The DAILY genealogy technology newsletter for genealogy
consumers, packed with straight talk - hold the sugar coating - whether
the vendors like it or not!
All across the country, records offices are trying to deny access to public domain records to genealogists and others. The usual excuses are "to prevent identity theft" or to "prevent fraud." An interesting Associated Press article points out that closing access has not slowed the identity theft problem one bit. In fact, denying access to legitimate researchers seems to have no impact on the identity theft problem at all. So why lock up the records?
The AP article examines both sides of the issue, quoting those who favor locking up the records as well as those opposed. Jack Brissee, chair of the vital records, access and preservation committee of the National Genealogical Society, is also quoted. You can read the article at http://www.onnnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=2241052
The Society of the Cincinnati was established in 1783 by and for the officers in Continental Service of the American Revolutionary War. It was organized into fourteen constituent societies, one of which is the Massachusetts Society. Eligibility was based on the officer's length and terms of service.
GenBridge is a powerful tool for genealogy software developers. It facilitates the transfer of data between different genealogy programs and does so in a much better manner than GEDCOM. Every software developer I know who has implemented GenBridge says good things about it.
GenBridge is not just for standalone genealogy programs. In fact, it can be used for many projects. Best of all, it can be free.
The Western Michigan Genealogical Society (WMGS) is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. This celebration will culminate in a one-day Conference, entitled "Got Ancestors?!" and will take place October 2nd in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Family Tree Maker reportedly is the best-selling genealogy program in the world and for very good reasons: it is easy to use and is well marketed. Even though it has been higher-priced than most of its competitors, millions of people use Family Tree Maker to record the results of their genealogy searches. A new update to the program has just been released, and I had a chance to use it for a bit. I would have expected this to be called "Version 12," but the new owners apparently wish to start a new naming convention. This one is referred to by date. Like the automobile manufacturers, new versions are introduced in late summer before the actual model year.
The following article was written by and is copyright by Alice Josephs. It cannot be republished elsewhere without permission of the author.
True Brit
Close on four hundred family tree enthusiasts descend on the British town of Loughborough in Leicestershire to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS).
Encoded Archival Context (EAC) is a proposed new data format that could have extensive impact on future genealogy software and databases. Encoded Archival Context specification provides a formal method of "encoding descriptions of persons, corporate bodies, and families responsible for the creation of records and other resources, where such descriptions provide context for understanding and interpreting the records and resources."
In theory, EAC could supplement or replace today's imperfect GEDCOM format used by almost all genealogy programs. As stated by the Ad Hoc Working Group on Encoded Archival Context (EAC), "EAC data are designed for use in federated database applications and collaborative research across a broad range of domains, including prosopographical research and genealogical studies."
Thousands of genealogists have used the products created by Accelerated Indexing Systems. These slim books contain computer printouts of U.S. census indexes. Before the Internet, these were the primary method of finding anyone in the U.S. census records: first find the individual in Accelerated Indexing Systems' indexes, and then go to the microfilm image of the original census records, finding the page referenced in the index.
On July 29 of this year, I took a long walk through the Chelsea area of London. Along the walk, I saw the homes of many famous writers, authors, etc., who had lived there in the past. I went past the famous old Royal Hospital, established in 1682 by King Charles II as a retreat for army veterans who were no longer able to serve, and saw their chapel that was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Further along, I could look through the gates at the Chelsea Physic Gardens, started in 1683, and could see the statue of Hans Sloane that stands in the center of the old garden. And then, the major object of my search through Chelsea, I found the Chelsea Old Church. My interest was created some years ago when I learned that the Lawrence Chapel was part of this church, and that it contained monuments honoring my ancestors. I was determined to see this church.
The Bahamas DNA Project was launched in June to support genealogy research. The administrator, Peter J. Roberts, a Bahamian and a professor at Georgia State University, invites others with Bahamian ancestry to join. Potential participants qualify for this project if they are male and their paternal grandfather's father's direct line is from The Bahamas, or if they are male or female and their maternal grandmother's mother's direct line is from The Bahamas.
For many Black Americans who are studying their ancestry, the issue of slavery is both very real and very personal. An article in the latest issue of Time Magazine describes the methods by which new black-history museums try to balance authenticity and uplift. You can read the article online if you click here.
The following is an announcement from the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen):
The ICAPGen Annual Meeting and Professionals' Conference will be held November 12 and 13, 2004, on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Professional genealogists and those interested in the field will benefit from this event. Family researchers, looking for advanced classes, are also welcome.
The following is an announcement from the African Atlantic Genealogical Society:
The Harlem Book Fair on Island is set to draw several thousand book lovers to Long Island September 9 through September 11, 2004. The Harlem Book Fair on Long Island attracted over 2000 participants to last year's Book Fair. The African Atlantic Genealogical Society will be hosting the Harlem Book Fair on Long Island on Saturday, September 11, 2004. The book
fair was established in Harlem in 1998, by Max Rodriguez, publisher of QBR the Black Book Review. It has been held annually in Harlem, New York City, since then. Other venues have been established in cities across the country (i.e.) San Diego, CA, Boston, MA; Chicago,IL; etc. Long Island became an additional venue in 2003.
One of the newest and largest DNA organizations in the genealogy world is the non-profit Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation. The Foundation is building a correlated genetic and genealogical database. Last March, this non-profit announced the launch of the Molecular Genealogy Research Project, or MGRP. You can read more at http://www.smgf.org.
Scott R. Woodward, Ph.D., is the Chief Scientific Officer of the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation. Dr. Woodward is well known for his DNA work at Brigham Young University. He and his team have attended many genealogy conventions in the past few years, collecting DNA samples and pedigree charts.
The following is an announcement from the Board for Certification of Genealogists:
The Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) is pleased to announce that Gladys Friedman Paulin, CGRS, is the new editor of OnBoard, the organization's educational newsletter.
What do pop queen Madonna, Canadian singer Celine Dion, and the Prince of Wales' mistress Camilla Parker-Bowles have in common? One genealogist claims that they are all related.
Want to know on what day of the week an event happened? For instance, were you born on a weekend? You can easily find out by entering data in a page on my Web site: http://www.eogn.com/day-of-the-week
Would you like to add the same routine to your personal genealogy Web pages so that your users can use the same calculator on your Web site? It is easy to do so.
Millisecond Publishing Company produces CD-ROM databases of many notable people, showing how they are related. I have described the company's products before, including the American & European Family Forest Millennium Edition, at http://www.eogn.com/archives/news0001.htm and at http://www.eogn.com/archives/news0119.htm, Presidential Family Forest at http://www.eogn.com/archives/news9835.htm, and others. This week I had a chance to try a pre-release of the company's new Family Forest Leadership Edition, a CD-ROM disk for Windows computers.
Most New England residents are familiar with "The Big E," the Eastern States Exposition. This annual event is sort of a state fair for all six New England states. More than one million people visit the Big E every year. Now the New England Historic Genealogical Society will be at this year's event, adjacent to The Big E's historic Storrowton Village.
The following is an announcement from the New England Historic Genealogical Society:
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