New and updated collections at FamilySearch

Paula Stuart-Warren  FamilySearch  Leave a comment

If you have been in the audience at any of my presentations at genealogy events, you know I stress that we need to keep returning to online databases because new and updated items are constantly added.  A selection from a press release from FamilySearch is a perfect example of this.

New FamilySearch Collections Update: May 2, 2016

Millions of new US an international records this week including Philippines Civil Registration (National) 1945-1984, New Zealand Archives New Zealand Probate Records 1843-1998, Massachusetts Town Clerk Vital and Town Records 1626-2001, France Saône-et-Loire Military Conscriptions 1867-1940 Russia Tatarstan Church Books 1721-1939, Paraguay Catholic Church Records 1754-2015, and Ukraine Kyiv Orthodox Consistory Church Book Duplicates 1734-1920.

Some of these items:

Drew Smith receives well-deserved Genealogical Librarianship award

Paula Stuart-Warren  Awards, Genealogy Guys, National Genealogical Society  Leave a comment

What does a blogger do when a dear friend receives a special award? Blogs about it, of course. I had lunch this past Saturday with Drew and his husband, George Morgan, plus Peggy Clemens Lauritzen at the Ohio Genealogical Society Conference. We talked and talked and, if he knew, he didn’t give the secret away. Congratulations, dear Drew. [Update he did NOT know about it!]

This is today’s announcement from the National Genealogical Society:

Arlington, VA, 3 May 2016— Drew Smith, MLS, is the 2016 recipient of the Filby Award for Genealogical Librarianship. Smith, an Assistant Librarian in the Academic Services department of the University of South Florida Tampa Library, received his award and its $1,000 prize, which is underwritten by ProQuest, at the opening session of the National Genealogical Society (NGS) 2016 Family History Conference in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The Filby Award is named for the late P. William Filby, former director of the Maryland Historical Society and author of many core genealogical reference tools that genealogists have relied on for decades.  Created in 1999 by NGS, the award has been sponsored by ProQuest and Mr. William Forsyth since 2006.

Smith joined the University of South Florida Tampa Library and Information Science (now the School of Information) as an instructor and held that post to 2007. During that time, he taught undergraduate-level courses in library/Internet research skills and website design, and graduate-level courses in genealogical librarianship and indexing/abstracting.  He is the founder and administrator of the GENEALIB mailing list, a service for librarians serving genealogists.

He has written articles on genealogy for Genealogical Computing, Digital Computing, and NGS NewsMagazine (now NGS Magazine) and currently writes Rootsmithing with Technology column for FORUM, published quarterly by the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS).  In 2009, Genealogical Publishing Company published his first genealogy book, Social Networking for Genealogists. His second book, co-authored with George G. Morgan, is Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques, published in 2013 by McGraw-Hill.

Smith regularly speaks at conferences and meetings of national, state, and local genealogy societies, especially on topics linking genealogy and technology.  Together with George G. Morgan, he has been the co-host of The Genealogy Guys Podcast, the longest-running regularly produced genealogy podcast in the world, since 2005.  Smith presented “Genealogy Programming at Your Library” at this year’s NGS Conference Librarians’ Day.

Smith served nine years as the president of the Florida Genealogical Society of Tampa, two years as secretary of the Association of Professional Genealogists, five years as a Director of FGS, and is current chair of the Family History Information Standards Organization.

Founded in 1903, the National Genealogical Society is dedicated to genealogical education, exemplary standards of research, and the preservation of genealogical records.  The Arlington, Virginia, based nonprofit is the premier national society for everyone, from the beginner to the most advanced family historian, seeking excellence in publications, educational offerings, and guidance in research. It also offers many opportunities to interact with other genealogists.

Please visit the NGS Pressroom for further information.

May 7, Brainerd Public Library genealogy presentations

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  Leave a comment

Next Saturday, May 7, I am doing three presentations at the Brainerd Public Library in Minnesota. I do stay in Minnesota sometimes.

  • 9:30am – Tho’ They Were Poor, They May Have Been Rich in Records
  • 11:00am – The Farmer in the Dell . . . and in Many U.S. Records
  • 1:00pm – Railroad Records and Railroad History: Methods for Tracking

Register for all three or just one. Each presentation has an extensive handout on the subject. Participants can register by calling the library at 218-829-5574.

Visit the library’s website for descriptions of each lecture. Scroll down the main page to see these. http://www.krls.org/branches/branch_br.html

New online benefit for FGS member societies

Paula Stuart-Warren  Conferences, Conferences/Institutes, Federation of Genealogical Societies, FGS  Leave a comment

At its annual conferences, the Federation of Genealogical Societies has a special day offering Logo91presentations directed at the leaders of genealogical societies, other volunteers, and the members of those organizations.

Not everyone knows that these presentations are also helpful in the running of other historical and ethnic organizations. The society technology lectures often help others seeking more knowledge of websites, tech tools, and more. A wide array of these presentations will be offered at the FGS 2016 four-day conference this August 31-September 3 in Springfield, Illinois. Anyone registered for the conference may attend the Focus on Societies presentations.

In the meantime, a new online benefit has been added for FGS member societies. “In an effort to expand some of the society management learning opportunities to more of our FGS Member Societies and thanks to the generosity of our speakers, FGS is now able to provide access to selected “Focus on Societies” Day audio recordings of selected past national conferences to FGS Member Society leaders!” The first set of these is from the 2014 FGS conference that was held in San Antonio, Texas.

The availability of these presentations is a suggestion I made to FGS last year. It’s neat to see it come to fruition. I am a member of the FGS Board of Directors and we are volunteers that do a lot to serve FGS member societies and all genealogists.

  • Learn more about the member benefit of these online recordings and to see the entire list, click here.
  • Learn more about the 2016 conference that will also be celebrating FGS’ 40th Anniversary! Click here.

 

Upcoming Presentations: Ohio, Minnesota, California, and Washington

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  Leave a comment

The next two months bring me some fun travel to do genealogy presentations in several states. I hope to see my readers at these. Please be sure to let me know that you are a Genealogy by Paula reader and you will get an extra smile! Next week I will detail where I will be presenting in July – September. (You can always check under the Speaking tab above to see my full speaking calendar.)

 

Right now! DNA Sales at Ancestry and FTDNA

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  2 Comments

DNA Day is April 25th. Celebrate by getting your DNA tested and that of aunts, uncles, parents, siblings, nieces, nephews and all the cousins. I have tested with both companies as have some family members.

  • Ancestry DNA http://dna.ancestry.com/  $79 per kit for a savings of $20! For FREE shipping use the code FREESHIPDNA for each kit. The sale ends “April 26, 2016 at 11:59 p.m. ET.”  This is for autosomal testing.
  • FamilyTree DNA  https://www.familytreedna.com/ is about to announce it is also having a sale on autosomal $79 (FamilyFinder), mtDNA, and Y tests. The sale is good through April 26, 2016 at 11:50 p.m. CT. Free shipping is included. This is not a sale for upgrades but chatter says that will be a later sale.

Don’t know much about DNA? Books, websites, blogs, Facebook pages, and You Tube videos will get you started. Look for a DNA interest group in your genealogical society. I belong to one that is a part of the Minnesota Genealogical Society. Need more help? Look at the directories of professional genealogists on the Association of Professional Genealogists http://apgen.org/ and the Board for Certification of Genealogists http://bcgcertification.org/ websites for those specializing in DNA.

 

So California Jamboree early bird discount ends soon

Paula Stuart-Warren  Conferences, Conferences/Institutes, Jamboree  Leave a comment

From the Southern California Genealogical Society:

When the deadline alerts start, it must mean that we are getting close to showtime! Don’t miss out on early-bird discounts for the 2016 Southern California Genealogy Jamboree and the Genetic Genealogy2016 conferences. When the calendar page turns from April 23 to April 24, the discount will disappear.

The early-bird discount can be combined with SCGS Member discounts and reduced registration fees for attending both the Genetic Genealogy 2016 and Jamboree conferences.

You don’t want to miss this year’s Jamboree. It’s going to be an outstanding event with an exciting combination of top-notch speakers, new and populuar exhibitors, fun social events, and, because it is Jamboree, a few surprises.

Class Sessions
+ exhibitors
+ social events
+ networking
= a fantastic Jamboree!

I hope to see you there! I am presenting three times during the conference. Once each on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. It’s a great lineup of speakers.

TH-E What Next? Workshop for Developing Step-by-Step Research Plans
FR027 Tracking Migrations and More: The Records of Old Settlers Organizations
SA007 Publicize It and Publicize It: Increasing Attendance at Society Events

Register now and join in the education, fun, door prizes, and more in sunny Southern California. If you are coming from a distance, the Burbank airport is across from conference place. http://genealogyjamboree.com/

 

 

 

My new Ancestry Academy course: Researching Railroad Workers

Paula Stuart-Warren  Ancestry Academy, Ancestry.com  2 Comments

Railroad engineThe second Ancestry Academy course I taught is now live and ready for viewing. It is accompanied by an extensive handout. While viewing the Academy courses, you can start and stop at any time. The come back and it will be right where you left off.

This new one is The Lure of the Train Whistle: Researching Railroad Workers. If you have attended my regular railroad lectures at a seminar or conference, this one is largely different. Most of the examples and the brief case study are new to the course.

You do need to subscribe for a month, a year, or have the top Ancestry membership level to view it. It’s as low as $11.00 for one month and you can view as many as you wish in that month.

Check it out at https://www.ancestry.com/academy/courses/recent

The other course I filmed is Native American Ancestry? Steps to Learn More. I enjoyed doing both of these and hope you enjoy learning from them.

The lineup of other courses and instructors for Ancestry Academy is impressive. https://www.ancestry.com/academy/courses

 

Free access to 1billion records from the New England Historic Genealogical Society

Paula Stuart-Warren  NEHGS, New England Historic Genealogical Society  1 Comment

A press release from one of my favorite websites and a library extraordinaire tell that “through April 13, American Ancestors by the New England Historic Genealogical Society is offering FREE access to one billion online records on AmericanAncestors.org. Free accounts ordinarily allow Guest Users only a sampling of the vast offerings that NEHGS provides family historians of all levels. This unprecedented promotion offers the Society’s entire collection of online content for eight full days to anyone who registers for a free account! Already registered? Just log in and start searching. Please share this exciting opportunity with friends, family, and fellow family historians!”

 

 

April 8, 1935 is a day genealogists should celebrate

Paula Stuart-Warren  Indexes, WPA  Leave a comment

It might be one of these projects that encourages us to celebrate:

  • An index of state level birth and death records
  • That newspaper card index in the local history room
  • The newspaper clippings file at the county historical society
  • Indexes and transcriptions of old probate records, naturalizations, county commissioner minutes
  • List of burials in many cemeteries
  • Or one of hundreds of other record indexes, abstracts, or other compilations

These are all the result of the Historical Records Survey (HRS) that was organized in 1935 under Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s monumental post-depression program to help get the United States and its citizens back on firmer financial ground. On April 8, 1935  the Work Projects Administration (WPA) emerged under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act. Many work projects are still visible today, such as park buildings, bridges, schools, murals in courthouses and post offices, sidewalks and many others. Look up some of the programs that began under President Roosevelt’s New Deal efforts: PWA, CCC, NYA, TVA, FDIC, Social Security, WPA, FERA.

The HRS is but one arm of the WPA. All the work done to create those indexes, abstracts, and even inventories of records found in courthouses still assist genealogists today.

How neat that today is the anniversary of the WPA as I was adding some new images to my WPA lecture. I have lectured for about 25 years on the topic and what it yielded for our research. That lecture was first accompanied by overhead transparencies. Later it was converted to a PowerPoint presentation. It is continually being updated as new WPA materials are discovered, more are digitized, and as more repositories realize the value in the Historical Records Survey and its products.  This is one of my most requested and favorite presentations.

Try typing Historical Records Survey, WPA, Works Progress Administration (1935-1939), Work Projects Administration (1939-19420, or New Deal into any library catalog or WorldCat.org and be prepared to be amazed at all the printed projects.