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Rebecca Shamblin
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- http://www.rebeccashamblin.com
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I have been speaking publicly and teaching for nearly twenty years now. My experience ranges from leading undergrad classes at the University of Wisconsin at Madison all the way to professional corporate presentations to a crowd of thousands. I love making technological concepts accessible to everyone!
Presently, I teach in-person classes through local community education programs and genealogical societies near the Twin Cities in Minnesota. I also do virtual presentations for societies across the country.
I am a member of the Luxembourg American Cultural Society, the Ozaukee County Historical Society, and the Mequon-Thiensville Historical Society.
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Leaving a Legacy: Turn Your Family Tree into a Family Book (2023, Life Remembered Press)
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I specialize in teaching people how to create family history books, especially using Family Tree Maker and its plug-in, Family Book Creator.
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How to Write a Family History Book: It's Simpler Than You Think
Maybe it has always been a secret dream of yours to create a book out of your research, but you have felt too overwhelmed to get started.
I will help you break this process down into simple, manageable steps. We will talk about the research process, what to include, how to turn facts into stories, how to organize your book, how to get it printed, and finally how to share it. You can choose any software for this project, but I will show you how Family Tree Maker and Family Book Creator can make things faster and easier than you might think.
Sign up now to learn how achievable a family history book really is, and the important role it plays in preserving your research. What happens to your tree if your computer crashes tomorrow, or Ancestry.com goes down? Don’t leave anything to chance. You and your descendants deserve the chance to sit on the couch and page through the story of your family, for years to come.
Getting Started with Your Family Tree
Curious about your family tree, but not sure where to start? We are lucky to have hundreds of amazing resources available, but it can feel overwhelming to just dive in. I will hold your hand and get you started down the right path.
We will go over what you need to get started, software to use, where to find records, how to keep track of everything, and how DNA testing fits in. You won’t need any special tools or software for this beginner’s class. I will be introducing concepts that can be applied wherever you end up doing your research.
Enroll now to save yourself years of wasted work! There are so many things I wish I had known when I began. I don’t want you to learn them the hard way, too! We will go over everything you need to build a tree with strong roots so that someday, you can sit down with your grandkids and tell them your story.
Using Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com is one of the most powerful genealogical tools we have – but it can be very intimidating. If you have been wanting to jump in but are not sure where to start, this is the class for you!
I will explain how to get started, how to search for records and handle hints, what NOT to do when you find a match in someone else’s tree, what privacy settings to use, how to incorporate DNA test results, and how to use offline software like Family Tree Maker to keep your data safe.
Enroll now to get a jump start on your research. I wish someone had given me these tips back when I started – maybe I wouldn’t have had to start my tree over from scratch! You can leapfrog those blunders and build a strong, interesting tree that will be a resource for generations to come. Your family history will be safe and sound.
Using FamilySearch.org
Are you interested in building a powerful family tree but not ready to invest in any software or subscriptions? FamilySearch.org is an amazing free resource often overlooked next to giants like Ancestry.com. It is a non-profit organization with a mission to preserve important family records and make them freely accessible online. They go all over the world to scan documents from even the tiniest village churches, and connect researchers working on the same family lines.
I will help you understand how to use the different parts of the site, how to add your personal branch to their enormous collaborative tree, how to find and save records, how to use non-indexed resources, and how to take advantage of their powerful wiki instructional pages.
Sign up now to make use of this remarkable resource. Too many people think they have to spend hundreds of dollars to piece together their heritage, and they end up doing nothing. With FamilySearch, you can stand on the shoulders of researchers before you, enjoying the fruits of their labor and contributing your own as we all work on “a family tree for the human family”.
Intro to Family Book Creator
Have you ever wished for a magic button to turn all of your hard work into something beautiful? To turn a tree on your computer into a book in your hands? Well, Family Book Creator may not be magic, but it comes awfully close.
FBC is a plug-in for Family Tree Maker, and it uses the contents of your tree to automatically produce a beautifully finished document ready for printing – in only a few minutes! I will walk you through the basics of setup, the many possibilities for customization, the process of editing your final book draft, and even how to use Print-on-Demand to produce the coffee table book of your dreams.
Register now to start ensuring that your legacy and life’s work will live on. Sure, you could manually collate thousands of data points, design a book structure, insert hundreds of images and captions, create comprehensive indexes, and produce a dozen individual family charts … but wouldn’t you like to finish this project some time in the next century? Save time and effort by enlisting Family Book Creator to take care of everything for you.
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Minnesota Genealogical Society
Central Florida Genealogical Society
Kinseekers Genealogical Society
PastFinders Genealogical Society
Central Georgia Genealogical Society
Your Source for Professional Genealogical Speakers
