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b'The Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 13 Originally Published 2007 Remastered March 2014 By Lisa Louise Cooke \\xa0 From the MAILBOX Hello Lisa: I have just finished listening to your podcast on tracing family members through school records. You mentioned some sources to research. Many years ago I came across a list or resources to be found in the home. I still have the photocopy I made, \\xa0but it does not say who originally created it. I believe I found it at my local LDS. \\xa0Anyway since putting it on my site, I and others who have come to that page have added to it. I really like your show and look forward to receiving your newsletter. Allan Scahill \\xa0 GEM:\\xa0\\xa0 Memorial Day & WW II Service Records With the month of May comes Memorial Day, and in Episode Thirteen I thought it would be a good time to do a quick check for some military records.\\xa0\\xa0 If you have relatives who served in World War II here are a couple of free \\u2018must check\\u2019 websites for you. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA): The WWII enlistment records for the years of 1938 through 1946 are listed on the NARA website.\\xa0 These records contain the majority of enlistments, approximately nine million men and women who enlisted in the U.S. Army, including the Women\'s Army Auxiliary Corps.\\xa0 What I like about the NARA records is that they include the Army Serial Number, which I\\u2019ve not seen on the Ancestry version of the records.\\xa0 And of course they are free at the NARA website.\\xa0 They also have searchable WWII Prisoner of War Records. Another great website for searching for soldiers traveling overseas or returning home after the war is . I hadn\\u2019t thought of searching for traveling soldiers until I heard Steve Morse speak about it at a recent seminar.\\xa0\\xa0 As soon as I got home from the seminar, I used his form and immediately found my Great Uncle Elzie returning home on the Ile de France after being injured in the D-Day invasion.\\xa0 With the availability of New York passenger lists up to 1957, many new research doors have been opened. If you\\u2019d like more information or historical background on Memorial Day, visit the . \\xa0 GEM:\\xa0 Family History Books By now you may have seen my videos A Nurse In Training Part 1 & Part 2 on A Nurse In Training didn\\u2019t actually start out as a video but rather a book.\\xa0 I have found that by breaking up my research into digestible chunks of time and self-publishing them in hard cover books my extended family is able to understand and enjoy our family\\u2019s history. I started self-publishing about a year ago.\\xa0 We don\\u2019t live close to our families, so Christmas gifts have to be purchased ahead of time and shipped.\\xa0 Family history books turned out to be a fantastic way to start sharing some of my research findings in an affordable way that could be easily mailed. In the past I\\u2019ve sent CDs full of photos and documents. But in the end I think they were a bit overwhelming to the non-genealogists in the family. I think there are many reasons for this: Computer CDs are perceived as something technical and hard to use.\\xa0\\xa0 The material is chopped up, and individual photos and documents don\\u2019t tell a particular story smoothly and easily. I think they\\u2019re also perceived as very time consuming.\\xa0 Folks just don\\u2019t feel like they have the time to sit down and really give it the attention it deserves.\\xa0 Also, many people find reading on a computer screen hard on the eyes.\\xa0 The solution: a good old fashioned book!\\xa0 Books are still hard to beat for telling a story in words and pictures in a user friendly way. But where to begin the story, and where to end it?\\xa0 That\\u2019s the big question!\\xa0 The temptation is to tell the story of one generation of the family.\\xa0 That\\u2019s usually just too big of a project to take on.\\xa0 The book will likely end up being lots of dates and names and not a lot of room for much else.\\xa0 And there\\u2019s always the risk that it won\\u2019t be completed if it\\u2019s too large an undertaking. I wanted my family to get to know these people in our family tree intimately.\\xa0 That meant focusing in much closer than an entire generation of the family.\\xa0 In the end, I started with my favorite ancestor:\\xa0 my grandmother.\\xa0 I\\u2019ve transcribed many years of her diaries as I talked about in Episode Two.\\xa0 One of the stories that really emerged out of them was her years spent in nurses training in the 1930s.\\xa0 I learned so much through her journal entries, and I knew I had a good collection of photos from that period.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I decided that my starting point would be her graduation from high school and her decision to enter the nursing field.\\xa0 By the time I had pulled everything together from 1930 to 1933, I had more than enough for a nice size book.\\xa0 It\\u2019s really important to create your book with your audience in mind.\\xa0 Your audience is your family member who will be reading the book.\\xa0 Here are my Top Six Tips for making your book fascinating to your reader: #1 The Should Book Convey An Overall Theme Start by reviewing all the available material you have.\\xa0 That will give you a good sense of what the time period was like for your ancestor.\\xa0 You\\u2019ll also start to understand their goals, experiences, and emotions.\\xa0 Ultimately a theme should begin to surface.\\xa0 In the case of A Nurse In Training, I wanted to communicate my grandmother as a young woman taking on a new adventure away from home that ultimately led to this warm, caring woman\\u2019s successful career as a nurse.\\xa0 I also tucked a bonus subplot in there of how she just happened to meet her husband at the same time! You don\\u2019t need every scrap of research and every photo to get this theme across.\\xa0 It\\u2019s your job to be a sharp editor and to pick out the critical pieces.\\xa0 You want the words and photographs that clearly communicate your theme to the reader. #2 Create a Book that can be Read in One Sitting Like it or not, if it takes too long read, they probably won\\u2019t.\\xa0 Strive to create a book that doesn\\u2019t look intimidating.\\xa0 I create books that are ten to twenty double sided pages.\\xa0 People will be willing to pick up a thinner book off the coffee table.\\xa0 If it\\u2019s well done they\\u2019ll find that all of a sudden they\\u2019ve finished the entire book without wanting to put it down.\\xa0 The final goal is that they will walk away with a real sense of having gotten to know that ancestor. #3 Your Book Should Contain the Best of What You Have This goes back to conveying the theme and being a strict editor.\\xa0 My grandma had many funny stories, but there just wasn\\u2019t room for all of them.\\xa0 I picked the best of the best.\\xa0 Anyone who reads the book should hopefully come away with the fact that she had a sense of humor and could laugh at herself.\\xa0 So keep the content of your book focused, full of graphics and photos, and including the best of the best.\\xa0 If you can capture their interest in the first three pages, you\\u2019ll have them for the entire book. #4 Include Lots of Photos and Graphics A picture is definitely worth a thousand words.\\xa0 Since the number of words in this size book will be limited, photographs will be your best friend.\\xa0 If you\\u2019re lacking in family photos, many of my previous podcasts will give you countless ideas for locating associated photos.\\xa0 In A Nurse In Training I included scanned images of skating rink tickets, programs and announcements from my grandma\\u2019s scrapbook, and journal pages in my grandmother\\u2019s own hand.\\xa0 These types of items really add texture and interest to your book, as well as help the reader to see that you\\u2019ve really done your homework. #5 Keep It in Chronological Order This may seem obvious, but it\\u2019s easy to get side tracked and start going back and forth in time.\\xa0 Believe me, for the reader\\u2019s sake keep things in chronological order. You as the researcher know this information backwards and forwards, but this is probably your reader\\u2019s first exposure to it.\\xa0 Be gentle with them and keep it straight forward and simple.\\xa0 Your reader will thank you. #6 Go for High Quality High quality glossy pages, good image quality and a hard cover binding all shout to the reader \\u201cI\\u2019m worth your time, read me!\\u201d\\xa0 For example, I found a drawing of Dameron Hospital where my grandmother worked, but it was a low quality image and didn\\u2019t translate well in the book.\\xa0 As much as I wanted to include it, I ended up leaving it out. I\\u2019m glad I did; it wasn\\u2019t critical to the book and there were other ways to communicate the hospital to the reader. Keeping these tips in mind, let\\u2019s talk about how to publish your own family history book. I create my books in the Kodakgallery which is now Shutterfly at . There are several websites out there offering the ability to publish your own book.\\xa0 I chose Kodakgallery because the program was very easy to use, the price was competitive, publishing and shipping time was FAST, and the quality was excellent.\\xa0 I saw a book that a friend of mine published of his father\\u2019s World War II service years and it was gorgeous.\\xa0 Again, quality is really key. Hopefully, these books will become family keepsakes and you\\u2019ll want them to be the highest quality possible. I use the Classic Photo Book style which is 9\\u201d x 10-1/4" in size and includes ten double sided pages for a total of twenty pages, but you can certainly add more.\\xa0 It comes in a hardcover that you can do in linen fabric, smooth matte or leather.\\xa0 It also includes a window in the front cover that you can see your first photo through.\\xa0 I really like that feature because it never fails to capture people\\u2019s curiosity and entice them to pick up the book and take a look. They also have a larger Legacy Photo book which is 12\\u201d x 14\\u201d.\\xa0 This is the size my friend used that worked really well because he was including large images of newspaper pages about the war. I\\u2019m going to walk you through the steps of setting up a book in Kodak Gallery because it\\u2019s a resource I feel very comfortable recommending.\\xa0 But again, there are other options out there, and my guess is that the publishing process would be pretty similar.\\xa0 I have provided a Kodak Gallery link for you at my website at GenealogyGems.TV on the STORE page.\\xa0 If you decide to use Kodak, I would really appreciate you accessing it through this link because it will help support the production costs associated with producing this podcast. \\xa0 In the Photo Books area of the website, click CREATE BOOK. The first thing you\\u2019ll do is choose a cover material for your book.\\xa0 I used black leather for A Nurse In Training which is really nice and has a light sheen to it.\\xa0 It is $10 more than linen or matte.\\xa0 I created a Guest Book for my daughter\\u2019s wedding where the right side pages were photos of the happy couple and the left side pages had space for guests to sign and write notes.\\xa0 I used linen for that cover in the color \\u201cbaby pink\\u201d and really liked that as well.\\xa0 Ultimately, I think it comes down choosing a cover style that compliments the theme and contents of the book.\\xa0 Once you\\u2019ve made your selection, click the NEXT button. You will then need to choose a page design for your book.\\xa0 For A Nurse in Training I used the design \\u201cTime After Time.\\u201d\\xa0 It has a lovely antique look.\\xa0 Go ahead and pick one you like.\\xa0 Don\\u2019t worry, you can always change the page design any time before you make your final purchase.\\xa0 When you\\u2019re ready, click NEXT. This will bring up a box asking if you want to auto fill your book with photos you\\u2019ve already uploaded to the website, or if you want to add them page by page.\\xa0 If this is your first book, I think page by page is the way to go. Now you\\u2019re getting to the fun stuff: adding content to your book.\\xa0 Anywhere you see a text box you just click inside of it and start typing.\\xa0 The space for text can be somewhat limited though, so always preview your pages to be sure you didn\\u2019t lose any text. To upload photos look below the image of the book and click the UPLOAD PHOTOS link.\\xa0 You can browse your hard drive and select the photos and images you want to include.\\xa0 On the publishing page your photos will appear beneath the book.\\xa0 Just grab the photo and drop it into the DRAG PHOTO HERE box where you want it to appear.\\xa0 You can preview the pages as you go by clicking PREVIEW right below the book spine.\\xa0 Images can be adjusted with zoom & arrow movement features. Keep clicking next page until you have filled all the pages.\\xa0 Each page layout can be altered by clicking the CHOOSE PAGE LAYOUT button in the upper corner of the page.\\xa0 Using a variety of layouts can add a lot of interest to your book.\\xa0 Ultimately you\\u2019ll be selecting the layouts that accommodate your images and text.\\xa0 Don\\u2019t be afraid of leaving white space on pages.\\xa0 It makes the book easier to read and enjoy.\\xa0 Another nice feature of the book is the cover page.\\xa0 Select a good, clear, preferably simple photo of your subject for the cover page.\\xa0 It will be seen through a vellum page from the cover.\\xa0 Under the photo you will want to put the title of your book, and on the second line add your name as author. On the backside of the cover page you will want to create your dedication page using a text only page layout.\\xa0 Here\\u2019s an example of what you could write: First Sentene: State who the book\'s audience is Second Sentence: Give credit to those who contributed materials Third Sentence: STate your personal goal for the book, as well as your name and the year published. I gave copies of my book about my grandma to my mom and my uncle.\\xa0 It was the first time in years that I\\u2019ve seen tears in my uncle\\u2019s eyes.\\xa0 He loved it; no toaster or tie could have made a better Christmas gift.\\xa0 The following Christmas I did a book about my father-in-laws WWII naval years and sent a copy to everyone on my husband\\u2019s side of the family.\\xa0 In the months following as I received RSVPs for my daughter\\u2019s wedding they were still raving about the book and how much it meant to them.\\xa0 More than anything, they were so surprised to realize how little they knew about their father\\u2019s patriotic service.\\xa0 It\\u2019s a joy to create these books as well as to give them.\\xa0 They\\u2019ve stimulated wonderful family conversations and I know they won\\u2019t end up in the next garage sale.\\xa0 Remember: your research can be fascinating and understandable to others in your family.\\xa0 It just takes a little creativity and effort.\\xa0 What good is it sitting on a shelf?\\xa0 Don\\u2019t wait until you are done with your research.\\xa0 It will never happen.\\xa0 Start putting pieces of your family history directly into your family\\u2019s hands with a beautiful family history book.'