Discover Your Family's Past With Today's Technology

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The digital age has ushered in a new era of family bonding, making it easy for relatives to connect no matter how far apart they are. It's also making it possible for families to trace their centuries-old roots.

(PhotoDisc)

On "Good Morning America," technology contributor Becky Worley showed how you and your loved ones can connect with each other by finding out about your past.

Your Own Family Documentary

Find all those old photos in storage boxes or forgotten albums and use them to make your family documentary. Worley suggested propping up the still photos and shooting them with a camcorder. While you're at it, have the family genealogist (maybe it's you) narrate each photo with details of who each person is, where they were living and colorful details that tell your family's unique story.

Connect your camera to your computer and use the free software on almost all computers (Windows movie maker or iMovie) to import the video and narration. Then you can burn CDs or DVDs to share with other family members. They make great gifts for anniversaries, birthdays or for family reunions.

Myfamily.com

If you have more recent photos on a digital camera, check out Myfamily.com, a Web site that allows you to narrate a digital slide show using a new feature called the snap genie. All you do is call in from a phone line and the site records your voice narrating a digital slide show. It's already in the computer so you can easily share it with everyone in your family. Check out their Web site for the easy to follow instructions.

Nostalgic Family Tunes

Nothing makes people feel more nostalgic than sounds from their past, especially their favorite tunes. For this activity, ask all of your family members to list favorite songs from their high school days. You will be amazed at the historical sound collection that your family comes up with. Today, it's easy to go to iTunes and download all of your family's favorite songs for 99 cents each. You can fill a whole CD for your next family reunion and watch how sentimental the old folks get when they here their favorite tunes.