DNA Discussion Group Meets Wednesday May 3rd

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The MoCoGenSo DNA Sig is scheduled to meet: first Wednesday of the month at noon via Zoom. Reserve the time in your calendar!

A DNA Discussion Group (SIG) is a group of individuals who have a shared interest in using DNA testing for genealogy and family history research. DNA SIGs typically provide a forum for members to share information, resources, and expertise related to DNA testing and genealogy. Newcomers, beginners, are always welcome!

Please let us know if you would be able to present or share some of the tools or issues you are interested in. Maybe you have a topic or a speaker that you think others might be interested in. Perhaps you can facilitate a meeting. We can all learn from each other.

Dana Leeds, creator of “the Leeds Method” for Clustering just posted an article about the order of AncestryDNA’s “colored dots”.  You can read her post here:  https://www.danaleeds.com/the-order-of-ancestrydnas-colored-dots/ .  Frankly, I need someone to explain it to me.  What color do I associate with which ancestor to get the dots in the right order?  I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday and we can discuss this and other puzzling tools.

If there is a particular tool or strategy you would like to share with others, or a genetic genealogy problem you would like the group to advise you on, get enough screenshots prepared in advance so you’ll be able to describe the technique step by step on screen, or show us the DNA-related work you’ve already done on your problem case.

My job is facilitator, or door keeper, if you would. Come join us. If you can’t make it this month, don’t worry. We plan to be here next month, and the next…

Click to Join Meeting: Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 897 1823 5118
Passcode: 738495

Notes from the MoCoGenSo Board

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LOGO 600

Once again the Church has given us the okay to use their facility for our General Monthly Meetings. We are attempting to set up both in person and virtual meetings at the same time. Right now there are several renovations being done in the building and we will keep you informed once we know when we can begin. Despite the construction the Family Search Center Library remains open for patron use on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 1:30-4:30. They are recruiting librarians in hopes of opening more days. If you are interested in volunteering drop in and meet those already there.

As we move into summer hopefully you have plans for a genealogy excursion into your local areas where your families settled and began their new lives. Cemeteries are a great place to start collecting vital information. Find A Grave (findagrave.com) is one place to begin looking. They have posted millions of grave sites and your ancestors could be among them.

The Monterey County Genealogy Society still has openings on their Board of Directors. It serves its members in many ways. The Board of Directors is made up of members just like you. If you would like to help, just contact any director listed here https://mocogenso.wordpress.com/business/officers/ . Remember our society is only as strong as our membership, and those who get involved.

DNA inheritance using letters in first names!

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Ancestry has a nice new help page about DNA inheritance which uses the family names analogy to demonstrate recombination that was in the RootsTech session by Crista Cowan. This can be used to describe to newbies why testing many people in a family can be useful.

https://www.ancestry.com/cs/dna-inheritance

This is a little bit “advertisy” but scroll down to watch the letters change. This will useful for me to explain to my sister why I want to test her! 🙂

Membership Renewal Time is Here!

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Spring has come and it is time to remind everyone that MoCoGenSo memberships will expire soon, and it is time to renew. The dues will remain the same at $20.00 for individuals and $25.00 for families (add $7.50 for paper copy).

An important way to learn more about your ancestors and their lives is to join a genealogy society that focuses on the area in which your ancestors lived. Genealogy societies conduct research and preserve information about a specific area, and most publish some sort of newsletter, journal, or other periodical. The articles offer insight into the area and the people, and can provide help in conducting your research in an area. There are genealogy societies at the national, state, county, parish, province, and other levels. Annual membership fees are reasonable and the benefits are considerable.

The Monterey County Genealogy Society is one of these organizations right here in your own back yard. It serves its members in many ways. The board of directors is made up of members just like you.

Remember our society is only as strong as our membership, and those who get involved.

OUR MEMBERSHIP YEAR RUNS FROM APRIL 1 TO MARCH 31 OF THE FOLLOWING YEAR. For renewing members, you can renew using the membership form in your recently received newsletter. New or renewing members can download and print a copy of the Membership Application by clicking here. There will always be copies of this form at our monthly meetings.

Join me by staying with MoCoGenSo and getting the E-Newsletter.

Thank you for being a supporter!

Special gift from Jonny Perl at Rootstech

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RootsTech 2023 is still going strong. I just watched a session put on by the creator of DNA Painter web site, Jonny Perl. It was not about his excellent site, but instead was about 3rd party tools that are supporting genetic genealogy. If you get a chance, do try to watch it. Below is a link to a wonderful page of LINKS to all things genealogy, created and maintained by Jonny Perl. This list runs the gamut from sites to books. I have included this link on the GG Web Links page herein too.

Many thanks to DNA Painter for their services to us all.

dnapainter.com/rt2023

DNA Discussion Group Meets Wednesday March 1st

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The MoCoGenSo DNA Sig has resumed operations, with scheduling: First Wednesday of the month at noon via Zoom. Reserve the time in your calendar!

A DNA Discussion Group (SIG) is a group of individuals who have a shared interest in using DNA testing for genealogy and family history research. DNA SIGs typically provide a forum for members to share information, resources, and expertise related to DNA testing and genealogy. Newcomers, beginners, are always welcome!

Please let us know if you would be able to present or share some of the tools or issues you are interested in. Maybe you have a topic or a speaker that you think others might be interested in. Perhaps you can facilitate a meeting. We can all learn from each other.

Lots of things have been happening in the genetic genealogy field in recent months. Below is a new option made available at Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) called Group Time Tree which shows in some of the group projects. The graph below includes my data! I will show how it works on this Wednesday.

If there is a particular tool or strategy you would like to share with others, or a genetic genealogy problem you would like the group to advise you on, get enough screenshots prepared in advance so you’ll be able to describe the technique step by step on screen, or show us the DNA-related work you’ve already done on your problem case.

My job is facilitator, or door keeper, if you would. Come join us. If you can’t make it this month, don’t worry. We plan to be here next month, and the next…

Click to Join Meeting: Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 897 1823 5118
Passcode: 738495

New Algorithm Cleans Up 23andMe Family Trees

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Some types of close relatives, like aunt, uncle, half-sibling, nephew, niece, grandparent, and grandchild have very similar patterns of shared DNA, making predicting those relationships from DNA alone difficult. That’s why some customers might see someone incorrectly labeled as one of these relationships. To help improve detection of these relationships, 23andMe is now using a new technique that analyzes DNA from full siblings

Telling these relative types apart is especially difficult because the amount of DNA each type shares is almost identical. Because of this similarity, Bonsai relies on customers’ self-reported ages to make a decision about their relationships.

You can use this updated Bonsai method by rebuilding your family tree. To do this, you can request a recalculation of your tree through a link in the DNA Relatives FAQ page, in the question called “How do I recalculate my tree?”

The 23andMe database currently includes over 2 million customers who could be affected by this update, which translates to many thousands of relationships potentially changed. For those of you with a full sibling and a predicted half-sibling, aunt, or uncle, the updated Bonsai may produce a different (and more trustworthy) tree.

Keep in mind that unfortunately your tree annotations don’t carry over when you rerun Bonsai. Still, some of you will see changes and the predictions Bonsai now makes are much more reliable for the close relationship types discussed here.

the above is from 23andMe on Feb 22, 2023

Are Genealogy websites confusing to use?

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Come to the new genealogical discussion and support meeting next Thursday to clear the cob-webs. 🙂

 

If you are having difficulties with Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org come to the FamilySearch Center for assistance Thursday afternoon at 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm in Seaside.  Be sure to bring your passwords if you already have accounts.

The door is at the LEFT REAR of the Church Building. See this link for detailed directions. https://mocogenso.wordpress.com/fhc/

If you need it, Shelley will help you sign in to FamilySearch will discuss using their site this year. Be prepared!