Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Plus Edition Newsletter Has Been Sent

To all Plus Edition subscribers:

The weekly Plus Edition newsletter was sent to your e-mail address a short time ago. It should have arrived by now. If you have not yet seen it in your in-box, check your spam folder. If it is not there, please contact your e-mail provider to see why it was blocked. This week's entire Plus Edition newsletter is also available at: http://www.eogn.com/wp/thisweek.htm.

Here are the articles in this week's Plus Edition newsletter:

 - (+) The Westford Knight
 - (+) eBay for Genealogists
 - (+) How to Safely Send Secret E-mail Messages
 - More Than 1.8 Million Native American Records Released on Footnote.com
 - DeCode Genetics Files for Bankruptcy
 - When a DNA Testing Firm Goes Bankrupt, Who Gets the Data?
 - GINA to Protect Misuse of Your Genetic Information
 - New and Free DAR Online Databases
 - Personal Ancestry Writer II version 90 for Macintosh
 - RootsMagic Releases Free "RootsMagic Essentials:" Genealogy and Family Tree Software
 - Coming Soon: Family Tree Maker Program Update
 - MobileTree for the iPhone and iPod Touch
 - Update on DiamonDisc
 - Are You My Cousin?
 - FamilySearch Indexing Update: Indexing Projects for 25 Countries
 - FamilySearch Record Search Update: New Records for Brazil, Massachusetts, Mexico, Spain, and the U.S.
 - Finding Treasures, Black Chicagoans Honor Ancestors
 - The Questionable Future of the Plymouth & West Devon (England) Record Office
 - Public Areas of Kentucky State Archives Reopen After Water Leak
 - State Layoffs Affect Somerset (PA) Historical Center
 - Saskatchewan Looking to Preservation of Cemeteries
 - NGS Research Trip to Salt Lake City, Sunday 24 January – Sunday 31 January 2010
 - ProQuest to Open New Microfilm Manufacturing Facility
 - Findmypast.com Gets a Makeover
 - Tales From Beyond the Grave in Montreal
 - Rare Books for Sale at Georgia Archives
 - Video: Michael Gandy, Editor of The Genealogist, talks to Else Churchill
 - Video: I Got Interviewed by the Genealogy Guys
 - Man Attends Own Funeral
 - Become Your Own Wealthy Heir After Being Frozen

If printed, this week's Plus Edition newsletter is 41 pages long! Where else will you find this much genealogy information? per week? With no advertising?

Join Me in Southborough This Thursday

If you live in or near Southborough, Massachusetts, you might be interested in attending a meeting of the Genealogy Club this Thursday evening, November 19. I will be the guest speaker at this month's meeting and will be talking about "Google for Genealogists." I hope to show a few tricks for using everyone's favorite search engine.

Want to Share an Article From This Newsletter?

Did you read an article in this newsletter that you would like to share with others? You can send it to someone else via e-mail or you can easily forward an article to FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace, Digg, Delicious, Google Bookmarks, LinkedIn, to any of a number of other sites, or even to your own blog if it is hosted on WordPress, Blogger, or TypePad.

To do so, read the article on http://blog.eogn.com and then look at the bottom of the article. Click on "ShareThis" just to the right of the green logo and select the method or service to which you want to send the article.

Survey Results: Please Tell Us About Your Experiences

On September 15, I wrote an article entitled, Survey: Please Tell Us About Your Experiences. I asked the readers of this newsletter to answer an online questionnaire about their genealogy interests, genealogy software, their computers and their Internet connections. I wrote:

I would like to ask for your help. I feel I can better meet your needs and interests if I can learn more about the experiences and the expertise of the readers of this newsletter. If you can answer a few quick survey questions, I can compile a clearer picture of the “typical online genealogist.” help me identify the "typical newsletter reader," I can then write articles aimed at that more reader's’ interests.

I know that lots of other people are also curious. The curious people include other genealogists as well as genealogy software producers, operators of genealogy web sites, and others. We want to know about you, the genealogist. A bit of knowledge about you and a few hundred other genealogists will help all of us focus our products and services to better service our customers.

I am delighted to report that 2,113 newsletter readers took the time to answer the questions. I believe the questionnaire produced some very useful information. I know I found a couple of surprises.

Help Wanted: A Few Beta Testers

I am creating a new service for genealogists as a supplement to this newsletter. I think it will be somewhat different from any other online genealogy service available today.

I need a few beta testers to try it out, find any bugs, give usability feedback, and also load some data into the new web site. The site is very empty right now, and I cannot load much data by myself.

Survey: Please Tell Us About Your Experiences

I would like to ask for your help. I feel I can better meet your needs and interests if I can learn more about the experiences and the expertise of the readers of this newsletter. If you can answer a few quick survey questions, I can compile a clearer picture of the “typical online genealogist.” help me identify the "typical newsletter reader," I can then write articles aimed at that more reader's’ interests.

I know that lots of other people are also curious. The curious people include other genealogists as well as genealogy software producers, operators of genealogy web sites, and others. We want to know about you, the genealogist. A bit of knowledge about you and a few hundred other genealogists will help all of us focus our products and services to better service our customers.

Click here to take survey

Welcome Digital Genealogist Subscribers!

A great online genealogy magazine, called Digital Genealogist, recently ceased publication. (See my earlier article at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/08/digital-genealogist-to-cease-publication.html.) However, owner/editor Liz Kerstens and I decided to give all the subscribers of that magazine a chance to switch to subscriptions to Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter at no additional charge. The change is optional; there is no need to change if you do not wish to.

I'm delighted to report that many Digital Genealogist subscribers elected to make the switch and are now here as Plus Edition subscribers. They will be receiving this week's Plus Edition e-mail version and also now have full access to the Plus Edition web site at http://www.eogn.com/wp/.

Introducing Scott Norton

I am delighted to announce that another author has joined the crew at this newsletter. Scott Norton is a DNA expert and will be writing occasional articles about DNA and genealogy for the EOGN newsletter.

Scott has been involved in DNA and Family History for more than 10 years and has a lot of experience turning DNA into history. He runs several DNA surname studies, but spends most of his spare time in the Norton DNA project at www.nortonfamily.net. He and the others involved in the Norton DNA Project are linking every Norton line with DNA and confirming paper history.

Read Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter on your Mobile Phone

Now you can take your genealogy news with you. You can read the latest news on your lunch hour, at the park, when riding the commuter train, while waiting at the airport, or at most any other convenient time and place. All you need is a web-enabled cell phone or an iPod Touch.

Actually, there are many ways to read this newsletter with cell phone web browsers or RSS newsreaders. Today I added one more method, and it is one that is easy to use. Open the web browser on your cell phone and go to http://eogn.com/mobile. Bookmark that URL in your cell phone's web browser, and you will be able to return to that address time and time again.

Genealogy News Delivered Daily to Your In-box

Would you like to have these news articles delivered to your e-mail in-box every day? I'll remind you that e-mail delivery of Standard Edition headlines is available to you at no charge.

Established in 1996 and read by over 30,000 users world-wide, Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter features the latest in genealogy news from all over the world. You can subscribe today and have snippets of each new article delivered straight to your email inbox -- absolutely FREE!

You can subscribe at: http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=48932 or enter your e-mail address here and then click on "Subscribe Me!":

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I've Been Quiet!

I haven't posted any new articles to this newsletter's web site in three days simply because I was so busy at the Genealogy Jamboree in Burbank, California. I was wrapped up in the events and loved it. I typically arose about six or seven in the morning and stayed busy until ten P.M. every day.

Last night I rode a red-eye flight across the country and then collapsed into bed once I got home this morning. I was exhausted but glad that I made the trip.

The next few articles will describe my experiences at the Genealogy Jamboree in some detail.

On the Road Again

If you read this newsletter regularly, you already know that I travel quite often. By the time you read these words, I should be on a coast-to-coast flight en route to the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree being held this weekend in Burbank. I am looking forward to this trip: I was at the same conference last year and loved it. I suspect this year's event will be at least as good, if not better.

I am flying on Thursday. The conference is being held Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Hooray! A conference that is held on both weekend days! I'm taking a red-eye flight back Sunday evening, leaving at midnight, and should arrive home early Monday morning.

The Southern California Genealogical Society goes "all out" on their annual Jamboree and usually attracts 1,000 or more attendees. The facility used at the Burbank Marriott Hotel and Convention Center is just about the right size for an event of this type.

Update: New Plus Edition PDF Version of This Newsletter

A couple of people have asked so I thought I would post the answer here for all to see:

A few weeks ago, I changed the format of the Plus Edition newsletters sent every week by e-mail. The new format is much shorter, providing the title and the first few sentences of each article. You can read the articles online individually or, to read the entire weekly newsletter at once, you may go to http://www.eogn.com/wp/thisweek.htm. The entire weekly newsletter is available online in both HTML and PDF formats.

Saturday Evening EOGN Dinner Photos

My thanks to Harry Benson for sending along photographs taken at the Saturday evening dinner in Raleigh for readers of this newsletter. We all met at The Pit, a restaurant specializing in eastern North Carolina barbecue. 26 newsletter readers enjoyed each other's company. This dinner took place immediately after the close of the 2009 annual conference of the National Genealogical Society.

Harry even took a picture of the customized menu that we had that evening.

Click on a picture to see the full sized version.

Thanks Harry!

 

EOGN Readers' Dinner in Raleigh

I always enjoy genealogy conferences, but my personal highlight is the Saturday night dinners. For years, I have organized dinners after the close of conferences. I must say that this year the dinner was organized by newsletter editor Pam Cerutti as she did most of the work at this conference.

Planning for these dinners is always hectic and performed at the last minute as I find it difficult to plan dinners well in advance in a distant city. I typically wait until I am at the conference, then look around for a nearby restaurant that is willing to handle a large crowd on a Saturday night. That by itself is a challenge, but we have usually been successful. Most of the dinners have turned out to be great events, and this year's Raleigh, North Carolina, event was no exception.

On the Road Again

If you read this newsletter regularly, you already know that I travel quite often. Indeed, I plan to be traveling for the next week and a half.

First, I'll leave on Friday and go to Maine to be a part of my daughter's wedding. Yes, my only daughter is getting married, and Dad is proud as can be. She would claim she is not a techie, but she created a web site for the wedding at http://www.kellyanddavewed.com. I'm proud of that girl!

Read the Plus Edition Newsletter in an RSS Feed

I have been monitoring the comments posted in the online survey about the Plus Edition e-mail messages. (See http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/05/changes-required-in-the-plus-edition-email-newsletter.html.) One thing that caught my eye is that several Plus Edition subscribers wrote "I would read it if the Plus Edition newsletter were available via RSS" or similar words. Actually, that has been available for nearly five years now. Apparently, not everyone knows that.

The Plus Edition RSS newsfeed is available at: http://eogn.com/wp/?feed=rss2.

Changes Required in the Plus Edition E-mail Newsletter

Attention Plus Edition subscribers: I need to make some changes and would appreciate your input at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=FLpAmQgx6Ss1p7lFAL37yQ_3d_3d.

Here's the problem: the Plus Edition newsletters sent by e-mail every week have become too big.

The newsletter has grown! In fact, if printed, the latest weekly Plus Edition newsletter is 29 pages! That's a lot of pages for a weekly publication. I believe it is more than what any other genealogy publication produces PER MONTH.

Normally, I would suggest that having bigger newsletters is a good thing. However, the newsletter has grown so large that it is now creating complications.

Update: Plus Edition Web Site

I worked almost two straight days on the comments problem on the new EOGN Plus Edition web site but was unable to resolve the problem. The software producer's Tech Support department was also unable to help. I gave up and installed a different software product. I believe the problems are fixed. At least the comments work well for me in testing. I'd appreciate it if a few Plus Edition subscribers would test it also.

Listen to This Newsletter

I am experimenting with a new feature on this newsletter: you can now listen to the articles on your computer, on your iPod, or on most any other MP3 music player.

When you look at the newsletter's home page at http://blog.eogn.com, you will note that a new icon appears near the top of each article: Listen Now. Clicking on that icon allows you to listen to a computer-generated voice that reads the article to you. You can listen to it directly through your computer's speakers or have it sent to iTunes for later listening on an iPod or iPhone. Another option is to have the article sent to most any other MP3 player that is capable of accepting audio from the Internet. Finally, you can download articles as MP3 files and save them on your local hard drive and listen to them later at your convenience.