MyHeritage adds 325 Million New Records to SuperSearch

If you are getting the idea that MyHeritage.com dominates the genealogical community for innovation and adding new records, you are correct. As I have mentioned, I have been searching for other announcements of new products and improvements coming from any of the companies at #RootsTech 2018 and have found the offerings to be paltry with the exception of MyHeritage. Current statistics from MyHeritage.com show that they have the following:

Of course, with today's announcement, the number of Historical Records just jumped to 8.8 Billion. Here is the announcement:

We’re delighted to announce the addition of 325 million important historical records to SuperSearch™, bringing the total number of global records available to 8.8 billion. 

The collections added today include the 1939 Register of England & Wales, an innovative name index for the US yearbooks collection published in December 2017 and Canadian obituaries.

Please read their blog post entitled, "MyHeritage releases new collections with 325 million historical records" for a detailed explanation of the new records. The new record sets include the following:

• 1939 Register of England & Wales
• U.S. Yearbooks Name Index, 1890-1979
• Canadian Obituaries

Major Upgrade to the Chromosome Browser on MyHeritage

MyHeritage.com has today announced a major upgrade to the Chromosome Browser. Here is the announcement:

We are excited to announce a major upgrade to the Chromosome Browser on MyHeritage. With this upgrade, we’ve upped our genetic genealogy game considerably to help people better understand how they are related to their DNA Matches. Together with family tree details like shared ancestral surnames and shared Smart Matches, users may be able to trace back the common ancestors who passed down shared DNA segments to them and their DNA Matches, and reconstruct the exact relationship path between themselves and DNA Matches that they find intriguing. 

The initial version of the MyHeritage Chromosome Browser, released in January 2018, was a one-to-one chromosome browser. It displays DNA segments shared by you with one DNA Match. 

The new One-to-Many Chromosome Browser, with its support for indicating triangulated segments, is an exciting addition to MyHeritage’s growing arsenal of useful tools for genetic genealogy. The tool is completely free. 

Also new is the ability to export the list of DNA Matches, along with several other export capabilities.

The Chromosome Browser is part of the website and available to all who have a DNA test on the MyHeritage.com website. Since there is a Conference discount on the DNA kits, if you have not taken a DNA test, I suggest going to the MyHeritage booth and seeing if there are any left. 

There are so many new announcements from MyHeritage.com that I have not yet had time to write about all of them in depth. You can expect a lot more posts about all the new developments. I guess MyHeritage.com is the only company that has announcements to make at #RootsTech 2018, because I have yet to get even one notice from any other company at the Conference. Hmm. Or maybe because I am not physically present, I am being ignored? I did find two different press releases from other companies posted on another website. 

Large Online Family Trees Validated by Scientifically Conducted MyHeritage Study

Here is a citation to this original article:

Kaplanis, Joanna, Assaf Gordon, Tal Shor, Omer Weissbrod, Dan Geiger, Mary Wahl, Michael Gershovits, et al. “Quantitative Analysis of Population-Scale Family Trees with Millions of Relatives.” Science, March 1, 2018, eaam9309. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aam9309.

Here is an interesting summary of the article.

“Giant Family Tree of 13 Million People Just Created.” Accessed March 2, 2018. https://www.livescience.com/61905-giant-family-tree.html.

Here is a list of links to articles that have been written about the original study.

• The Atlantic
• Wall Street Journal
• National Geographic
• Wired
• New York Times
• Daily Mail
• The Verge
• Gizmodo
• New Scientist
• Nature
• BBC interview (7:00-12:00)

Once and a while, a new scientific article comes along that changes an entire discipline. For example, an article published in The Bell System Technical Journal, Vol. 27, pp. 379–423, 623–656, July, October, 1948 entitled "A Mathematical Theory of Communication" by Claude Shannon invented the whole idea of communication theory and had a huge impact on the development of computers. The study done by the authors of the article in Science will produce such an effect. One of the statements from the study may give a hint of the radical change this study could have on how genealogy is done in the future.

Taken together, these results demonstrate that millions of genealogists can collaborate in order to produce high-quality population-scale family trees.

The study also validates the use of cluster analysis in advanced genealogical research. It also validates many of things I have been teaching and writing about for the past fifteen years or so but modifies and corrects some other things I have taught and written about.

It is truly amazing what MyHeritage.com has announced and produced during this week during the RootsTech 2018 Conference. I will have plenty to write about for a long time.

Free DNA Testing for Adoptees from MyHeritage.com

DNAQuest is the new free DNA testing program from MyHeritage.com for U.S. Adoptees. Here is the text of the announcement.

MyHeritage is excited to announce a new pro bono initiative — DNA Quest — to help adoptees and their birth families reunite through DNA testing.
As part of DNA Quest, we are giving out 15,000 MyHeritage DNA kits — worth more than one million dollars — for free, with free shipping, to eligible participants.

MyHeritage has set up an advisory board of top experts in the fields of genetic genealogy and adoption to guide and support this initiative on a voluntary basis. The advisory board includes: CeCe Moore, founder of The DNA Detectives; Blaine Bettinger, The Genetic Genealogist; Richard Weiss of DNA Adoption; Richard Hill, DNA Testing Adviser; Katharine Tanya, founder of Adopted.com; Brianne Kirkpatrick, founder of Watershed DNA; Pamela Slaton, investigative genealogist; Leah Larkin, The DNA Geek; and Susan Friel-Williams, Vice President, American Adoption Congress. 

Participation is open to adoptees seeking to find their biological family members, or anyone looking for a family member who was placed for adoption. Preference will be given to people who are not able to afford genetic testing, and to those who apply first. The first phase of the initiative is open to U.S. residents, involving adoptions that took place in the U.S. Additional phases may be considered in the future based on the success of the first phase, which begins now. Future phases may include other countries as well as additional circumstances, such as children of sperm donors and non-paternity events. 

Adoptees and family members searching for their biological relatives can apply for a free MyHeritage DNA kit at DNAQuest.org through April 30, 2018. Participants will be selected, and their free DNA kits will be shipped to them by the end of May 2018. Results are expected as early as July 2018. The DNA Quest website includes additional information about the initiative, and a detailed section with answers to frequently asked questions.

Here is the link: https://www.dnaquest.org

Introducing Tree Sync BETA from MyHeritage.com

Every once and while a new development in genealogy is important enough for me to post the notice on both my genealogy blogs. This is one of those developments. I will be reporting additional comments on the new synchronization program on my Rejoice, and be exceeding glad blog.

If you want fabulous news from #RootsTech 2018, then you don't have to go too far to find it. MyHeritage.com has announced a BETA version of their family tree program that will completely synchronize with the FamilySearch.org Family Tree. This is for LDS users who have or want to have a tree on both websites. Quoting from the MyHeritage.com Blog post entitles, "New FamilySearch Tree Sync (beta) allows FamilySearch users to synchronize their family trees with MyHeritage.'  The blog post also has instructions on how to get started.

For the past 2.5 years, MyHeritage and FamilySearch engineers have been developing together a unique feature — FamilySearch Tree Sync — that allows members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) to easily and accurately import a portion of their tree from FamilySearch into MyHeritage, and then keep their MyHeritage and FamilySearch trees synchronized. This feature is now released in a limited beta, and volunteers who are LDS members are invited to try it out. LDS members are entitled to receive free MyHeritage Data and PremiumPlus subscriptions which will give them access to more tools and historical records to further enhance their family history research. 

FamilySearch Tree Sync is only available and applicable to MyHeritage users who are also LDS Church members. Users of MyHeritage who are not LDS Church members will not have their trees synced to FamilySearch.

If you would like to try the BETA version of the program, you will need to follow these instructions:

FamilySearch Tree Sync is now in beta and requires an access code in order to participate. LDS members who want to try this integration can receive an access code by sending a request to fsbeta@myheritage.com. If you are not an LDS member, you do not have the privileges on FamilySearch and this functionality does not apply to you. 

Once you have an access code, start by importing your FamilySearch tree from the FamilySearch MyHeritage partner page.

The BETA version (and I assume the final version) requires you to import a new "Tree Sync" copy of your portion of the family tree from FamilySearch.org to MyHeritage.com.  I have had access to the program for some time and think it is great. I already have over 4400 Record Matches waiting to be added to my new family tree on MyHeritage.com. The synchronization is seamless. When you add a source to MyHeritage.com it now appears as a source on the FamilySearch.org Family Tree. The synchronization process can take some time if, like me, you have a large family tree.

I will be writing a lot more about this new innovative and long awaited feature very soon.

#RootsTech 2018: MyHeritage offers DNA Test for $49

MyHeritage.com will be offering their popular DNA Testing Kit for $49 at their booth at #RootsTech 2018. This is only the beginning of the news from MyHeritage at the Conference. Here is the schedule for the MyHeritage.com classes where you can learn about all the new features and opportunities.

• Dr. Yaniv Erlich, MyHeritage’s Chief Science Officer, will be covering ‘DNA 101: From Test to Results’ (Thu 1, 11am, Room: Ballroom A, Session: RT9906) – this session will also be live-streamed via the RootsTech website.
• Mike Mansfield will be speaking about ‘Using MyHeritage to Drive Genealogical Discovery’ (Wed 28, 11am, Room: 255B, Session: RT0218). He will also be helping users discover their Nordic heritage (Sat 2, 1:30pm, Room: 255E, Session: RT0208).
• Daniel Horowitz will be talking about the MyHeritage app (Thu 1, 3pm, Room: 255B, Session: RT9479) and again on Sat 3 (3pm, Room: 155E, Session: GS9479). He will also be talking about DNA results and verifying matches (Thu 1, 4:30pm, Room: 251B, Session: LAB9594 and again on Fri 2 (11am, Room: 250E, Session: LAB9594).
• Aaron Godfrey will be helping you get started on MyHeritage (Fri 2, 3pm, Room: 155B, Session: GS8859).

Missing #RootsTech 2018

I guess I have mixed feelings about missing #RootsTech 2018. I love the opportunity I have to digitize important records in Maryland State Archives, but I also miss the friends and acquaintances I will not see this year. I hope those of you have the opportunity to attend this fabulous Conference have a wonderful time.