This session is intended to provide the most gentle introduction possible to the concept of chromosome mapping. The field of genetic genealogy can be confusing and overwhelming for beginners, with a wide variety of new concepts, terms, and technology to contend with. This can cause some to give up, which is a loss for the genealogy community as a whole. Since chromosome mapping is visual, it can provide a useful and practical framework for learning the essential DNA concepts needed for family history.

Ready to move past U.S. censuses, vital records, and draft registrations? Come meet some of the next greatest U.S. genealogy record treasures on Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, findmypast, and MyHeritage! Learn what's in these record types, what they might teach you about your ancestors, and tips for navigating these record gems effectively.

Using Ethnicity in Your Genealogical Research (Angie Bush) Ethnicity estimates are sometimes viewed as not useful for genealogical research. We will take a deep dive into understanding ethnicity to tease out clues to assist in answering genealogical research questions.

Whenever you do genealogy, the surname will lead you through time and places. The class will provide information about surnames in Germany and their historic development. Surname research is not genealogy, but it can be a great help: the surname is the key. It can open doors, destroy brick walls, and give a wider understanding of perhaps different branches of the historic ancestral family.

Do you get so excited when you find a new record for an ancestor that you forget to collect the information you need? Does that record shine and glitter so brightly that you are blinded to other vital clues you might need? Learn the “One Pass” approach to genealogy research, and never get distracted again! Participants will learn the best way to extract as much information as possible from a genealogy record on the first pass!

DNA results often yield more questions than answers, yet when combined with traditional genealogical research, those results can lead to untold discoveries and solutions to longstanding research problems. This session provides the combined perspective of an expert in DNA testing and a genealogist to discuss and examine the best ways to integrate these two important elements of family history.

DNA Painter has given us a great new tool for mapping our chromosomes. How do we take advantage of that tool to map as much of our DNA as possible and use the information to solve mysteries?

The genealogical proof standard states that analysis and correlation of data are necessary before we can say something is proven, but what techniques are best? Many people collect information but don't know how to manipulate it for evidence analysis. Spreadsheets, time lines, maps, charts, and tables are a few of the techniques that will be discussed to pull out evidence needed to answer research questions. 

Before the 1870s, it was the German churches, not civil authorities, who meticulously kept track of their members' baptisms, marriages, and deaths. If you are researching your German ancestors, it is more likely than not that you will run into these records at some point in your research. Filled with information such as your ancestor's name, parents' names, important dates, relationships, and more, these records are an amazing find for any German genealogist. But there's just one problem—they're not in English. In this session, learn from professional German genealogy translator Katherine Schober how you can extract the information you need from German church records.

Unfortunately, many of us are scared away by the language, handwriting, and nuances of German research. This does not need to be the case. This class will familiarize you with easily available resources to increase your skills (and comfort level) in performing German research.

All genealogists come across conflicting names or dates in their research. This session is ideal for those seeking guidelines to resolve these conflicts. We will examine conflicts appearing in online family trees and original records (using examples that combine both instances). This session teaches the fundamentals of the genealogical proof standard and the importance of citations as methods to demonstrate resolutions to conflicting evidence in a practical and approachable manner.

Have you ever gone to interview someone and could not get them to talk? Are they video shy? Are they reluctant to share? Do they have memory loss? Is their story a difficult one to tell? Personal historian Karen Morgan and speech-language pathologist Joanna Liddell share tips for quickly building a rapport with your subject. You will learn how to prepare for the interview, maximize the environment, put your subject at ease, use story prompts, listen actively, handle difficult topics, and discover how the role of an audience affects the stories the subject tells.

The Netherlands has some of the best online indexes and image collections of any European country, but searching them can seem overwhelming. We will learn about the best websites for finding indexed records and images. We'll also learn the most effective strategies for identifying and compiling Dutch families.

This session focuses primarily on methodology and sources, looking at various data sets that may be unfamiliar but increasingly relevant for those who can trace their ancestors back to the British Isles.

We take the best of DNA, records, and Family Tree information to show what is possible when you combine all three areas of research. Learn from the experts as we break through walls, make connections with up to 13th-degree relatives, and speed up the process of family history research. This discussion is DNA-centric but pulls in the traditional tools. We see how one day we can simply take a DNA sample and be presented with the photographs of our ancestors. 

Google guru Lisa Louise Cooke will show you the proven methodology that dramatically improves genealogical searching with Google and its free associated tools. Think you know how to Google? Think again! 

This session gives a comprehensive overview of genealogy resources available for Jewish genealogy. The presentation will include online sources and documents not yet online for both the United States and Europe. It will also cover some basic knowledge critical to researching one's Jewish roots.

To find your enslaved ancestors, it's important to understand the domestic slave trade from the Upper South to the Lower South. With the ban on the importation of enslaved Africans in 1807 and taking effect on January 1, 1808, the domestic slave trade in the United States grew with slave traders and speculators. This session will cover the major slave-trading hubs in the Carolinas, Maryland, and Virginia and the growth of the enslaved population in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. 

To keep the cost of the virtual pass low, classes on the virtual pass will not be streamed. They will be recorded, edited, and then posted within 10 days following the event. A number of classes will be streamed for free on the RootsTech home page during the event, however. See the free streaming schedule here.

Yes! Video recordings can be viewed on your desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Most of the sessions are between 50 and 60 minutes.

Yes! If you’re already planning to attend RootsTech 2019 but would still like access to more content, you can add the virtual pass on to your registration for only $79. To do this, simply log back in to your account, and add the virtual pass to your existing registration. If you need help with this, send us an email at info@rootstech.org.

You will be able to watch any or all of the sessions. However, a RootsTech virtual pass gives you access to these 18 classes.

The virtual pass offers some of the best genealogy and family history content from the biggest names in the industry. Experience the first 7 days after we post the recordings and see if it’s right for you. If you believe it’s not right for you and you don’t want access to any more recorded content, just send us an email at info@rootstech.org within 7 days after the videos post and we’ll refund your money and cancel your access.