Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Anthrogenealogy Web Site Launched

What is Anthrogenealogy? It is a new word (a neologism) coined by FamilyTreeDNA.com (FTDNA) the pioneer testing company in DNA testing for genealogy uses. The following is an excerpt from FTDNA's website defining this new word:

The Ancestry of Rosa Parks

The United States lost a heroine last week. Because of one symbolic act by Rosa Parks, an entire race of Americans stood up for their rights as human beings. Much has been written about Mrs. Parks, but little has been mentioned about her ancestry.

ProQuest Sells Microfilm and Microfiche Business

As predicted in this newsletter three days ago, ProQuest has sold its microfilm and microfiche business. The buyers are apparently three former employees of ProQuest. The new company also has purchased the existing ProQuest manufacturing facility and operations located at 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

(+) Microsoft Word for Less than $100

Let's face it. Microsoft Word is the standard word processor of today. Some people may love it, many more of us hate it; but, we begrudgingly admit that Word is the dominant word processor of today. There is only one problem: Word normally sells for $200 or more. That is a lot of money if all you want to do is put some words onto paper or into a file. Heck, there are complete computer systems selling for not much more money!

Communicating with the Dead?

Halloween seems like an appropriate time for this article. Ted Danson, the former star of the Cheers television show, was once a skeptic. Now Danson says that he is convinced that everyone will someday have a hotline to dead loved ones in his or her lifetime. Danson urges cynics not to be afraid of crossing over.

A Comment about Comments

One of the features of the online version of this newsletter is that readers can write comments at the end of each article, offering feedback, corrections, or additional information. I believe this is a great service for all newsletter readers, as it allows others to add even more information to the articles that I write. Anyone can add a comment, and many people have done so.

These comments have generally been useful. In recent months, however, the number of "spam comments" has been increasing. Anonymous people have posted advertising messages unrelated to the articles, promoting various "get rich quick" scams, sale of drugs without prescriptions, questionable credit history repair schemes, and similar junk. These comments have nothing to do with genealogy and nothing to do with the article that they were attached to.

Ohio Genealogical Society Annual Conference 2007 Call For Papers

The Ohio Genealogical Society (OGS), the largest state genealogical society in the USA, has member chapters not only in each county in Ohio, but also has active chapters in other states.  The OGS conference draws approximately 700 attendees annually.  Proposals for the annual conference to be held at the Hyatt Regency Columbus in April 2007 will be accepted until June 15, 2006, via mail or email.

You can read the full announcement in this newsletter's "Announcements" section.

GDBI version 13 Released

Gedcom DataBase Interface, or GDBI, is a genealogy program integrator. It includes an editor and the lifelines report language. It interfaces to 3 GEDCOM databases: phpGedView, GenJ, and jLifelines. At the core is a common Java API to simplify adding more databases and editors.

Comment by Dick Eastman: If the above paragraph doesn't make sense to you, I'd suggest that GDBI is not for you. It is a software tool for use by experienced software and database experts.

Linux Genealogy Install CD 1.0 Released

On October 23 I published an article about a new Linux Genealogy Live CD.  A "live CD" is an excellent method of taking software for a test drive without writing any data to your computer's hard drive. Now the same group has announced the release of an "install CD."

Gendatablog

Genealogy blogs are popping up everywhere. I was delighted to see a new one today, started by an expert genealogist and an old friend.

Gendatablog by Sara Leslie Griffith promises to be a "how to" blog along with reviews of various computer programs. Quoting from the first article posted:

ProQuest is Selling Its Microfilm Business

Genealogists love microfilm. Visit any genealogy library anywhere, and you will see genealogists in darkened rooms, hunched over microfilm viewers, trying to solve the puzzles of their family trees. One problem: the manufacturers of microfilm equipment are disappearing. We soon will not be able to purchase either microfilm viewers or cameras. Now one of the major producers of microfilmed information has announced that it is getting out of the business.

The Genealogist's Internet

The National Archives in England has released an update of a very popular book, The Genealogist's Internet by Peter Christian. I read the first edition of this book when it was first published four years ago, so was quite curious to see what had changed in the latest Third Edition.

Saskatchewan Homestead Information Available on the Web

Saskatchewan Archives is launching a new online database where genealogists and researchers around the globe will, for the first time, have access to Saskatchewan's homestead information via the World Wide Web. The information is available online at www.saskhomesteads.com and may be purchased as a stand-alone, searchable CD-ROM. The full announcement may be found at http://eogn.typepad.com/announcements/2005/10/saskatchewan_ho.html

World War I Draft Registration Card Collection

Ancestry.com has announced that the company will soon add the complete U.S. World War I Draft Registration Card Collection. The company's announcement says that you will "soon get access to new World War II Enlistment Records, World War II Prisoner of Ward records and many more." Yes, the announcement does say "Prisoner of Ward," obviously a minor typo error. I have to assume that the references to World War II records are deliberate.

(+) Patronymic Names

One of the most baffling puzzles in genealogy is the use of patronymic surnames. These names are most often encountered in Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Icelandic, and Welsh genealogy research, although patronymics also exist in Slavic, Dutch, Romanian, Armenian, and Arabic languages. A slightly different form of patronymics is common in Spanish-speaking countries. These names can cause major headaches for genealogists.

Internet Telephone Service

I have a longstanding interest in voice communications via computer. I recently wrote an article about my experiences with VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) technology. Since the article has nothing to do with genealogy, I will not post it in its entirety in this newsletter. Instead, I will invite anyone with an interest in modern telephone technology or an interest in saving money to read the entire article on another web site: http://www.EZ-Nets.com.

Google's "Make Your Own Database" Service is (sort of) Online

Google has opened base.google.com for public use. This is a new do-it-yourself online database to which people can submit just about anything. The site lets users submit information to be stored in Google Base, which the Web page describes as "Google's database into which you can add all types of content. We'll host your content and make it searchable online for free."

Finding Genealogy Gems Online

A while ago I had an enjoyable experience: I introduced a casual acquaintance to genealogy research. When I mentioned that she should research her family tree, she first replied, "Oh, I could never do that. My parents and grandparents are all deceased. Nobody in my family knows anything about their origins. All four of my grandparents were Jews from Russia, so there won't be any information available. They all immigrated around the year 1900. Besides, the family names were changed at Ellis Island."

WRONG!

BCG Honors Retired Trustees

Connie Lenzen, President of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, announced the retirement of three trustees and the resignation of a fourth, effective on October 16th. Together, these four former trustees represent a grand total of fifty-seven years of service on the Board. All have served as officers.

Details are available at http://eogn.typepad.com/announcements/2005/10/bcg_honors_reti.html

Where to Stay in Salt Lake City

The survey results are in! Thanks to input from 103 genealogists, I can now report the results of this newsletter's survey of "Where to Stay in Salt Lake City." In effect, this is a mini travel guide for those of you planning future trips to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.