The "Building Family Bridges Through Genealogical Research" Conference will be held this Saturday, October 22. The event, co-sponsored by the Centre County Genealogical Society and the State College Family History Center, is free and open to the public. A "Centre Daily Times" article about genealogy and the conference was published on October 17 (page B1), and can be found online at http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/local/12921231.htm. ~~~Building Family Bridges Through Genealogical Research~~~ Saturday, October 22, 2005 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. To be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church At 842 Whitehall Road, State College, PA Advance registration is encouraged but not required; registration will be available the day of the Conference. You may register online: http://www.rootsweb.com/~paccgs/conf2005.htm By phone: contact Judith Heald at 814-422-8657 By mail: c/o Judith Heald, 406 Upper Georges Valley Road, Spring Mills, PA 16875 Lunch and syllabus will be available (see online information for details). Any questions, please call Nancy Taylor at 814-238-7183 or e-mail at njt5@psu.edu. 9:00 to 9:30 Registration 9:30 to 10:00 Keynote Speaker Gordon Hamilton, Penn State Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, will be speaking on future trends of DNA research and how it affects family history. 10:00 to 10:50 Session I 1. Beginning Research - Brent and Melissa Clayton. This class will be for the person who wants to start doing family history/genealogy. Topics to be covered will be organizing your information you already have, how to get started researching and where to look for information. 2. Planning a Research Trip - Elizabeth Dutton. This session will cover considerations in preparing to visit libraries, archives, courthouses, and other genealogical research sites whether they are 10 miles or 1,000 miles away. 3. Starting Your Own Genealogy Website - Lisa Kerns. How to create and design a website to share your genealogy research on the World Wide Web. 11:00 to 11:50 Session II 4. Quaker Research in Chester County Pennsylvania - "Maybe I Am My Own Grandma" - Judith Heald. Judy will be sharing her experiences in Quaker research in Southeastern PA, tracing 8-9 generations of multiple families into the 1600s. Information about utilizing Chester County resources, understanding Quaker records, personal tips and source recommendations will be covered. 5. Internet Searches with Emphasis on Ancestry.com - Keri-Lynn Kendall. Showing how to effectively use ranked and exact searches at Ancestry.com to check vital records, census records, military and other sources in the US collection of records available at Ancestry. Other databases will also be accessed and discussed. 6. Italian Research - Searching Civil Records - Shellee Morehead. A case study in Italian vital records including birth, marriage and death records from 1803-1900. Noon to 1:00 Lunch 1:00 to 1:50 Session III 7. Census Research - Dorothy Bordner. Census records from 1790 through 1930 will be explained. The information available from the records will be explored. 8. Who's In Your Family Tree - Lineage Societies - Nancy Stover. Nancy will be covering the process of how to join a lineage society and the benefits of joining a society. 9. Heritage Scrapbooking - Preserving Family Documents - Shellee Morehead. Preserving family history in creative ways using archival preservation methods including use of acid-free products, storage of original documents and photos, and digital backups. 2:00 to 2:50 Session IV 10. PAF and Other Databases. Genealogy database programs will be discussed. The Personal Ancestral File (PAF) will be demonstrated. 11. Scanning Documents and Photos - Rebecca Lunceford. Rebecca will show how to scan and save various documents and photos. 12. Preserving Memories Through Journals and Oral History - Rebecca Dew. This class will suggest a wide range of personal history activities to help get you started on preserving your (or others') life story. Some such activities include journal writing, personal essays, mementos, scrapbooks, and oral history interviews and transcription. 3:00 to 4:00 13. Problem Solving Panel - Nancy Stover, Elizabeth Dutton, Keri-Lynn Kendall. This panel of experts will be giving suggestions on how to solve the problems of genealogical research. 14. Tour of the Family History Center - Shawn Clark, Brent Clayton. All the resources in the Family History Center will be explained - covering how to obtain them and what information might be found.