Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

(+) Recording Telephone Conversations for use in Podcasts

This is a follow-up article to How to Create Podcasts that is still available at http://www.eogn.com/plusedition. This article assumes that you have already read the earlier article.

NOTE: The federal Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2510 et seq., prohibits the willful interception of telephone communication by means of any electronic, mechanical, or other device without an applicable exemption. In the absence of more restrictive state law, it is permissible to intercept and record a telephone conversation if one or both of the parties to the call consents. Consent means authorization by only one participant in the call; single-party consent is provided for by specific statutory exemption under federal law 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2511(2)(d). Local or state laws may require the consent of both parties.

Typically, this is not an issue in a podcast interview. After all, both parties expect to be recorded. However, the methods described could also apply to other purposes, such as the surreptitious recording of any telephone conversation.  Don't do it! Ask permission first.

Do Genealogy Research and Get Paid

If you are an experienced genealogist and would like to earn a few dollars, you might be able to do so by helping others solve their genealogy mysteries. Conversely, if you have a genealogy mystery that you have not been able to solve, you might be able to get help from someone else for a reasonable fee.

55,000 Massachusetts Jewish Burial Records Now Online

The Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts has placed 55,000 burial records of the association's more than 100 cemeteries online. Best of all, the records are available at no charge.

Free Image and Photo Editing Software for Windows

OK, so you have scanned lots of old family photographs, and now you want to digitally restore them? You want to fix the creases and extraneous marks on the photographs to make them look better? What software will you use?

Looking For a Few Individuals in the Boston Area

There is an exciting, new project afoot, and I am looking for some friends and neighbors in the western Boston suburbs to join me in helping a company that is building a huge, new web site. Your participation could make a difference in the look and feel of a new web site as well as the business plans of this huge new online service.

Massachusetts Records Access Alert

The following is an announcement from the Massachusetts Genealogical Council (MGC):

ALERT: MGC urges all genealogists who care about access to vital records to act now!

Legislative bills (H-3642, H-3643, and H-3644, petitioned by Plymouth Rep. Thomas J. O’Brien, et al.), currently pending in the Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee, are being pushed for passage within two weeks. They will close public records that have been open for nearly 400 years as well as the indexes to them.

NGS Announces 2006 Filby Award Winner

The following is an announcement from the U.S. National Genealogical Society:

The National Genealogical Society based in Arlington, Virginia, is pleased to announce the winner of the annual * $1,000 NGS Filby Award for Genealogical Librarianship. *The Filby Award is named for the late P. William Filby, formerly the Director of the Maryland Historical Society and the author of many of the core genealogical reference tools that genealogists have relied on for decades. The Award was created and first presented at the annual 1999 NGS Conference in the States. It is currently being sponsored by ProQuest.

Progeny Software Announces New Web Site

The following is an announcement from Progeny Software:

New Progeny Genealogy web site contains all your genealogy software and charting needs.

Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, June 19, 2006 - Progeny Software Inc, creators of quality genealogy charting software products, today announced the launch of a new web site to host their full line of genealogy products.

Google Reader for Mobile Devices

You can now read the articles from this newsletter and other web sites that feature RSS newsfeeds on your "smartphone" cellular phone or on a network-equipped PDA (personal digital assistant) such as a Palm device or a Windows Mobile handheld. Best of all is the price: free.

(+) How to Create Podcasts

Podcasting is the latest method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio programs or videos, over the Internet for playback on personal computers or on portable music players. These broadcasts are rapidly becoming very popular on the Internet. What began as a way of broadcasting music to iPod devices (hence the term "podcast") has grown to include many kinds recordings that anyone can enjoy from any computer connected to the internet. It's now easy and cheap enough that people like you and I can add recordings to our own web sites or to the web site of our local genealogical society, historical society, or museum.

WeRelate

I spent a lot of time in the Exhibitors' Hall at the recent annual conference of the U.S. National Genealogical Society. Perhaps the most revolutionary new service that I found was WeRelate, a free web search engine and wiki for genealogy.

Podcast: Excavating Grandma's Privy for Family History Data

Podcast: Excavating Grandma's Privy for Family History Data. This is a delightful interview with Craig Pfannkuche. Craig is an expert amateur archaeologist who describes why and how to excavate your ancestors' outhouses in order to find more about their lives.

You can listen to this 29-minute interview using any modern computer that has either speakers or headphones attached. This podcast can also be downloaded to an iPod or other portable music player. To listen to the interview, click on the link below. To download and save on your hard drive, right-click on the link below.

Craif Pfannkuche Interview

American Revolution Flags Sell for $17.4 Million

An anonymous bidder paid nearly $17.4 million Wednesday, Flag Day, for four rare flags from the American Revolution. The remarkably intact regimental standards captured by a British officer in 1779-80 were put up for auction by one of his direct descendants 225 years later.

Online Encyclopedia of Arkansas

A new online resource will interest many with Arkansas ancestry. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas is not designed for genealogy purposes. However, you can find a lot of information about the events that shaped the lives of your Arkansas forebears.

Historic California Mission in Danger of Collapsing

If repairs aren’t made soon to Mission San Miguel Arcangel, more than 200 years of history may end up as a pile of adobe rubble. “San Miguel is the last mission with original Indian artwork on the walls,” said John Fowler, project manager at Mission San Miguel, and it is “in dire need of repair.”

I've Been Ripped Off! Have You?

I have been ripped off, and so have a number of other genealogy authors. A sharp-eyed newsletter reader passed along a web site address that is in serious violation of copyrights. It seems that Genealogy, Hunt for Ancestors at http://www.targetdates.com is copying articles from this newsletter and other genealogy blogs. The articles are being posted on http://www.targetdates.com without permission of or credit to the original authors. It appears that the owner of Genealogy, Hunt for Ancestors hopes to generate a profit by attracting people to the site and then displaying Google ads to them.

If you write a genealogy blog, you might want to visit http://www.targetdates.com to see if your articles are being republished without permission.

APG Honors Gary Mokotoff For Outstanding Service

Gary Mokotoff is a top expert in Jewish genealogy, but he also is an innovator on the business side of family history.

For his outstanding service to the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the organization gave Mokotoff the Grahame T. Smallwood Jr. Award of Merit on June 9. APG President Sharon Moody presented the award to him in Chicago at the APG luncheon at the National Genealogical Society’s Conference in the States.

ISFHWE Bestows Prestigious Award

The International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE) announced at its annual Gala Awards Banquet held at the National Genealogical Society’s conference, its first recipient of its newly-established and prestigious Myra Vanderpool Gormley Award of Merit.

The first recipient of the award is Loretto “Lou” Dennis Szucs, the Vice President of Publishing at Ancestry.com, the publishing arm of MyFamily.com, Inc.

2006 NGS Conference Wrap-up

I started this article in a hotel, continued it at Chicago's O'Hare airport, and then finished it after I returned home. I'm exhausted. I just spent four days at the annual conference of the U.S. National Genealogical Society. If I am this tired, I know it was a great conference!

RLG membership approves move to combine with OCLC

Genealogy librarians and many others will be interested in the latest announcement from OCLC and RLG (Research Libraries Group).