CVGS Computer Group meeting today

The Chula Vista Genealogical Society had our monthly Computer Group meeting today in the Computer Lab. Shirley was back to lead the group. We had 12 people in attendance. We connected one of the library computers to the projector so we could demonstrate using Ancestry Library Edition and other genealogy web sites.

Shirley demonstrated using many of the databases at http://www.rootsweb.com/ and http://www.usgenweb.org/.

On Rootsweb, we checked out the MetaSearch (searches over 45 Rootsweb databases) and the SearchThingy (a site search for all of Rootsweb) indexes. The attendees input their search names into the search box and links to the databases with the names were listed.

We also visited the Rootsweb WorldConnect database, and the attendees searched for their surnames in the "Find a database by surname(s)" search box and then searched some of the databases that had those surnames. This is a different search technique than putting your surname and given name in the general search box at the top of the WorldConnect page and getting a list of people in the entire WorldConnect database.

Then it was off to the USGenWeb page, where we visited several county web sites and investigated the holdings in those counties. Shirley demonstrated using the New York page and the group looked at several county web pages.

Finally, we visited the "Message Boards" and "Web Pages" links at the top of the Rootsweb page. Finding a surname message board and a locality message board was demonstrated. Many of the attendees had used the Message Boards before, but have found it hard to find a specific board. The "Web Pages" link provides a list to find surnames posted on the FreePages web sites provided by Rootsweb. Many of the attendees have not used these pages before.

This Computer Group provides opportunities for teaching and demonstrating genealogy databases and web sites, and most of the attendees follow along and try their own surnames in the search boxes. Other attendees spend most of the group time exploring Ancestry Library Edition for their own research (since most don't have a home subscription).