The DAILY genealogy technology newsletter for genealogy
consumers, packed with straight talk - hold the sugar coating - whether
the vendors like it or not!
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The following announcement was written by Joy Fisher of USGenWeb:
As of 2 AM (MDT) August 24, 2007 the USGenWeb Archives had 1,000,569 files stored, browsable and accessible by a single search at http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb.
The 1 Million mark was reached when Cynthia Daigle uploaded a compiled cemetery listing for Moses Baptist Cemetery, Lafourche Parish, LA
If printed out, our files would fill 16,000 books, each 500 pages in length.
Newspapers today are carrying articles about two Maryland men who allegedly schemed to defraud almost $1 million from the National Archives. It is interesting as it involves the largest repository of genealogical records although I do not see any direct link here to genealogical or historical items stored at the agency. It appears to be a simple case of two con men out to defraud a government agency.
Original Article: Pearl Street Software is well-known as the creator of the GenCircles web site and Family Tree Legends, a genealogy program. The company produced excellent products, but in recent months they received numerous complaints concerning a lack of customer support. A solution may now be at hand: genealogy site MyHeritage is merging with Pearl Street Software.
MyHeritage will pick up Pearl Street’s VP of
Technology and gain control of Family Tree Legends, GenCircles with more than 160 million ancestors, and more than 400
million public records in the Family Tree Legends Records Collection.
The following announcement was written by the State Library of Pennsylvania:
HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 22 -- The State Library of Pennsylvania will celebrate Genealogy Day on Saturday, Sept. 29, with exhibits and information sessions.
This free event will bring genealogists together from throughout central Pennsylvania for a day of learning and independent research. Genealogy Day will feature information sessions on various subjects. There also will be an exhibit area where local societies can share their information.
I recently read an article in which the author claimed to describe data preservation techniques. He correctly pointed out that floppy disks, CD-ROM disks, magnetic media, and other forms of digital storage all have limited lifespans. He then concluded by claiming that the only method of storing data for long-term preservation was to print everything on paper.
Wrong!
The article in question is an excellent example of examining the facts and drawing a wrong conclusion. In fact, if you want your genealogy information to be available 50 or 100 years from now, I'd suggest that using paper is one of the worst methods available. There are far better methods and, yes, they do involve digital media. The methods I will describe have already been used for more than 40 years by governmental agencies, corporations, and non-profits alike. These preservation methods are inexpensive and easy to accomplish, and they have worked for decades.
The following announcement was written by Ancestry.com:
Watch a pro. Then search like one.
Have you ever wanted to learn how to better use Ancestry's search technology to find your ancestors? Perhaps you're totally new to the process. Now is your chance to learn from an Ancestry expert. You'll learn valuable tips, tricks and techniques that will help you start getting the most out of Ancestry's search capabilities. Take your genealogical skills to the next level and sign-up today.
The following announcement was written by Samantha Butterworth, Director of Operations at RootsTelevision:
Roots Television Presents a Pair of Tributes to Ellis Island’s First Arrival
What were you doing when you were 11-years-old? Jumping rope – playing dodge ball? The 5th Year students at Scoil Oilibhéir in Cork, Ireland were writing, producing, directing, and starring in their own motion picture. Their short film “From Cork to New York: The Annie Moore Story” documents Annie’s life in Cork and her journey to America. Before they even began filming, the students did their homework, discovering Annie’s birth records and locating several sites important to Annie’s life, including St. Patrick’s Church where she was baptized. You can view the trailer to the film here: http://www.rootstelevision.com/players/player_immigration.php?bctid=1137790222
I think video is the hottest thing on the Internet. It seems that many new videos appear daily. Now Curt Witcher, manager of the Historical Genealogy Department at the Allen County Public Library, has been interviewed on "This Week in America," hosted by Ric Bratton. Curt describes the many genealogy services of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This library contains the largest genealogy collection of any public library.
I must admit that this year's annual conference of the Federation of Genealogical Societies was a success. I never heard the final attendance count, but I am guessing it must have been about 1,500 attendees. Hundreds of presentations were made, new products were introduced, the Exhibits Hall was busy most of the time, the various luncheons went well, and the banquet was also a success.
The Roots Television crew was there with video cameras rolling much of the time. I have never seen this much video coverage of a U.S. genealogy conference before. I had the honor of hosting some of the videos and conducting interviews.
One of the fun things about writing this newsletter is that I get to visit a lot of genealogy conferences. At many conferences, I am able to host a dinner for the readers of this newsletter. In fact, the dinner held last Saturday evening was one of the biggest ever. In my mind, it also was one of the most successful ever. I know that I enjoyed it immensely, and I saw a lot of smiles around the dinner table as well.
I tried to make reservations at a local restaurant some weeks before the conference but failed to do so. The reservations process is always a bit tricky; I normally ask for a reservation of "about 30 people." Several weeks ago, I checked Google Maps to find local restaurants near the convention center. The restaurants that I called were either closed on Saturday evenings or else declined to handle a huge crowd on one of the busiest evenings of the week.
Synium, a German company, has acquired MacFamilyTree. As explained on the program's web site:
Since version 3, MacFamilyTree has been developed by the Synium Software GmbH. Now, with version 5, we completely acquire the project in its entirety from OnlyMac Software, including development, distribution and support. Our long-standing experience within the Mac software market and especially with MacFamilyTree makes for a solid foundation in delivering reliable feature updates, continued support, quick bug-fixes and a true long-term perspective for your favorite genealogy tool.
Another social networking site has joined the genealogy scene. In fact, the online social networking genealogy scene seems to be getting crowded with more and more players joining in. We already have GENI.com and FamilyLink.com. Now you can add FAMILLION to the list.
Based in Israel, FAMILLION plans to add one million family trees to its database by the end of 2007.
The following announcement was written by the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) and Ancestry.com:
Boston, MA & Provo, UT - The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) and Ancestry.com today announce a new collaboration that will bring together and make available for the first time the enormous resources of both institutions in an effort to continue fostering a growing national interest in family history and genealogy.
As part of the relationship, NEHGS, the country’s largest and oldest non-profit society and Ancestry.com, the largest online family history website, will offer joint access to some of most important family history information available anywhere. While details of the collaboration will be outlined in the weeks to come, it is planned to include special membership opportunities that combine Ancestry.com’s repository of five billion names and 24,000 databases and titles and some of NEHGS’ most significant genealogical publications and services.
Invaluable historical and family records escaped damage and destruction Saturday night when a small fire broke out at the Coweta County Genealogical Society research center in Grantville. Georgia. The office is in the old passenger train depot and is stacked wall-to-wall with family histories, records, research materials and documents that have helped generations of Cowetans and out-of-town visitors trace their family roots.
From the convenience of your computer, you can now take a video tour of the Genealogy Department at the new Allen County Public Library (ACPL) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Even if you were not able to visit this library during last week's FGS conference, you can "take the tour" without leaving home via the internet.
The Allen County Public Library contains the largest publicly-owned genealogy collection in the world. The genealogy department contains approximately 340,000 printed volumes as well as thousands of microfilms, CD-ROM disks, and online resources.
Your hosts on this video tour are John Beatty and Amy Beatty. John is a Reference Librarian and Bibliographer for the Historical Genealogy Department of the Allen County Public Library.
The 2007 conference of the Federation of Genealogical Societies is off to a great start in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Thanks to the good folks at RootsTelevision.com, you can see many of the highlights even if you are many miles away. All you need is your computer and an Internet connection.
I also had a small part in producing these videos and must say that I enjoyed doing so. While I will continue to write about the conference, sometimes a (moving) picture is worth a thousand words or more. I will write about specific products and services but the overall "look and feel" of the conference is best illustrated by video. You can see the conference at http://www.rootstelevision.com/players/player_conferences.php?bctid=1137849532.
There is no surprise here. As expected, the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has announced a new fee schedule. The prices all went up although perhaps not as much as had been feared. The increases go into effect October 1, 2007.
Today was the opening day of the annual conference of Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS). I arrived at the conference site in Fort Wayne, Indiana this morning and found the place to be a beehive of activity.
My primary activity today was to set up this newsletter's booth in the Exhibits Hall. Indeed, I accomplished that rather quickly. I believe everything is all set for tomorrow's opening. (This is a four-day conference but the Exhibitors' Hall is only open three days.)
I had an experience that is a combination of delight, disappointment and amusement. Most convention centers either do not provide free wireless for attendees or else charge a small fortune for such access. I have collected hardware and software to provide free Internet "Wi-Fi" access to conference attendees. All you need is a laptop or handheld computer with wireless networking, or "Wi-Fi," capabilities. Indeed, all laptops sold these days do include such capabilities.
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