Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Legacy 6.0?

Is a new version of Legacy about to be announced? The following was noted in the Utah Legacy Users mailing list:

Dear Legacy Family Tree users in Utah,

At the end of this month (July 2005), something very special will be happening at the BYU conference in Provo. For a hint, see Geoff Rasmussen's lecture titles:

U.S. National Genealogical Society Names Executive Director

I mentioned this in the June 9, 2005 newsletter at http://eogn.typepad.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2005/06/ngs_executive_d.html. Now the U.S. National Genealogical Society has released an official statement with more details:

Arlington, Va. – The Board of Directors of the National Genealogical Society (NGS) has appointed Diane O’Connor to the position of Executive Director.  She brings to her new position more than 20 years of experience in the non-profit and higher education areas, including skills in public relations, marketing, fundraising and constituent relations.

Readerware

If you have a large collection of books, you already know how difficult it can be to find the book you want at the moment you need it. Libraries solved that problem years ago with card catalogs, and many private collectors have done the same. You can create your own card catalog of your books on 3-by-5 index cards, in a spreadsheet, or in a piece of software designed for the job.

Readerware is a card catalog database for book lovers, collectors, researchers, or anyone else who has to catalog and maintain a library. It is easy to use, yet powerful enough to manage the largest collections. It works on the major operating systems: Windows, Macintosh OS X, Linux, and Palm. Best of all, Readerware can dramatically reduce the tedium of entering data.

RootsMagic Acquires Personal Historian

The following is an announcement from Bruce Buzbee of RootsMagic, Inc.:

Some of you may have heard of a program called "Personal Historian" from Blue Scroll Software.  It helps you write personal histories, memoirs and biographies about yourself, your family, or other people.

Well, we decided that we liked the program so much, that last Friday we acquired the rights to Personal Historian, and it is now an "official" RootsMagic product.

Still More Dumb Laws Under Consideration

Our esteemed "leaders" in the U.S. Congress are vowing to enact new laws targeting data thieves, backup-tape burglars and other information-age miscreants. We should be worried, according to Declan McCullagh, Chief political correspondent at CNET.com.

A bill announced last week by Senators Arlen Specter, R-Penn., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., goes far beyond reasonable data security precautions. It amounts to a crackdown on individuals, bloggers and legitimate e-mail list moderators.

'At War on the Fourth'; July 4th Remarks by The Archivist of the United States

Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein made the following remarks at the annual 4th of July ceremony on the Constitution Avenue steps of the National Archives Building: 

On this Fourth of July, we the National Archives honor especially those men and women -- from the Revolution to the present -- who have fought, bled, and given their lives so that all Americans might today enjoy the privileges of freedom and independence. We are honored this morning to have with us to read the Declaration of Independence two courageous wounded veterans of our current conflict in Iraq -- U.S. Army Second Lieutenant Frank Washburn and U.S. Marine Staff Sergeant Berle J. Sigman IV -- representing their colleagues in every branch of the U.S. military. Pause for a moment to consider the extraordinary chronology of our nation's founding document, the Declaration of Independence. On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted to declare "that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states." But no signing actually took place on July 4th, and only on July 19th did Congress vote to inscribe the document on parchment. The actual signing began, finally, on August 2nd, with at least one of the original 56 signers waiting until November to inscribe his name.

NHPRC Funding Update

In the May 13, 2005 daily edition of this newsletter, I republished a notice from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) that warned that the President's proposed budget for fiscal year 2006 would provide zero funding for the Commission. In effect, the President proposed to kill the Commission. You can read that article here.

Luckily, this week the full House approved a restoration of funding for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. However, there are several steps yet to be taken. The following update comes from Kathleen D. Roe, President, Council of State Historical Records Coordinators:

This Newsletter Author May Go To Jail

I am generally in favor of protecting children from inappropriate material on the Internet and elsewhere. However, this time some state legislators have implemented new laws that are ludicrous. In fact, if I keep writing and sending these newsletters in the same manner that I have for the past nine years, I could be sent to jail.

Ridiculous? Read on.

Passage Express

In the June 16, 2003, edition of this newsletter, I reviewed a program called "Family History CD," produced by the Jefferson Project. This program is aimed at the genealogist who wishes to store text, audio, graphics, and full-motion videos on a CD-ROM disk. While not limited to genealogy use, the intended audience is anyone who wishes to store family or other memorabilia in a format that can easily be copied and given to others. It does so in an easy-to-use manner; it is a great program for the computer novice. You can read my earlier review at http://www.eogn.com/archives/news0324.htm#FamilyHistoryCD.

I was very impressed with Family History CD. Now a new version is about to be released, and it includes a name change as well. I have not yet seen the new product but here is the announcement that I received:

(+) Update: A Free Web Authoring System for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux

For several years Microsoft FrontPage and MacroMedia's DreamWeaver have been the two most popular tools for creating Web pages. These two powerhouse programs allow almost anyone, novices as well as professional Web designers, to build nice-looking Web pages in a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) environment. If you can use a word processor, you probably can create Web pages with either FrontPage or DreamWeaver. Yet both products have powerful tools that will also appeal to the advanced user.

These two software packages are expensive: Microsoft FrontPage has a "street price" of $175 to $200, and DreamWeaver typically sells for about $400. A few months ago I wrote about a new program that creates Web pages. It is very powerful, and yet is free of charge. I have been using the new program to create many of the pages on this newsletter's Web site. The version I have been using was a beta test version. Now version 1.0 has been released.

Is Alex Haley's "Roots" a Fictional Work?

Jack Cashill's new book, Hoodwinked: How Intellectual Hucksters Have Hijacked American Culture," attacks many established works, including Alex Haley's famous book, Roots. To label Cashill's new book as "controversial" would be an understatement. In fact, author Cashill seems determined to stir up trouble, probably in an effort to sell more books.

One must admit, however, that Cashill quotes proven facts and excerpts from others' works, including two leading genealogists, Gary Mills and Elizabeth Shown Mills. He also claims that Roots contained 81 passages that had been lifted from Harold Courlander's The African, as well as the plot and certain characters.

Identity Theft Hits Home at the FTC

Genealogists across the U.S. are encountering new problems in accessing public domain records. Various agencies are refusing to allow access to records, claiming problems with "identity theft." Now the problem will probably become worse.

Credit card theft and identity theft are trade-related crimes so the Federal agency most involved is the Federal Trade Commission. In fact, any detected attempts at identity theft should be reported to the FTC immediately. One recent victim of credit card information theft had no trouble finding the appropriate FTC office to report the crime. The victim is the head of the FTC.

Camp Life: Civil War Collections from Gettysburg

Step back in time, and try to imagine yourself a soldier in the U.S. Civil War. Where do you sleep? How do you pass the time? What personal items did you bring from home? Here's a great way to add a dimension of reality to your perspective of ancestors who lived through and perhaps served in that war.

ID now needed for South Dakota Public Record Copies

Starting today (July 1, 2005), people wanting copies of many South Dakota public records will have to show IDs before they can get them. The 2005 state Legislature passed a law requiring identification be shown in light of growing national concerns about security and the use of vital records for fraudulent purposes, according to a press release for the state's Department of Health.

People who want copies of birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates will need to not only show a driver's license or other type of photo ID, but also fill out an application.

Brat fry set for Saturday

The Heart o' Wisconsin Genealogical Society will host a brat fray from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Wisconsin Rapids. Proceeds will go to the McMillan Memorial Library to help purchase genealogical research materials. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans will provide 50 cents for every dollar raised to help the fund.

What is a "brat fry?" I suspect those with German ancestry already know. For the rest of us, here is a recipe: