07 August 2014

"It's All Online and It's All True!" --- Abraham Lincoln

Arthur andersen draft card
Arthur andersen draft card (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The whimsical quote in the title of this blog is something I found somewhere...probably online... and I thought I'd share it with you.  I was hoping it would be a humourous segue into today's subject.

It occurred to me as I was watching WDYTYA, that if anyone took a tally of what was discovered on line, specifically by the show's sponsor, Ancestry.com, and what needed to be researched in libraries, archives, repositories, church records, town halls, private collections, et al, that it would clearly demonstrated that no, as a matter of fact, it's NOT all online!

The amount of data that can be discovered at home by logging in to a variety of websites both free and subscription is quite definitely increasing, seemingly by leaps and bounds.  We see numbers such as so-and-so "...has added 3,500,00 records..." with some more and some less.  Without knowing how many more records there are to index and post, it almost seems as though we're nearly done so who needs the libraries, archives, repositories, church records, town halls, private collections, et al?

I've seen estimates that the internet contains 5% or less of the available data.  Others estimate upwards of 15%.  But the fact remains that even the sponsor of a very popular program dealing with genealogical research which is itself an internet based research resource still employs dozens of professionals to get the job done.  If Ancestry.com needs professionals to put their program together, how can any hobbyists or private family researcher or professional genealogist hope to do better?

I'm just sayin'!



28 July 2014

MGC Annual Seminar

The Massachusetts Genealogy Council (MGC) held their Annual Seminar this past Saturday in Mansfield, Massachusetts.  As usual, there was a great crowd of genealogists from all over New England and a few "foreigners" from New York who I ran into.  As members of the New England Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists (NEAPG),  Kate Lowrie and I attended representing NEAPG as a Gold Sponsor.  I also moderated a discussion group at lunch.  My topic was learning interview techniques to build family history "right from the horse's mouth" so to speak!

The day consisted of a number of presentations from some highly respected genealogists.  It's too bad we all couldn't attend every session.  Although it was my responsibility to greet people and answer their questions about NEAPG, I snuck into 4 of the presentations right around the corner from our booth.  I listened to Walter Hickey twice.  He spoke about immigration and naturalization from a very informed view. He had a career at NARA, the National Archives and Records Administration, and could give us some interesting tips on getting to the right sources quickly.  Later in the day, his presentation concerned census records.  While I'm pretty knowledgeable myself in that area, he brought up some good ideas.  Julie Michutka instructed us with her expertise in my next favorite software application, Scrivener.  And finally, I always like to hear Morehead's DNA presentations.  She had a very interesting analogy on distinguishing the role of Y-DNA versus mtDNA by comparing it to a space shuttle! The rockets represent the energy of the mtDNA driving the rest of the cell towards its goal of fertilization while the shuttle itself represents the Y and all the other autosomal elements.  That's a really short version of her explanation!

Between Kate and myself, we talked with dozens of people who, we hope, will consider joining NEAPG! We were definitely a busy group!



Here's a shot up the lobby in between sessions.


It was a long day for me.  I left Chicopee at 5:15 in the morning, got to the hotel to set up around 7.  Non-stop until it was time to go home around 4:30.  

I always appreciate the opportunity to "blend in" with my fellow genealogists.  Always something to learn, to share, and to experience.  Other than local events and meeting, the next "big one" is the New England Regional Genealogical Consortium's conference in Providence, RI affectionately referred to as NERGC or "NERK".  That's in April of 2015.  And the big news for me is that I'll be one of the speakers!  

Speaking of speaking, I need to start getting ready!  It'll be April before you know it!  See you there!

Related articles

10 July 2014

Cousins united!

Every Thursday, you can find me at the Chicopee Library's Reference Department.  The Library has set aside their computer lab for genealogy research.  Myself and a few others "staff" the lab to help patrons with their research.  Also, I get to conduct classes and workshops 4 or 5 times a year there.

Perhaps the most interesting thing that I've seen happen there, other than some amazing discoveries, was what happened this afternoon.

A woman walked in slowly, looking around the room.  There were only about 5 or 6 people in there at the time.  Since I'm the volunteer of the moment, I asked if I could help.  "Yes," she said.  "I'm supposed to be meeting my cousin here between 12 and 12:30."  Her name is Ellen and she went on to say that she had engaged a professional genealogist in Poland.  He informed her that she had some relatives right here in the area, a woman she had never met this woman!  While we were talking about that, I had to pitch our "Western Massachusetts Genealogical Society" since she told me that where she lived and it's very close to out meeting location.  Turns out, she's a former member and was interested in getting involved again.  Needless to say, I handed her an application!  I just happened to have about 50 or so apps in my bag...

Back to the story:  As we spoke, another woman walked through the door and I immediately thought that although she looked familiar to me although I had never seen her at the Chicopee lab. It was Ellen's mystery cousin, Cathy!   Ironically, they were both wearing a pink top!  Small detail, but I found it interesting.  Somewhat like long lost cousins who both like Caesar Salad!  Cathy attended one of my classes a couple of years ago....another coincidence!

Here they are at their first meeting!  On the left is Cathy with Ellen on the right....




09 July 2014

DDOS, sync'ing FTM and other genealogy subjects

Diagram of Stachledraht attack
Diagram of Stachledraht attack (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The DDOS at Ancestry is behind us....almost.  I was still having sync problems and the solution was to delete one and upload or download the remaining file to create a new replacement, a strategy that didn't exactly hold my interest.  It's my "master" file which, today, has 40,004 individuals, countless photos and even more documents, notes and everything else you can thing of.

For those who are wondering, I un-linked my tree this morning, re-uploaded FTM to Ancestry and I now have a new "sync-able" data base, with a name that ends in "(1)". 

So from here, I'm going to re-invite all my previous guests and see who stays and who goes.  It's like this blog.  I tried to make a shift from one service to the other and lost 3/4 of the content. I guess that means it's time for a fresh start in a lot of areas.

The only other thought that's on my mind tonight is my schedule.  It has slowly crept up on me.  For the first time, I had a minor panic attack thinking that as I was sitting here in my office I was supposed to be somewhere teaching something to someone!

Well, don't worry!  It's next week, not this week.  The rest of July has a few "engagements" but then August, September and October will be the busiest I've ever been. The Yellow House Center of Community Learning, Hitchcock Free Academy, Wistariahurst, 4 public libraries and a few other locations!  On top of that, in response to "popular demand", I'm putting together an advanced genealogy program which I think will be 5 or 6 sessions in all.  Should be interesting!

The big announcement for me is coming up in the spring.  I'll get the details and post about that later.



03 July 2014

How would you find them without an index?

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="75"]English: 145-volume stack of the 1959 World Bo... English: 145-volume stack of the 1959 World Book Encyclopedia printed in Braille. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

How's that for a question?  Back...way back...when I first began researching on the internet, there weren't

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="75"]Advertisement for Encyclopedia Brittanica, 1913 Advertisement for Encyclopedia Brittanica, 1913 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

very many records that were "indexed."  What that means specifically can be explained best by thinking back ....way back....when we had giant sets of books like the Encyclopedia Brittanica or World Book Encyclopedia.  There were thousands and thousands of pages of articles that talked about everything you can possibly imagine.  Have you ever used an encyclopedia?  If not, I can tell you that they were usually 20 to 25 volumes, each of which contained 400 or 500 pages of information.

Now picture having an encyclopedia in place of Google.  Except that this imaginary encyclopedia isn't even arranged alphabetically.  Everything is just sort of piled in there, stuck every which way with the first article about watermelons followed by zebras then something else totally unconnected to what came before or what came after.  How long would it take you to find the article about Hawaii? I can tell you, you'd be late for dinner!  But these volumes were "indexed" so that you could go to the back of the book and look up your subject in an alphabetical index.  That would send you not only to the right volume, but the exact page you needed....a primitive Google, if you will!  No bells and whistles....just words and pictures.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="75"]English: Google Logo officially released on Ma... English: Google Logo officially released on May 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

Welcome to the world of un-indexed US Census records or un-indexed city probate files or un-indexed anything!.  How is it that finding what we're looking for is so easy today?  The answer is simple: indexing!

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="75"]Adriana Hernandez baptized 1925 Adriana Hernandez baptized 1925 (Photo credit: GoCal83)[/caption]

 

So who does all this indexing? Family Search just announced that they have a billion records indexed.  That will sure help all of us in our diligent search for any genealogical records.  But the mystery remains: Who does all this indexing? The answer is so simple, I'm sure you already know.  It's you and me!  Well, I can say "you" if you've ever signed up as a volunteer indexer.  How did the search engines get the 1940 US Census up and searchable so fast?  Indexers, volunteer indexers.

Here's my point: If everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY could find the time to get involved just a little imagine the amazing, mind-numbing volume of records could be indexed in a single day!  Family Search has already had one "mass indexing day" back on 2 July 2012 when a total of nearly 50,000 indexers and arbitrators set a record for the most number of indexers working in one day!

Well they're planning on it again and YOU can help!  On Sunday, July 20, 2014 at 9 PM eastern time and continuing for 24 hours, Family Search is challenging all genealogists to break that 2012 record and index as many records as possible. Have you been indexing right along?  Then please be sure to participate in the "World Indexing Project" by indexing just one record...and more if you can!  But they're only asking for 50,000 plus to help with just one record.  That's all!

If you've never indexed records for Family Search, click on the "Indexing" tab on the home page and you'll discover how interesting it can be for a researcher to see how it all works.  Here's the "Worldwide Indexing Event" page at Family Search and here's "Worldwide Indexing Event" at their Facebook page which was set up strictly for this project. If you've never been to the site, you'll have to establish a user name and password.  But there's no cost, no membership fees, no worries!

Good luck!  Give it a shot!  No one starts out running, there's a short learning curve with plenty of on site assistance every

step of the way.  Like the commercial, "Try it!  You'll like it!!"

25 June 2014

Index to Collections at the Museum of Springfield History

The Lyman & Merrie Museum of Springfield History is what I would call "The Best Kept Genealogical Secret in Western

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="75"]Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum Of Springfield History Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum Of Springfield History (Photo credit: pecooper98362)[/caption]

Massachusetts."  It is a facility that is part of the Springfield Library system and is situated across the street from the Quadrangle of museums: the George Walter Vincent Smith Museum, the Springfield Science Museum, the Michelle and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts and the Connecticut Valley Historical Museum (currently under an extensive remodeling program). The Museum of Springfield History houses the History Library & Archives, the subject of the PVHN blog linked here: Index to Collections.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="75"]The Connecticut River and Pioneer Valley of Ma... The Connecticut River and Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. Looking south from Mt. Sugarloaf in Deerfield, toward the towns of Sunderland, Amherst and Whately. The buildings of the University of Massachusetts Amherst can be seen in the distance to the left, and farther off, the Holyoke range of mountains. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

The PVHN (Pioneer Valley Historical Network) is coordinated by one of the the archivists, Cliff McCarthy. Cliff posts e-mails of historical and genealogical activities throughout the Pioneer Valley by maintaining a large e-mail contact list. What I want everyone to be aware of is the PVHN Research Finding Aids Project.  To quote the blog :

Many of the Pioneer Valley’s museums and archives, both large and small, have printed “finding aids” for certain collections, or for their entire holdings.  These finding aids, once a standard practice for museums and archives, are used by museum staff to locate specific items from those collections.  For the researcher, they provide insight into the holdings of that museum or archives.  Frequently, these finding aids are not digitized and are nowhere to be found on the world wide web.

This project will enable researchers and the general public to utilize archival resources of the Pioneer Valley that are currently languishing because finding aids for many important collections have not been made available on the Internet.

It's another site that's well worth the look for anyone researching in Western Massachusetts.



24 June 2014

Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) Now Accepting Applications for APG Young Professional Scholarship

Below is the Press Release from the Association of Professional Genealogists regarding the "APG Young Professionals Scholarship."  As genealogists, we really don't talk about this subject enough.  The question is "Where will the next generation of professionals come from?"

I was a little surprised when my wife told me that a co-worker is a Boy Scout troop leader and was interested in having the scouts attend one of my "ABC's of Genealogy" classes.  The scouts were looking to earn a "Genealogy Merit BadgeGenealogy Badge."  So to be clear, that was 2 surprises: First, that my wife would be approached to talk to me about whether I would allow scouts to attend (of course!).  The second is the fact that I had no idea that the BSA offered a genealogy merit badge!!!

 

APG has a response to the next generation!  Here's the Press Release:
Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) Now Accepting Applications for APG Young Professional Scholarship

APG to Honor Student and/or Young Professional with Strong Interest in Developing a Career in Genealogy

WHEAT RIDGE, Colo., 23 June 2014—The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG®) is now accepting applications for the APG Young Professional Scholarship. Requirements have been revised to reflect current economic and educational trends and to be more inclusive of young parents, military personnel, home school candidates, students, and those currently employed between the ages of 18-29. The scholarship goes to a student and/or young professional who aspires to a professional career in genealogy. The scholarship includes a registration for the APG Professional Management Conference (PMC) and a stipend of up to $1,000 to defray costs of travel and lodging at the conference. The winner will be announced in August 2014 for attendance at the APG PMC 2015, which will take place in Salt Lake City on 8–9 January 2015.

“It is exciting to see so many young people involved in genealogy, and we are thrilled to be able to support an up-and-coming professional genealogist with this scholarship,” said Kimberly T. Powell, APG President. “Our APG Professional Management Conference offers a unique opportunity to learn more about the business of genealogy and explore advanced genealogical topics, while networking with other professionals. We look forward to receiving many applications.”

APG Youth Scholarship Eligibility and Application Details

Eligible applicants are between the ages of 18 and 29 as of 1 January of 2014. This is open to a student, young professional, young parents, military personnel, home school, and currently employed individuals. You may apply for yourself, or on behalf of a worthy candidate.
Applications should contain the following: name; address; main contact phone number; email address; school name and/or school address (if applicable); list of extracurricular activities (including student organizations and volunteer activities); a general letter of recommendation; a letter of recommendation from an individual who has witnessed the applicant’s interest in genealogy; and short answers (500 to 750 words) to two questions. The questions are:

1) Discuss a specific record collection, media, digital source or other resource that has significantly changed your perspective about family history or research strategy along with the pros and cons of that record source, and how you used it to resolve a genealogical problem.

2) What do you envision a genealogical career will encompass in the next five years and how do you see yourself involved then?

See the blog posting at www.apgen.org for the application. Applications should be submitted to the APG office by 22 July 2014. Send applications to APG Executive Director Kathleen W. Hinckley, CG, at admin@apgen.org.

About the Association of Professional Genealogists

 

The Association of Professional Genealogists, established in 1979, represents more than 2,700 genealogists, librarians, writers, editors, historians, instructors, booksellers, publishers, and others involved in genealogy-related businesses. APG encourages genealogical excellence, ethical practice, mentoring and education. The organization also supports the preservation and accessibility of records useful to the fields of genealogy and history. Its members represent all fifty states, Canada, and thirty other countries. APG is active on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

 

Media Contacts:

Kathleen W. Hinckley, CG

Executive Director
Association of Professional Genealogists
P.O. Box 535, Wheat Ridge, CO 80034-0535

Phone: +1-303-465-6980

email: admin@apgen.org

 

Corey Oiesen

Communications Officer

Association of Professional Genealogists

email: corey@genealogyheroes.com

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APG is a registered trademark of the Association of Professional Genealogists. All other trade and service marks are property of their respective owners.