Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Leesburg, Florida Library Unveiled

Barbara Morse loves watching patrons enter the new Leesburg Public Library for the first time. "Don't mind me if my eyes wander," said Morse, the library director, "because I'm just enjoying the reactions of people and trying to catch them all."

Morse and her library staff have been seeing lots of smiles and hearing words of praise ever since the two-story, 41,971-square-foot facility at 100 East Main Street opened its doors Tuesday.

Accessible Archives Inc. to Become Available on WorldVitalRecords.com

The following announcement was written by WorldVitalRecords.com:

Provo, UT, June 4, 2007 --- Normally only offered in libraries, Accessible Archives Inc. has recently partnered with WorldVitalRecords.com to make millions of records from the 18th and 19th centuries accessible to a broader audience.

National Archives Opens Electronic Records Vault in Suitland, Maryland

The following announcement was written by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration:

Suitland, MD - The National Archives announces the opening of a new Electronic Records Vault at the Washington National Records Center (WNRC) facility in Suitland, Maryland.  The 976 square-foot, state-of-the-art vault will allow the National Archives, for the first time in its 73-year history, to store and service temporary electronic records for Federal agencies.

An Interview with Else Churchill of the SoG

Else Churchill, the Genealogist at the Society of Genealogists, was one of the primary organizers of the recent National History Show in London. I had a chance to talk with Else while at the show. She discusses many of the details of the show, including what it takes to get nearly 15,000 people to attend a three-day event. She also describes the many services of the Society of Genealogists. You can see this video by clicking on the link below:

 

If the above link does not work for you, you can also view it by going to: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid464120989/bclid240119644/bctid958673121

Walter Lee Sheppard, Jr. Elected to the NGS Hall of Fame

The following announcement was written by the U.S. National Genealogical Society:

The National Genealogical Society, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, is pleased to announce that Walter Lee Sheppard, Jr. has been elected to the Hall of Fame. The National Genealogy Hall of Fame program honors outstanding genealogists whose achievements in the field of American genealogy have had a great impact. Since 1986 genealogical organizations have been invited to nominate qualified candidates for consideration. Nominees must have been deceased for at least five years and have been actively engaged in genealogy for a minimum of ten years. Their contributions to the field of genealogy in this country must have been significant in a way that was unique, pioneering or exemplary. Such contributions could have been as an author of books or articles that added significantly to the body of published works, served as a model of genealogical research or writing, or made source records more readily available. They could also have been a teacher or lecturer, or contributed to the field through leadership in a genealogical organization or periodical.

GRO Chaos: Local Registrars are told to Abandon Computer System

The (London) Times newspaper has reported that hundreds of register offices across the United Kingdom have been ordered to abandon a new online system for recording births, deaths, and marriages in the latest IT fiasco to hit the government. The Times reports that the huge IT (information technology) project has met with “complete system failure,” and online registration has been suspended in half of the 3,000 offices.

Dublin Hotel Offers a "Genealogy Butler"

I recently wrote about a new hotel genealogy concierge service for visitors to Scotland. You can read that article at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/05/hotel_genealogy.html. The idea seems to be catching on: now a hotel in Ireland is offering a similar service.

Dublin's Shelbourne hotel has appointed a genealogy butler in a bid to lure high-spending American guests. The genealogist will offer guests one-hour advisory sessions and help them to draw up practical research plans. Those who can't wait to get started on the historical trail can also e-mail their family details before they arrive to give the genealogist a head-start.

WeRelate.org on Roots Television

I have written before about the genealogy wiki called WeRelate.org. WeRelate's stated goal is to "make it easy for you to discover and share information about your ancestors." I am enthused about this great service and I wrote an in-depth review of the service about a year ago. You can read my article at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2006/06/werelate.html.

(+) Configure Shared Computers in a Library

Thanks to this newsletter, I get to talk about technical subjects with a lot of genealogists. One vexing problem that I hear over and over concerns setting up publicly-accessible computers in a public library, a genealogy society's library, a school, or a local Family History Center.

The biggest concern that I hear is how to limit access. Library users (patrons) should be able to access specific servers on the society's network, but not other network devices. At some libraries, patrons also should not be able to insert a floppy disk, a writeable CD-ROM disk, or a USB jump drive to improperly copy large amounts of data from the network. Perhaps your library wants patrons to be able to print on the black-and-white laser printer but not on the expensive color printer that is on the same network. In some cases, patrons should be able to access specific, predefined web sites, but they should not be allowed to "surf the web" to visit other sites or to download files that might be virus-infected.

This Web Site is Under Attack (a Minor Problem)

This web site is under attack. In the past few hours, more than a dozen "comments" have been posted at the end of various newsletter articles. The comments sections are for people who have comments, question, or corrections concerning the article. In the past few hours, a number of "comments" weren't comments at all. They had nothing to do with the article to which they were attached. Instead, they were simply spam-like advertisements for pornographic web sites. Each "comment" contained a link to a porno site.

Such actions are easy to control. I deleted each one and now have invoked an option in the web site's software that does not allow any more comments to become visible to the public until after I approve each one.

Archive CD Books USA Releases a Major CD for New England Researchers

If you have early New England ancestry, you will be interested in a new release from Archive CD Books USA. This new disk combines several gazetteers into one moderately-priced CD-ROM disk with a search mechanism that makes it very powerful. I know I expect to spend quite a bit of time with this disk.

The following announcement was written by Archive CD Books USA:

Columbia, Maryland -- Archive CD Books USA is proud to announce the release of a major new tool for researchers of early New England families.

The Compendium of New England Gazetteers makes all of the classic New England gazetteers available on a single CD-ROM.  This comprehensive collection includes 10 rare books, more than 4600 pages, and the names and descriptions of thousands of places, many of which are no longer known by the same name.

An In-depth Look at Footnote.com

Footnote.com: the Original Documents

NOTE: This is part #1 of a 3-part article that looks at the many services available at www.footnote.com.

Footnote is a rather new online web site, having launched this past January. The site quickly earned a reputation for offering high-quality scanned images of original historic documents. Footnote.com offers millions of documents that are not available online anywhere else, including the following:

• naturalization records
• Revolutionary War documents
• Continental Congress documents
• Bureau of Investigation reports
• the post-Civil War records of the Southern Claims Commission
• A name index to the Civil War and later Pension Claims Records
• The complete Revolutionary War Pension Applications documents
• The United States versus The Amistad records from 1841
• Newspapers and City Directories
• Civil War photographs by Brady
• Navy Widows' Certificates
• The many holdings of the Pennsylvania State Archives
• Presidential photographs of Coolidge, Eisenhower, Truman, and Roosevelt
• World War II Japanese Photographs and much more.

In fact, you can even find the complete Project Blue Book UFO Investigations documents on Footnote.com.

I have always joked that my great-great-grandfather must have been deposited here by a Martian spaceship since I can find no documents of his origins. Maybe I have been looking in the wrong records! Perhaps it is time to check for out-of-this-world possibilities in the Project Blue Book documents. Whatever your purpose, the Project Blue Book UFO Investigations documents are fascinating to read.

While Footnote.com is well known for providing scanned images of original historic documents, I have found that the site also provides much more. In fact, many of the services of Footnote.com are available to everyone at no charge. I thought that I would write about the many services that are not as well known as their reputation of providing historical documents.

Library and Archives Canada and Ancestry.ca to Digitize Canadian Passenger Lists

The following announcement was written by Library and Archives Canada and Ancestry.ca: 

All Canadian Passenger Lists from 1865 to 1935 to be Digitized and Indexed

OTTAWA, ONTARIO - Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and Ancestry.ca, the largest Canadian family history website, will announce at the Ontario Genealogical Society's (OGS) annual seminar, a strategic partnership to make more resources accessible to Canadians interested in online family research.