Today, I am thrilled to have Crista Cowan, Ancestry.com’s Corporate Genealogist, also known as “The Barefoot Genealogist” on YouTube, as our guest. Crista has been a pivotal figure at Ancestry, helping countless people uncover their family histories. In our conversation, we explore the latest developments at Ancestry.com, focusing on their new photo and storytelling features. We discuss how these tools are revolutionizing the way people organize, share, and discover their family stories. Whether you’re a seasoned genealogist or just starting out, this episode is packed with valuable insights and tips.
- Ancestry’s New Features
- Discussion on the importance of photos and storytelling at Ancestry.
- Introduction of the “Memories” feature, previously known as “Storymaker Studio.”
- Photo Management Enhancements
- Explanation of the need for better photo management tools.
- Overview of the new Albums feature and its benefits for users.
- User Interaction and Success Stories
- How users have responded to the new features.
- Examples of creative uses of the Albums feature.
- Collaboration and Privacy
- Details on how users can share and collaborate on photo albums.
- Privacy settings and sharing options on Ancestry.
- Integration with Family Trees
- How the new photo features integrate with family tree building.
- Tagging photos to multiple people and organizing them effectively.
- Pro Tools and Additional Features
- Introduction to Ancestry’s Pro Tools.
- Overview of Pro Tools features: Error Checker, Fan Chart, Charts and Reports, Map Feature.
- Public and Private Trees
- Explanation of privacy settings for trees and photos.
- Future plans for more granular privacy controls.
- Staying Updated and Legal Considerations
- How to keep up with new developments at Ancestry.
- Discussion on copyright considerations for uploaded photos.
- Upcoming Projects
- Crista’s upcoming podcast, “Stories That Live In Us.”
- The podcast’s focus on family stories and its goal to attract a new audience to genealogy.
Related Episodes:
Episode 184: Byte4Byte: Permanent.org’s Grant Program for Non-Profits
Episode 180: Photos, Memories, and English Genealogy with Emma Jolly
Links:
- Sign up for my newsletter.
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- Like the Photo Detective Facebook Page so you get notified of my Facebook Live videos.
- Need help organizing your photos? Check out the Essential Photo Organizing Video Course.
- Need help identifying family photos? Check out the Identifying Family Photographs Online Course.
- Have a photo you need help identifying? Sign up for photo consultation.
About My Guest:
Crista Cowan has been employed by Ancestry.com since 2004; her involvement in family history, however, reaches all the way back to childhood. From being parked under a microfilm reader at the Family History Library in her baby carrier to her current career as a professional genealogist, Crista has spent thousands of hours discovering, documenting, and telling family stories.
During her time at Ancestry, she has been a European Content Acquisition Manager, the Digital Preservation Indexing Manager, and the Community Alliance Manager for the Ancestry World Archives Project. For the past several years she has been the Corporate Genealogist, with responsibilities for speaking and teaching at genealogy conferences around the world and helping with family history research for public relations stories. Known online as “The Barefoot Genealogist” with a weekly internet show designed to help people discover their family history.
About Maureen Taylor:
Maureen Taylor, The Photo DetectiveÒhelps clients with photo related genealogical problems. Her pioneering work in historic photo research has earned her the title “the nation’s foremost historical photo detective” by The Wall Street Journal and appearances on The View, The Today Show, Pawn Stars, and others. Learn more at Maureentaylor.com