The DAILY genealogy technology newsletter for genealogy
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the vendors like it or not!
I published an announcement about the new Holocaust Collection on Footnote.com on 29 September 2009. I am republishing the announcement below. At that time, Footnote.com planned to have these records open to the public for only the month of October. However, I have been told there is now a change in those plans.
Due to the popularity of this collection, the folks at Footnote.com have decided to keep the records available free to the public through the rest of this year. This is a great opportunity to catch up on research that you missed earlier.
The following announcement was written by the Association of Professional Genealogists:
WESTMINSTER, Colo., November 13 – Laura G. Prescott of Brookline, New Hampshire, has been elected president of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the world’s leading professional organization of family history and related professionals. Prescott is genealogist for the Nickerson Family Association and a consultant for Footnote.com. She will succeed Jake Gehring of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Prescott, reflecting on her upcoming tenure, said “I’m very excited about the next two years. We have a diverse and enthusiastic group of people on the board. This enthusiasm, coupled with the momentum from the current administration, will surely bring benefits to our members. Chapters will continue to play a vital role in reaching members and genealogists on a local level, while we try innovative ways, nationally and internationally, to educate and inform the membership, as well as aspiring genealogists. As professionals, we have a responsibility to set an example and support each other in making positive contributions to the entire genealogical community and to the profession.”
The following announcement was written by the Guild of One-Name Studies:
The Guild of One-Name Studies has today opened its on-line store. The Guild bookstall sells a wide range of genealogical and one-name study books, genealogical software and various well illustrated books about places (typically UK towns) and their history. These items are currently only available to members of the Guild or can be purchased from the Guild’s bookstall.
However from today there is now an online facility for ordering vouchers www.one-name.org/cgi-bin/vouchers/sales.cgi via PayPal, credit card, or (by post) by cheque. Eventually the range of items available on-line will increase but at present only vouchers can be purchased on-line.
CD and DVD disks you record on your computer will last an average of two to five years. If you would like to record your family photographs and videos for preservation, you'll want something that lasts longer. A start-up company in Ferndale, Washington, claims to have the answer. Cranberry LLC sells DVD disks that literally last a millennium.
Cranberry says its DiamonDisc product, which can be played in any standard DVD player, is not subject to deterioration from heat, ultraviolet rays, or material rot due to humidity or other elements. The DiamonDisc has no dyes, adhesives, or reflective materials like standard DVD discs, and its discs are made from a vastly more durable synthetic stone. That's right: stone.
The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.
Warning: This article contains personal opinions.
I have read many comments in this newsletter's Comments section and elsewhere from computer users wondering if they should switch from Windows to Macintosh. Those comments increased significantly with the introduction of Vista and still continue after the introduction of Windows 7. Many have asked, "Should I switch?" Since I use both Windows and Macintosh every day, I thought I could describe many of the differences. (I also use Linux often, although not every day.)
There are hundreds of differences, but I will not describe every one of them. However, I will give my impressions of the issues that are important to me.
The following announcement was written by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration:
Beat the crowds! Reserved tours and visits are now just a mouse click away!
WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 -- For the first time, the National Archives today launches a new online reservation system to make it easier for individuals, families, and large groups alike to visit National Archives. By simply going online, visitors can reserve their choice of dates and times in a matter of minutes. While reservations are not required to visit the National Archives and admission is free, this new system will eliminate the long lines and often lengthy wait.
The holiday gift giving season will be here soon and what better personal gift to give than something with the recipient's family coat of arms? I'd suggest that isn't such a great gift. You'd be lying.
Lots of gullible people purchase various trinkets that display the "family coat of arms" without realizing there is no such thing. Coats of arms? Yes. But "family?" No. There is no such thing as a family coat of arms.
A Hampshire archivist has told of her fear that the four-centuries-old Broadlands archives could be broken up or sold abroad. Janet Smith, county archivist at the Hampshire Record Office, said that breaking up the material would be “dreadful.”
The New England Historic Genealogical Society is introducing a new journal that is described as a "supplement to the Register." I am especially pleased to note that it is available both in print as well as electronically as a PDF file. I'll take my copy electronically, thank you. The following announcement was written by the New England Historic Genealogical Society:
This is to introduce American Ancestors Journal, the first annual supplement to the Register. The creation of this new vehicle for communicating valuable scholarship beyond New England will serve our geographically diverse audience with first rate content and, at the same time, broaden our institutional reach. American Ancestors Journal is automatically included with NEHGS membership, and is available in both print and paperless PDF formats.
The following announcement was written by the (U.S.) National Genealogical Society:
Would your society like to honor a genealogist whose exemplary work lives on today? Perhaps there was a notable genealogist in your state or county whose name should be memorialized in the NGS Hall of Fame.
If so, the National Genealogical Society would like to hear from you. NGS is seeking nominations from the entire genealogical community for persons whose achievements or contributions have made an impact on the field. This educational program increases appreciation of the high standards advocated and achieved by committed genealogists whose work paved the way for researchers today.
The thought of your ancestors of 100 or 200 years ago traveling along a modern-day interstate highway may seem amusing as interstate highways didn't exist until the 1950s. Yet, it is quite possible that your ancestors traveled along the same routes as today's interstates, plus or minus a very few miles.
Westward migration in the United States usually took place in the path of least resistance: on riverboats where practical or on pathways along rivers when boat travel was not available. In cases where there was no river to follow, overland travel generally went along the path of least resistance, too: through valleys, through mountain passes, and perhaps straight across the flatlands and prairies.
When I recently purchased a new computer, I immediately installed several programs that I would hate to live without: Firefox, Evernote, OpenOffice, and Dropbox. All of them are free programs.
Dropbox is available for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and now for the Apple iPhone. I have come to depend on this program. If you use one computer, this program can be useful. However, if you use two or more computers, such as a desktop system and a laptop system or perhaps one computer at home and another at the office, I'd consider this program to be indispensable.
In honor of Veterans' Day in the United States, Ancestry.com is offering free public access tomorrow through Friday to a new collection of about 600 Navy cruise books from 1950 to 1988. The following announcement was written by Ancestry.com:
Site Celebrates Veterans Day with Free Access to Entire U.S. Military Records Collection
PROVO, UT (Nov. 11, 2009) – Ancestry.com today added more than 600 Navy cruise books to its online collection of military records to commemorate Veterans Day. This historic effort is the result of an agreement between Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online resource for family history, and the United States Navy. As part of the agreement, Ancestry.com set up scanners on location at the Navy Department Library in Washington, DC, and has spent several months digitizing the cruise books for this occasion.
CNN has an interesting online story about the use of DNA in genealogy. CNN reporter Steve Mollman writes:
Here's a fun exercise: Compare the DNA profiles of random individuals who reside in different regions of the world, have little in common and don't much resemble one another.
If you could do this, you'd find close DNA matches once in a while.
The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.
Sometimes I think Google releases one new product or service per day. Well, perhaps not EVERY day, but the company certainly is cranking out new products all the time. I recently had a chance to use a new product that Google released about six weeks ago, and I found it to be a great service for genealogy purposes.
Google Sidewiki allows you to compare notes with others about any web page. Yes, ANY web page. Now, any time you want to add information to a web page, you can easily do so, as well as read what other people have to say about it. Whether you're researching advice on heart disease prevention or looking for museums to visit in New York City, many others have done the same and could have added their knowledge along the way. However, for the rest of this article, let's focus solely on genealogy pages.
The Pelham (New Hampshire) Historical Society has earned special recognition for having the most modernized and informational historical Web site in the state. At a ceremony held recently at the New London, N.H., Historical Society complex, the Hayes-Genoter History and Genealogy Library, founded by Pelham historian William Hayes, and Web site designer Karen Genoter, received "The 2009 Research and Documentation Award" from the Association of Historical Societies of New Hampshire, Inc.
Why? I want the safety of having a complete copy of the hard drive available at any time. If I ever have a problem in the future, such as losing a critical Windows file or picking up a virus that proves to be too stubborn to remove, I want to go back to a known good state. If I have a copy of the hard drive available, I can do that at any time.
I have written a number of times about RSS newsfeeds. Using a newsreader (software that reads RSS news feeds) can save a lot of time per day. For instance, you can read all the new articles on this newsletter's web site and on many other web sites in minutes instead of hours. You save a lot of time because you do not have to keep returning to a number of web sites or entering web site addresses of "http://www..."
With any RSS newsreader, you can "subscribe" to the web sites you want to check frequently. That is, you tell the RSS newsreader software to check a list of web sites, and you create the list. The RSS newsreader software then retrieves all the new articles from all the web sites and displays them for you in a single screen. You simply read all the articles from that one screen. In practice, it is a bit similar to reading e-mail messages: all the messages have been brought to you and displayed in once place. The same is true with RSS newsreaders: all the new articles have been brought to you in one convenient place, either on your computer or on some single web site.
I know I am going to use this often! If you create presentations for societies, or if you write a blog that mentions other web sites, you will want to take a look at Thumbizy.
Thumbizy is a free, instant website thumbnail generator that can help you to take snapshots of any website. You only need to give the URL of the web site and select the thumbnail size. Thumbizy will instantly provide you a screenshot of your given web site. You can store locally, and then insert it into a web page, a PowerPoint presentation, a word processing document, or anyplace else you might need it.
A fire that destroyed part of a Great Falls, Montana house earlier this year led to some much needed renovations - which turned up more than just dirt.
Cindy Torrez's son discovered five five burial headstones in his neighbor's backyard when he was taking out the trash on Thursday. Then another neighbor came forward, saying she found two more in her backyard.
Willard Cook is in charge of the cemetery records for the Great Falls Genealogy Society, and says that the stones look authentic, but are not typical of the era etched on them. He remarked that they look, "...professional. But normally people used monuments back then."
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