It's time for this week's Ancestry Quick Tip Jamboree! Thanks to everyone who has sent in a Quick Tip. Please keep them coming so that we can keep this tradition going. You can send your tips to ADNeditor@ancestry.com

Quick Tips may be reprinted, with credit to the submitter, in other Ancestry publications, so if you do not want your tip included in a publication other than the Ancestry Daily News and Ancestry Weekly Digest, please state so clearly in your message.

Have a great day!

Juliana

Locating a Family Member on a Military Base in 1920
I had been trying to find my great-Uncle John in the 1920 census. I had been told that he had enlisted in WWI as an ambulance driver under an assumed name to escape his second marriage. So what to do! Then my second cousin found a postcard written by him sent from Germany in 1920 and some photos taken around the same time. Two of the photos had the last names of some buddies with a note that one was from New York. I looked up the names in the armed forces in Germany in the 1920 census and found them at the army hospital in Coblenz, Germany. I began looking at pages before and after their listings and found my Uncle John! He used the surname of Hamilton but used his mother's address in Kansas!

Melinda McKinney

Using Digital Cameras
"My First Digital Research Trip" by Juliana Smith brings to light just how valuable a digital camera can be for genealogy. I'd like to add yet another use for digital cameras as a genealogy tool.

Getting together with elders in the family has taken me into their homes where they keep treasured heirlooms and vintage photographs. Often times these visits are out of state. It's not always feasible to borrow the items--most often the owner doesn't want the item to leave their home. That's where a digital camera can be your best friend.

I always ask if it's okay if I photograph the item, document, or picture. The ability to take pictures of pictures is an excellent reason to have a digital camera. I've found that the photographing works best if you're able to put the item near a window with natural light and use no flash. View the image right away to know if you need to take another.

Recently I spent hours with a distant aunt who allowed me to photograph several family letters from the mid to late 1800s, a brooch from the civil war, city directory pages, delicate antique garments, and many, many vintage photographs and tin types. I would have never been able to remember all these items had I not been able to digitally record them. (Oh, a little tip--take a picture of the back of photographs as well, if they're written on. This way you don't have to try and remember the names of the pictured individuals.)

Now, no matter what happens to those items or whom they're passed on to, I have a visual digital record of them for future generations to enjoy.

Sherri Camperchioli
Ohio

Editor's Note: Thanks to everyone who wrote in following that column! I heard from a lot of people asking about settings and got some great tips that we'll talk about in Monday's newsletter.

Another Cold-Calling Success Story
I was looking for my great-aunt who was a half-sister to my grandmother. When I couldn't locate her under either her maiden or married name, I started looking for the names and telephone of her half-brothers and half-sisters on her mother's side of the family and hit pay dirt.

I was very nervous when I called the number, but, as a result of the call, I found out that my great-aunt was left a house near to mine by a half-brother on her mother's side, and we made plans to meet there when she came to town again.

I was able to meet someone that I hadn't known existed for 41 years, and let her meet her great-great-niece and nephew (which just thrilled her). I also started to close the big black hole that was there on that side of my family.

Now my great-aunt and I keep in touch all the time and are great friends.

Kathy Sill