A lot has been happening in the genealogy world while I have been on the road, and my job is to boil it down so I can bring you the best genealogy gems and that’s what we are going to do in this episode.   NEWS: RootsTech If you didn’t make it out to Salt Lake City for the huge RootsTech conference – and I do mean huge – don’t fret because they have lots of video recordings online for you including a panel that I participated in where the topic was the Future of Genealogy. If you have ever wondered what is coming down the pike, and what some of the leaders in the genealogy community would like to see, I think you will enjoy this 1 hour video session.  While it was a tall order to get up there on that stage and try to foresee the future, we had fun trying. I would be interested in knowing what you think is out on the horizon for genealogy, and what you would like to see on the horizon for genealogy.  Drop me an email and we’ll share some of those ideas on an upcoming episode. RootsTech Report from Sunny And if you would like to hear more about what went on at RootsTech here's a RootsTech re-cap there written by our own Sunny Morton, contributing editor to Genealogy Gems.   FamilySearch Records Update There are new digitized images for Australia, Austria, China, England, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, the U.S. – In fact in might be faster to announce where they are NOT digitizing records! Read FamilySearch Adds New Records Read More Family History Records at FamilySearch Your Ancestor’s Criminal Past If you have British roots, you will want to check out the new collection available on Findmypast.com: a half million criminal records dating from 1770-1934!   This sounds like a pretty gripping collection, whether you've got British roots or not. It contains records like mug shots, court documents, appeals letters and registers from prison ships (which were used when mainland prisons were crowded). According to Findmypast.com, the records "provide a wide variety of color, detail and fascinating social history, chronicling the fate of criminals ranging from fraudsters, counterfeiters, thieves and murderers and their victims." The 500,000 records you can search now are only a fifth of the full collection of 2.5 million that will be online soon.   The company calls this the largest collection of historical criminal records from England and Wales to be published online and is done in association with the National Archives (UK). Findmypast.com members can click here to access the criminal collection directly (make sure the box for "Institutes and Organizations" is checked). Read more about it here: Find Your Criminal Ancestors: UK Collection from FindMyPast   Digitized War of 1812 Pension Files on Fold3 According to the National Archives, pension files for the War of 1812 rate among their most-requested materials. But the files haven’t been easy to use because they’re only at the National Archives–they haven’t been available in published, microfilmed or digitized form. You have either had to research the pension files onsite in Washington, D.C. or order copies from the Archives. Not exactly easy access. This is about to change. The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS), The National Archives, Ancestry.com and Fold3.com are partners in a huge effort: to preserve and digitize 7.2 million pages of War of 1812 Pension Records and make them available for free online.  Read more about it   Who Do You Think You Are? TV Series Update #WDYTYA In recent weeks, reports have circulated that Kelly Clarkson has filmed an episode. A fan reported seeing her in Americus, Georgia and that they were shooting footage at Andersonsville National Historic Site. Read more about it at the Genealogy Gems Blog.   Newspapers are reporting that the Danish Broadcasting Corporation is filming its own version of “Who Do You Think You Are?” According to the Bureau County Republican and the NewsTribune (Illinois Valley), popular Danish actress Suzanne Bjerrehuus was in