New, easier-to-use, mobile-friendly

The news came yesterday from Millennia Corporation, Surprise, Arizona, that a major update of the FamilyTreeWebinars.com website had been launched: “a brand new responsive, mobile-friendly website for FamilyTreeWebinars.com (that) makes it easy to find topics of interest… Genealogists will now be able to watch courses on their smartphones, tablets or other mobile devices.”

FamilyTreeWebinars.com is a leader in online education for genealogists offering weekly webinars that are free to watch in real time and for a few days afterwards. Today’s webinar, for example — Complex Evidence – What is It? How Does it Work? And Why Does it Matter? — is by Warren Bittner.

Recorded webinars are then available permanently in an online library and may be accessed by subscription on a monthly ($9.95) or annual basis ($49.95). Many recordings may also be purchased on CD as a stand-alone product.

And, yes — truth in reporting, here — The Legal Genealogist is a presenter in the webinar series; it keeps the cats fed…

A video outlining the new features is online here, and features of the update include:

• A new search tool to easily find courses.
• Internal indexing of each individual course to allow easy access and jump to specific topics.
• A new resume watching feature that lets members pick up where they left off.
• A playlist to bookmark courses for future review.
• Presenter pages that feature the individual instructor’s courses and materials.

In a press release announcing the update, Geoff Rasmussen, host of the webinar series, said that “genealogists will be able to find what they need more quickly and watch on the platform of their choice. And they won’t have to worry about remembering where they left off. They can focus on increasing their genealogy skills and less on navigating the website.”

So, what kinds of webinars will you find there?

Well, focusing on Pennsylvania, for example — since I’m headed there this weekend to speak to the North Hills Genealogists in Pittsburgh — there are two webinars looking at research in the Keystone State.

One is available as a stand-alone:

Researching Your Pennsylvania Ancestors, presented by by Lisa Alzo: Pennsylvania has a plethora of archives, libraries, and repositories, where you’ll find a wealth of documents to help you unlock key details about your ancestors. Discover what records are available, where they are located and how to utilize them to trace your roots in the Keystone state.

The other is a bonus webinar, available to webinar series subscribers only:

Best Online Resources for Pennsylvania Genealogy, presented by Lisa Alzo: Pennsylvania has an abundance of resources for genealogists, and the good news is that many of them can now be accessed online. In this webinar, you’ll discover what digitized resources are available for Pennsylvania Research and how to search them to learn more about your Keystone State ancestors.

Coming east, across the Delaware River, you can learn about the Garden State:

Next Exit: Your New Jersey Ancestors, presented by Thomas MacEntee: Participants will learn the basics of researching their New Jersey ancestors starting with the early history as part of the New Netherlands colony to the present-day. Does the search for your New Jersey ancestors often take you to a dead end? What are the best strategies for Garden State research and which record sets are available? We’ll cover the history of New Jersey and review a variety of resources and strategies to get you on the route to success!

Headed west, those with Ohio ancestors have a wealth of webinars to choose from, covering just about every aspect of research there. You can start with this stand-alone webinar:

Researching Your Ohio Ancestors, presented by Chris Staats and Lisa Alzo: If you have ancestors who lived in or passed through Ohio, you’ll find a wealth of documents waiting for you online, and at archives, libraries, and repositories. Discover what records are available, where they are located, and how to utilize them to trace your roots in the Buckeye state.

Then, for series subscribers, bonus webinars presented by Jana Sloan Broglin include:

• Ohio: The Great Land Experiment;
• Ohio’s Probate Court;
• America’s Expansion: The Ohio Country 1783-1812;
• Early Ohio Wills and Estates;
• Ohio’s Recorder’s Office;
• Unusual Ohio Courthouse Records; and
• Ohio’s Common Pleas Court.

There’s so much more, on DNA testing, methodology, researching in places near and far, using technology — a total (at the moment) of 275 classes.

And — shameless self-promotion and plug here — since I am a presenter in this webinar series, my cat food budget is aided when folks find some value in:

• Building a Family from Circumstantial Evidence.
• That First Trip to the Courthouse
• How Knowing the Law Makes Us Better Genealogists
• Using Court Records to tell the Story of our Ancestors’ Lives
• The Ties That Bond
• Copyright Mythconceptions
• The Fair Court: Records of Chancery Courts
• D-I-V-O-R-C-E!
• Martha Benschura – Enemy Alien ; and
• Making a Federal Case Out of It (BONUS webinar for subscribers).