mike kalt, triangle jewish genealogical society

Mike Kalt, Triangle Jewish Genealogical Society

IAJGS

Ancestry.com

DNA Testing

JewishGen

JRI-Poland

Family History Library

My family

…..and lots more

Things I Learned About

The Organization

• International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies

• Debbie Long is a member of the Board of Directors

The Conference • Held annually around the world

• 2015 in Jerusalem

• 2016 in Seattle

• Researchers

• Experts

Should I Go? YES!!!!

What is IAGJS?

Research Opportunities

• Free access to data bases

• Local Jewish resources

Meet Vendors

Meet famous people • Steve Morse, Gary Mokotoff, and others

Network with others

Get inspired by presentations

Why Should I Go?

Searching tips

Other resources on Ancestry.com

Other news/info from Ancestry.com

What I Learned About Ancestry.com

Always use Advanced Search instead of

default search

Ancestry.com Search Tips

Do not use Galician records from Ancestry


Use JRI-Poland Web Site instead

You can use a question mark as a wild card

for a single character • For example “Stec?ler” will find either “Steckler” or

“Stechler”

When using a wild card for a search, always select “restrict to exact”


Use drop-down list on “Lived In” field to

narrow results



Click on “categories” tab when you get too many results

If “collection priority” is set to Jewish, the

D-M soundex is automatically used


Card Catalog (from Search tab) contains

many items that aren’t indexed


Found in the Catalog

Ancestry.com Wiki

• www.ancestry.com/wiki

Other Ancestry.com Resources

Downloadable Research Guides


Jewish Collections

• www.ancestry.com/jewish


Videos on YouTube

• Christa Cowan, “The Barefoot Genealogist”


Ancestry.com vs. Geni

• Ancestry.combuild and research your own tree

• GeniCollaborate for a global tree

If you put a picture on your Ancestry.com profile, people are 10 times more likely to contact you.

Ancestry DNA is improving their matching algorithm for Jews

Other Ancestry.com Tips

If DNA shows that you are 3rd cousins (or

more distant), you probably aren’t

Don’t do DNA testing just to scan for relatives

DNA Testing

Searches will be much faster

Yahrzeit reminders from JewishGen

Relationship between IAJGS and JewishGen

JewishGen Updates

Some sites I didn’t know about

• www.referenceusa.com

• www.searchsystems.net

• www.veromi.net

Finding Living People on the Web

When doing a “sounds-like” search, use

square brackets to search for specific letters. • For example [S]teckler.

JRI-Poland will be adding indexes of “patrynomic” records • From before Jews took last names

“Mapper” page on website shows frequency of surnames in various locations. • Lets you tell is a particular surname was local to one

or more towns or was more widespread.

JRI-Poland Tips

Order films from “vault” in advance if you

are visiting

Many online resources are free at library

Very helpful staff

Language experts on staff

Family History Library

My aunt discovered a dead body in the

house across the street

Zalman Leib Kalt married Taube Jachet Kalt

Traced my ancestors back to 1875

What I Learned About my Family

Plan your trip in advance

Make use of access to databases

Bring documents you want interpreted

Bring your tree

If You Go to IAJGS

mike kalt, triangle jewish genealogical society

Documents