The DAILY genealogy technology newsletter for genealogy
consumers, packed with straight talk - hold the sugar coating - whether
the vendors like it or not!
TheNational has an interesting article by Amanda Hamilton about genealogists who can spot inherited health problems within families. Quoting from the article:
Compiling a family tree can offer more benefits than discovering stories of war heroes or family dramas – science and preventive medicine are getting a look in, too.
In this regard, the skeleton in the cupboard would be a genetic predisposition towards disease that, once uncovered, might provide potentially life-saving indicators.
The following is a Plus Edition article, written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. This is Part #1 of a two-part series.
NOTE: The following article assumes the reader has some technical expertise but is not necessarily a computer expert. If you are comfortable with installing programs on your present computer, you probably will fully understand and appreciate this article. However, if you are new to computers and do not often install new programs or troubleshoot problems, you might want to skip this article.
In an earlier article, I wrote: "Yes, I really do run TMG, a Windows [genealogy] program, on two Macintosh systems. The process is rather simple and works well. I'll write about that in a future article."
The following announcement was written by the New England Regional Genealogical Conference:
The Third Librarians’ and Teachers’ Day will be held on April 6, 2011 in conjunction with the 11th New England Regional Genealogical Society Conference in Springfield, Massachusetts.
"Librarians’ and Teachers’ Day" provides the opportunity for professionals to learn how genealogy can serve them in their dual roles as curators of their unique collections and as ambassadors of genealogy resources for their schools and libraries.
A DuPage County (Illinois) judge ruled Friday that Chicago can proceed with acquiring the 6.3-acre St. Johannes Cemetery, which stands in the path of a new O'Hare International Airport runway.
Judge Hollis Webster ruled that the city had the right to proceed with an eminent domain lawsuit to acquire the site and then proceed with the orderly transfer of the 900 known graves.
Four sturdy goats are doing their part to uncover up to 30 grave sites at the Ballard Family Cemetery in Henderson County, North Carolina. The brambles and underbrush were so thick it was hard to see anything, much less walk around. The free labor is supplied by goats on loan from Henderson County Magistrate Sandra Laughter.
It's hard to tell what's here until we clean it out," says Toby Linville, the county staff member for the Henderson County Cemetery Advisory Committee. "It was so bad, you couldn't move in here."
The Genealogy In Time web site has an article that lists the most popular online genealogy magazines, as measured by Alexa. Alexa is the world's leading company for measuring internet traffic. The company monitors the web traffic of millions of internet sources, including thousands of genealogy sites.
According to Alexa, the most popular online genealogy magazine is (insert drum roll here...) Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter.
A rather unique family reunion was held recently on Vanuatu, an island in the Pacific, some 1,090 miles (1,750 kilometres) east of northern Australia. Descendants of the Reverend John Williams came from Canada, the UK, and even from Botswana. For many of them, it was the first time they had met each other. They all traveled to Vanuatu to attend a reconciliation ceremony, which had been in the planning for about two years. The ceremony was held on the 170th anniversary of the killing of their ancestor, John Williams, who was killed and then eaten by island natives on the 20th November, 1839.
Internet users everywhere can now view Hank Williams' death certificate, or great-grandpa's birth certificate through an upgraded online database of more than 5.7 million vital records in West Virginia, officials said yesterday.
Unlike most states that provide only lists or indices of vital records online, West Virginia's database also includes images of the original files, said Joe Geiger, director of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History's archives and history section.
The Inter-County Leader has an interesting, although sad, story from northwest Wisconsin. An early morning fire last Thursday, Dec. 10, took the home of Elmer and Sue Eliason, completely destroying the home that has been the residence of the family for the past 80 years.
Many fourth- and fifth-generation heirlooms were lost in the fire. On the other hand, precious family photos were saved, along with the genealogical research Sue Eliason's mother had done.
To motivate you to fill out the census form, the Census Bureau will run a Super Bowl 2010 ad, according to Media Daily News.
The Feb. 7 game on CBS comes soon after the Census kicks off a $300 million-plus outreach campaign. And importantly, just a few weeks before the Bureau begins disseminating its questionnaires.
I think this is a major announcement that should benefit genealogists. In a time when most government agencies are seeing their budgets reduced, the National Archives actually received a modest INCREASE in its annual budget. The following announcement was written by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration:
WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 -- The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has received a Fiscal Year 2010 budget of $469,870,000 under the Consolidated Appropriations Act signed by President Barack Obama on Wednesday, December 16.
The overall appropriation of $469,870,000 is an increase of 2.31 percent over last year's funding of $459,277,000.
Two Authors are appealing for help with a book they are writing about the Canadian Service Personnel stationed in Worthing and West Sussex England during World War Two.
Yesterday, Jan Alpert, President, National Genealogical Society, David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, James Billington, Librarian of Congress, and others testified before the House Information Policy, Census and National Archives Subcommittee on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009.
The title of the hearing was, “History Museum or Records Access Agency? Defining and Fulfilling the Mission of the National Archives and Records Administration.” You can find prepared testimony below. All files are PDF.
arcalife and Firebird Media Limited have signed a deal bringing the two companies closer together in the personal and historical archiving space.
December 17, 2009 -- arcalife and Firebird Media Limited have signed a deal bringing the two companies closer together in the personal and historical archiving space.
Since territorial days, the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) has been collecting and preserving area newspapers. And, for the past 60 years, this preservation has taken the form of plastic microfilm – lots of microfilm. In fact, MHS purchased or created 800 spools of microfilm a year, covering about 400 Minnesota newspapers. Each roll includes hundreds or thousands of micro images of newspaper pages. Using a special machine, researchers can read them.
MHS, headquartered in St. Paul, operated a microfilm lab with a $200,000 budget. Five workers (four full-time equivalent workers) copied almost every page of almost every small Minnesota newspaper. Until June 30, 2009.
Doug B. MacDonald, with the help of Paulette (Johnston) McNally and Hazel (Jenkins) Sanford from the P.E.I. Genealogical Society, has written Nicolaus Henckell the Hessian: A Genealogy of Jenkins Families of Prince Edward Island.
McDonald described the process: “This was a massive undertaking, involving many trips to cemeteries and the public archives and talking to people. At times it became obsessive. My wife has been so patient (with me) during this process,” he says.
This week, Tazewell County (Illinois) Genealogical & Historical Society member Carol Hiller finished scanning in the last pages of two large history texts and converting them to CDs: “The History of Tazewell County, 1879” and “A Portrait and Biographical Record of Tazewell and Mason Counties, Illinois, 1894.”
Both books, which are 794 pages and 712 pages respectively, are now available on CDs, which the Genealogical Society is selling to any history buff who fancies one — or anyone who knows a history buff who would fancy one.
The following announcement was written by Familyrelatives.com:
From Tea to the Titanic....Victorian Scottish Trade Directories provide a fascinating insight into Scottish heritage....
Familyrelatives.com is proud to announce the addition of over a quarter of a million Victorian Scottish Trade Directory records online.
Familyrelatives.com continues to add to its collection of Trade directories by releasing Trade and individual records dedicated to Scotland. Slater’s Royal National Commercial Directory is an impressive record of all aspects of life in Scotland in 1889. Apart from Topographical and Postal Information it contains lists of professionals, landowners, Gentry, farmers, factors, London and Provincial Bankers and a fascinating array of advertisements at the time accompanies the text.
The following is a Plus Edition article written by and
copyright by Dick Eastman.
One topic that
surprises me has appeared several times recently in comments from this
newsletter's readers. Some people have questioned the idea of placing
public domain data online and charging for access to that information,
as is done by Ancestry.com, Footnote.com, FindMyPast, WorldVital
Records, and others. One person claimed that it is illegal to charge
for access public domain data and another reader stated that the online
sites are "violating my constitutional rights to view the census."
The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act is sitting in Congress and may be passed in the rush of the final days before the holiday recess. Sponsored by Senator Daniel Akaka, the bill would transfer a percentage of public-owned lands to a native Hawaiian government within the state of Hawaii. The legislation would collect some 400,000 ethnic Hawaiians scattered across the country into a newly affiliated tribe, eventually endowed with the powers of a sovereign state, including freedom from state taxes and regulations and a separate police force.
In theory, this would simply give Native Hawaiians the same legal status that other Native Americans now possess: they would be classified as a legal tribe with certain powers and also exemption from some laws of the United States, most notably laws regarding taxation. However, the bill goes far beyond what is normal for Indian tribes.
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