GENEALOGY PODCASTS

I know. You don't even have an iPod or clone. But read on.

You don't have to own one. You can go to the podcast web site, click on it and listen right on your computer at that moment. Or you can save it and listen to it later on your computer. Or you can burn many of them to a CD and listen to it on a CD player -- the kind you listen to other music on in your music system or a portable that plays MP3. [Older ones might not.] Or you can save it to a flash drive and insert it into a small and inexpensive flash drive player to carry with you when you are jogging [or something less taxing like walking or standing in line]. Maybe you have a newer vehicle with a CD player that plays MP3 so you can read while stuck in traffic.

Everyone has a way to listen to podcasts. Once you figure out the best way for you you'll find there are thousands of things you can listen to besides music.

There are some interesting genealogy podcasts out there and no doubt the field is growing. With a genealogy podcast you can multitask, learn about genealogy while doing something else.

Dick Eastman, noted gadget guru and genealogist, author of Eastman's Online Genealogy, former owner and Wiz Op of the what I suspect was the original genealogy forum online, Roots at CompuServe, etc. etc. now has some of his postings as podcasts. Dick is one of the pioneers in online genealogy. If you aren't familiar with Dick Eastman you need to be. Eastman's podcasts have no set schedule that I can determine. He seems to take live interviews that he uses for some of his daily online genealogy reports and share them through a podcast. You can subscribe to notification of his podcast in an RSS feed.

http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/podcasts/index.html

Dear Myrtle began her columns in 1998 and her radio broadcasts in 2000. She has columns, blogs, broadcasts, podcasts and all sorts of information on her web site. I found the setup made it difficult to download the mp3 files. Other podcasts sites have a list of podcasts with a link but this web site has you going from link to link to link just to download one file. She has many, all of which apparently were originally radio broadcasts. However, there is a LOT of information on her web site and it is worthwhile to wade through and download the mp3 files of interest.

http://www.dearmyrtle.com/index.htm

The Genealogy Guys have a chatty podcast which they have recorded every other Sunday for the past year. George Morgan is a speaker and author of genealogy books including the useful How to Do Everything With Your Genealogy. Drew Smith is a librarian and speaker. They started in September of 2005. The shows were approximately one half hour for the first four months and then expanded to an hour. Go to The Genealogy Guys website where you can sign up for the RSS feed to be reminded or just check the site out periodically. The notes for the podcasts are on the web site and that's where you download the podcast. At the moment the Genealogy Guys are the only podcast I am aware of which consistently puts out a new program on a regular basis.

http://www.genealogyguys.com/

A newer and promising podcast is Bill Puller's Genealogy Tech. This podcast is just beginning, having recorded four shows as I write this. It starts with basics. The show's notes, which are particularly good, are on the web site. While his shows so far are pretty basic I found there is also always something "basic" I didn't know. He has some ideas and programs you probably won't find on your own.

http://genealogytechpodcast.com/index.html

Putting out a regular podcast [or blog] is time consuming and it isn't easy to come up with something new. Let's face it -- there's not a lot of "breaking news" in genealogy. While these four have ongoing podcasts many others have tried and have not been successful. If you find podcasts useful let them know.