Judy Russell, “The Legal Genealogist,” shared a simple story of serendipity recently. See “Legal Serendipity.”
A couple of days prior to that she shared a touching story she titled “Finding Evan.” Recommended reading.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Two Days Later Would Have Been Too Late
Monday, October 27, 2014
NARA Online Genealogy Fair
Day 1: Tuesday, October 28
Watch live video stream on YouTube
Captioning on Streamtext
Day 2: Wednesday, October 29
Watch live video stream on YouTube
Captioning on Streamtext
Day 3: video stream: Thursday, October 30
Watch live video stream on YouTube
Captioning on Streamtext
If you wish to ask questions (which you can do since this is a live event), you’ll have to get a Twitter account and learn how to send messages to @USNatArchives with hashtag #genfair2014. (I wonder if NARA checked that hashtag beforehand. Oh well. A little Indonesian music really livens up a genealogy fair.)
Sessions teach about Federal records, including citizenship, immigration, Indian, military, Federal land records, and the NARA website. There are two general interest sessions: introduction to genealogy and preserving your own records. Wednesday at noon (Eastern Time) Quinton Atkinson will teach about Ancestry.com and at 2 pm Carol Petranek will present about FamilySearch.
The schedule and handouts are and will be available online. More information is available on the NARA website.
Friday, October 24, 2014
Alaska’s Darned October 1867
We depend upon records to reveal the “truth” about our pasts.
Yet sometimes records have anomalies.
Some are amusing or humorous.
Some are interesting or weird.
Some are peculiar or suspicious.
Some are infuriating, even downright laughable.
Yes, “Records Say the Darnedest Things.”
Alaska’s Darned October 1867
Most genealogists know that in 1752 the calendar changed from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar. Most also know that the calendar change occurred in different years in different countries. “Julian and Gregorian Calendars,” in the FamilySearch Wiki lists the years for several countries.
Most genealogists may not know about the oddity that is Alaska.
Stephen Morse, creator of the famous One-Step Website, wrote an excellent article titled “The Julian Calendar and Why We Need to Know About It.” It appeared in the March 2014 issue of the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly on pages 36-42. Along with a general discussion on the conversion to the Gregorian Calendar, Morse wrote about the weird situation that occurred in Alaska when it was transferred from Russia to the United States.
The day before the transfer was Friday, 6 October 1867 in Russia. Russia was still on the Julian Calendar. The day of the transfer was Saturday, 7 October 1867, in Russia. That date corresponds with Saturday, 19 October 1867, Gregorian Calendar.
However, like a modern day traveller who gains a day flying from Russia to America, Alaska gained another day! It had two Fridays in a row. That made the official transfer day Friday, 18 October 1867, Gregorian Calendar.
This is the Alaskan Calendar for October 1867:
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 18 | 19 | |||||
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
Darned Alaskan October 1867!
Other Sources
“State of Alaska.” Alaska TourSaver. http://www.toursaver.com/state-of-alaska/ : accessed 24 May 2014.
Wikipedia contributors. "Alaska Purchase." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alaska_Purchase&oldid=607001480 : accessed 26 May 2014.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
ICAPGEN Conference Coming 1 November 2014
ICAPGEN provided the following press release about their upcoming conference. (I’m not doing very well on my two article goal this week, am I.)
The annual family history conference co-sponsored by ICAPGen and the Center for Family History and Genealogy at Brigham Young University will be held on Saturday, November 1, 2014 in the Joseph F. Smith building on the BYU campus. Come celebrate 50 years of genealogical credentialing with some amazing classes on accreditation, professional research, methodology, technology and DNA research. The luncheon speaker will be David Rencher. Lunch is included in the low price of the conference. It will be a great day! Go to www.icapgen.org to see the conference schedule. Sign up for the conference online here: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/icapgen-2014-conference-tickets-12947561505
Or to view the conference schedule go here: http://www.icapgen.org/icapgen/sites/default/files/pdf/ConfReg2_0.pdf
About ICAPGen: The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists, internationally recognized as ICAPGen, is a professional credentialing organization dedicated to testing an individual’s competence in genealogical research. The organization is administered by a board of qualified Commissioners with many years of experience. Professional credentials with ICAPGen provide numerous benefits. For additional information go to www.icapgen.org.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Free Ancestry.com Genealogy Toolkit
Here’s a sampling of the available offerings listed in the toolkit:
- Free Charts & Forms
- Ancestry Red Book: American State, County & Town Sources (Online reference)
- Irish Research in the U.S. and Ireland (Free downloadable PDF guide)
- 5-minute Finds (Short videos)
- County Look-up
Download your free Ancestry.com genealogy toolkit from http://c.ancestry.com/cs/media/social-research-genealogy-toolkit.pdf.
P.S. Earlier this month I decided that I need to re-balance my weekends. That means less time writing this column and more time in other aspects of my life. The goal is to write no more than two articles each week. There is always so much to write about and I like writing this column so much, we’ll see how well I do.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Monday Mailbox: Ancestry Library Edition
My wife and I have been asked to teach a class of newbies “How to use AncestryLibrary” and while doing a little research on the difference between the library version and Ancestry.com, I looked in the card catalog for each and found that Ancestry.com claims 32,396 collections (25,698 of these are USA) while the CC for the library version claims 9,853 collections (3,872 are USA).
The Library version also has this “Ancestry Library Edition is available in the U.S., the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Denmark, Ireland and Norway, and provides access to billions of historical documents, millions of historical photos, plus local narratives, oral histories, indexes and other resources in over 30,000 databases that span from the 1500s to the 2000s.”
Which of these is really true and which is just hype? Seems to me that the last statement is a form of “bait and switch” if the CC is correct. If the CC is not correct, then there must be a lot of databases NOT cataloged in the library version–why?
Harry Dell
Dear Harry,
I asked Ancestry.com’s Kim Harrison to answer your questions. Her response follows. (I’ve edited it slightly, so blame me for the english erors.)
Signed,
---The Ancestry Insider
From Kim:
Ancestry comes in all sizes and shapes to fit our customer needs. Here is the break out of the different types of Ancestry being delivered.
Ancestry Library Edition:
This is offered by ProQuest to libraries. The content is U.S. and International. It has some limitations and restrictions:
- You cannot build online trees.
- The Ancestry Library Edition cannot be accessed remotely (at home). [You must visit the library.]
- There are some U.S. Content exclusions. These are titles that are already offered in the library setting by other library vendors. For example: 70 Genealogical Publishing Company titles (these titles usually are abstract or indexes affecting some of the east coast states), some county histories (these are offered by ProQuest in HeritageQuest), Gale (now known as Cengage) titles (Filby’s Ship & Passenger List and Biography & Genealogy Master Index [BGMI]), and some newspaper content that we licensed from ProQuest (such as their ProQuest Obituary database).
- Community features are not available, such as sending messages to other members, posting on message boards, buying DNA products, and so on. Most of the message boards are read only.
Ancestry Institution Edition:
This edition is offered in places that have a special relationship with Ancestry such as the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), FamilySearch, and state archives. There is no content exclusion in this offering. However, this offering can be restricted by regional interest. In the U.S. this offering is restricted to U.S. only for K12 schools.
As with the Ancestry Library Edition, it cannot be accessed remotely (at home). You cannot build online trees. And there are the same restrictions on community features.
Ancestry.com:
This is offered to the individual for at home use. Content offerings can be purchased by region of interest such as the U.S. The World Explorer subscription includes all international content.
Ancestry.com offers the most robust of what I call the “connection” features:
- Share and build online trees
- Use message boards
- Interact with company experts using social media sites
- Explore your DNA ethnicity and matches with others that share your DNA makeup
All these editions have:
- the same search functions, including filters
- the same ability to print, cut & paste, save to jump drive, or e-mail home
- the same Learning Center
Friday, October 10, 2014
Serendipity in Genealogy from NEHGS Readers
In its Weekly Genealogist newsletter, the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) asked recently if readers had had an experience of sheer luck or serendipity which had allowed them to break through a brick wall. They gave the results In the 1 October 2014 issue. About 4,000 readers responded to the survey. Of those, 72% said yes, 23% said no, and 5% said they didn’t believe in luck (which is another way of saying no).
Several readers emailed their stories or posted them on the NEHGS Facebook page. Newsletter editor, Lynn Betlock, shared some of them. One was researching one ancestor at the National Archives and found a document—misfiled—for a brick wall ancestor. In similar fashion, another reader was researching one ancestor only to find a brick-wall ancestor as a witness to a wedding far away from where they were known to be.
Read these short accounts for yourself in the newsletter and on the Facebook page.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
FamilySearch Search Page Changes Cause Consternation
In recent months FamilySearch has been experimenting with different designs for the historical records search page. These changes have led to confusion and frustration on the part of some users. (For example, see feedback to a Facebook post by Pat Richley-Erickson.)
CHANGES
Previously, a “Browse All Published Collections” link sat just beneath the search button. It led to a list of all collections. The list is used extensively by experienced genealogists. Underneath it was a list of links leading to the collection list filtered to a particular region of the world. An inert world map sat just to the right.
In an effort to make it more visible, FamilySearch moved the “Browse All Published Collections” link up and to the right of the search form. (I don’t have a screen shot of that.) This placed it “above the fold,” meaning there was no need to scroll down to see it. The inert map moved with it, although I can’t remember if it sat above or beneath.
FamilySearch next made the world map interactive. Click on a region of the world and FamilySearch displays a list of countries in that region. Click on a country and FamilySearch displays summary information about its collection. A third click takes you to a page specific to that country or U.S. state. (See “FamilySearch Offers an Interactive World Map for Searches” on the FamilySearch Blog.) When the world map became interactive, the browse-all link remained just underneath it:
Recently, FamilySearch moved the browse-all link back down underneath the search button and added some search tips underneath it. This change hid the link from many users. The interactive map stayed to the right of the search form.
To further confuse the situation, the FamilySearch.org website is designed to respond to different size screens. This is most helpful for mobile devices, but also affects laptop and desktop computers. As window size gets smaller, elements of the website move around. For example, if the screen width is a little too small, FamilySearch swaps the location of the search tips and the world map:
In all these machinations, the browse-all link remains where it usually was: underneath the search button.
COLLECTION LIST VERSUS COUNTRY PAGES
One element lost in the redesign was a list of links to the collection list filtered to world regions. This has led to confusion when users use the interactive map as a substitute. Take the United States as an example. The filtered collection list for the U.S. has camera icons indicating collections with images. It has record counts indicating collections with indexed records. There are three possible combinations: images only, records only, or both.
In comparison, the country-specific search page for the United States is… well… incomparable. It’s apples and oranges. It’s not designed to be a list of collections. Instead, it is a more holistic reflection of genealogists’ focus on location-based research.
The page is dominated by a search form for searching indexed historical records. Beneath that is a list of image-only record collections. The idea is to make the existence of these collections more visible to the less-experienced user. In the right column are three boxes. The Learning Center box advertises the existence of the Learning Center, highlights two of its online courses, and links to the complete list of courses about the target country. The FamilySearch Catalog box links to the catalog with the country (in this case, the United States) already entered into the place field. The FamilySearch Wiki box links to the wiki article about the target country.
Set unobtrusively above the Search button is a link to show a list of the indexed collections. Its purpose is to enable a search of a subset of all collections. While the list was not designed to fill the same role as the collection list, the addition of camera icons would be a major improvement. Indexed collections with images are far more valuable than those without. To effectively select a subset of collections, a user needs to be able to distinguish the two.
PARTIALLY INDEXED COLLECTIONS
There is another weakness to both the collection list and the country pages. Some collections are only partially indexed. To completely search the collection, you must browse images in addition to searching the index. FamilySearch does nothing to inform users of partially indexed collections (other than an occasional hint dropped in a collection description or a Wiki article). Ideally, FamilySearch should show what percentage of the posted images have been indexed. If calculating a percentage is beyond FamilySearch’s technology, users would still appreciate a little icon indicating the presence of unindexed images. If that too exceeds FamilySearch’s abilities, FamilySearch should show three columns: collection name, record count, and image count. Comparison of the two will often signal the lack of a complete index.
THE COLLECTION LIST
The collection list is still available and the link is still just beneath the search button. I use the collection list constantly, so I have it prominently bookmarked in the middle of my bookmark toolbar. Here’s the URL to bookmark: https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list.
Since I don’t like how long it takes to load that page, I also bookmark the collection list filtered to the United States: https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list/?page=1®ion=UNITED_STATES.
FamilySearch should consider restoring the links it removed from the search page:
- Browse by Location
- Africa
- Asia and Middle East
- Australia and New Zealand
- Canada
- Caribbean, Central and South America
- Continental Europe
- Mexico
- Pacific Islands
- United Kingdom and Ireland
- United States
If they don’t, you can filter the collection list yourself. Click the browse-all link beneath the search button. Then click the place filters to the left of the collection list.
SUMMARY
In what seems like just a single month, FamilySearch’s numerous changes to the Search page have left users confused. Obscuring the location of the Browse All Published Collections link and removing the other location links effectively removed the collection list page. Country-specific pages appeared to be an inadequate replacement. The indexed collection list is hidden and lacks camera icons.
The good news is that the collection list isn’t really gone and it remains unchanged. The link to it still sits underneath the search button. And the new, country-specific pages add functionality previously unavailable.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
FamilySearch Adds Audio File Upload
[Update: Since I previewed this article last Saturday, FamilySearch removed the reference to the inaccessible list of OS/browser combinations that don’t work. They have also enhanced the announcement to more fully describe the new feature.]
FamilySearch is pleased to announce the new audio files upload feature as part of the Memories tab options in Family Tree. Patrons can now add audio files to FamilySearch, and attach them to their ancestors for others to discover and enjoy.
Audio recordings are handled much the same way as photos. Recordings can be uploaded, tagged to memory persons, attached to tree persons, titled, described, and stored in albums.
The FamilySearch website says “Your priceless family memories are accessible to you and your family online, and will be preserved in our state-of-the-art archive facilities.” Underneath this is a picture of the Granite Mountain Record Vault. I wonder if FamilySearch is going to shoulder the expense of keeping your photos and recordings accessible as file formats become obsolete. Photos and audio recordings are accepted in formants that may be difficult to sustain. (See “Sustainability of Digital Formats Planning for Library of Congress Collections.”) Already, some recordings are inaccessible in some situations. For example, m4a files are inaccessible using Firefox on Apple and Android devices. The article links to a list of supported browser/OS combinations, but that list is also inaccessible. [Note: FamilySearch has since removed this link.]
If FamilySearch means what they say, I highly recommend utilizing their offer to keep your memories accessible. But to be safe, I think you should also archive your own copies and plan on bearing the burden of conversion from technology to technology.
To read the entire FamilySearch announcement, see “Audio File Upload Feature Now Available on Family Tree.” (As I write this, ironically, that article is inaccessible. If the link still doesn’t work when you read this, try https://familysearch.org/blog/en/tag/audio-files/.)
Friday, October 3, 2014
Ancestry.com Organizing Find A Grave Community Event
“While we started with a few locations in the USA, we hope to inspire meetups all around the world and expect [the list of participating cities] to grow quite large over the coming weeks. These events are all volunteer run and are easy to set up. We hope you will be inspired to host an event in your local town,” said Wells. She has provided detailed instructions on setting up an event in your local community. As of last weekend when I wrote this article, volunteers have already established a 33 meetups.
The FamilySearch event goal was 50,000 indexers in a 24 hour period. A total of 66,511 people indexed at least one batch. The number could have been much higher but many who tried to participate ran into technical glitches. “We are grateful for the patience and persistence of many volunteers who faced technical difficulties due to an overwhelming response.” Ancestry.com seems to have taken a cue from FamilySearch’s problems. Having advanced registration will help them know how many additional servers to add to their system.
More information about cemetery etiquette and the Find A Grave world-wide indexing event can be found at http://www.ancestry.com/cs/find-a-grave-community-day.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
RootsTech Expects to Fill Up Quickly
If the conference doesn’t fill quickly, the hotels certainly will. The conference is colocated with the 2015 annual conference of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS). The conference hotels are the Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek, the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel, the Hilton Salt Lake City Center, and the Radisson Hotel Salt Lake City Downtown. Discount pricing is the same for attendees of RootsTech or FGS. Alternatives to the conference hotels are within the Utah Transit Authority’s free fair zone. Pick hotels near the Trax light rail stops for added convenience. The Little America is just outside the free fair zone, but within walking distance of the free fare Courthouse Station.
More information about RootsTech is available on the RootsTech website, and more information about the FGS conference is available on the FGS conference website.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Monday Mailbox: Browsing Images on Ancestry.com
Dear Ancestry Insider,
I have been enjoying Ancestry.com, but I do have one question. If you suspect the record you need is in a particular record collection which contains images, but it does not come up on any search, is there a way to go directly to the images and manually search them? For example, the christening of a child is shown in
Dorset, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906
but using search there are no further records found for that child. When viewing an image of a page, I can view some nearby pages by clicking to the left or right of the image number at the bottom of the image. But if it is not found there, is there a way to go into the whole record collection to search through all the images? I have used your method very successfully to do this in FamilySearch.
Signed,
Doris Bateman
Dear Doris,
Yes, there is. On the collection page look in the right-hand column for a box labeled “Browse this collection.” See the circled box in the screen shot, below? Click on the word “Choose…” in the dropdown control. Just as successive choices in a FamilySearch.org collection yield another level of choices, Ancestry.com will display additional options beneath the first. Choose until you reach the group of images. In addition to the left and right arrows, you can jump straight to an image by entering the image number in place of the current image number.
Signed,
---The Ancestry Insider
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Ancestry.com News Ketchup
Find A Grave Celebrates 100 Million Photos
Jim Tipton founded Ancestry.com’s Find A Grave in 1995. I remember coming across it. It was a website featuring gravesites of the rich and famous. It was cool, but I never would have guessed it would become the powerful genealogical tool that it is today. Well, Find A Grave recently received its 100 millionth photograph.
For more information, see the Ancestry.com blog article, “Find A Grave Celebrates 100 Million Photos On Site!”
Expanded Yearbook Collection
Earlier this month Ancestry.com substantially added to their yearbook collection. They previously had about 56,000 yearbooks. They’ve added about 43,000, bringing the total to 99,000. Check out the expanded collection at “U.S. School Yearbooks, 1880-2012.”
Vitals from NEHGS Register
According to the 10 September 2014 issue of the Weekly Genealogist, the New England Historic Genealogical Society and Ancestry.com are working together to produce a database of births, marriages, and deaths that have appeared in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. “This collection currently includes records from volumes 82 through 165 and holds more than 180,000 records.”
Published quarterly since 1847, the New England Historical and Genealogical Register is the flagship journal of American genealogy and the oldest journal in the field. The Register has featured articles on a wide variety of topics since its inception, including vital records, church records, tax records, land and probate records, cemetery transcriptions, obituaries, and historical essays. Authoritative compiled genealogies have been the centerpiece of the Register for more than 150 years. Thousands of New England families have been treated in the pages of the journal and many more are referenced in incidental ways throughout. These articles may range from short pieces correcting errors in print or solving unusual problems to larger treatments that reveal family origins or present multiple generations of a family.1
I assume that Ancestry.com will also publish the database at some time, but I’ve found no indication of if or when.
Ancestry.com Adds Mexican Website
The “Visit our other sites” dropdown list at the bottom of Ancestry.com indicates they now have a Mexican website. I haven’t seen any public announcement. But then again, I’m not in the target audience and don’t read any Spanish media! The URL of the new site is http://www.ancestry.mx/.
Sources
1. Sam Sturgis and Christopher Carter, “NEHGS Database News,” Weekly Genealogist, online copy of email newsletter (http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=eksel7bab&v=001sR9KXnYiTHiHP5UR17_6lUVPGwW7yTkCSMi3M9nVlgCnurBfBjOelqxk9LM84ExwTc0JfizCxY93UeKFjNYtSHeryE2utUYOnyYxM45qGoRpHSYHxtqSpStMGqW3g1tK : accessed 21 September 2014).
FamilySearch Invites You to #MeetMyGrandma
“Let family, friends, and future generations meet YOUR grandma. Preserve her priceless memories on FamilySearch.”
Not everyone is comfortable with the privacy—and sometimes lack thereof—afforded the photos and stories uploaded to FamilySearch. Once you upload a memory (photo or story), you can share it on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, or other social network. This often means anyone can see it, whether the memory includes living people or not. For example,the tweet https://twitter.com/bahr_ellen/status/511932671983767552 apparently includes living children.
Even if you delete the social post, anyone with the memory’s URL can still see it. For the tweet example, the story URL, https://familysearch.org/photos/stories/10126973, and the photo URL, https://familysearch.org/photos/images/4944420, will work until the photo and story are deleted.
An article in the FamilySearch help center, titled “Adding Photos, Documents, or Stories of a living person to Family Tree,” states that “you can add items for a living person to Family Tree. You should be aware of local privacy laws. Obtain permission from living persons before you post the item.” However, most people post without permission. The article goes on to say that “If you find a Memory of yourself on Family Tree and you do not want it to be posted there, you may request that it be removed.”
The problem extends beyond URLs shared on social networks. Google is sometimes allowed to index memories on FamilySearch containing living persons. FamilySearch does not clearly explain the conditions under which this occurs. On the FamilySearch feedback system, Cathy Andreregg shared an example Google search that shows photographs she uploaded to FamilySearch containing living people. In response, another user explained that her photos were visible because Google is allowed to index all albums (photo collections). A Google search for albums returns over 36,000, so this may well be true. In addition to the memories that Google indexes from social networks, FamilySearch allows Google to index memories that are attached to deceased persons—and only deceased persons—in Family Tree.
Memories with a mixture of living and deceased persons are problematic. If you attach the memory to a deceased person but not a living person, then Google will index it. If you also attach it to a living person, the help center article warns of another problem. “If you have an item linked to two or more people, one who is deceased, and you tag all of the people in the item, then others who navigate the tree and see the deceased person's item will also see the living person in the deceased person's Memories tab.” That gives them potential access to multiple memories about that living person.
So what does this all mean? Assume that anything you post online is or will become public. Get people’s permissions before posting their images or stories. And by all means, introduce me to your grandma.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Monday Mailbox: Numbers Instead of Place Names
Hello Ancestry Insider:
I subscribe to your blog postings and enjoy what you write and the way you write it.
I’m wondering if you could point me to where I can “decode” numerical references to place names, which I sometimes see on others’ Ancestry trees. For example, I’ve just found one now where the place of death is shown as Caernarvonshire, 1651440, Wales. “1651440” is definitely not the post code (= zip code). I’m aware of Family Search’s Standard Placename Finder (https://familysearch.org/stdfinder/PlaceStandardLookup.jsp), which as well as a Geo-code, also gives a 7-digit numerical identification number. So I’m pretty certain that these 7-digit numbers I see on some trees are these ID numbers. However, I’ve not found a way to “decode” them to give either the place name or the Geo-code. Can you help? After not being able to find out a way on extensive Google searches, I posted a message on FamilySearch 2-3 years ago (can’t find it now), but no-one responded.
I think it would make a great blog posting if you could explain about these numbers and how to decode them back to something that is meaningful.
Many thanks, Sue Griffith.
Dear Sue,
I searched Ancestry Member Trees and found examples of what you’ve mentioned, For example,
and
It may be that these trees contained these numbers before they were uploaded to Ancestry.com. I’ll ask Ancestry.com if this can be fixed.
Thanks,
---The Ancestry Insider
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Ancestry.com Updates Mobile App – Receives Technology Patent
The Ancestry App can show a list of all the hints from your tree. Sort the list so that the best hints are shown at the top, or so that the most recent ones are at the top. Filter hints by surname and type (photo, story, or record).
The Ancestry App can show a list of the most recent comments made about your contributions. Click on one to see it in the context of your tree. From there, respond with a comment of your own.
Version 6.0 includes badges and notifications. It allows you to view a list of ancestors, filtered by name and other characteristics: direct ancestors, end of line, living relatives, people with hints, and people with recent hints.
Ancestry.com is advancing the technology of genealogy mobile apps and was recently granted a patent for technology used in older versions of the app. Ancestry.com applied for the patent back in 2011 and the government granted it on 1 July 2014. (If you’re familiar with patents, have a technical bent, and want to see something humorous, take a look at the abstract of the patent.)
For more information about version 6.0 of the Ancestry Mobile App, see “Ancestry Mobile iOS 6.0 Release Now Available.” For more information about the Ancestry.com patent, see “Ancestry.com Awarded Patent for Displaying Pedigree Charts on a Touch Device.”
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
FamilySearch’s Electronic Books - #BYUFHGC
Meldrum announced that FamilySearch had exceeded 150,000 books in their electronic book collection! (I see the total is now over 166,000.) That is amazing. In addition to family, local, and county histories, the collection contains directories, how-to books, medieval genealogies, Bible records, cemetery records, vital records, biographies, periodicals, yearbooks, and gazetteers. Only books are included in the collection. Generally, that means it’s going to have a title page and an author.
FamilySearch is digitizing these books to make them readily and freely available, and to preserve them for future generations. And it is not just digitizing FamilySearch’s own collection. Here is a list of its partners. (I’ve shown how many books have come from each, according to the FamilySearch Books website.)
- Allen County Public Library (Fort Wayne, Indiana) - 21,954 – There are eight full-time missionaries scanning there.
- Brigham Young University Harold B. Lee Library (Provo, Utah) *
- Brigham Young University-Idaho David O. McKay Library (Rexburg, Idaho) *
- Church History Library (Salt Lake City, Utah) *
- FamilySearch Family History Library (Salt Lake City, Utah) - 123,495 *
- Houston Public Library Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research (Houston, Texas) - 4,454
- Internet Archive (various institutions)- 20,931
- Mid-Continent Public Library Midwest Genealogy Center (Independence, Missouri) - 4,075
* I’m guessing the book count for the Family History Library includes these partners as well as some family history centers, including Mesa, Arizona; Ogden, Utah; and St. George, Utah.
As of the time of the conference, FamilySearch was soon going to add additional partners: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Larsen-Sant Public Library (Preston, Idaho), and Onondaga County Public Library (Syracuse, New York). In addition to partner sites, they also have scanning centers in Las Vegas, Nevada; Oakland, California; Orange, California; Pocatello, Idaho; Sacramento, California; and West Valley City, Utah.
Book scanning has been possible only through the many hours worked by 190 volunteers. (They are always looking for replacements, as volunteers serve for less than two years. Contact books@familysearch.org.) At the time of the conference, volunteers had already put in 135,000 hours this year, scanning 84,000 books, or about 16.8 million pages. FamilySearch was using 38 book scanners. Two of the types cost $15,000 and $35,000 apiece.
It’s easier than you might think to find these gems. FamilySearch’s book collection allows full text searching of all 166,000 books. Begin your search at http://books.familysearch.org. Search for a name, an author, a place, or a title. Use Advanced Search to add additional criteria: subject, periodical title, or reviewed materials. (That later category refers to titles marked by the history department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)
Use the filters along the left margin to filter by material type (book, periodical, etc.), library collection, author/creator, and language. (As I am writing this, there are 6,000 German books, 3,500 French, 1,900 Dutch, and almost a thousand Danish books. There are books in Norwegian, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Finnish, Icelandic, Hungarian, and 16 other languages.)
Sort the results by relevance, date, popularity, author, or title. In the future, you will be able to sort the unrestricted books together.
Use advanced search features: wildcards, quotes, AND, OR, NOT, and parentheses.
Unfortunately, some books are still protected by copyright so they can not be viewed outside a family history center. Even less fortunate, the messages communicating this are not well worded:
- “You don’t have sufficient rights to view requested object. Access denied” – This message means the book must be viewed at a family history center or the Salt Lake Family History Library. These books are also subtly marked with an icon over the cover thumbnail.
- “Item is currently in use by another user. Somebody else is currently using this book, and only one user can use this book at a time. Please check back for availability in 60 minutes.” – You should get this error only at a family history center. If you get it elsewhere, then the system is misbehaving.
- “Unauthorized Access,” or some other variation – This is common when a book had to be withdrawn. There may have been a quality issue, or FamilySearch discovered it didn’t have rights to post the book.
- “404 error” – You can get this error if you try manually editing the URL.
There are other problems trying to use FamilySearch Books and FamilySearch is planning on addressing them. There are some browser and device issues. FamilySearch is addressing them by changing to a viewer like Internet Archives’s. This is planned for Q4 or Q1. Until then, if you have rendering issues, upgrade your browser or try a different browser, upgrade your Adobe Reader or try a different PDF viewer. Another problem is limited in-book manipulations. They plan on adding them (although they didn’t mention what they are). Searching within a book is pretty limited today; they plan on implementing more robust in-book searching. Today, searching historical records doesn’t tell you about matches in books; and record hints don’t include matches in books. FamilySearch hopes to fix these limitations. While not a problem, per se, the books.familysearch.org page is pretty dull and of limited functionality. FamilySearch hopes to beef it up, with digital donations, collection highlights (unique books), and updates.
Meldrum and De Graw ended with an invitation to submit your books for publication on FamilySearch Books. To quote from the syllabus:
Your family history books can be added to the Family History Book collection. If the book is copyright we need written permission from the copyright holder (normally the author). This permission is given on the Authorized Gift Form. You can get a copy of this Form by emailing books@familysearch.org.
FamilySearch can accept books in either traditional hardcopy or electronic format.
Monday, September 15, 2014
Conference Early Bird Discounts Extended – Deadline Today
Another upside is that the conferences are being held in Salt Lake City, just south of the famed Family History Library. The downside of that is, you may be vying with 5,000 other people for 50 microfilm readers. Okay, maybe that isn’t an upside. Still, the two conferences together or alone may be worth the trip. And the library is extending its hours for conference attendees.
RootsTech offers a plethora of registration options for the general public (one day or three day passes for 12-14 February 2015), technologists (11 February), beginners (one or three day passes), students (three day passes), and families (who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - 14 February). Over 200 classes are listed on the conference schedule. Frequently asked questions are answered on the RootsTech website.
The FGS Conference offers registration options for early-bird, regular, onsite, single day, and student rate. The FGS Conference brochure will answer your questions about the tracks, sessions, speakers, hotels, and travel options. The FGS conference opens Wednesday night with a special event, “Behind the Scenes: Family History & Television.” Tickets are $10. Further information is available on the conference website and on the conference blog.
The FGS Conference and RootsTech share expo hall, keynote sessions, and Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evening events. The two share two lecture tracks on Saturday on technology and DNA. Each offers their own set of extra cost luncheons. Full conference registrants of one conference can add the other for $39.
While generally the conferences run Thursday through Saturday (12-14 February 2014), both FGS and RootsTech have specialized events on Wednesday. FGS sponsors Focus on Societies Day for genealogical society officers, board members, and perennial volunteers. Focus on Societies is included in your regular FGS registration. RootsTech sponsors the Innovator Summit for software developers, business leaders, and entrepreneurs. This event can be added to your RootsTech 3-day pass for $20. On Tuesday, ProQuest sponsors Librarians’ Day for $10.
While the special discount price expires today, early bird pricing continues through 23 January 2015.
Extra credit: This frame, below, from a RootsTech 2015 promotional video, captured several people I know at RootsTech 2014. In true Waldo fashion, if you know them, can you find them?
- Myself (the suspenders and T-shirt give me away)
- More than three official conference bloggers (including Renee, Randy, and Myrt)
- FGS 2014 Conference chair (Ed)
- More than three current and former FGS officers and board members (including Cherie, Gordon, and Mike)
- More than two deputies to David Rencher, FamilySearch chief genealogical officer (including Fran and Elaine)
- Retired president of OCLC and WorldCat (Jay Jordan)
- Two general authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Elder Bradley D. Foster and Elder Allan F. Packer)
Friday, September 12, 2014
Ancestry Insider Photographed at FGS Conference
A reader caught this photo of me at the recent Federation of Genealogical Societies conference:
New readers may not be aware that I am the Wilson of genealogy bloggers. Diane Haddad, the Genealogy Insider at Family Tree Magazine, started the tradition when she published this photograph of me:
Diane Haddad, “Secret Genealogy Blogger Revealed! (Partially),” Genealogy Insider: Family Tree Magazine(http://blog.familytreemagazine.com/insider/2009/01/11/SecretGenealogyBloggerRevealedPartially.aspx : 11 January 2009).
Here are some other photos of me, several with famous people:
There are also pictures of me on other bloggers’ websites:
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