Hey Genea-Zombies, it's Saturday Night, time for more Genealogy Fun!
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:
1) Go take the Hallowe'en Personality quiz at http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourhalloweenpersonalityquiz/
2) Post it on your own blog, as a comment on this blog, or on your Facebook page.
3) Tell us if this is "right on" or note. Have fun with it!
Here's mine:
You're a friendly person, but not the life of the party. You like making someone else's day - and you'll dress up if you think of a really fun costume.
You are an overachiever and quite popular. You'd save the world if you could.
Your inner child is curious, brainy, and maybe even a little gross.
You truly fear the dark side of humanity. You are a true misanthrope.
You're logical, rational, and not easily effected. Not a lot scares you... especially when it comes to the paranormal.
You are a traditionalist with most aspects of your life. You like your Halloween costume to be basic, well made, and conventional enough to wear another year.
This comes pretty close, I think, to the real Randy, at least as far as the choices provided go.
Now I have to go find my Genea-Man costume! Maybe I'll go trick or treating with my pedigree chart on All Hallows Eve!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Surname Saturday - MARTIN (England > NH > NJ)
It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week. I am up to number 127, who is Sarah Martin (ca 1792-1860), one of my 4th-great-grandparents. This post completes my 4th great-grandparents on Surname Saturday!
My ancestral line back through seven generations of MARTIN families is:
1. Randall J. Seaver
2. Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002)
6. Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976)
7. Emily Kemp Auble (1899-1977)
14. Charles Auble (1849-1916)
15. Georgianna Kemp (1868-1952)
30. James Abraham Kemp (1831-1902)
31. Mary Jane Sovereen (1840-1874)
62. Alexander Sovereign (1814-1907)
63. Eliza Putman (1820-1895)
126. John Putman, born before 27 September 1785 in Walpack, Sussex County, NJ1; died 10 May 1863 in Delhi, Norfolk County, Ontario, CANADA. He was the son of 252. Peter Victorse Putman and 253. Sarah Mary Kinnan. He married about 1810 in probably Seneca County, NY.
127. Sarah Martin, born 07 March 1792 in Woodbridge, Middlesex, NJ; died 21 December 1860 in Delhi, Norfolk County, Ontario, CANADA.
Children of John Putman and Sarah Martin are: Peter W. Putman (1812-1882); Martin Mulford Putman (1816-1892); Isaac Kinnan Putman (1819-????); Eliza Putman (1820-1895); Rebecca Putman (1822-1852); Mary Putman (1825-1912); Martha Putman (1829-????); William C. Putman (1834-????).
254. Mulford Martin, born about 1763 in South Amboy, Middlesex, NJ. He married about 1788 in Perth Amboy, Middlesex, NJ.
255. Betsey Rolfe, born 1766 in Perth Amboy, Middlesex, NJ. She was the daughter of 510. Ephraim Rolfe and 511. Sarah Campbell.
Children of Mulford Martin and Betsey Rolfe are: Rolfe Martin (1788-????); Moses Martin (1790-????); Sarah Martin (1792-1860); Timothy Martin (1794-????); Mulford Martin (1801-????); Phoebe Martin (1807-1874).
508. Thomas Martin, born 1737 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ; died before 19 October 1767 in South Amboy, Middlesex, NJ. He married15 February 1762 in Middlesex, NJ.
509. Elizabeth Ayers, born about 1745 in Woodbridge, Middlesex, NJ. She was the daughter of 1018. James Ayers and 1019. Hope Bloomfield.
Children of Thomas Martin and Elizabeth Ayers are: Mulford Martin (1763-????); Thomas Martin (1765-????).
1016. Mulford Martin, born 22 September 1713 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ; died 1743 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ. He married before in probably Woodbridge, Middlesex, NJ.
1017. Zerviah Dunham, born 11 November 1716 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ; died before 1741 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ. She was the daughter of 2034. Ephraim Dunham and 2035. Phebe Smalley.
Children of Mulford Martin and Zerviah Dunham are: Mulford Martin (1733-1788); Thomas Martin (1737-1767); Catherine Martin (1739-1755).
2032. Peter Martin, born 19 August 1693 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ; died before 17 March 1756 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ. He married in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ.
2033. Marie Mulford, born 1693 in East Hampton, Suffolk, NY; died before 1731 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ. She was the daughter of 4066. Thomas Mulford and 4067. Mary Conkling.
Children of Peter Martin and Marie Mulford are: Rhoda Martin (1712-????); Mulford Martin (1713-1743); Zerviah Martin (1715-1755); Thomas Martin (1718-????).
4064. Benjamin Martin, born 1659 in Dover, Strafford, NH; died 02 March 1731/32 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ. He married 10 November 1688 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ.
4065. Margaret Alston, born About 1659. She was the daughter of 8130. Peter Ellstone.
Children of Benjamin Martin and Margaret Alston are: Samuel Martin (1689-1740); Mary Martin (1691-????); Peter Martin (1693-1756).
8128. John Martin, born 1620 in Norton, Morell, Warwickshire, England; died 05 July 1687 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ. He married 1646 in Dover, Strafford, NH.
8129. Hester Roberts, born 1626 in ENGLAND; died 06 December 1687 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ. She was the daughter of 16258. Thomas Roberts and 16259. Rebecca Hilton.
Children of John Martin and Hester Roberts are: John Martin (1647-1704; Mary Martin (1649-1694); Martha Martin (1653-1694); Lydia Martin (1655-1731); Joseph Martin (1657-1723); Benjamin Martin (1659-1732); James Martin (1669-1676).
This Martin line is one of the newest additions to my ancestral database. Mark Putman found the link to the parents of Sarah Martin, wife of Peter Putman, and I've "name collected" in the best resources that I could find. Many of the Piscataway births, marriages and deaths are recorded in Piscataway and Woodbridge, New Jersey; Extracts of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1676-1784 on FHL Microfilm 0,946,001 which are extracts from the town records by William A. Whitehead. A recent book that includes this Martin family is by Louise Martin Mohler, The Martin Family of America, published by William Hesler, rev. 1987.
Several of the the Martin males in my ancestral line died relatively young. Some had children by more than one wife. There are will abstracts for several of them in the New Jersey Archives.
My ancestral line back through seven generations of MARTIN families is:
1. Randall J. Seaver
2. Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002)
6. Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976)
7. Emily Kemp Auble (1899-1977)
14. Charles Auble (1849-1916)
15. Georgianna Kemp (1868-1952)
30. James Abraham Kemp (1831-1902)
31. Mary Jane Sovereen (1840-1874)
62. Alexander Sovereign (1814-1907)
63. Eliza Putman (1820-1895)
126. John Putman, born before 27 September 1785 in Walpack, Sussex County, NJ1; died 10 May 1863 in Delhi, Norfolk County, Ontario, CANADA. He was the son of 252. Peter Victorse Putman and 253. Sarah Mary Kinnan. He married about 1810 in probably Seneca County, NY.
127. Sarah Martin, born 07 March 1792 in Woodbridge, Middlesex, NJ; died 21 December 1860 in Delhi, Norfolk County, Ontario, CANADA.
Children of John Putman and Sarah Martin are: Peter W. Putman (1812-1882); Martin Mulford Putman (1816-1892); Isaac Kinnan Putman (1819-????); Eliza Putman (1820-1895); Rebecca Putman (1822-1852); Mary Putman (1825-1912); Martha Putman (1829-????); William C. Putman (1834-????).
254. Mulford Martin, born about 1763 in South Amboy, Middlesex, NJ. He married about 1788 in Perth Amboy, Middlesex, NJ.
255. Betsey Rolfe, born 1766 in Perth Amboy, Middlesex, NJ. She was the daughter of 510. Ephraim Rolfe and 511. Sarah Campbell.
Children of Mulford Martin and Betsey Rolfe are: Rolfe Martin (1788-????); Moses Martin (1790-????); Sarah Martin (1792-1860); Timothy Martin (1794-????); Mulford Martin (1801-????); Phoebe Martin (1807-1874).
508. Thomas Martin, born 1737 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ; died before 19 October 1767 in South Amboy, Middlesex, NJ. He married15 February 1762 in Middlesex, NJ.
509. Elizabeth Ayers, born about 1745 in Woodbridge, Middlesex, NJ. She was the daughter of 1018. James Ayers and 1019. Hope Bloomfield.
Children of Thomas Martin and Elizabeth Ayers are: Mulford Martin (1763-????); Thomas Martin (1765-????).
1016. Mulford Martin, born 22 September 1713 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ; died 1743 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ. He married before in probably Woodbridge, Middlesex, NJ.
1017. Zerviah Dunham, born 11 November 1716 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ; died before 1741 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ. She was the daughter of 2034. Ephraim Dunham and 2035. Phebe Smalley.
Children of Mulford Martin and Zerviah Dunham are: Mulford Martin (1733-1788); Thomas Martin (1737-1767); Catherine Martin (1739-1755).
2032. Peter Martin, born 19 August 1693 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ; died before 17 March 1756 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ. He married in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ.
2033. Marie Mulford, born 1693 in East Hampton, Suffolk, NY; died before 1731 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ. She was the daughter of 4066. Thomas Mulford and 4067. Mary Conkling.
Children of Peter Martin and Marie Mulford are: Rhoda Martin (1712-????); Mulford Martin (1713-1743); Zerviah Martin (1715-1755); Thomas Martin (1718-????).
4064. Benjamin Martin, born 1659 in Dover, Strafford, NH; died 02 March 1731/32 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ. He married 10 November 1688 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ.
4065. Margaret Alston, born About 1659. She was the daughter of 8130. Peter Ellstone.
Children of Benjamin Martin and Margaret Alston are: Samuel Martin (1689-1740); Mary Martin (1691-????); Peter Martin (1693-1756).
8128. John Martin, born 1620 in Norton, Morell, Warwickshire, England; died 05 July 1687 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ. He married 1646 in Dover, Strafford, NH.
8129. Hester Roberts, born 1626 in ENGLAND; died 06 December 1687 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ. She was the daughter of 16258. Thomas Roberts and 16259. Rebecca Hilton.
Children of John Martin and Hester Roberts are: John Martin (1647-1704; Mary Martin (1649-1694); Martha Martin (1653-1694); Lydia Martin (1655-1731); Joseph Martin (1657-1723); Benjamin Martin (1659-1732); James Martin (1669-1676).
This Martin line is one of the newest additions to my ancestral database. Mark Putman found the link to the parents of Sarah Martin, wife of Peter Putman, and I've "name collected" in the best resources that I could find. Many of the Piscataway births, marriages and deaths are recorded in Piscataway and Woodbridge, New Jersey; Extracts of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1676-1784 on FHL Microfilm 0,946,001 which are extracts from the town records by William A. Whitehead. A recent book that includes this Martin family is by Louise Martin Mohler, The Martin Family of America, published by William Hesler, rev. 1987.
Several of the the Martin males in my ancestral line died relatively young. Some had children by more than one wife. There are will abstracts for several of them in the New Jersey Archives.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Genealogical Treats at FamilySearch Beta - New Collections
While I was out pursuing real-life opportunities yesterday, Paul Nauta of FamilySearch sent out a press notice about new additions to the FamilySearch Beta Historical Record Collections. Here is the press release:
October 27, 2010: People with ancestors from Ghana now have free online access to valuable census records, the first images from that African country to be published on FamilySearch. Other new collections include over two million indexed records from Germany, Norway, Puerto Rico, and three U.S. states: Arkansas, Idaho, and Minnesota. Search these records now at http://beta.familysearch.org/.
See the chart below for the complete list of newly added or updated collections.
These collections are, in some cases, incomplete. They are all new to the FamilySearch Beta site, and they do not appear on the FamilySearch Record Search Pilot site. Therefore, it is incumbent on researchers to not use the Record Search Pilot site if you are doing a global search for a person - use the FamilySearch Beta site.
For reference purposes, the FamilySearch Beta site now has 477 collections available, while the Record Search Pilot site has 443. There are no "red stars" on the Record Search Pilot sites since they have not added any new content there since late September.
Thank you to Paul and FamilySearch for providing an easy way to determine what is new in this record release.
Disclosure: I am not an employee, contractor or affiliate of FamilySearch. FamilySearch has not remunerated me in any way to write this article.
No Halloween Trick, Just Genealogical Treats
Over 2 million records from 6 countries now available
October 27, 2010: People with ancestors from Ghana now have free online access to valuable census records, the first images from that African country to be published on FamilySearch. Other new collections include over two million indexed records from Germany, Norway, Puerto Rico, and three U.S. states: Arkansas, Idaho, and Minnesota. Search these records now at http://beta.familysearch.org/.
See the chart below for the complete list of newly added or updated collections.
Project: - Indexed Records - Digital Images - Comments
- Germany, Ludwigshafen Church Record Extractions and Family Registers: 106,564 digital images - New indexed records
- Germany, 1890 - Mecklenburg-Schwerin Census: 31,499 indexed records - Additional images added
- Ghana, 1982-1984 - Census: 458,716 digital images - New indexed records added
- Norway, 1875 - Census: 41,701 indexed records - Additional images added
- Puerto Rico, Civil Registration, 1836-2001: 3,763 indexed records - Additional images added
- U.S., Arkansas County Marriages, 1837-1957: 94,181 indexed records; 43,301 digital images - Additional records and images added
- U.S., Idaho, County Marriages, 1864-1950: 148,053 indexed records; 62,274 digital images - New indexed records and images
- U.S., Minnesota State Census, 1905: 1,973,884 indexed records; 52,150 digital images - New indexed records and images
- U.S., Minnesota, State Census, 1865: 3,396 indexed records - New indexed records
These collections are, in some cases, incomplete. They are all new to the FamilySearch Beta site, and they do not appear on the FamilySearch Record Search Pilot site. Therefore, it is incumbent on researchers to not use the Record Search Pilot site if you are doing a global search for a person - use the FamilySearch Beta site.
For reference purposes, the FamilySearch Beta site now has 477 collections available, while the Record Search Pilot site has 443. There are no "red stars" on the Record Search Pilot sites since they have not added any new content there since late September.
Thank you to Paul and FamilySearch for providing an easy way to determine what is new in this record release.
Disclosure: I am not an employee, contractor or affiliate of FamilySearch. FamilySearch has not remunerated me in any way to write this article.
FamilySearch Bloggers Day - Software Community
One of the presentations on the FamilySearch Bloggers Day (21 October) was by Gordon Clarke (Software Community Manager) speaking on "FamilySearch Software Community: Collaborating Technology to Increase the Frequency of Patron Success."
As part of New FamilySearch, they have been working with software developers to create open source or commercial products that can access and use the FamilySearch platform. FamilySearch offers an Application Programming Interface (API) to facilitate this access. Some of these developers have been certified in certain functions to work with the FamilySearch Family Tree, and conform to FamilySearch standards and systems. You can see the FamilySearch list of Certified Affiliates at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/affiliates/index.html.
Here are the notes I made for myself and my Twitter audience during this presentation (with a time stamp; #FSBlogDay is the Twitter hashtag useful for collecting tweets; times are PDT, MDT times were one hour later):
#FSBlogDay Gordon Clarke on FS Software Community: cat herder video, who knew? metaphor for software folks? 11:35 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Software: mobile, desktop and web applications. more data, records, images, websites, software - all for FS integration 11:37 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Software: direct companies/programmers to devnet.familysearch.org 11:38 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay software: they discover, develop, certify and market software that integrates with FamilySearch 11:41 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay software: 776 members, 439 in sandbox, etc. 11:41 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay software: "web services" API - list of them on link at new.FamilySearch.org 11:43 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay - 3 products - FamilyTree features, FamilySearch features, others - cemetery, collaborate, DNA, geo-mapping, media, wiki, etc. 11:43 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay software: do they meet minimum standards to certify? No judgment or rating due to non-profit LDS status. Community can rate 11:46 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay software: new certified: TreeSeek; Mac Family Tree; Traces of the Past iPhone; Cemetery Maps; ChArtist by Generation Maps 11:47 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay: software: many more, see the list! Try them out. Group software for working together. 11:49 AM Oct 21st
Here are some of the significant points that I heard and saw in this presentation:
1. The funniest video of the day was played at the beginning of this talk by Gordon - have you seen the Cat Herder video here? Gordon likened this to working with software developers.
2. Software developers that want to interact with the FamilySearch Family Tree (FSFT) can obtain an API at http://devnet.familysearch.org/. Gordon noted that there are 776 members of the DevNet site, and 439 are working in the "sandbox" to connect to FSFT. There are aslo 532 web service affiliates. Of these, there are only 24 Certified affiliates, of which 23 access the FSFT and only 1 accesses the Research Wiki.
3. The list of the Certified Affiliates are at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/affiliates/index.html. Each product has a description, and a list of the features that can be used in FSFT. The definition of the features is at the bottom of the web page. The Certified affiliates include:
6. He noted that Individual Software will provide more privacy, features and processing power than group software or public websites. The Public Collaborative Software on websites invite everyone to search, post and comment on information and conclusions that everyone can see. Group Software is for working together on gathering information about persons, places and events.
7. There was no demonstration of how all of these Certified software applications will work with the New FamilySearch Family Tree. Obviously, the LDS Ordinance features will work on that part of the FSFT available only to LDS church members. Desktop genealogy software will be able to "Sync" to the FSFT (upload data to FSFT, download data from FSFT) for user-selected persons. Collaboration (discussions about persons, places, events, sources, etc.) may occur through the Group or Collaboration websites. The Media software and websites will enable adding images and other media to persons in the FSFT. Users of FSFT will be able to use the Print services to print out reports and charts (or contract out the printing for a fee).
8. This presentation went by very quickly, and it is potentially the most important presentation for users interacting with the FamilySearch Family Tree. A user can see videos on several websites on how these Family Tree interactions might work - Legacy Family Tree has some, as does RootsMagic, and I'm sure that others will also.
Disclosure: I am not an employee, contractor or affiliate of FamilySearch. FamilySearch paid my way to this Bloggers Day in Salt Lake City, including airfare, hotel, some meals and incidental expenses. I am trying to be as objective as possible. I really appreciate FamilySearch's efforts to inform the genealogy community about their products and capabilities.
As part of New FamilySearch, they have been working with software developers to create open source or commercial products that can access and use the FamilySearch platform. FamilySearch offers an Application Programming Interface (API) to facilitate this access. Some of these developers have been certified in certain functions to work with the FamilySearch Family Tree, and conform to FamilySearch standards and systems. You can see the FamilySearch list of Certified Affiliates at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/affiliates/index.html.
Here are the notes I made for myself and my Twitter audience during this presentation (with a time stamp; #FSBlogDay is the Twitter hashtag useful for collecting tweets; times are PDT, MDT times were one hour later):
#FSBlogDay Gordon Clarke on FS Software Community: cat herder video, who knew? metaphor for software folks? 11:35 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Software: mobile, desktop and web applications. more data, records, images, websites, software - all for FS integration 11:37 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Software: direct companies/programmers to devnet.familysearch.org 11:38 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay software: they discover, develop, certify and market software that integrates with FamilySearch 11:41 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay software: 776 members, 439 in sandbox, etc. 11:41 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay software: "web services" API - list of them on link at new.FamilySearch.org 11:43 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay - 3 products - FamilyTree features, FamilySearch features, others - cemetery, collaborate, DNA, geo-mapping, media, wiki, etc. 11:43 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay software: do they meet minimum standards to certify? No judgment or rating due to non-profit LDS status. Community can rate 11:46 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay software: new certified: TreeSeek; Mac Family Tree; Traces of the Past iPhone; Cemetery Maps; ChArtist by Generation Maps 11:47 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay: software: many more, see the list! Try them out. Group software for working together. 11:49 AM Oct 21st
Here are some of the significant points that I heard and saw in this presentation:
1. The funniest video of the day was played at the beginning of this talk by Gordon - have you seen the Cat Herder video here? Gordon likened this to working with software developers.
2. Software developers that want to interact with the FamilySearch Family Tree (FSFT) can obtain an API at http://devnet.familysearch.org/. Gordon noted that there are 776 members of the DevNet site, and 439 are working in the "sandbox" to connect to FSFT. There are aslo 532 web service affiliates. Of these, there are only 24 Certified affiliates, of which 23 access the FSFT and only 1 accesses the Research Wiki.
3. The list of the Certified Affiliates are at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/affiliates/index.html. Each product has a description, and a list of the features that can be used in FSFT. The definition of the features is at the bottom of the web page. The Certified affiliates include:
- AGES-online (Web) -- Access
- All My Cousins (Web) -- Access, Ordinance Status
- AncestorsWaiting (Web) -- Access, Ordinance Reservation, Ordinance Request
- Ancestral Quest (Win) -- Access, Helper, Ordinance Reservation, Ordinance Request, Multi-Language, PAF Add-in, Print, Sync, Update
- AppleTree (Web) -- Access, Media
- Arcalife (Web) -- Access, Sync, Update
- Best US Surname (Web) -- Access
- Charting Companion (Win) -- Access, Print
- Family ChArtist (Web) -- Access, Print
- FamilyInsight (Win) -- Access, Helper, Ordinance Reservation, Ordinance Request, Multi-Language, PAF Add-in, Sync, Update
- FamilyInsight (Mac) -- Access, Helper, Ordinance Reservation, Ordinance Request, Multi-Language, Sync, Update
- Family Photoloom (Web) -- Access, Hosting Services, Media
- Gaia Family Tree (Win) -- Access, Print, Sync, Update
- Genetree (Web) -- Access, DNA, Media
- Get My Ancestors (Win/Mac) -- Access, Multi-Language
- Legacy FamilyTree 7.4 (Win) -- Access, Ordinance Status, PAF Import, Print
- MacFamilyTree (Mac) -- Access, Print, Sync, Update
- MagiKey Family Tree (Win) -- Access, Helper, Ordinance Status, Ordinance Reservation
- MobileTree (iPhone, iPod, Android) -- Access, Media
- Names In Stone (Web) -- Access, Cemetery, Geo-Mapping
- ourFamily•ology (Web) -- Access, Update, Group, Media
- Ordinance Tracker (Win/Mac) -- Access, Ordinance Status, Ordinance Request
- RootsMagic 4 (Win) -- Access, Helper, Ordinance Reservation, Ordinance Request, PAF Import, Print, Sync, Update
- RootsMagic 4 Essentials (Win) -- Access, Helper, Ordinance Reservation, Ordinance Request, PAF Import, Print, Sync, Update
- SharingTime (Web) -- Access, Helper, Collaboration, Groups
- TreeSeek (Web) -- Access, Print
- Family Pursuit (Web) -- Groups
- Generation Maps (Web) -- Print Service
- LiveRoots (Web) -- Research Wiki
- RelatedFamilies (Web) -- Tree Hosting Service
- Traces (iPhone, iPod)
6. He noted that Individual Software will provide more privacy, features and processing power than group software or public websites. The Public Collaborative Software on websites invite everyone to search, post and comment on information and conclusions that everyone can see. Group Software is for working together on gathering information about persons, places and events.
7. There was no demonstration of how all of these Certified software applications will work with the New FamilySearch Family Tree. Obviously, the LDS Ordinance features will work on that part of the FSFT available only to LDS church members. Desktop genealogy software will be able to "Sync" to the FSFT (upload data to FSFT, download data from FSFT) for user-selected persons. Collaboration (discussions about persons, places, events, sources, etc.) may occur through the Group or Collaboration websites. The Media software and websites will enable adding images and other media to persons in the FSFT. Users of FSFT will be able to use the Print services to print out reports and charts (or contract out the printing for a fee).
8. This presentation went by very quickly, and it is potentially the most important presentation for users interacting with the FamilySearch Family Tree. A user can see videos on several websites on how these Family Tree interactions might work - Legacy Family Tree has some, as does RootsMagic, and I'm sure that others will also.
Disclosure: I am not an employee, contractor or affiliate of FamilySearch. FamilySearch paid my way to this Bloggers Day in Salt Lake City, including airfare, hotel, some meals and incidental expenses. I am trying to be as objective as possible. I really appreciate FamilySearch's efforts to inform the genealogy community about their products and capabilities.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
FamilySearch Bloggers Day - FamilySearch Indexing
One of the first presentations on the FamilySearch Bloggers Day (21 October) was by Jim Ericson (Software Community Manager) speaking on "Volunteer Indexing: Unlocking the World's Records One Name at a Time."
FamilySearch has been digitizing images from historical record collections in their Granite Mountain microfilm stash since 1998, and has been indexing some of those collections using volunteer indexers since 2006. You can see the Familysearch Indexing information - including current, completed and future project lists - at http://indexing.familysearch.org/. This presentation covered the FamilySearch Indexing history, accomplishments and their goals for the future.
Here are the notes I made for myself and my Twitter audience during this presentation (with a time stamp; #FSBlogDay is the Twitter hashtag useful for collecting tweets; times are PDT, MDT times were one hour later):
#FSBlogDay Jim Ericson next about FamilySearch Indexing - started with 11 donated volumes in 1894 8:34 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay target is 200 million names in 2010, over 750 million online now from over 100 nations 8:35 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay FS records in vault, can't just put it all online. Renegotiate digital rights for many collections 8:35 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay microfilming started in 1938 to capture records, now scanning and digitizing and indexing before publishing online 8:36 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay over 2.4 million rolls of film, over 1 million microfiche, over 3.5 billion images, getting 40,000 rolls per year (equivalent) 8:38 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay over 1/3 images digitized 1.1% of images online, 2.6% of indexes published. 500 million new records online in 2010 8:39 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay some collections are not images, only indexes. Some collections are easy to navigate, some aren't 8:42 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay now almost 500 million names index by over 375,000 volunteers 8:43 AM Oct 21st via web
#FSBlogDay doing 1930 census now - adding more fields to index to improve index. YAY! Needed A and B teams 8:45 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Ideal Partner Profile: partner IDs collection that fits need of many users, recruits local volunteers with expertise 8:46 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay promote project through society and media, outside volunteers can help complete project 8:47 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay listing upcoming indexing projects - probably on FamilySearch Indexing project site 8:48 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Current needs/challenges: about 10 years to complete digitization of Vault. would take 300 years to index at present rate 8:50 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay expanding internationally, but need people with language skills (only 5% of records being indexed are non-English) 8:51 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Why index? new skills - paleography, transcription, genealogy research, meaningful service, pay it forward, add content 8:54 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay don't need language skills to index many records - there are helps, word lists, etc. 8:56 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Q: how will redirection work to new FamilySearch website - not enough functionality on Beta site yet, need rigor! 8:58 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay All released records are on Beta, not on Record Search, a "new collection" indicator will soon appear YAY! 8:59 AM Oct 21st
Some of the issues that Jim shared in his presentation that were of interest to me:
1. The start of the FamilySearch record collection was in 1894 with the donation of 11 books to the Genealogical Society of Utah. The collection grew in order to fulfill the genealogy needs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and is funded by church donations.
2. The Online Record Access process includes acquisition of the record collection, scanning and digitizing it, indexing it, and publishing it online.
3. The Granite Mountain Records Vault currently has over 2.4 million rolls of microfilm, over 1 million microfiche. The Vault is adding the equivalent of over 40,000 rolls of microfilm each year. All of the films and fiche contain over 3.5 billion pages (images) of family history information.
4. Digitization of the Vault collection began in 1998, and 12 years later about one-third of the images have been digitized (so, about 1.2 billion images). However, only 1.1% of the total number of images are published online (so, about 38 million images) from the collection. About 2.6% of the total number of images have indexes (so about 90 million images) available online. More than 750 million records are now on the FamilySearch.org Beta site [What is a record? Probably a record for a person, a name along with other indexed information for that person].
5. The FamilySearch Indexing program has indexed more than 300 million names [I thought he said 500 million in the presentation, but the handout says 300 million] since 2006, by more than 375,000 volunteers (church members and general public). There were 139 million names indexed in 2009, and 148 million to date in 2010. The goal for 2010 is 200 million names indexed. All of this is very impressive! There are more than 750 million records available online from more than 100 nations [Why the difference between 750 and 300 million? I think it's because FamilySearch already had millions of indexed names in their International Genealogical Record collection, and these are being added to the FamilySearch Beta collection].
6. FamilySearchThis is one reason that many collections are being added to FamilySearch Beta site as images only, without indexes or with way-pointing and ongoing indexing.
My view is that we may see much more of this type of historical record collection - let the users browse the collection from home online rather than have to go to the FHC to order a film and go back to read the film (there are financial consequences for this, though - the film rental fees).
7. FamilySearch would love to have more indexing partners - persons or genealogical societies with expertise and manpower to promote and complete indexing projects. Ideally, a local society would index a collection that is a Familysearch priority and fills the needs of both the local group and the genealogy world.
8. Since only 5% of the indexed records to-date are non-English, they are seeking indexers with language skills beyond English. They can help with word lists and help lists for English speakers indexing records in other languages.
9. There are benefits to volunteer indexing - the indexer obtains knowledge about genealogy, experience in paleography (reading handwriting), transcription skills, and provides meaningful service to the genealogy community while being flexible and voluntary.
10. All released FamilySearch Indexing projects are on the FamilySearch Beta site. Some of the collections have been removed from the Record Search Pilot site, and some are redirected from the Record Search Pilot site to the Beta site.
Disclosure: I am not an employee, contractor or affiliate of FamilySearch. FamilySearch paid my way to this Bloggers Day in Salt Lake City, including airfare, hotel, some meals and incidental expenses. I am trying to be as objective as possible. I really appreciate FamilySearch's efforts to inform the genealogy community about their products and capabilities.
FamilySearch has been digitizing images from historical record collections in their Granite Mountain microfilm stash since 1998, and has been indexing some of those collections using volunteer indexers since 2006. You can see the Familysearch Indexing information - including current, completed and future project lists - at http://indexing.familysearch.org/. This presentation covered the FamilySearch Indexing history, accomplishments and their goals for the future.
Here are the notes I made for myself and my Twitter audience during this presentation (with a time stamp; #FSBlogDay is the Twitter hashtag useful for collecting tweets; times are PDT, MDT times were one hour later):
#FSBlogDay Jim Ericson next about FamilySearch Indexing - started with 11 donated volumes in 1894 8:34 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay target is 200 million names in 2010, over 750 million online now from over 100 nations 8:35 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay FS records in vault, can't just put it all online. Renegotiate digital rights for many collections 8:35 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay microfilming started in 1938 to capture records, now scanning and digitizing and indexing before publishing online 8:36 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay over 2.4 million rolls of film, over 1 million microfiche, over 3.5 billion images, getting 40,000 rolls per year (equivalent) 8:38 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay over 1/3 images digitized 1.1% of images online, 2.6% of indexes published. 500 million new records online in 2010 8:39 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay some collections are not images, only indexes. Some collections are easy to navigate, some aren't 8:42 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay now almost 500 million names index by over 375,000 volunteers 8:43 AM Oct 21st via web
#FSBlogDay doing 1930 census now - adding more fields to index to improve index. YAY! Needed A and B teams 8:45 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Ideal Partner Profile: partner IDs collection that fits need of many users, recruits local volunteers with expertise 8:46 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay promote project through society and media, outside volunteers can help complete project 8:47 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay listing upcoming indexing projects - probably on FamilySearch Indexing project site 8:48 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Current needs/challenges: about 10 years to complete digitization of Vault. would take 300 years to index at present rate 8:50 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay expanding internationally, but need people with language skills (only 5% of records being indexed are non-English) 8:51 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Why index? new skills - paleography, transcription, genealogy research, meaningful service, pay it forward, add content 8:54 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay don't need language skills to index many records - there are helps, word lists, etc. 8:56 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Q: how will redirection work to new FamilySearch website - not enough functionality on Beta site yet, need rigor! 8:58 AM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay All released records are on Beta, not on Record Search, a "new collection" indicator will soon appear YAY! 8:59 AM Oct 21st
Some of the issues that Jim shared in his presentation that were of interest to me:
1. The start of the FamilySearch record collection was in 1894 with the donation of 11 books to the Genealogical Society of Utah. The collection grew in order to fulfill the genealogy needs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and is funded by church donations.
2. The Online Record Access process includes acquisition of the record collection, scanning and digitizing it, indexing it, and publishing it online.
3. The Granite Mountain Records Vault currently has over 2.4 million rolls of microfilm, over 1 million microfiche. The Vault is adding the equivalent of over 40,000 rolls of microfilm each year. All of the films and fiche contain over 3.5 billion pages (images) of family history information.
4. Digitization of the Vault collection began in 1998, and 12 years later about one-third of the images have been digitized (so, about 1.2 billion images). However, only 1.1% of the total number of images are published online (so, about 38 million images) from the collection. About 2.6% of the total number of images have indexes (so about 90 million images) available online. More than 750 million records are now on the FamilySearch.org Beta site [What is a record? Probably a record for a person, a name along with other indexed information for that person].
5. The FamilySearch Indexing program has indexed more than 300 million names [I thought he said 500 million in the presentation, but the handout says 300 million] since 2006, by more than 375,000 volunteers (church members and general public). There were 139 million names indexed in 2009, and 148 million to date in 2010. The goal for 2010 is 200 million names indexed. All of this is very impressive! There are more than 750 million records available online from more than 100 nations [Why the difference between 750 and 300 million? I think it's because FamilySearch already had millions of indexed names in their International Genealogical Record collection, and these are being added to the FamilySearch Beta collection].
6. FamilySearchThis is one reason that many collections are being added to FamilySearch Beta site as images only, without indexes or with way-pointing and ongoing indexing.
My view is that we may see much more of this type of historical record collection - let the users browse the collection from home online rather than have to go to the FHC to order a film and go back to read the film (there are financial consequences for this, though - the film rental fees).
7. FamilySearch would love to have more indexing partners - persons or genealogical societies with expertise and manpower to promote and complete indexing projects. Ideally, a local society would index a collection that is a Familysearch priority and fills the needs of both the local group and the genealogy world.
8. Since only 5% of the indexed records to-date are non-English, they are seeking indexers with language skills beyond English. They can help with word lists and help lists for English speakers indexing records in other languages.
9. There are benefits to volunteer indexing - the indexer obtains knowledge about genealogy, experience in paleography (reading handwriting), transcription skills, and provides meaningful service to the genealogy community while being flexible and voluntary.
10. All released FamilySearch Indexing projects are on the FamilySearch Beta site. Some of the collections have been removed from the Record Search Pilot site, and some are redirected from the Record Search Pilot site to the Beta site.
Disclosure: I am not an employee, contractor or affiliate of FamilySearch. FamilySearch paid my way to this Bloggers Day in Salt Lake City, including airfare, hotel, some meals and incidental expenses. I am trying to be as objective as possible. I really appreciate FamilySearch's efforts to inform the genealogy community about their products and capabilities.
Treasure Chest Thursday - Betty Carringer's Birth Record
It's Thursday, time to dig into the digital Treasure Chest of family artifacts and documents and display them.
Here is my mother's Birth Certificate of Registration from the San Diego County Recorder's Office:
This Certificate of Registration reads:
"This is to Certify, That -- BETTY VIRGINIA CARRINGER --
was born on July 30th, 191 9, in the City of San Diego, Calif.
"That this birth was promptly reported by the attending accoucheur, as
required by law.
"If in the future a certified copy from the records of the Department of
Public Health is desired, refer to Index No. 798 , year 1919.
"The record of this birth may be used to prove citizenship
or furnish proof of age for entering or leaving school, securing
working permit or marriage license, holding public office,
securing passports, adjusting insurance, inheriting money or
property, and securing other financial benefits.
"E.P. Charles Martin REGISTRAR
A.J. Mende DEPUTY REGISTRAR"
The raised "Official Seal" of the Department of Public Health, City of San Diego is affixed in the lower left-hand corner of the certificate.
I was surprised when I saw this because it has no information about the parents of Betty Carringer, their residence or their birthplaces like some of my other California birth records have.
What does "accoucheur" mean? A medical dictionary says "a physician specializing in obstetrics," and another source says that literally it means "one who is present at the bedside." Another medical dictionary says "French for a male obstetrician, a physician skilled in the art and science of managing pregnancy, labor and the puerperium (the time after delivery)."
Here is my mother's Birth Certificate of Registration from the San Diego County Recorder's Office:
This Certificate of Registration reads:
"This is to Certify, That -- BETTY VIRGINIA CARRINGER --
was born on July 30th, 191 9, in the City of San Diego, Calif.
"That this birth was promptly reported by the attending accoucheur, as
required by law.
"If in the future a certified copy from the records of the Department of
Public Health is desired, refer to Index No. 798 , year 1919.
"The record of this birth may be used to prove citizenship
or furnish proof of age for entering or leaving school, securing
working permit or marriage license, holding public office,
securing passports, adjusting insurance, inheriting money or
property, and securing other financial benefits.
"E.P. Charles Martin REGISTRAR
A.J. Mende DEPUTY REGISTRAR"
The raised "Official Seal" of the Department of Public Health, City of San Diego is affixed in the lower left-hand corner of the certificate.
I was surprised when I saw this because it has no information about the parents of Betty Carringer, their residence or their birthplaces like some of my other California birth records have.
What does "accoucheur" mean? A medical dictionary says "a physician specializing in obstetrics," and another source says that literally it means "one who is present at the bedside." Another medical dictionary says "French for a male obstetrician, a physician skilled in the art and science of managing pregnancy, labor and the puerperium (the time after delivery)."
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Quickly Searching for FamilySearch Beta Historical Record Collections
I always want to find shortcuts - ways to quickly get to a specific historical collection on a website, and then shortcuts to find specific records. After all, time is money... well, for retired guys like me, time is precious too.
The FamilySearch Beta site has a fantastic shortcut to get to a specific historical record collection on the site. If you click on the "All Record Collections" link at the bottom of the home page, then you see this screen listing all Historical Record Collections:
I used to scroll down to find a specific collection in this very long list of 475 (today) collections to find the one I wanted. Now, FamilySearch has created a shortcut to specific collections or groups of collections.
See the Search Field in the upper left-hand corner that says "Collection Name?" Put your cursor in the field. If you know the words or numbers in the collection name, or the state or country that you are searching, then you can start to type in the field and when you pause, the collections with that search string in their title will appear.
In the example below, I typed in "ca" and saw this list after a second or two:
It listed collections with "ca" in the title - like "California," "Canada," "Catholic," "Genealogical," "America" and several more - they all have "ca" in the collection title.
I really wanted Canada, so I continued typing in "na" to make it "cana" in the search field, and saw all of the collections with "cana" in the collection title:
Isn't that cool? It saves me a lot of scrolling time (especially when I'm looking for the U.S. Census, which is like over 450 lines down the page of all collections). If I want the 1870 U.S. census, I can enter "1870" in the search field and the link appears quickly. If I want all U.S. Census records, I can type in "united" and see all of the U.S. collections, including the U.S. census collections. Note that this quick search works with only one word in the title of the collection. If I had used "census" I would have received all census collections - foreign, federal and state collection. If I had specified "brunswick" I would have received New Brunswick collections, but not the Canada census records.
If you want to see all of the collections for a specific country, or a specific record type (e.g., Census and Lists; Birth, Marriage and Death; Probate and Court; etc.), or a specific date range, there are dynamic links on the left sidebar that you can click on to see records for your selected country, category or date range. For instance, I clicked on the "Canada, USA and Mexico" link and the list of collections came up on the right, and the country list on the left changed to show the three separate countries. Canada has 33 collections at this time, including the federal collections and all of the provincial collections identified with Canada.
This "quick search" feature cannot be used to search for persons - you have to use the Search fields on the FamilySearch Beta home page, or go to this Historical Record Collections page and select a specific record collection (using either the long list, or using this "quick search" method to find a specific collection).
Since the list of Record Collections is changing rapidly, users of the FamilySearch Beta site should get familiar with searching for specific record collections using this quick search feature. You just have to remember the limitations of the search method.
Thank you to Robert Kehrer of FamilySearch for demonstrating this feature to me at the FamilySearch Bloggers Day last week!
The FamilySearch Beta site has a fantastic shortcut to get to a specific historical record collection on the site. If you click on the "All Record Collections" link at the bottom of the home page, then you see this screen listing all Historical Record Collections:
I used to scroll down to find a specific collection in this very long list of 475 (today) collections to find the one I wanted. Now, FamilySearch has created a shortcut to specific collections or groups of collections.
See the Search Field in the upper left-hand corner that says "Collection Name?" Put your cursor in the field. If you know the words or numbers in the collection name, or the state or country that you are searching, then you can start to type in the field and when you pause, the collections with that search string in their title will appear.
In the example below, I typed in "ca" and saw this list after a second or two:
It listed collections with "ca" in the title - like "California," "Canada," "Catholic," "Genealogical," "America" and several more - they all have "ca" in the collection title.
I really wanted Canada, so I continued typing in "na" to make it "cana" in the search field, and saw all of the collections with "cana" in the collection title:
Isn't that cool? It saves me a lot of scrolling time (especially when I'm looking for the U.S. Census, which is like over 450 lines down the page of all collections). If I want the 1870 U.S. census, I can enter "1870" in the search field and the link appears quickly. If I want all U.S. Census records, I can type in "united" and see all of the U.S. collections, including the U.S. census collections. Note that this quick search works with only one word in the title of the collection. If I had used "census" I would have received all census collections - foreign, federal and state collection. If I had specified "brunswick" I would have received New Brunswick collections, but not the Canada census records.
If you want to see all of the collections for a specific country, or a specific record type (e.g., Census and Lists; Birth, Marriage and Death; Probate and Court; etc.), or a specific date range, there are dynamic links on the left sidebar that you can click on to see records for your selected country, category or date range. For instance, I clicked on the "Canada, USA and Mexico" link and the list of collections came up on the right, and the country list on the left changed to show the three separate countries. Canada has 33 collections at this time, including the federal collections and all of the provincial collections identified with Canada.
This "quick search" feature cannot be used to search for persons - you have to use the Search fields on the FamilySearch Beta home page, or go to this Historical Record Collections page and select a specific record collection (using either the long list, or using this "quick search" method to find a specific collection).
Since the list of Record Collections is changing rapidly, users of the FamilySearch Beta site should get familiar with searching for specific record collections using this quick search feature. You just have to remember the limitations of the search method.
Thank you to Robert Kehrer of FamilySearch for demonstrating this feature to me at the FamilySearch Bloggers Day last week!
FamilySearch Blogger Day - The Current and Next FamilySearch Site
The last presentation on the FamilySearch Blogger Day (21 October) was Dan Lawyer (Senior Product Manager, FamilySearch Member Needs Division) speaking on "The Next Generation of FamilySearch.org."
FamilySearch has kept their classic www.FamilySearch.org website, but has created the FamilySearch Beta site at http://beta.familysearch.org with links to many of the projects developed over the past four years (the indexed historical records, the Research Wiki, and much more). This presentation covered the plans for the near future as they create a new www.FamilySearch.org that incorporates the old site and the Beta site.
Here are the notes I made for myself and my Twitter audience during this presentation (with a time stamp; #FSBlogDay is the Twitter hashtag useful for collecting tweets):
#FSBlogDay Dan Lawyer up on The Next Generation FamilySearch.org. this should be good! 3:31 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: UTGO = Uber-Techno-Genealogist-Ologist - studying genealogists using technology 3:34 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: has maps of Genealogy Workflow - has blogged about this a bit on FamilySearch Labs blog 3:35 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: "Doing Genealogy is Hard" - why? Varied life circumstances; logistic and technical hurdles; not engaging experience 3:37 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: Searches now include wild cards - but site needs search tips on how to search effectively 3:31 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: Search filters on FSBeta include places, categories, year ranges, but after initial search. 3:32 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: "We've tried to get novices to do something on FamilySearch Beta other than Search, and they won't." Interesting 3:35 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: "Getting Started" link on FSBeta - opens with step-by-step videos. Learn tab goes to Wiki, Courses, etc 3:38 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: Pedigree Resource File will be in Family Trees section of FamilySearch Beta 3:40 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: discussion about Learn tab, Getting Started, other education things. Focus is on beginning, why? 3:46 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: on list of collections, will add date added and updated - want to be able to sort by these dates. Also % complete status 3:47 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay one problem is that FamilySearch may not have ALL records in a category - user needs to know that, Wiki article should have it 3:53 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay discussing links between Historical Record page and Research Wiki page for collection and Wiki page for subject area 3:57 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: last topic - Family History Library Catalog 2.0: big fail first time around. second time better 4:02 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: fix was adding place search - user chooses from list. and category and date range searches. better! 4:03 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: integration of records in FHCs to be put into FHL Catalog in future. 4:05 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: FHL Catalog printing will be fixed - now prints what's on the page. Too much white space. 4:06 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: future catalog will have links to external sites for data, but that's longer term. 4:07 PM Oct 21st
[I don't understand why the time stamps aren't sequential above - there is a jump back at 3:37 PM to 3:31 PM - these are PDT time stamps, by the way - the actual times were one hour later in Salt Lake City.]
The Ancestry Insider has a post titled Genealogist-ologist-ologist today that discusses Dan Lawyer's description of UTGO - the Uber-Techno-Genealogist-Ologist, and more comments about why genealogy is hard. What is an UTGO? A technologist specializing in the study of genealogists.
Here are some of the issues that Dan shared:
1. "Doing Genealogy is Hard" because of the life circumstances of searchers; residing in one place and searching records from other places; the logistical and technical hurdles that need to be overcome, and it is not an engaging experience for many searchers. I would add the need to have a logical and inquisitive mind, and the luck of having ancestors that had nuclear families and lived in places that kept records.
2. Dan mentioned the Genealogy Workflow charts that were on the hallway walls, but he didn't show them in this presentation. He has blogged about them on the FamilySearch Labs blog, but those posts don't show the detailed workflow. I wish I had though to photograph them on the walls... I hope FamilySearch publishes them sometime.
3. The FamilySearch Beta site will evolve into the www.FamilySearch.org site with the goals to make it:
5. The FamilySearch Beta site has enabled search wild cards, exact matches, and search filters for localities, year ranges and record categories. They have added links to a Research Wiki page for each collection. They have added expansion arrows to the right of each record match that expands to show the indexed information. An upcoming modification will include the percent completion of collections and the date they were last updated.
6. Researchers need to understand that not every possible record is in a specific collection. The Research Wiki article for the specific collection points this out and links to other Wiki pages for a more complete understanding.
7. In the next six months, the Beta site should have improved search forms, more search filters, and improved result quality. The "Getting Started" area will be enhanced, and the Pedigree Resource File data will be added to the Trees collection.
8. Almost as an after-thought, Dan talked about the FamilySearch [Library] Catalog 2.0 (it was on the agenda, but there was no handout). He noted that the first addition of the Catalog to the Beta site was a failure because there was no specific place search - the fix was the current dropdown selections for surname, place, etc. and then filters for record types, date range, etc. Links will be added to the Catalog to record collections in the Historical Records, and, in the future, the Catalog will have links to external sites with digitized collections (e.g., Ancestry.com, Footnote.com, etc.). [This was, of course, what the ephemeral GenSeek was supposed to be...] Lastly, Dan noted that the printing of Catalog items would be improved to make better use of paper - there is too much white space if someone prints out the current Catalog page.
This session was information packed and very interesting to me - a user of the FamilySearch records. I appreciate that FamilySearch makes the effort to develop their site by listening to user feedback - not only LDS church members but non-church users, including genea-bloggers. While the Search engine capabilities are not as complex and sophisticated as Ancestry.com's, they are much better now than they were on the classic FamilySearch.org site and on the Record Search Pilot site. My guess is that they will continue to add bells and whistles, but they are trying to keep it fairly simple for beginning researchers. The Catalog changes make sense and should be extremely useful when links to FamilySearch.org records and external sites are added.
Disclosure: I am not an employee, contractor or affiliate of FamilySearch. FamilySearch paid my way to this Bloggers Day in Salt Lake City, including airfare, hotel, some meals and incidental expenses. I am trying to be as objective as possible. I really appreciate FamilySearch's efforts to inform the genealogy community about their products and capabilities.
FamilySearch has kept their classic www.FamilySearch.org website, but has created the FamilySearch Beta site at http://beta.familysearch.org with links to many of the projects developed over the past four years (the indexed historical records, the Research Wiki, and much more). This presentation covered the plans for the near future as they create a new www.FamilySearch.org that incorporates the old site and the Beta site.
Here are the notes I made for myself and my Twitter audience during this presentation (with a time stamp; #FSBlogDay is the Twitter hashtag useful for collecting tweets):
#FSBlogDay Dan Lawyer up on The Next Generation FamilySearch.org. this should be good! 3:31 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: UTGO = Uber-Techno-Genealogist-Ologist - studying genealogists using technology 3:34 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: has maps of Genealogy Workflow - has blogged about this a bit on FamilySearch Labs blog 3:35 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: "Doing Genealogy is Hard" - why? Varied life circumstances; logistic and technical hurdles; not engaging experience 3:37 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: Searches now include wild cards - but site needs search tips on how to search effectively 3:31 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: Search filters on FSBeta include places, categories, year ranges, but after initial search. 3:32 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: "We've tried to get novices to do something on FamilySearch Beta other than Search, and they won't." Interesting 3:35 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: "Getting Started" link on FSBeta - opens with step-by-step videos. Learn tab goes to Wiki, Courses, etc 3:38 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: Pedigree Resource File will be in Family Trees section of FamilySearch Beta 3:40 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: discussion about Learn tab, Getting Started, other education things. Focus is on beginning, why? 3:46 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: on list of collections, will add date added and updated - want to be able to sort by these dates. Also % complete status 3:47 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay one problem is that FamilySearch may not have ALL records in a category - user needs to know that, Wiki article should have it 3:53 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay discussing links between Historical Record page and Research Wiki page for collection and Wiki page for subject area 3:57 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: last topic - Family History Library Catalog 2.0: big fail first time around. second time better 4:02 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: fix was adding place search - user chooses from list. and category and date range searches. better! 4:03 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: integration of records in FHCs to be put into FHL Catalog in future. 4:05 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: FHL Catalog printing will be fixed - now prints what's on the page. Too much white space. 4:06 PM Oct 21st
#FSBlogDay Lawyer: future catalog will have links to external sites for data, but that's longer term. 4:07 PM Oct 21st
[I don't understand why the time stamps aren't sequential above - there is a jump back at 3:37 PM to 3:31 PM - these are PDT time stamps, by the way - the actual times were one hour later in Salt Lake City.]
The Ancestry Insider has a post titled Genealogist-ologist-ologist today that discusses Dan Lawyer's description of UTGO - the Uber-Techno-Genealogist-Ologist, and more comments about why genealogy is hard. What is an UTGO? A technologist specializing in the study of genealogists.
Here are some of the issues that Dan shared:
1. "Doing Genealogy is Hard" because of the life circumstances of searchers; residing in one place and searching records from other places; the logistical and technical hurdles that need to be overcome, and it is not an engaging experience for many searchers. I would add the need to have a logical and inquisitive mind, and the luck of having ancestors that had nuclear families and lived in places that kept records.
2. Dan mentioned the Genealogy Workflow charts that were on the hallway walls, but he didn't show them in this presentation. He has blogged about them on the FamilySearch Labs blog, but those posts don't show the detailed workflow. I wish I had though to photograph them on the walls... I hope FamilySearch publishes them sometime.
3. The FamilySearch Beta site will evolve into the www.FamilySearch.org site with the goals to make it:
- easier for family and friends to work together on family history and genealogy
- easier to access, share and preserve artifacts and records of ancestors
- so that you don't have to be a genealogist to do genealogy
- genealogically sound so that advanced genealogy will appreciate the way it helps people do research
- easier to learn how to do research and to provide assistance to researchers.
5. The FamilySearch Beta site has enabled search wild cards, exact matches, and search filters for localities, year ranges and record categories. They have added links to a Research Wiki page for each collection. They have added expansion arrows to the right of each record match that expands to show the indexed information. An upcoming modification will include the percent completion of collections and the date they were last updated.
6. Researchers need to understand that not every possible record is in a specific collection. The Research Wiki article for the specific collection points this out and links to other Wiki pages for a more complete understanding.
7. In the next six months, the Beta site should have improved search forms, more search filters, and improved result quality. The "Getting Started" area will be enhanced, and the Pedigree Resource File data will be added to the Trees collection.
8. Almost as an after-thought, Dan talked about the FamilySearch [Library] Catalog 2.0 (it was on the agenda, but there was no handout). He noted that the first addition of the Catalog to the Beta site was a failure because there was no specific place search - the fix was the current dropdown selections for surname, place, etc. and then filters for record types, date range, etc. Links will be added to the Catalog to record collections in the Historical Records, and, in the future, the Catalog will have links to external sites with digitized collections (e.g., Ancestry.com, Footnote.com, etc.). [This was, of course, what the ephemeral GenSeek was supposed to be...] Lastly, Dan noted that the printing of Catalog items would be improved to make better use of paper - there is too much white space if someone prints out the current Catalog page.
This session was information packed and very interesting to me - a user of the FamilySearch records. I appreciate that FamilySearch makes the effort to develop their site by listening to user feedback - not only LDS church members but non-church users, including genea-bloggers. While the Search engine capabilities are not as complex and sophisticated as Ancestry.com's, they are much better now than they were on the classic FamilySearch.org site and on the Record Search Pilot site. My guess is that they will continue to add bells and whistles, but they are trying to keep it fairly simple for beginning researchers. The Catalog changes make sense and should be extremely useful when links to FamilySearch.org records and external sites are added.
Disclosure: I am not an employee, contractor or affiliate of FamilySearch. FamilySearch paid my way to this Bloggers Day in Salt Lake City, including airfare, hotel, some meals and incidental expenses. I am trying to be as objective as possible. I really appreciate FamilySearch's efforts to inform the genealogy community about their products and capabilities.
(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 126: What is Betty Eating?
I'm posting family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but they won't be wordless Wednesday posts like others do - I simply am incapable of having a wordless post.
Here is a photograph from the Carringer/Smith family collection handed down by my mother in the 1988 to 2002 time period:
This is a picture of my mother, Betty Carringer (born 1919) with her mother Emily Kemp (Auble) Carringer sitting on the running board of the family automobile (Model T Ford?) eating what looks like a large slice of watermelon (or similar fruit). It sure looks like a watermelon, doesn't it? And she's eaten all of it (or did her mother ate some of it?). From Betty's size, she appears to be one or two years old, and so this picture was probably taken in 1920 or 1921.
What makes this picture really special is that Betty is grinning from ear to ear - I have very few pictures of my mother smiling or laughing as a child. Perhaps it was because this is a candid photo - taken without posing them - taken by my grandfather.
Also, I do not have a positive memory of ever noticing this picture before - I scanned it in June during Scanfest as part of a larger batch of pictures and I do not recall the watermelon detail at all - I must have not noticed it!
Here is a photograph from the Carringer/Smith family collection handed down by my mother in the 1988 to 2002 time period:
This is a picture of my mother, Betty Carringer (born 1919) with her mother Emily Kemp (Auble) Carringer sitting on the running board of the family automobile (Model T Ford?) eating what looks like a large slice of watermelon (or similar fruit). It sure looks like a watermelon, doesn't it? And she's eaten all of it (or did her mother ate some of it?). From Betty's size, she appears to be one or two years old, and so this picture was probably taken in 1920 or 1921.
What makes this picture really special is that Betty is grinning from ear to ear - I have very few pictures of my mother smiling or laughing as a child. Perhaps it was because this is a candid photo - taken without posing them - taken by my grandfather.
Also, I do not have a positive memory of ever noticing this picture before - I scanned it in June during Scanfest as part of a larger batch of pictures and I do not recall the watermelon detail at all - I must have not noticed it!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Complimentary Q&A Web Chat with Sally J. for "Accidental Archivists"
I received this press release from Sally Jacobs, who writes The Practical Archivist blog:
An Accidental Archivist is someone who inherits a large family photo collection and is unsure what to do next.
Madison, WI October 25, 2010 - The Practical Archivist announced a new Q&A web chat happening on Friday, October 29, 2010 from Noon-1pm Central Time. The chat will be hosted on Sally's Practical Archivist blog, http://practicalarchivist.com/accidentalarchivist2010.
There is no charge to participate, no pre-registration required, and no software to download.
Keepers of ancestor photos are encouraged to bring questions about how to organize, preserve and scan these treasures. Not sure what kind of box to use? Wondering whether slip-in sleeves are a good idea? Skeptical about whether an ink pen is the right tool to mark the back of a photo? Confused about the difference between ppi and dpi? Sally can help.
"'m offering this no-cost session to celebrate Family History Month and Archives Month while educating Family Archivist and encouraging them to do the best job they can," explains Sally J. (The Practical Archivist).
"Early in my career as an archivist, I realized the vast majority of historical documents would never be cared for by a professionally trained archivist. I took it as a personal challenge to reach out to family historians and help become better family archivists."
Ermadene Able is currently enrolled in Sally's Joy of Organizing Photos program, and wants other family archivists to hear her tale of narrowly-avoided disaster: "Before, my precious ancestor and family photos, movies, videos and linen heirlooms were vulnerable to damage due to the way I was storing them. Sally taught me how to store them all properly. This was good because not long after I moved them to a new location, our hot water heater flooded where some of the photos had been. How is that for timing? Thank you, Sally!"
Sally Jacobs has a Master's in Library Science with a Specialization in Archives Management, and has worked at the Library of Congress Prints and Photos Division, the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives, and American Girl. Her online CV is here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sallyjacobs
An Accidental Archivist is someone who inherits a large family photo collection and is unsure what to do next.
Madison, WI October 25, 2010 - The Practical Archivist announced a new Q&A web chat happening on Friday, October 29, 2010 from Noon-1pm Central Time. The chat will be hosted on Sally's Practical Archivist blog, http://practicalarchivist.com/accidentalarchivist2010.
There is no charge to participate, no pre-registration required, and no software to download.
Keepers of ancestor photos are encouraged to bring questions about how to organize, preserve and scan these treasures. Not sure what kind of box to use? Wondering whether slip-in sleeves are a good idea? Skeptical about whether an ink pen is the right tool to mark the back of a photo? Confused about the difference between ppi and dpi? Sally can help.
"'m offering this no-cost session to celebrate Family History Month and Archives Month while educating Family Archivist and encouraging them to do the best job they can," explains Sally J. (The Practical Archivist).
"Early in my career as an archivist, I realized the vast majority of historical documents would never be cared for by a professionally trained archivist. I took it as a personal challenge to reach out to family historians and help become better family archivists."
Ermadene Able is currently enrolled in Sally's Joy of Organizing Photos program, and wants other family archivists to hear her tale of narrowly-avoided disaster: "Before, my precious ancestor and family photos, movies, videos and linen heirlooms were vulnerable to damage due to the way I was storing them. Sally taught me how to store them all properly. This was good because not long after I moved them to a new location, our hot water heater flooded where some of the photos had been. How is that for timing? Thank you, Sally!"
Sally Jacobs has a Master's in Library Science with a Specialization in Archives Management, and has worked at the Library of Congress Prints and Photos Division, the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives, and American Girl. Her online CV is here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sallyjacobs
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