Murphy's Law: If something can go wrong, it will!
Murphy was an optimist, besides being Irish, I think.
The talk started off well - the PowerPoint presentation was well received and the audience was rapt with anticipation of seeing how a genealogy blogateer turned words into web pages. Then disaster struck.
I had just gone through the "parts" of a blog - the header, the posts, the blogroll, the archives, the statistics counters, etc. when I went to edit a draft of the previous post. I clicked on the "insert picture" icon on the edit panel (Blogger-masters will understand this) and waited...and waited...and nothing happened. The screen was frozen, the computer was frozen. The wireless signal was strong, but I was helpless in front of 70 attendees with my Bloglines hanging out.
After trying different things for a minute or three, I talked through the different types of genealogy blogs and their masters or mistresses, and closed the session with questions and answers. My intention had been to create a new blog, demonstrating how easy it is to do and then go visit some of the genealogy blogs that I enjoy.
When the computer froze, I could not close any windows and Ctrl-Alt-Del didn't solve the problem. I finally just turned the power off. I would have shut down earlier, but we had a lot of trouble connecting to the Internet at UCSD before the talk. They had arranged to have a computer guy there and he got my system up and running on the projector and the Internet. But I knew that if I shut down Internet Explorer that I wasn't going to have another shot at it - the computer guy was off playing basketball. Oh well.
Other than the computer glitch, I thought that the talk went well (sort of a "How did you enjoy the play, Mrs. Lincoln?" scenario, eh?), and I hope that some of the attendees visit many of the available genealogy blogs, and use the blogs to share information and stay up-to-date with genealogy news.
I had lunch with several of the officers of CGSSD and one of them noted that one of the Family History Fair speakers said that she doesn't trust the wireless connections at the venues, and uses screen capture shots to illustrate Internet sites and database results. That certainly is the way I'm going to go about this from now on, I think!
An alternative would be to capture web pages to my hard drive soon before the talk and show the pages using the browser but not be connected to the Internet. In retrospect, I could have done that, but it would have been a lot more work to prepare for the talk, and it would require maneuvering from one file to another on the computer.
Has anyone else experienced this type of problem while giving the presentation with wireless Internet access? What did you do? What is the best way to ensure that it doesn't happen?
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Live-blogging at the CGSSD meeting
Greetings to all attendees at the CGSSD meeting this morning.
By the time I post this, I will have provided a short presentation of the who, what, when, where and how of genealogy blogging, and am into the part of the demonstration of "how" to edit and publish a post.
Coming next is the demonstration of how to start a new blog (Blogger has much better tools now than a year ago! - you don't have to touch HTML). Finally, we will visit a number of genealogy blog web sites to sample the content of some of my favorite people.
My emphasis in my talk is about sharing genealogy news and research tips, and using blogs to help solve brick-wall problems.
The presentation will end with a question and answer period - I'll post this afternoon about the questions and how the overall presentation went. If some of the attendees want to comment, please do!
By the time I post this, I will have provided a short presentation of the who, what, when, where and how of genealogy blogging, and am into the part of the demonstration of "how" to edit and publish a post.
Coming next is the demonstration of how to start a new blog (Blogger has much better tools now than a year ago! - you don't have to touch HTML). Finally, we will visit a number of genealogy blog web sites to sample the content of some of my favorite people.
My emphasis in my talk is about sharing genealogy news and research tips, and using blogs to help solve brick-wall problems.
The presentation will end with a question and answer period - I'll post this afternoon about the questions and how the overall presentation went. If some of the attendees want to comment, please do!
Friday, March 16, 2007
Bombshell - Ancestry.com at FHCs Discontinued
I admit that I never thought this would happen...I always figured that Ancestry.com provided the LDS FHCs free access to their subscription site in order to get more home subscribers - hook 'em at the FHCs once a week and they'll figure out that a subscription that provides daily home access is cost effective and more convenient.
Leland Meitzler at http://genealogyblog.com has the announcement received by one of his readers:
----------------------------------------------------
To: Family History Center Directors in English Language Areas
From: Worldwide Support
Date: March 16, 2007
Re: Discontinued Access to Ancestry.com Databases
For many years, Ancestry.com has provided free access to patrons of family history centers around the world. Ancestry has informed the Church that as of April 1, 2007, it will discontinue this free access to the full Ancestry.com service.
Free access through Ancestry.com to the following databases will continue:
1. Index and images for the 1880, 1900 and 1920 U.S. censuses
2. Full name indices for the British 1841-1891 censuses (England and Wales)
3. World War I draft cards indices as created and miscellaneous other databases
Free access is likely to be discontinued for the remainder of the Ancestry.com databases including:
1. Index and images for the 1930 U.S. census
2. Index and images for the 1901 British census (England, Scotland, and Wales)
At this point, Ancestry.com is not offering an option for family history centers to independently purchase commercial or library site licenses. Patrons, of course, may choose to subscribe directly to Ancestry.com.
Free access to online databases is important and we therefore intend to add many new databases to FamilySearch.org. Much of the data preparation will be accomplished through the online indexing program available at FamilySearchIndexing.org. We encourage you to visit the website to learn more.
Volunteers have already begun indexing the 1900 U.S. census and other projects. Other censuses and vital record collections will be indexed as soon as the 1900 U.S. census project is completed. The more volunteers that participate, the sooner access can be provided. Since access to databases on FamilySearch.org is free to all, we anticipate that this will be of great interest to individuals around the world. We are also exploring opportunities to provide broader access to additional databases from other online service providers.
Please inform patrons regarding our plans to provide access to records and invite them to help by participating in the FamilySearch Indexing projects. We will communicate as more information becomes available. Thank you for all that you do on behalf of our patrons.
------------------------------------------------
So the FHCs get "Ancestry-lite" - a limited edition of the current version with some of the popular databases.
What does this mean for the FHCs and for genealogy societies?
1) For FHCs, it probably means at least a temporary loss of patrons. Every time I go to the San Diego FHC the computers are well populated, but few patrons are looking at books or microfilms. Most everybody on the computers is working on Ancestry.com. There will still be Ancestry-lite at the FHC's it seems.
Of course, the FHL is indexing and linking to the images all of their microfilms, which includes all of the census data. When this happens, the result will be more free access to records, but if it's available for free on the Internet, there is no incentive to go to the FHC. The incentive to subscribe to Ancestry will remain for the records available there that won't be indexed by the FHL.
2) This is an opportunity for local genealogy societies to work with local libraries that provide access to Ancestry Library Edition. I would not be surprised if local societies make arrangements with those libraries for ongoing computer seminars to use Ancestry Library Edition. My CVGS has a monthly arrangement now - we may try to get weekly access.
3) It is also an opportunity for local society members to get involved in the FHL indexing project. There may be many more volunteers now due to the loss of Ancestry access at the FHCs.
4) The real short-term beneficiary to this may be libraries that subscribe to HeritageQuestOnline. They may see a steady stream of new library card applications so that census access from home (albeit with limited indexing) can continue.
5) It will be interesting to see if this marketing move by Ancestry.com will generate a groundswell of antagonism from FHC patrons.
Here in the San Diego area, the San Diego City Library and branches, Carlsbad Public Library and branches, and the Chula Vista Library and branches provide access at the libraries to Ancestry Library Edition. There are probably others - Escondido and El Cajon come to mind - but I'm not sure of them. Only Carlsbad Public Library offers HeritageQuestOnline. Many researchers all over the County have a Carlsbad library card - I've had one for four years.
Leland Meitzler at http://genealogyblog.com has the announcement received by one of his readers:
----------------------------------------------------
To: Family History Center Directors in English Language Areas
From: Worldwide Support
Date: March 16, 2007
Re: Discontinued Access to Ancestry.com Databases
For many years, Ancestry.com has provided free access to patrons of family history centers around the world. Ancestry has informed the Church that as of April 1, 2007, it will discontinue this free access to the full Ancestry.com service.
Free access through Ancestry.com to the following databases will continue:
1. Index and images for the 1880, 1900 and 1920 U.S. censuses
2. Full name indices for the British 1841-1891 censuses (England and Wales)
3. World War I draft cards indices as created and miscellaneous other databases
Free access is likely to be discontinued for the remainder of the Ancestry.com databases including:
1. Index and images for the 1930 U.S. census
2. Index and images for the 1901 British census (England, Scotland, and Wales)
At this point, Ancestry.com is not offering an option for family history centers to independently purchase commercial or library site licenses. Patrons, of course, may choose to subscribe directly to Ancestry.com.
Free access to online databases is important and we therefore intend to add many new databases to FamilySearch.org. Much of the data preparation will be accomplished through the online indexing program available at FamilySearchIndexing.org. We encourage you to visit the website to learn more.
Volunteers have already begun indexing the 1900 U.S. census and other projects. Other censuses and vital record collections will be indexed as soon as the 1900 U.S. census project is completed. The more volunteers that participate, the sooner access can be provided. Since access to databases on FamilySearch.org is free to all, we anticipate that this will be of great interest to individuals around the world. We are also exploring opportunities to provide broader access to additional databases from other online service providers.
Please inform patrons regarding our plans to provide access to records and invite them to help by participating in the FamilySearch Indexing projects. We will communicate as more information becomes available. Thank you for all that you do on behalf of our patrons.
------------------------------------------------
So the FHCs get "Ancestry-lite" - a limited edition of the current version with some of the popular databases.
What does this mean for the FHCs and for genealogy societies?
1) For FHCs, it probably means at least a temporary loss of patrons. Every time I go to the San Diego FHC the computers are well populated, but few patrons are looking at books or microfilms. Most everybody on the computers is working on Ancestry.com. There will still be Ancestry-lite at the FHC's it seems.
Of course, the FHL is indexing and linking to the images all of their microfilms, which includes all of the census data. When this happens, the result will be more free access to records, but if it's available for free on the Internet, there is no incentive to go to the FHC. The incentive to subscribe to Ancestry will remain for the records available there that won't be indexed by the FHL.
2) This is an opportunity for local genealogy societies to work with local libraries that provide access to Ancestry Library Edition. I would not be surprised if local societies make arrangements with those libraries for ongoing computer seminars to use Ancestry Library Edition. My CVGS has a monthly arrangement now - we may try to get weekly access.
3) It is also an opportunity for local society members to get involved in the FHL indexing project. There may be many more volunteers now due to the loss of Ancestry access at the FHCs.
4) The real short-term beneficiary to this may be libraries that subscribe to HeritageQuestOnline. They may see a steady stream of new library card applications so that census access from home (albeit with limited indexing) can continue.
5) It will be interesting to see if this marketing move by Ancestry.com will generate a groundswell of antagonism from FHC patrons.
Here in the San Diego area, the San Diego City Library and branches, Carlsbad Public Library and branches, and the Chula Vista Library and branches provide access at the libraries to Ancestry Library Edition. There are probably others - Escondido and El Cajon come to mind - but I'm not sure of them. Only Carlsbad Public Library offers HeritageQuestOnline. Many researchers all over the County have a Carlsbad library card - I've had one for four years.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Searching the LDS Member Submitted Databases
When I started my genealogy research in 1988, the LDS Ancestral File database was about the only computer-based genealogy database available, and you could only view it at a Family History Center.
Ancestral File is a database composed of LDS member submissions which provided linked families - in family group sheet and pedigree chart format. As such, it was valuable to me IF the families I was searching for were in the database and IF there was not conflicting data. In many cases, several different researchers contributed data that was not consistent with the data from other researchers. You either tried to figure out which one was "best" or you decided to not trust any of them. In every case, the proper thing to do was to research in other resources to determine the correct family group and pedigree.
Still, the Ancestral File was, and is, a good finding aid - it gives you a start for further research.
The LDS stopped taking submissions to Ancestral File some time ago, but started another database called the Pedigree Resource File. This file shows links only to pedigree charts - no family group sheets.
Both the Ancestral File (AF) and Pedigree Resource File (PRF) databases are on line at http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp. Click on the "Ancestral File" or "Pedigree Resource File" links in the left-hand frame.
For my Bresee (and variant surnames) search, I first input Cornelia Bresee to see if my particular one was listed. She was not. So then I input the two "patriarchs" of the families - Christoffel Bresee and Hendrick Bries. They were in both AF and PRF. I traced the families in Ancestral File to the fourth generation where the submitted data ran out. It turned out that there was nothing new for me in either database.
While this search was fruitless for me, a similar search for your elusive ancestors may turn up useful data and research leads for you. I always check Ancestral File and Pedigree Resource File just in case there is a research nugget that helps me do further research.
Ancestral File is a database composed of LDS member submissions which provided linked families - in family group sheet and pedigree chart format. As such, it was valuable to me IF the families I was searching for were in the database and IF there was not conflicting data. In many cases, several different researchers contributed data that was not consistent with the data from other researchers. You either tried to figure out which one was "best" or you decided to not trust any of them. In every case, the proper thing to do was to research in other resources to determine the correct family group and pedigree.
Still, the Ancestral File was, and is, a good finding aid - it gives you a start for further research.
The LDS stopped taking submissions to Ancestral File some time ago, but started another database called the Pedigree Resource File. This file shows links only to pedigree charts - no family group sheets.
Both the Ancestral File (AF) and Pedigree Resource File (PRF) databases are on line at http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp. Click on the "Ancestral File" or "Pedigree Resource File" links in the left-hand frame.
For my Bresee (and variant surnames) search, I first input Cornelia Bresee to see if my particular one was listed. She was not. So then I input the two "patriarchs" of the families - Christoffel Bresee and Hendrick Bries. They were in both AF and PRF. I traced the families in Ancestral File to the fourth generation where the submitted data ran out. It turned out that there was nothing new for me in either database.
While this search was fruitless for me, a similar search for your elusive ancestors may turn up useful data and research leads for you. I always check Ancestral File and Pedigree Resource File just in case there is a research nugget that helps me do further research.
Searching the Rootsweb/Ancestry Mailing List Archives
It has been very difficult to search the mailing list archives at Rootsweb/Ancestry in the past - you had to go year-by-year in a specific mailing list, or use Google to find archived mailing list posts.
Rootsweb has made the search much easier - see the Rootsweb Newsroom post at http://bigfile.rootsweb.com/newsroom/?p=70. They have developed a specific search engine for the mailing lists at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?aop.
Make sure that you click on the Advanced Search tab.
In the Advanced Search box, you can find words in the body of a message or in the title of a message, and limit the search to a specific author of a message (by inputting their email address), or on a specific mailing list, or on a certain date.
There are no wild card search capabilities, so you have to input specific words or phrases. It does accept a specific phrase in quote marks - like "cornelia bresee".
This is a major improvement to the search capability on Rootsweb, and is long overdue. Hopefully, they will improve it even more - I would love to have a search between specific post dates, before a specific post date, or after a specific post date.
Rootsweb has made the search much easier - see the Rootsweb Newsroom post at http://bigfile.rootsweb.com/newsroom/?p=70. They have developed a specific search engine for the mailing lists at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?aop.
Make sure that you click on the Advanced Search tab.
In the Advanced Search box, you can find words in the body of a message or in the title of a message, and limit the search to a specific author of a message (by inputting their email address), or on a specific mailing list, or on a certain date.
There are no wild card search capabilities, so you have to input specific words or phrases. It does accept a specific phrase in quote marks - like "cornelia bresee".
This is a major improvement to the search capability on Rootsweb, and is long overdue. Hopefully, they will improve it even more - I would love to have a search between specific post dates, before a specific post date, or after a specific post date.
San Diego Genea-Blogging Meetup
I will be presenting "Genealogy Blogging - Soapbox or Service" at the Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego meeting on Saturday, 17 March starting at 9:00 AM. You can get directions to the meeting on the University of California San Diego campus and information about CGSSD at http://www.cgssd.org/.
The entire program summary is (from the CGSSD web page):
----------------------------------------------------------------
At 9:00, there will be a Special Session on Digital Imaging. The regular SIGs will not meet today. Gene Powell will present a special “Digital Imaging Demonstration.” This will be an hour packed with information on scanning, editing, and saving digital images. Learn the basic techniques of scanning, hear about the latest developments in digital imaging processing, and see a demonstration of an HP flat bed scanner, Prime Film slide and film scanner and Photoshop Elements 5.0. Bring your own photograph or slide to scan (and a disk to take home your digital image). A break and refreshments will begin at 10:15.
At 10:30, following general announcements, Randy Seaver will present:
GENEALOGY BLOGGING - SOAPBOX OR SERVICE?
Weblogs (known as "blogs" - online journals or diaries) have multiplied over the last two years in all fields, including genealogy. This presentation will discuss the what, when, where, why and how of genealogy blogging, and introduce you to many active genea-bloggers - each with something to say in their own way. Genealogy news, research tips, family history examples, stories, humor, business, education - and more - are covered in genealogy blogs every day.
Randy Seaver is a retired aerospace engineer, a genealogy researcher and family historian since 1988, with a fine set of obscure Northeast US/Canada colonial ancestors, with some 19th century English immigrants. A native San Diegan, Randy is a member of CGSSD, SDGS, CVGS, NEHGS, NGS and ESOG. He is currently President of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society and has made genealogy presentations to CVGS and several other societies. Randy was the first genealogy blogger in the San Diego area, and you can read his blog "Genea-Musings," with daily postings, at http://randysmusings.blogspot.com.
---------------------------------------------------
My presentation will be part PowerPoint and part online demonstration, and will include visiting many of my favorite genea-bloggers. I will probably post from the meeting during my talk in order to demonstrate the ease of posting on a genealogy blog. I hope that, from this presentation, more San Diego researchers will frequent the genealogy blogs and perhaps even start a blog of their own to share their wisdom, experience and stories.
The great thing about the CGSSD venue at UCSD is that wireless Internet access is everywhere! Therefore, Internet access can be used in presentations - which leads to a much more dynamic demonstration of online resources.
I would enjoy meeting any and all of my readers at this meeting.
The entire program summary is (from the CGSSD web page):
----------------------------------------------------------------
At 9:00, there will be a Special Session on Digital Imaging. The regular SIGs will not meet today. Gene Powell will present a special “Digital Imaging Demonstration.” This will be an hour packed with information on scanning, editing, and saving digital images. Learn the basic techniques of scanning, hear about the latest developments in digital imaging processing, and see a demonstration of an HP flat bed scanner, Prime Film slide and film scanner and Photoshop Elements 5.0. Bring your own photograph or slide to scan (and a disk to take home your digital image). A break and refreshments will begin at 10:15.
At 10:30, following general announcements, Randy Seaver will present:
GENEALOGY BLOGGING - SOAPBOX OR SERVICE?
Weblogs (known as "blogs" - online journals or diaries) have multiplied over the last two years in all fields, including genealogy. This presentation will discuss the what, when, where, why and how of genealogy blogging, and introduce you to many active genea-bloggers - each with something to say in their own way. Genealogy news, research tips, family history examples, stories, humor, business, education - and more - are covered in genealogy blogs every day.
Randy Seaver is a retired aerospace engineer, a genealogy researcher and family historian since 1988, with a fine set of obscure Northeast US/Canada colonial ancestors, with some 19th century English immigrants. A native San Diegan, Randy is a member of CGSSD, SDGS, CVGS, NEHGS, NGS and ESOG. He is currently President of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society and has made genealogy presentations to CVGS and several other societies. Randy was the first genealogy blogger in the San Diego area, and you can read his blog "Genea-Musings," with daily postings, at http://randysmusings.blogspot.com.
---------------------------------------------------
My presentation will be part PowerPoint and part online demonstration, and will include visiting many of my favorite genea-bloggers. I will probably post from the meeting during my talk in order to demonstrate the ease of posting on a genealogy blog. I hope that, from this presentation, more San Diego researchers will frequent the genealogy blogs and perhaps even start a blog of their own to share their wisdom, experience and stories.
The great thing about the CGSSD venue at UCSD is that wireless Internet access is everywhere! Therefore, Internet access can be used in presentations - which leads to a much more dynamic demonstration of online resources.
I would enjoy meeting any and all of my readers at this meeting.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Library of Congress "Chronicling America"
Chris Dunham alerted us to the presence of the "Chronicling America: Historical American Newspapers " digitization project at the Library of Congress - the web site is http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/.
Currently, 25 newspapers from CA, DC, FL, KY, NY, UT and VA are available for 1900 to 1910. There is great coverage of Washington DC, with 12 different papers.
I noticed that the San Francisco Call was one of the newspapers. I decided to give the site a test drive using one of Linda's ancestral names - McKnew.
I selected the specific newspaper and entered McKnew in the search b ox, and hit the Search button. This gave me 32 hits. Checking them one at a time is a bit of a chore, but turned out to be fruitful. I found the marriage license announcement for one of Linda's aunts, Belle McKnew to George F. Samwell. I had not known of Mr. Samwell's given name before (the family records just say "married a Samwell."
When you click on one of the links to a newspaper page, you get the full page on your screen in a window. It is at 11% magnification and is impossible to read. You can find the colored bar that indicates where your search item is located. So you can go to the menu at the top of the window and either hit the + button several times to magnify the image, or I just entered in 31% in the magnification window. Both ways work.
It takes a few seconds for the pixels to become legible, and then you have to manipulate the image (move it around by holding the left mouse button down and dragging it so that your target phrase becomes visible). After one or two trials you get the hang of it.
When this database gets fully populated (and who knows how many newspapers it will have?) it may be a wonderful free resource for genealogy researchers. I have made it a Favorite already.
Currently, 25 newspapers from CA, DC, FL, KY, NY, UT and VA are available for 1900 to 1910. There is great coverage of Washington DC, with 12 different papers.
I noticed that the San Francisco Call was one of the newspapers. I decided to give the site a test drive using one of Linda's ancestral names - McKnew.
I selected the specific newspaper and entered McKnew in the search b ox, and hit the Search button. This gave me 32 hits. Checking them one at a time is a bit of a chore, but turned out to be fruitful. I found the marriage license announcement for one of Linda's aunts, Belle McKnew to George F. Samwell. I had not known of Mr. Samwell's given name before (the family records just say "married a Samwell."
When you click on one of the links to a newspaper page, you get the full page on your screen in a window. It is at 11% magnification and is impossible to read. You can find the colored bar that indicates where your search item is located. So you can go to the menu at the top of the window and either hit the + button several times to magnify the image, or I just entered in 31% in the magnification window. Both ways work.
It takes a few seconds for the pixels to become legible, and then you have to manipulate the image (move it around by holding the left mouse button down and dragging it so that your target phrase becomes visible). After one or two trials you get the hang of it.
When this database gets fully populated (and who knows how many newspapers it will have?) it may be a wonderful free resource for genealogy researchers. I have made it a Favorite already.
Using the Genealogy.com Family Finder
One of the sets of hidden researcher-contributed information is on the www.genealogy.com web site. It is called Family Finder, and it searches all of the databases at www.genealogy.com for specific names.
Many of the subscription databases at www.genealogy.com are similar to databases at Ancestry.com or HeritageQuestOnline - for instance, the census records, the Genealogy Library online books, etc. Some of the subscription databases are only found at Genealogy.com - for instance, the World Family Tree collection of user-submitted family trees, and the Family Archives CDs.
There are two fairly large databases that are free to all researchers - the Genforum Message Boards and the Family Home Pages.
When you go to the Family Finder page - at http://www.genealogy.com/ifftop.html - you can enter a person's name (no wild cards), and birth and death dates and locations (if known). When you click on the Go button, you get a page with a list of Genealogy.com resources for your search terms. Many of those items are in the subscription site databases, but the matches in the Family Home Pages are available to anyone.
For instance, if I enter First Name = "Isaac" and Surname = "Seaver", I get 3 matches in the Family Home Pages. By clicking on the link for the matches, I get a page with links to three researcher submitted web pages with genealogy reports that include an "Isaac Seaver".
One of them is my own web page at www.genealogy.com/users/s/e/a/Randy-Seaver/ which has links to a number of genealogy reports. An "Isaac Seaver" is on at least three of my linked reports, but Family Finder does not link to them for some reason. It used to find all of the mentions of a name (and not just the name in the "home web page"), but Genealogy.com has changed the search algorithm for some reason. It may be that, since I submitted my pages as a non-subscriber, and the pages were not created using FTM's web page creator, that it doesn't index my pages any longer. Family Finder appears to find the mention of names on some researcher submitted web pages, but not others.
I tried the surname "bresee" and the other variants in the Family Finder. If you just input the surname, it gives you a list of given names that are in one of the databases. I tested some of the given names and found no useful hits in the Family Finder.
Google, and probably other search engines, will find some of the mentions of individuals on www.Genealogy.com Family Home Pages in my experience.
Many of the subscription databases at www.genealogy.com are similar to databases at Ancestry.com or HeritageQuestOnline - for instance, the census records, the Genealogy Library online books, etc. Some of the subscription databases are only found at Genealogy.com - for instance, the World Family Tree collection of user-submitted family trees, and the Family Archives CDs.
There are two fairly large databases that are free to all researchers - the Genforum Message Boards and the Family Home Pages.
When you go to the Family Finder page - at http://www.genealogy.com/ifftop.html - you can enter a person's name (no wild cards), and birth and death dates and locations (if known). When you click on the Go button, you get a page with a list of Genealogy.com resources for your search terms. Many of those items are in the subscription site databases, but the matches in the Family Home Pages are available to anyone.
For instance, if I enter First Name = "Isaac" and Surname = "Seaver", I get 3 matches in the Family Home Pages. By clicking on the link for the matches, I get a page with links to three researcher submitted web pages with genealogy reports that include an "Isaac Seaver".
One of them is my own web page at www.genealogy.com/users/s/e/a/Randy-Seaver/ which has links to a number of genealogy reports. An "Isaac Seaver" is on at least three of my linked reports, but Family Finder does not link to them for some reason. It used to find all of the mentions of a name (and not just the name in the "home web page"), but Genealogy.com has changed the search algorithm for some reason. It may be that, since I submitted my pages as a non-subscriber, and the pages were not created using FTM's web page creator, that it doesn't index my pages any longer. Family Finder appears to find the mention of names on some researcher submitted web pages, but not others.
I tried the surname "bresee" and the other variants in the Family Finder. If you just input the surname, it gives you a list of given names that are in one of the databases. I tested some of the given names and found no useful hits in the Family Finder.
Google, and probably other search engines, will find some of the mentions of individuals on www.Genealogy.com Family Home Pages in my experience.
Searching for Patents on Google
One of the stories that my mother told me about her family was that her great-grandfather, Devier J. (DJ) Smith (1839-1894) had a patent on an invention dealing with horse buggies. I had searched the US Patent Office index online previously, but that site required knowledge of the patent number for 19th century patents.
Today I went to the Google Patent search page and tried to find my great-great-grandfather's patent. I tried the following search terms:
1) "devier j smith"
2) smith buggy
3) smith whip
4) "dj smith"
I found the right patent on the 21st hit of "dj smith" - Patent No. 331,565 "Harness Rack" - and that was lucky. The patent said "Devier J. Smith, of McCook, Nebraska" on the description page but that was not found by Google. I wondered why, and when I input the patent number to Google it listed his name as= "Deviee J. Smith." Somebody made a typing error!
I even got a signature of Devier J. Smith. The patent listed his full name as "Devier James Smith," I hadn't known his middle name for sure. Cool! Matthias Loucks was one of his witnesses - the Loucks family occasionally appears in Della's Journal.
Here are pictures of the Harness Rack that my great-grandfather invented:
Today I went to the Google Patent search page and tried to find my great-great-grandfather's patent. I tried the following search terms:
1) "devier j smith"
2) smith buggy
3) smith whip
4) "dj smith"
I found the right patent on the 21st hit of "dj smith" - Patent No. 331,565 "Harness Rack" - and that was lucky. The patent said "Devier J. Smith, of McCook, Nebraska" on the description page but that was not found by Google. I wondered why, and when I input the patent number to Google it listed his name as= "Deviee J. Smith." Somebody made a typing error!
I even got a signature of Devier J. Smith. The patent listed his full name as "Devier James Smith," I hadn't known his middle name for sure. Cool! Matthias Loucks was one of his witnesses - the Loucks family occasionally appears in Della's Journal.
Here are pictures of the Harness Rack that my great-grandfather invented:
The Harness Rack was the only patent granted to Devier J. (DJ) Smith. I posted a biography of DJ some time ago and mentioned his salesmanship as a purveyor of snake oil.
I also found my own thrust reverser patents from my previous life as an aerospace engineer. I was surprised (but shouldn't have been) that other "randall * seaver" people have invented things.
Google Patent is very helpful to find the old patents. Have you input the names of your ancestors to see if they have a patent?
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
The Bluster About Blogging
It was inevitable that there would be some magazine or online articles, or presentations to local societies or conferences, about genealogy blogging.
Alan E. Mann has an online article at http://www.alanmann.com/articles/blogs.htm that covers all of the bases very well.
He provides a list of sample genealogy blogs that included a few that I have not visited, but I will [BG]. He provided a link to Genea-Musings that a number of people used today - that's how I found Alan's article!
Read the whole article. alan knows a lot about using the computer for genealogy research.
This was very interesting to me, since I am the speaker at the Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD) on Saturday, 17 March at UCSD. See the www.cgssd.org web site for location, time and directions, plus a summary of the talk and my biography.
My topic is "Genealogy Blogging - Soapbox or Service?" I completed my Powerpoint slides over the weekend and made my handout yesterday. I will describe my presentation after it occurs on Saturday.
Alan E. Mann has an online article at http://www.alanmann.com/articles/blogs.htm that covers all of the bases very well.
He provides a list of sample genealogy blogs that included a few that I have not visited, but I will [BG]. He provided a link to Genea-Musings that a number of people used today - that's how I found Alan's article!
Read the whole article. alan knows a lot about using the computer for genealogy research.
This was very interesting to me, since I am the speaker at the Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD) on Saturday, 17 March at UCSD. See the www.cgssd.org web site for location, time and directions, plus a summary of the talk and my biography.
My topic is "Genealogy Blogging - Soapbox or Service?" I completed my Powerpoint slides over the weekend and made my handout yesterday. I will describe my presentation after it occurs on Saturday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)