Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Video: An Interview with John Cardinal

John Cardinal is well known amongst users of The Master Genealogist, a software program for Windows. He is the author of two popular add-on utilities: the first is simply known as "TMG Utility" while the second one is called "Second Site."

I had a chance to interview John on a recent genealogy cruise in the Caribbean and the RootsTelevision folks recorded it. In this video, John describes his two programs and tells what they accomplish.

Psst. Hey, buddy, want to try some Advanced Searching on Footnote?

Footnote.com launched early this year and soon became the leading online provider of historical documents for genealogists and other history interests as well. The site's search software was a bit less than it could have been, however. In recent months, the company has slowly been implementing some improvements in the site's search algorithms. Now the company has quietly invited its customers to help test this beta software.

NARA's "Electronic Records Archives" Passes First Milestone

I have written several times in the past about the "Electronic Records Archives," an effort to preserve and provide long-term access to uniquely valuable electronic records of the U.S. Government, and to transition government-wide management of the lifecycle of all records into the realm of e-government. You can find my past articles at http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22Electronic+Records+Archives%22&btnG=Search+This+Site&domains=blog.eogn.com&sitesearch=blog.eogn.com.

Now the National Archives and Records Administration and Lockheed Martin (prime contractor of the "Electronic Records Archives" project) say the system has passed a significant milestone, with the successful completion of government testing of the first delivery of software from the developer.

Dundee, Scotland Genealogy Research is now Easier

Retracing a family's history has become easier in Dundee with the opening this week of a new research centre. The new Family History Centre, at the city's Central Library, brings together the services of the Dundee registrar's office, city archivist, the local history library and the burials administration section.

A spokesman for the local authority said: "More than a decade ago Dundee City Council was the first local authority in Scotland to introduce a family history service, when the genealogy unit at the city's registrar's office established an informal partnership with the city archivist, the local history library and the burials administration section. Qualified staff from Dundee registrar's office will be available to offer advice and to undertake research, provide a family tree and a comprehensive report detailing each entry that is traced."

Would Ben Franklin be a Blogger?

It's a serious question pondered by news "gatekeeper" Walter Isaacson, once the managing editor at Time magazine and the chief executive officer at CNN.

Isaacson shared some startling insights about technology and media, both past and present, at a symposium last year at the Smithsonian Institution's Lemelson Center (which studies "invention and innovation.") Isaacson told the audience that Ben Franklin was influenced by both the mechanics of 18th-century printing presses and a fickle American public.

Check Your DNA at BestBuy Stores in Canada

I must admit that I was a bit surprised to see an ad for a "DNA Maternal Ancestry Package" at BestBuy stores in Canada. Imagine the concept: stop by the store, pick up a laptop computer, a new dishwasher, and maybe a couple of CDs, and find your ancestry. All this can be done in one quick visit. Well, almost.

In fact, BestBuy of Canada is selling DNA Maternal Ancestry Packages produced by the DNA Ancestry Project of Vancouver, British Columbia. With the maternal ancestry package, a male or female individual can trace their maternal roots (only) and discover their maternal origins.

The Generations Network Receives $150 Million Syndicate Financing

The following announcement was written by Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. It is a follow-up announcement concerning the recent acquisition of The Generations Network by Spectrum Equity Investors. The earlier announcement is available at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/10/follow-up-ances.html.

NOTE: The Generations Network is the parent company of Ancestry.com, MyFamily.com, RootsWeb.com, and a number of other web sites.

Hercules Participates in $150 Million Syndicate Financing by Providing $17.5 Million in Debt and $500,000 Equity Capital to The Generations Network, Inc.

Siskiyou County Pioneer Certificates

The Genealogical Society of Siskiyou County, California is offering certificates for anyone who had ancestors living in Siskiyou County between the years of 1850-1880 and 1881-1910.

The Pioneer Certificate will be for the 1850-1880 years and the Centennial Certificate for years from 1881-1910. These certificates will be suitable for framing and would make a great gift.

In order to qualify for either certificate you must prove that your direct ancestor lived in Siskiyou County during those times.

(+) More on the Latest Practical (?) Gadget: A Two-Pound Laptop

Since writing about my new, two-pound laptop computer on December 2, I have continued to experiment with it and use it under a variety of conditions. I am still amazed at how easy this little powerhouse is to use. I now have it working on my in-home network, sharing the laser printer and other peripherals.

NOTE: My earlier article is available to Plus Edition subscribers at http://www.eogn.com/blogplus/2007/12/_the_latest_practical_gadget_a.html and to everyone for only $2.00 from the archives at http://www.lulu.com/content/1581961.

In fact, a computer this tiny doesn't have room for a CD-ROM drive. No problem. As long as I am at home, I can simply insert the CD disk into one of my desktop computers and then "mount" the drive across the network. I can then use the CD-ROM drive as if it was installed in the two-pound system even though it is physically mounted in another system.

The Library Problem

Genealogists love to collect books. I have a few hundred books here, and I am told that many genealogists have ten times that number or more. Being somewhat organizationally challenged, my books are scattered around my computer room, the living room, the garage, and the basement. I think there may even be a few in the trunk of my car at the moment. I wouldn't be surprised if your books were dispersed in a similar manner.

Of course, there are challenges with keeping and organizing that many volumes. After all, that's a lot of shelf space, and bookcases aren't cheap. For me, the real difficulty is answering the question, "Now where did I put that book?"

There are many possible solutions. Some possible solutions even include the Dewey Decimal System or the Library of Congress classifications (LCC). Would it make sense to use either of those in a home library?

Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy

One of the major genealogy educational opportunities of the year is the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, held every January. This 5-day course is an advanced "immersion" into genealogy research techniques. The Institute offers ten different courses of study, each course specializing in a particular topic.

I would strongly recommend the Institute for anyone who has been actively searching their family tree and now wants to move up to "the next level" of research expertise. You will also find many professional genealogists and soon-to-be pros amongst the students.

I am told that there are some seats still available in next month's Institute. However, if you would like to attend, the time to register is right now.

PC Magazine's Review of Family Tree Maker 2008

When Family Tree Maker 2008 was introduced a few months ago, the readers of this newsletter were rather critical of the all-new release. You can read those comments at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/08/family-tree-mak.html and at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/09/family-tree-mak.html.  Today I read a review of the program in PC Magazine and for a while thought that reviewer Lisa Ruefenacht was describing a different product. She obviously loved Family Tree Maker 2008. I felt that she was describing a different program from what everyone else had used.

I'm Back

I took a few days off after my recent hospital stay in order to relax and get the body back in shape. It wasn't 100% successful as these prescription drugs seem to have all sorts of undesirable side effects. Oh well, everything should work out eventually.

I plan to start posting a few articles, although it may be a while before the volume of articles gets back to normal.

No Newsletter Articles for a Few Days

I'm taking a few days off at doctors' recommendations. There will not be any new articles in this newsletter for the next few days. Next Sunday's weekly Plus Edition newsletter will be combined into the following week's edition.

Sadly, this is not a vacation. On Thursday morning I got an unexpected trip to a local hospital's emergency room when I lost my vision and developed a bunch of other unhealthy symptoms. I was diagnosed and then admitted as a patient. I'll be out of circulation for a while.

The diagnosis is that I have had some sort of a major diabetic reaction that caused all sorts of problems. The interesting thing is that, until Thursday, I didn't know that I was a diabetic!

I expect to be back on my feet in a few days.

Footnote.com Launches the Largest Collection of World War II Photos on the Web

The following announcement was written by Footnote.com:

-Tens of thousands of photos and documents are made available for the first time on the web for historians, genealogists and the general public-

Lindon, UT - December 6, 2007 – Footnote.com  today announced the addition of thousands of US Air Force photos to their digital World War II collection. This release coincides with the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor bombing, and contains tens of thousands of original World War II photos and documents from the National Archives.  Among this collection are missing air crew reports, documents from allied military conferences and photos of Japanese air targets.

“They say that a picture is worth a thousand words,” says Russell Wilding, CEO of Footnote.com. “What’s exciting about this collection of photos is they also include captions that tell stories of the people and events in the photos.” 

(+) Protecting Your E-mail Address From Advertisers

A newsletter reader wrote to me this week asking a question about a particular web site that I mentioned in a previous newsletter. He was "worried" that the site might sell his e-mail address. I replied, "Who cares?" Let me explain.

Here is an excerpt from the e-mail message I received:

This sounds too good to be true, and so I am very curious as to the business model that [this site] is following.  I am worried that they might sell my email address.

Indeed, selling of e-mail addresses is a common and odorous activity on the web. Thousands of e-mail sites gather addresses and then sell them. Even more common, many web sites will bombard you with their own advertising. Quite a few genealogy sites do that. You sign up for some free service on a web site, and then they start flooding your in-box with advertising messages two or three times a week.

1911 Irish Census Details Now Online

After a several year project by the National Archives of Ireland, in partnership with Libraries and Archives Canada, anyone may now search the 1911 census of Ireland by first or family name. The site contains the digital equivalent of 4,000 reels of microfilm and 3.5 million images. It currently holds records for Dublin only, but project organisers plan to add the rest of the country, as well as details of the 1901 census, next year.

Each entry includes a person's education, religion, profession and place of birth. A category for "children still living" suggests some astonishing child mortality rates. Another column asks people, in the jargon du jour, if they are "deaf and dumb; dumb only; blind; imbecile or idiot; or lunatic." You can read more about the records at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/about/index.html

RootsMagic Cruise 2008

The following was originally posted in the RootsMagic newsletter:

This year's RootsMagic Family History cruise was so successful we have decided to do another one next year.  Next year's cruise will be to the Mexican Riviera (Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico) from Sept 28 - Oct 5, 2008.

Video: Genealogy Cruising

Subtitled: “Megan's Home Movies”

Megan Smolenyak² was one of the speakers on board the recent 2007 Wholly Genes Cruise. She and her video camera went almost everywhere. She has now put together a 14-minute video that shows the essence of what it is like to take a genealogy cruise. The video is now available online on the Roots Television web site.

The video features clips from genealogy presentations, hosted breakfasts, one-on-one consultation sessions, the food in the dining rooms, lounging around the pool in the sun, movies under the stars shown at the same pool late at night, and much more. She also included a few scenes from various excursions on shore in St. Maarten and St. Thomas. If you look quick, you'll see me and newsletter editor Pam riding Segway scooters in St. Maarten.

FamilySearch Research Wiki Getting an Overhaul

The Family History Department at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been working on major changes to their online genealogy services at FamilySearch.org. One part of the effort has been the creation of a research wiki. Everything is under development and changes are frequent.

Jim Greene posted a recent update on the FamilySearch Labs blog. He wrote:

"Thanks to you we have had great success on the Research Wiki. Many people have joined our community. In an effort to keep you up to date, we thought we’d post some of our wiki plans to the blog.