The DAILY genealogy technology newsletter for genealogy
consumers, packed with straight talk - hold the sugar coating - whether
the vendors like it or not!
The following announcement was written by findmypast.co.uk:
Leading UK family history website findmypast.co.uk has today expanded its collection of British military records with the release of the Royal Marine Medal Roll 1914-1920. The record set provides a listing of all Royal Marines who received medals for their service in World War 1, including those awarded the 1914 Star, the Clasp to the 1914 Star, the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
The following announcement was written by findmypast.co.uk:
Findmypast.co.uk to take over worldvitalrecords.com.au
Australian online service will be relaunched as findmypast.com.au supported by Gould Genealogy & History
The National Genealogical Society Conference in Salt Lake City provides the backdrop for a joint announcement today by three leading players in the world genealogy market. FamilyLink.com, Inc.’s WorldVitalRecords Australasian operation is to be taken over by leading UK family history website findmypast.co.uk and run in partnership with Gould Genealogy & History of Australia.
The annual conference of the National Genealogical Society opened today (April 28) in Salt Lake City under threatening weather conditions. I walked to the Salt Palace Convention Center this morning in rain mixed in with a few snowflakes. It was also cold. However, once inside, I found a bright and cheerful group of genealogists. Lots of genealogists. More than 2,000 of them. This is the largest genealogy conference held in the United States in recent years.
There are many good reasons for the large attendance. First of all, it is in Salt Lake City, sometimes referred to as “genealogy Mecca.” Second, there are lots of presentations. Third, the exhibit hall is the largest I have ever seen at a genealogy conference in North America. I'll write more about that in a moment.
Ancestry.com announced several new products today. One that is available now is the online versions of The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy and Red Book: American State, County and Town Sources.
These two (printed) books have been available for years and have become standard reference books for thousands of genealogists. The books are thick, packed with material, and expensive
I was delighted to hear this news today. The following announcement was written by Ancestry.com and the announcement was made today at the annual conference of the National Genealogical Society in Salt Lake City:
PROVO, Utah, April 28 -- Ancestry.com, the world's largest online family resource, today revealed a Mac® version of Family Tree Maker® at the 2010 National Genealogical Society Family History Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. The new version of the world's No. 1 selling family history software is planned for release later this year.
FamilySearch, the world's largest repository of genealogical information, today announced it will release records containing 300 million names that can now be researched online for free.
Jay Verkler, president of Family Search, the genealogy division of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said these records and millions of names are being indexed, digitized and published through FamilySearch.org.
The Association of Professional Genealogists, New England Chapter, has released a new DVD featuring Dr. Thomas W. Jones, CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS. The title is Correlating Sources, Information, and Evidence to Solve Genealogical Problems.
I haven't yet seen this video but hope to watch it soon. Those who have seen it have reported to me that it is an excellent video,professionally produced and providing an in-depth coverage of this topic. I've met Dr. Jones a number of times and can believe that any effort he is involved in would be a professional product.
The following announcement is from the NGS conference in Salt Lake City and was written by ourFamily•ology:
Subscribers can now add sources from FamilySearch, the world’s largest repository of genealogical resources, to their family genealogy website.
This affiliation will allow subscriber’s to conveniently search, access, and add genealogical records from FamilySearch into a subscribers website through ourFamily•ology. We are excited to offer this feature to help our members build well documented family trees. We look forward to developing more features with FamilySearch
Both new and experienced genealogist alike will find this website easy to use and an extremely useful tool for source research and documentation
The following announcement was written by the Association of Professional Genealogists:
Growing Interest in Genealogy Drives Need for Professionals
WESTMINSTER, Colo. and SALT LAKE CITY, April 28, 2010 – Today at the National Genealogical Society Family History Conference in Salt Lake City, the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG®) announced that it has just surpassed the 2,000-membership mark. As the world’s leading professional organization of family history and related professionals, the APG supports professional genealogists throughout the world.
“This milestone comes at a time when interest in genealogy is mushrooming, as both a pastime and a profession,” said APG President Laura Prescott. “Recent television shows like NBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” and PBS’s “Faces of America” have helped raise awareness and stimulate interest from a broader audience. This increase in interest is leading more people to hire genealogists and we’ll need more professionals in the field. APG helps professionals develop their skills and build their networks, while promoting standards and ethics.”
Several US senators have called on Facebook to quit sharing more of its users' data than they signed up for. The senators are asking the Federal Trade Commission to look at Facebook's controversial new information-sharing policies, arguing that the massively popular social network overstepped its bounds when it began sharing user data with other websites.
Tennessee archivist Wayne Moore is conducting a multi-year Civil War memorabilia tour. Tennessee archivists are trying to beef up the state's library of Civil War documentation by asking people to dust off their brass buttons, old family photos and handwritten letters that have survived from the 1860s.
I wrote earlier about "Packing for a Research Trip" and mentioned the various gadgets I take with me when traveling. I casually mentioned that I pack clothing that can be worn in layers. Today, I thought I'd add a few more details about that clothing and also supplement that with information about clothing made for technology travel.
Packing properly also provides a solution to price gouging by airlines for extra luggage. By selecting the proper clothing, you can save on or eliminate excessive baggage fees. As strange as it seems, one company makes clothing designed for travel with technology devices, clothing that can pay you back in saved baggage fees. Scott eVest knows you can't leave your gadgets at home, and they've designed "technology enabled clothing" that makes it easy to bring 'em all along. Take a tip from the Boy Scouts and be prepared with plenty of pockets for every gadget. I use ScotteVest clothing often for my trips to conferences, courthouses, and cemeteries.
The following announcement was written by the Federation of Genealogical Societies:
SALT LAKE CITY — With the approaching bicentennial of
the War of 1812, the Federation of Genealogical Societies, a non-profit
genealogical organization headquartered in Austin, Texas, is pleased to
announce a national fundraising initiative to raise $3.7 million to
digitize of the War of 1812 pension files. The digitization process
will enable online access by historians and family researchers to the
memories and biographies of those who fought to protect our nation’s
independence. This announcement is being made at the start of the
National Genealogical Society’s 2010 conference, an event that will
draw more than two thousand genealogists to Salt Lake City, Utah.
Keeping up with Windows viruses, Trojan horse programs, spyware, and other problems can be scary at best. The best defense is to keep a good anti-virus program installed, and always make sure it is up to date with the latest updates. Also, you should avoid web browsers with known problems.
I have repaired many computers that were infected with various "malware" problems. (Malware is an acronym for "malevolent software”). Many of the computers I fixed had anti-virus programs installed, but those programs had not been updated recently. An out-of-date program is as useless as no protection at all: the computer is not protected against the latest attacks. And new attacks appear every week.
Deseronto residents will soon have place to go online where they can share their personal memories of growing up in the community, as well as photos, artifacts, special heritage-related events, and anything else that highlights the town's unique history.
Town archivist Amanda Hill recently announced that the archives, located in the Deseronto Public Library, recently got $16,000 in funding from the Ontario Museum and Technology Fund to develop a new website called About Deseronto.
For the convenience of hearing impaired individuals as well as for those who do not have audio capabilities in their computers, that conversation has now been transcribed and is available as text. You can read the transcription below.
The planned newsletter readers' dinner in Salt Lake City is now fully booked and a wait list has been started. (We have already had one cancellation, a few hours after it was made.) I want to thank everyone who has signed up.
I am sorry we cannot accommodate everyone. Maybe next time I can rent a banquet hall someplace.
The following announcement was written by Edward Zapletal of Moorshead Magazines:
It is with regret that I announce that Moorshead Magazines Ltd. has ended publication of Discovering Family History. It was not an easy decision, but the tough economic conditions of the last year have made it necessary for us to take this action. The last issue was March/April 2010. Although it was growing in popularity, it was not doing well-enough to make a significant contribution to the overall operation of the company. Our Family Chronicle and Internet Genealogy brands remain strong, and we will focus our efforts and resources on making these publications stronger. Going forward, we will be incorporating the "beginner-type" content from Discovering Family History into Family Chronicle and Internet Genealogy.
This is a quick "heads up" notice that I will be traveling for a few days and may not be posting new articles every day. I am leaving Tuesday, April 27, for Salt Lake City. I'll attend the annual conference of the National Genealogical Society on April 28 through May 1. I also hope to sneak away and spend at least part of one day or evening at the Family History Library, looking for an elusive ancestor or two.
Technology marches on. Sony has announced on its Japanese website that the company will be ending sales of the classic 3.5 inch floppy disk in the country in March of 2011. Whether you still have a 3.5 inch floppy drive in your computer or not will make little difference if you cannot purchase the disks.
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