The DAILY genealogy technology newsletter for genealogy
consumers, packed with straight talk - hold the sugar coating - whether
the vendors like it or not!
The following is part #2 of an article started last week. E-Mail and SPAM
Spam: the one thing that we all agree on - we hate it. (I am speaking about e-mail, not the luncheon meat.) Some estimates claim that 80% of all e-mail sent per year is spam mail. Why do people send it? Because it is profitable! Even if only a tiny fraction of one percent of the recipients are gullible enough to purchase the shoddy products and services offered, that is still enough to provide a wealthy lifestyle for those who send this junk.
The Associated Press carried a story
this week about a man
from Maine who traced his
ancestry to King Egbert of England as well as all of the royal houses of Europe.
The
article makes it sound like something rather unusual. My question is,
“So what?
Almost everyone else can do the same.”
We
all have two parents, four grandparents, eight
great-grandparents, and so on. To determine the number of ancestors you
have,
all you have to do is grab a calculator and determine how many
generations you
wish to go back. That should easy. Or is it?
Irish Historic Maps unveiled an online map archive at the recent conference of the U.S. Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS). The database includes details of every town, street, and farm on the Emerald Isle dating back nearly 200 years. This is a treasure trove for those tracing their Irish ancestry.
Mothers-in-law were a force to reckon with - even in 1693. Anne Smith disliked her son’s intended bride so much – she arranged to cut him out of her will if the wedding went ahead.
This widow’s will is just one of 69,869 from Essex, England’s past which have taken seven archivists and 22 volunteers four years to list, package and box at the county’s records office.
As I write these words, we have just over 3,000 signatures on the petition to be sent to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) about the proposal to reduce the number of hours the various NARA offices are open. That's not enough! We need more signatures.
It was a great idea. In fact, it was a
popular idea. Too popular. High demand for free genealogy information
has caused a website to crash and temporarily suspend its free offer.
Dr. Bryan Sykes, Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Oxford, is well known in genealogy circles as one of the leading experts in tracing lines of descent through the use of DNA. He has been involved in high-profile cases dealing with ancient DNA, such as Ötzi the Iceman and Cheddar Man, as well as those by people claiming to be members of the Romanovs-the Russian royal family. His book, The Seven Daughters of Eve, has become a standard reference.
Now Dr. Sykes is about to release a new book. The following is an announcement from Oxford Ancestors:
You may be able to access images of U.S. census records, more than 20,000 fully searchable genealogy and local history books, images of Revolutionary War Pension applications, PERSI, and more, all from the comfort of your home. The records are available on HeritageQuest Online, a service from ProQuest Information and Learning.
The free access is available to millions of American residents through their local, regional, and state libraries. However, not everyone has "gotten the word."
The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) recently proposed a reduction in the number of hours that the agency's facilities are open to the general public. Weekend and evening hours would be especially curtailed. The result will be a major hardship on genealogists, especially those who cannot visit during normal business hours.
NOTE: The following is the first of a two-part article for Plus Edition subscribers.
Your computer is under attack! If you ever connect your computer to the Internet, it is constantly exposed to viruses, spyware, password-stealing programs, and more. The unprotected computer can be compromised within seconds after going online.
The annual conference of the U.S. Federation of Genealogical Societies in Boston ended on Saturday afternoon. About 2,000 attendees seemed to be smiling everywhere I looked. I know it was a great conference as I was exhausted. I must have had a good time!
My congratulations to Michael Leclerc, Susan Kaufman, and the many others for a job well done!
For years I have been hosting dinners for newsletter readers after the close of major genealogy conferences. This year's FGS conference was no exception: the conference ended at 6:00 PM. At 7:00 PM, 43 hungry newsletter readers descended on Jasper White's Summer Shack, a restaurant across the street from the conference hotel.
When was the last time that you read about the formation of a major new genealogy library? That is, a full-fledged genealogy library with more than 70,000 books and more than 10,000 CD-ROM disks, all related to family history? The brand-new Connor-Bishop Historical Resource Center will be exactly that.
The Connor-Bishop Historical Resource Center is being established in the Portland, Oregon, area to honor the memory of Eloise Connor Bishop and Charles Kay Bishop. The focus will be on materials to assist family history researchers and to "add meat to the skeletons" in their family histories.
This year's annual conference of the Federation of Genealogical Societies must be a good conference; I left my hotel room early yesterday morning and did not return until the wee hours of this morning. As a result, a day #2 report did not get written. I can now report that both days #2 and 3 have been good. Not perfect, perhaps, but darned good.
Thursday (Day #2) started off with a Plenary Session with a keynote speech delivered by Dr. Alan Weinstein, Archivist of the United States. My favorite event followed shortly thereafter: the opening of the Exhibit Hall. OK, so I do spend a lot of time in the Exhibit Hall, looking for new genealogy products and services. I have found many new things this year and will be writing about many of them over the next few days.
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