My Week of Research, New Equipment, and Rootstech Update

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Overall, it's been another big week for genealogy at the Price house, and I've been so excited to document it and update my blog.

Quiet Library Days

The family history library has been super quiet this week. We've even had low staffing numbers, which has been fine because we've only really had our regulars this week. They both know what they're doing, so the only time either of them has ever asked for help is formatting a picture in a Word document. Tuesday, June 10th, was a little bittersweet. Our long-term regular finished his multi-year-long project and decided he doesn't need to come in anymore. Thursday, June 5th, we actually had a group come in for our escape room. One of them said they wanted to come back to get help with my Scandinavian specialty.

Mother-Daughter Orders

Just today, Wednesday, June 11th, I finished digitizing the daughter's order. All that's left to do is editing and sorting, then I can send it back. I'm making some good headway on the mother's order; I only have 5 Video8 cassettes, 4 VHS tapes, and 12 VHS-C left. So currently, there's only about a 19-hour waitlist for any type of VHS or cassette. I haven't put out any ads this week, so no new orders have come in.

New Equipment

I got a brand new-to-me camcorder this week, which has been super exciting. This is what I use now to digitize both Video8 and Hi8. So it's been very helpful in fulfilling my current two orders. This is my first camcorder; my parents have cassettes of my older brother, but by the time I was born, the world had moved on to digital. I was not expecting it to be so large!

An Update On Rootstech 2026

In my blog from Wednesday, June 4th, I announced that I decided to audition to teach a seminar at Rootstech 2026. The very next day, on Thursday, June 5th, they made a LinkedIn post telling their followers that auditions are open until Thursday, June 26th. So my strategy is changing. I'm now researching and working on my slideshow when there are no patrons at the library. I've also switched my goal from a 60-minute presentation to a more niche 20-minute presentation, for both the sake of time and the fact that I found a topic that had never been taught before. I'm seriously crunching, but I'm still super happy with how my presentation is looking so far.

Registering For Next Term

I officially only have two weeks left of my current term, which has been absolutely dragging. One of my classes this term is "Introduction to Family History." I'm definitely not feeling as challenged as I would like to be, but it's a prerequisite to take anything even intermediate. Because my schooling is online, many classes have pre-tests where they evaluate your skill level and exempt you from any lessons you've already mastered. For some reason, this is not one of those classes. Regardless, it's almost done, and I currently have an A+. What I'm really excited for are the classes I registered for today, Wednesday, June 11th. Come Monday, June 30th, I'll be taking Paleography, Research Methodology, and Evidence Analysis! I've never been more excited for the start of a new term.