ThinkGenealogy

Google Doodle

When searching Google, it is fun to be greeted by a redesign of the Google logo to celebrate an important individual or event. These are called doodles:

Doodles are known as the decorative changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists and scientists. Whether it is the beginning of Spring, Albert Einstein’s birthday, or the 50th anniversary of understanding DNA, the doodle team never fails to find artistic ways to celebrate these unique events.

Having a little bit of fun with the corporate logo by redesigning it from time to time is unheard of at many companies but at Google, it is a part of the brand. While the doodle is primarily a fun way for the company to recognize events and notable people, it also illustrates the creative and innovative personality of the company itself.

You can learn more about Google Doodle history and see past logos at this link.

I don’t have any samples of Google Doodles in this post due to the following request by Google:

Although we’d like to accommodate all the requests we receive from users who want to add a touch of Google to their sites, we are passionate about protecting the reputation of our brand as an objective and fair provider of search results. We allow use of the Google logo by express permission only.

Ancestry Doodle

I know that Ancestry.com takes their branding very seriously and might not appreciate me messing with their logo.  What I want to accomplish is to show how an Ancestry Doodle might look and how it could be used to promote not only the Ancestry brand but also special occasions or promotions of the company.

Yesterday I received an e-mail from Ancestry about free access to Civil War records:

What if (in addition to the e-mail) Ancestry were to change it’s logo from April 7-14th as a way to promote the free access to records?  The logo might look like the one shown at the top of this post.

What do you think? Do you think Ancestry will do it? What events do you suggest should be represented? Any graphic-talented people willing to create some sample Ancestry Doodles in the same fashion as Google Doodles? Why leave all the fun to Ancestry, what other family history company logos deserve a doodle?

The Making of the Ancestry Doodle

I must confess that my graphics talent is somewhat limited, so to make the Ancestry Doodle, I used tracing paper. Here are links to where I got the original images that I traced.

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I’ve been immersed in technology for so long, that sometimes I forget that not everyone has a high-speed internet connection. Thanks A A Bowen for reminding me of that.  Below you will find the text of the video, A Better Way to Cite Online Sources, in script form.  Before I recorded the video of the PowerPoint and demo using Camtasia Studio 6, I wrote a script to get my thoughts together and try to be more concise. The text is likely not 100% of what was said on the video, but it is close.  That is why I am calling it a script instead of a transcript.

Between the script and the detailed description of the demo, you should be in a good position to answer the survey questions without the need to see the video.

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In Episode 64 of the Genealogy Gems podcast, Lisa calls online downloadable source citations a “Gem of an Idea!”

She explains the issues clearly and interviews genealogy blogger, Stephen Danko to get his opinion. Lisa also gives the outcome of her interview requests with Ancestry and World Vital Records.

I was excited to hear the interview with Stephen as I have been an admirer of his work for years ever since the Genealogy Guys first mentioned him on their podcast.  Stephen’s genealogy blog is in actuality an online research log where he posts document images, transcriptions and translations from his research. Like all genealogists should do, he cites all sources following Evidence Explained. In fact, I had his website in mind when I created the sample site used in the video. For many months, whenever I visited his blog I would imagine a Download link next to each of his source citations. Stephen is somebody I would love to meet. Maybe NGS 2010 in SLC?

Lisa, thanks for getting the word out.  This is truly a grassroots effort and I cannot do it on my own.  Keep spreading the word and contact the providers of the software and services you use.

Thank you!

Do you have what it takes to be the highest ranking genealogist in a growing genealogy services company?  Get your resume ready as FamilyLink.com may be the right fit for you.

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As 2008 closes, we stop to ponder what awaits genealogy in 2009.  In coming up with this list, I have no insider information.  I simply looked at the information publically available and tried to determine what is possible or likely for the upcoming year. 

So here is my list of 9 genealogy predictions for 2009:

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This week I received an e-mail announcing the grand opening of Barnes & Noble’s online magazine store.  So the first thing I did was do a search for “genealogy” and my results came up empty:

Although this was disappointing, I see this as an opportunity for the various genealogy and family history magazines to contact Barnes & Noble and get their magazines listed. I am not sure what the trade-offs would be to have your magazine included on the Barnes & Noble site, but it might just be worth it for the extended exposure.  The following print magazines come to mind that could be included on this site:

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