked on the MAP BELOW in Orange) on 35th Street (between Home Lane and Cedar Street) Handicap spaces are at the far north end of the lot facing Home Lane.

HOME LANE ENTRANCE: From the parking lot facing the back of the building look left. There is a ramp up to the left and then right to the back entrance for the lab. Once you enter the building through the back door, the lab is to your left and left again (marked on the map in Yellow)

STREET PARKING: The lot will likely not be full on Saturday. If the lot is full, or If you prefer, you can park in the neighborhood along Home Lane (west side) and along 35th Street (north side only),

SOMEONE WILL MAN THE DOOR UNTIL 10:05. If you arrive late, class will have to be interrupted to let you in, so please arrive early – have a cup of coffee or tea and visit your fellow classmates. If you do arrive late, text the Instructor at 512-922-4541 to have someone come let you in.
See you there!

Seating is limited to 10 participants. Pre-registration and class fee of $10 is required paid in advance and limited to AGS members. A Wait List will be created for participants, if needed. If you cannot attend, please contact Dianne Holley to open the seat to someone on the wait list.

You’ve seen the commercials stating DNA is the way to go for researching your family. Just how does it help? Come to this Saturday class and see.

Instructor:  Debbe Tipping

This class is free.  Please register in advance to save a seat and receive a handout.

More than Daughters: Using the DAR’s Genealogical Research System (GRS). The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) has made more than a century’s worth of genealogical records accessible to all researchers. A variety of records have been digitized and made available through many databases and resources using the DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS). This presentation will help researchers understand how to access and search the GRS and how to evaluate the different types of records found within.

Instructor:  Teresa Devine

This class is free.  Please register in advance to save a seat and receive a handout.

The Fourth Saturday Class is for AGS members only. It is co-sponsored by The Austin Genealogical Society (AGS) and Austin Groups for the Elderly (AGE).

FAMILY TREE MAKER – NEXT STEPS

Learn from Family Tree Maker Super User – Reneé Lasswell!

You’ll build Building on previous classes that focused on navigating, starting a tree, and adding some of your data.

Next you’ll learn how to access and merge into your tree data available at Ancestry.com and other Internet sites. Be it through “hints” or searches, you’ll soon master these steps

These two and ½ hours can change your genealogical life for the better.

Class fee is $10.00. This is a computer lab. Seating capacity is 10. Pre-register below and click submit pay the class fee with PayPal.

The Particulars:

CLASSTIME: 10:00 TO 12:30
LOCATION: The Computer Lab at Austin Groups for the Elderly, 3710 Cedar St., Austin, TX 78705 (See map below and check out the following, please!)

ONLY Lidded cups are allowed in the lab. Coffee and tea are provided.

There are at least two seats with keyboards for those who are visually impaired. Please defer from sitting at one until you have determined it is not needed by someone else.

ACCESS: The building occupies the entire block between Cedar and Home Streets. The lab is only open on the weekends for us by special arrangement. There will be no access through the Cedar Street main door. Access will be from the back parking lot on HOME LANE, then up the ramp to the back door.

HOME LANE PARKING LOT: There is a small, free parking lot behind the building along Home Lane that can be accessed from an entrance (marked on the MAP BELOW in Orange) on 35th Street (between Home Lane and Cedar Street) Handicap spaces are at the far north end of the lot facing Home Lane.

HOME LANE ENTRANCE: From the parking lot facing the back of the building look left. There is a ramp up to the left and then right to the back entrance for the lab. Once you enter the building through the back door, the lab is to your left and left again (marked on the map in Yellow)

STREET PARKING: The lot will likely not be full on Saturday. If the lot is full, or If you prefer, you can park in the neighborhood along Home Lane (west side) and along 35th Street (north side only),

SOMEONE WILL MAN THE DOOR UNTIL 10:05. If you arrive late, class will have to be interrupted to let you in, so please arrive early – have a cup of coffee or tea and visit your fellow classmates. If you do arrive late, text the Instructor at 512-922-4541 to have someone come let you in.
See you there!

Seating is limited to 10 participants. Pre-registration and class fee of $10 is required paid in advance and limited to AGS members. If the class is full and you want to attend contact Dianne Holley to be put on a Wait List, if needed. If you cannot attend, please contact Dianne Holley to open the seat to someone on the wait list.