Genea-Musings

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Creating Source Citations in RootsMagic 7 - Post 3: Adding Master Text, Detail Text, Quality and Repository Information

Researchers new to RootsMagic 7 may have challenges learning how to enter source citations into RootsMagic, so I thought I would show how I enter a new source and then create a citation, with the Evidence Explained source templates, and with a free-form template (in a later post in this series).

I have a photocopy of pages from this published book in my Adams notebook:

J. Gardner Bartlett, Henry Adams of Somersetshire, England and Braintree, Mass.; His English Ancestry and some of His Descendants (New York City : privately printed, 1927).

I obtained the pages at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City in 2010, and also found that it has been digitized in FamilySearch Books.

Note that this "Master Source" is a different work than the first two posts in this series. I am using it because it has more information about the Henry Adams family that suit my purposes for this blog series. I probably should have used it initially.

Previous posts in this series include:

* Creating Source Citations in RootsMagic 7 - Post 1: New Master Source (posted 12 January 2016).
* Creating Source Citations in RootsMagic 7 - Post 2: Adding Source Details to the Master Source (posted 13 January 2016).

In the first two posts, I created a new "Master Source" and a "Source Detail" using the RootsMagic source templates.

In this post, I will demonstrate how to add additional information about a specific master source and source detail that completes the source citation information.

1) I added a Probate event for Henry Adams in RootsMagic 7, using the date and place that his will was proved, clicked on the "Source" button on the "Edit Person" screen, and then selected the appropriate Master Source. The Master Source was created earlier using a "Free-form" source template. Here is the "Citation Manager" screen for the Master Source (highlighted) before I entered a Source Detail:

2) In order to add the "Source Detail," I clicked on the "Edit" button on the screen above, and added a Source Detail for the probate record in the book. Here is the "Edit source" screen after I added the Source Detail:

There are six tabs on the line below the words "Edit Source" on the screen. They are:

* Citation (the screen above)
* Master text
* Detail text
* Media
* Quality
* Repository

All of these items can be input if the user desires, to provide a complete description of the source and citation.

3) Here is the "Master Text" screen - it has two parts, the "Source Text" and the "Source Comments."

I copied the description of the Master Source from the FamilySearch Library Catalog into the "Source Text" field. I entered my research Log entry for the book into the "Source Comments."

4) The "Detail text" tab also has two sections - the "Research Notes" and the "Comments."

I transcribed the probate information from the book into the "Research Notes" and left the "Comments" blank. If it was from a web page, I could have added a "Web Tag" using the button below the line with the green background.

All "Research Notes" from source citations will go into the "Research Notes" in the "Reports > Research Reports menu item.

5) I'm going to skip the "Media" tab. I usually add Media to the person and then tag the Event with it. When I do this, the Media thumbnail does not appear in the "Media" tab in the "Edit Sources" screen.

6) The "Quality" tab provides a screen to define the Source, Information and Evidence quality of the specific work and citation. The quality measures are the ones pre-dating 2013, and need to be updated to the latest definition from Mastering Genealogy Proof and the latest edition of Evidence Explained.

7) Clicking the "Repository" tab on the "Edit Source" screen opens a list of repositories and the user can select one from a list or create a new Repository using the "Select address from list" button (on the right of the screen). If you want to add a new Repository, then click on the "Select address from list" button and then the "Add" button and create a new Repository.

I already had the Family History Library as a source, so I selected that from the list.

8) I am done with my "Edit Source" screens, so I clicked on the "OK" button on the screen above.

The "Probate sources for Henry Adams" screen opened, and I expanded the margins a bit so I could see all of the entries resulting from the inputed information above:

.
9) Now I'm done with this particular source citation for the Probate record for Henry Adams found in a published book about Henry Adams of Somersetshire and Braintree.

10) In the next blog post in this series, I will create a source citation for this same record, but using another source template that covers online access of this book.

Some comments on the earlier blog posts, and to my email, have requested examples for other offline or online resources. I will address those requests over time in subsequent posts, but I want to get through the basics of source templates first.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/creating-source-citations-in-rootsmagic_14.html

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Treasure Chest Thursday Post 296: 1741 Marriage Record of Samuel Whitney and Abigail Fletcher in Weston, Mass.

It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to look in my digital image files to see what treasures I can find for my family history and genealogy musings.

The treasure today is the 1741 marriage record of Samuel Whitney (1719-1782) and Abigail Fletcher (1720-1783) in Weston, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

The marriage record for Samuel and Abigail is:

The transcription of this record is:

"M Sam'l Whitney jun'r & Abigail Fletcher both of Weston were

Married in Sd Town Oct'r 20'th 1741 W'm. Williams Min-

ist'r of the Gospel there."

The source citation for this record is:

Mary Frances Peirce, Town of Weston. Births, Deaths and Marriages, 1707-1850. Gravestones-, 1703-1900. Church Records, 1709-1825. Appendix and Addenda, Centennial Society (Boston, Mass. : McIncloe Bros., Printers, 1901), page 55, Samuel Whitney and Abigail Fletcher entry.

The "M" in the record is for "Marriage." The Weston vital record book has births, marriages and deaths in one sequence rather than separated into birth, marriage and death sections.

The record says "Samuel Whitney jun'r." Samuel's father was William Whitney (1683-1720). The Whitney name was very numerous in the Weston and Watertown area in the mid-1700s - my Samuel was probably the second oldest of that name in the town of Weston, hence the "jun'r" designation.

Samuel and Abigail (Fletcher) Whitney are my 5th great-grandparents. They had 13 children between 1743 and 1767. Their 12th child, daughter Martha Whitney (1764-1832) married Benjamin Seaver (1757-1816) in 1783.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/treasure-chest-thursday-post-296-1741.html

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Creating Source Citations in RootsMagic 7 - Post 2: Adding Source Details to the Master Source

2) With the Birth Fact highlighted, I clicked the "Source" button (in the right-hand panel, below "Note") and the "Birth sources for Henry Adams" screen opened:

3) On the screen above, I have a choice - either the "Add new source" button or the "Cite existing source" button on the row under the "Birth sources for Henry Adams" line.

I have already entered the Master Source to the Source List, so I want to "Cite existing source." I clicked that button and the "Master Source List" screen opened. I typed (didn't click anywhere, just typed) in "adams" and the list went right to the Master Source I created yesterday:

4) I picked the "Adams of Braintree - by Fairbanks (NEHGR v59)" master source, and clicked on the "Select" button (at the bottom right of the screen), and saw:

The "Edit source" screen opened, with the "Master Source" (yellow background area) fields filled in.

In the green background area, I can enter the "Source Details" information in the "Page" field for the specific Fact - in this case, the birth fact. On the screen above, I entered:

Page: page 321, Henry Adams baptism entry

The added information shows up in the source citation elements on the right-hand side of the "Edit Source" screen. To complete the source citation, I clicked on the "OK" button at the bottom right of the screen above.

5) The completed source citation elements are then shown on the "Birth sources for Henry Adams" screen:

The completed source elements for this source citation are:

Footnote: Rev. Hiram Francis Fairbanks, "The English Ancestry of Henry Adams of Braintree," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 59, Number 3 (July 1905): page 321, Henry Adams baptism entry.
Short Footnote: Fairbanks, "The English Ancestry of Henry Adams of Braintree," page 321, Henry Adams baptism entry.
Bibliography: Fairbanks, Rev. Hiram Francis. "The English Ancestry of Henry Adams of Braintree." New England Historical and Genealogical Register Volume 59, Number 3 (July 1905): Pages 320-322.

6) One note about this particular "Source Details" part of the source citation process -- some "Source Details" have more than one field - in this case, there is only one of them.

7) Am I done? No! There are still fields to enter for this source citation, which I will cover in the next post on Thursday.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/creating-source-citations-in-rootsmagic_13.html

3rd Annual Heritage Books Genealogy Conference and Cruise in September 2016

I received this press release from Craig Scott, the owner of Heritage Books and sponsor of these cruises:

=============================================

Join us for an educational and fun-filled voyage on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Liberty of the Seas when it leaves from Galveston, Texas to sail to Cozumel, Mexico then on to George Town, Grand Cayman; Falmouth, Jamaica; and back to Galveston, Texas, while we learn about genealogical research methods, sources, tools, technologies and from some of the foremost experts in those fields.

The speakers will be Cyndi Ingle, Paula Stuart-Warren, Paul Milner, David Rencher, J. Mark Lowe, and Craig R. Scott.

You will be among friends (old and new) and fellow researchers from around the world as you soak up new knowledge and skills through a lecture series that rivals any regional or national genealogy conference - but at one remarkably-low price that includes meals, taxes, port charges, onboard entertainment, and conference events.

As popular as our lecture series is, many veterans of our conference value something else even more. That is the opportunity to share a meal with a world-class genealogist or to schedule one-on-one time to discuss their specific research challenges. Come armed with your records and be prepared to hear about new resources, repositories, and finding aids that will help you to break down those brick walls. Some people find these private consultations alone to be worth the trip. Several evening group brick wall discussions add to the learning experience.

All of the conference sessions occur while the ship is at sea and will not conflict with ports of call.

What could be better than a cruise to the warm waters of the Caribbean, and a first-class genealogy conference all rolled into one???

This event is very popular so register early for the best stateroom selection!

Visit our website to register:

www.HeritageBooks.com

============================================

Linda and I enjoyed the first cruise in 2014 from San Diego to the Mexican Riviera with Craig Scott, Cyndi Ingle, Angie Bush, Mark Lowe, and several other speakers.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/3rd-annual-heritage-books-genealogy.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery -- Post 395 of (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

I'm posting old (and sometimes new) family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but they won't be wordless posts like others do - I am incapable of having a wordless post.

Here are some of the most precious (to me) images from my Seaver/Leland photograph collection:

1) I visited my parents gravesite at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery on Point Loma in San Diego in January 2009. It was a very clear day. Here is the entrance to the cemetery from Catalina Boulevard on the west side of the street:

2) My parents gravesite is through the entrance, then left to the first road to the left and several hundred yards down that road to a leaning tree:

3) My parents gravesite (they were inurned) is one of the three in the foreground beside the road:

4) The view to the west from the gravesite is toward the Pacific Ocean:

I took ore photos of gravestones in this cemetery, and I'll share some of them in the coming weeks.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/fort-rosecrans-national-cemetery-post.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Creating Source Citations in RootsMagic 7 - Post 1: New Master Source

My geneablogging colleague, Linda Stufflebean, who writes the Empty Branches on the Family Tree blog, recently wrote RootsMagic 7 Source Citations (posted 10 January 2016). She is trying to learn new genealogy software, and became frustrated because she wanted to enter a new source and citation into RootsMagic, but was unsure of the process.

Other researchers new to RootsMagic 7 may also have the same challenges, so I thought I would show how I enter a new source and then create a citation, with the Evidence Explained source templates (in this post), and with a free-form template (in a later post in this series).

I have a paper article in my surname notebooks for "The English Ancestry of Henry Adams," written by Rev. Hiram Francis Fairbanks, and published on pages 320-322 of Volume 59, Number 3 of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, a quarterly journal. Although I have a print copy of this article, it is also available online at the www.AmericanAncestors.org website.

There are two ways to add a new Source to the Source List. The first is to go to Lists > Source List and pick "Add new source" to add a new "Master Source" to the list. The second way is to go to a Person > Edit Person > Event > Source and pick "Add new source." Here is the first method:

1) In the Family View (it could be any view - I almost always use the Family View), click on the "Lists" menu item:

On the "Lists" dropdown menu, pick "Source List."

2) The "Master Source List" window opened, and I could see any of my master sources.

I wanted to add a new "Master Source," so I clicked on the "Add new source" button located just below the "Master Source List" title on the screen above.

3) After clicking on the "Add new source" button, the list of Source templates appeared:

I could have scrolled down through this list of Source Types - they are all unique source templates based on the Evidence Explained book.

I wasn't sure which one to pick - my source is a quarterly journal or periodical, so I started typing "journ" into the search field on the screen above. A list of potential source templates appeared (including Free-form).

My source is a print article in a quarterly journal or periodical, so I decided to pick the "Journal Article, print" template.

4) Here is the screen for the "Journal article, print" source template:

For this source template, there are 7 fields for the "Master Source" portion of the new source I am adding. Note that on the right side of the screen is an area with a white background that is waiting for information for the Footnote, the Short Footnote, and the Bibliography entries. As I enter text in the 7 fields, the information in those fields will be added to this white-background area.

The information I entered into the 7 fields was:

* Author: Rev. Hiram Francis Fairbanks
* Article title: The English Ancestry of Henry Adams of Braintree
* Article subtitle:
* Journal title: New England Historical and Genealogical Register
* Volume: Volume 59, Number 3
* Issue Date: July 1905
* Pages/Range: pages 320-322

Here is the filled in source template:

As you can see, the Footnote, Short Footnote and bibliography entries are formatted exactly like the examples in Evidence Explained (except I like to spell out "Volume" and "Pages"). The article title is in quotes, the journal title is in italics, and the issue date is in parentheses.

5) When I clicked the "OK" button, I was prompted to enter a "Master Source Name" for this source:

I entered this for the Master Source Name:

Adams of Braintree - by Fairbanks (NEHGR v59)

I will discuss this choice later in this post).

6) I was done with defining this master source, so I clicked on the "OK" button and saw that this new "Master Source" was added to my Source List:

There it is - right at the top of the list on the screen (but it's not the first item on the list!). On the right side of the "Master Source List" screen above is the identification of the source template ("Journal article, print") and the master source information for the Footnote, Short Footnote and Bibliography entries.

I'm done. Now I can click on the "Close" button and start adding the source citation details in the next post in this series.

7) All of the above can be found in the Help index or search screens in RootsMagic - usually with examples similar to the above. They are also in the RootsMagic book sold on the RootsMagic.com website.

8) I want to emphasize the most important thing I've found, through hard experience, in naming a Master Source. I have over 1,300 master sources in my database, and I don't want to have to scroll through all of them to find the specific one I want to use. RootsMagic lists them in the Source List alphabetically.

In the "Master Source List," all I have to do is start typing the keyword in the "Master Source Name." Since I chose "Adams" as the first word in the Name, the list will go right to the keyword.

My Keywords in the "Master Source List" are usually:

* A surname when the source is about that surname (like "Adams of Braintree").
* A year if it is a source for a specific year (like "1850 U.S. Census").
* A town or city if it is a source for a specific town or city (like "Westminster, Mass. Vital Records")
* A state if it is a source for the entire state (or province (like "California Births, 1905-1995"). I spell it out.
* A country if it is a source for an entire country (like "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975")
* A newspaper if it is a source for a specific newspaper (like "San Diego Union-Tribune")
* A specific name if it is a source from a specific person (like "Abbie Smith Family Papers")

If I group all of the sources for a specific surname, a specific year or a specific location together, then I can easily find the source I want and won't waste time looking through 1,300 master sources because I cannot remember the first word of the "Master Source Name." The name is intended to be used as a Finding Aid and not as the definitive source name.

9) In the next post in this series, I will add a source detail to this master source for a specific event.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/creating-source-citations-in-rootsmagic.html

Twile wins a place in the Innovator Showdown Semi-Finals at RootsTech 2016

I received this information from Paul Brooks of Twile earlier this week:

=========================================

Twile wins a place in the Innovator Showdown Semi-Finals

at RootsTech 2016

• UK-based tech startup will compete as one of twelve innovators from around the globe to win part of the $100,000 in total prizes.

• First UK startup in the competition.

• Twile will showcase their family history timeline tool to over 23,000 visitors at the world’s largest genealogy event.

Doncaster, UK, 10 January, 2016 – Following the launch of their family history timeline in April 2015, Twile have made it through to the semi-finals of the Innovator Showdown at RootsTech, which runs from 3rd - 6th February 2016.

RootsTech, hosted by FamilySearch, is a global conference with over 23,000 visitors expected at the event in Utah, USA. The semi-finals will take place during the Innovator Summit, a one-day event that forms a critical component of the RootsTech conference.

Designed for developers and tech entrepreneurs from around the globe to explore opportunities within the family history industry, the summit will see six finalists selected to go through to the Innovator Showdown. Here they will present their cutting-edge applications in the live event on Friday 5th February, to win a share of $100,000 in prizes.

Preparing to take the stage at the Innovator Summit, Twile co-founder Paul Brooks said, “We are absolutely delighted to have been chosen for the semi-finals of the Innovator Showdown.

"This really is the biggest competition for our industry and we think Twile perfectly matches the criteria - discovering, preserving and sharing family stories across generations. The conference is also a great opportunity for us to meet a lot of the people we’ve been talking to over the last year.”

Twile will also have a booth at the event within ‘Innovation Alley’. If you’re going to be at RootsTech, please come along and see us.

About Twile

Twile, based in Doncaster UK, was started in 2013 by Paul Brooks and Kelly Marsden. Both with young families, they were looking for a way to give their children a record of their early years and a knowledge of their ancestors. While the website is aimed primarily at family historians, it’s also designed to encourage the rest of the family to add their own, more recent Twile launched as part of the DotForge Accelerator in Sheffield UK and has since been backed by Creative England (who bring capital through the Government’s Regional Growth Fund) and a number of UK angel investors, including Lee Strafford, one of the original co-founders of Plusnet, which was sold to BT Group in 2007.

========================================

I posted about Twile back in August - see Twile Converts Family Tree Data into Visual Timelines - Post 1: GEDCOM Upload and Twile Converts Family Tree Data into Visual Timelines - Post 2: Photo and Document Upload.

If other RootsTech Innovator Showdown semi-finalists want me to publish their press releases, please send them via email at rjseaver@cox.net.

I look forward to meeting Paul Brooks of Twile in the RootsTech Expo Hall and hearing his presentation at RootsTech.

The RootsTech Expo Hall will have an Innovation Alley this year with all of the semi-finalists displaying and discussing their products.

The URL for this post is:

RootsTech 2016 Innovator Showdown Semi-Finalists are Announced

The second annual RootsTech Innovator Showdown will be back and even bigger than before. Innovators from around the globe and from all industries will be competing for a piece of the $100,000 in total cash and in-kind prizes.

This year’s Innovator Showdown will invite 6 finalists to the stage to show off their cutting-edge innovations in front of thousands of live-event attendees, with thousands more through live stream, and a panel of renowned judges.

The 12 Semi-Finalists for the RootsTech 2016 Innovator Showdown were recently announced on the DevPost web site. The semi-finalists are:

AncestorCloud -- Requests are simple. Make a detailed request of the help you need and include a fair reward. We’ll connect your request with one of our global helpers to get your results.
Famicity -- Votre histoire est un trésor à partager. Service privé et gratuit. [Your story is a treasure to share. Free private service.]
GenSoup -- Finden Sie die Nadel im Heuhaufen! Sie wissen, dass Ihre Ururgroßmutter zirka 1880 in Pommern geboren wurde? GenSoup nimmt Ihnen die Eigenrecherche in Sachen Familienforschung nicht völlig ab, aber liefert wertvolle Hinweise, wo Sie weitere Informationen finden. [Find the needle in a haystack! You know that your great-grandmother was born about 1880 in Pomerania? GenSoup you take the proper research when it comes to genealogy not completely off, but provides valuable information where you will find more information.]
JRNL -- Tell your story in your own words. A secure, private journal to help you capture life's most important moments.
Kindex™ -- Build a searchable archive, one record at a time. Kindex brings family records out of obscurity -- creating a searchable, shareable archive that connects records to families and researchers.
Legacy Scribes -- Digitize your journals. Protect them forever.
Scribbitt -- Scribbitt is a new form of Journaling, using a familiar format to easily create your life's narrative. Organize it, share it, and save it as a permanent record to pass on for generations.
Studio -- Legacy Republic offers premium products and services for your most important family heirloom – your memories. Powered by YesVideo, Inc., the largest and most trusted home movie digitization company in the world, we put the same love and attention into our services as you put into your memories. We guarantee you will be happy with the results.
TapGenes -- TapGenes helps you crowdsource your family's health information, helping you understand the thread that ties your family's health together.
The Family History Guide -- The Family History Guide is a website that represents a best-in-class learning environment for family history. Its scope is broad, but its focus is narrow enough to help you achieve your goals, step by step. Whether you're brand new to family history or a seasoned researcher - or somewhere in between - The Family History Guide can be your difference maker.
The History Project -- Where memories come to life. Your living time capsule to collect artifacts and share stories.
Twile - Bring your family history to life. Create an amazing timeline of your family history

with photos and milestones.

The field of 12 will be pared to 6 finalists after presentations on Wednesday, 3 February, and those 6 finalists will make presentations to the RootsTech audience on Friday, 5 February, after the RootsTech Keynote talks. The judges will decide on the winner, but the audience, and people around the world watching on the RootsTech streaming video, will be able to vote via their mobile device for an additional "Peoples Choice" award for one of the finalists.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/rootstech-2016-innovator-showdown-semi.html

Monday, January 11, 2016

Dear Randy: How Do You Use Your Smartphone to Do Genealogy?

I had this question asked in email recently, so I thought I would answer it on my blog too.

Here are the first two screens on my iPhone:

The routine tasks I perform on my iPhone almost every day are:

1) I read my email every morning before I get on the computer. It's easier to delete the emails I don't want on my phone. One glance and I can delete it. It takes more time to delete them in Gmail on the computer. The ones I save in this first read I can respond to using Gmail later in the day. This is purely for time efficiency.

When I'm away from my computer, I can also reply if necessary on my phone.

2) I can read my Feedly news and blog reader when I'm watching TV or am away from the computer. Again, it's a time efficiency thing - I read 300-400 feed items a day and I find I can check 100 on my phone in 15 minutes while it takes 30-45 minutes on my computer.

3) Facebook - it's more time efficient to read my page, the pages of my Family, the Group pages, and the general newsfeed on my phone than on the computer. I can comment too. I can also upload photos directly from my phone to Facebook.

4) Twitter - I check Twitter several times a day.

5) Calendar is indispensable - it tells me before I know I have something planned, as long as I have put in the best notification time. It syncs to all of my devices.

6) Google+ - I can check my Google+ feed, plus Communities, and respond if necessary. I do this only once or twice a day.

Other mobile apps I use occasionally, not every day:

7) Photos - I take all of my photos on the iPhone, and using iCloud they add themselves to my computer's files when I put the phone next to the computer. The camera is good enough to take photos at repositories of book or periodical pages, or of microfilm images.

8) RootsMagic - I try to keep the file updated so that I always have my family tree in my pocket, with notes and images.

9) Ancestry - I have one of my trees synced and can add records from Hints when I'm bored or away from my computer. I can also search Ancestry for my tree people.

10) MyHeritage - I have one of my trees synced and can add Record Matches to my tree people when I'm bored or away from my computer. I can also search MyHeritage for my tree people.

11) FamilySearch - I can see what information is in person profiles in the FamilySearch Family Tree.

12) RootsTech or SCGS or FGS or NGS apps - I use the conference apps to select classes and tell me what classes I need to attend when at the conference.

13) Evernote - I use Evernote occasionally to add thoughts or notes to myself when away from my computer.

14) FindAGrave and BillionGraves - I use these apps occasionally to find a cemetery, or to see if a cemetery photo or memorial are already available. I have not used them to take gravestone photos yet, or upload them to the websites.

15) CamScanner - I have the free app, and have used it on occasion. I probably should use it more at repositories to correct parallax problems.

16) 23andMe - I added this some time ago, in hopes it would show me DNA matches, but it only deals with health questions. Oh well.

17) I have Pinterest and Instagram synced to my accounts, but don't use them much.

18) iBooks - I added quite a few PDF or MSWord documents to this somehow and can see some of the QuickGuide type of documents when I'm away from the computer.

19) Dropbox - I have quite a few documents in my Dropbox and can access them when I'm away from the computer. I have some reference books and conference syllabi here.

20) Google Maps - I can use Google Maps to find details about places my ancestors lived, or get directions to an address, check traffic, find a place to eat, etc.

So, I can use my iPhone for many genealogy and family history related tasks. I don't use all of them every day or even week, but I could use them when I need them.

The iPhone fits in my pocket and goes with me everywhere I go. I also have a Samsung Galaxy tablet with almost all of the same apps, but I don't use it as much because I don't carry it with me everywhere. One thing I do use the tablet for is to serve as a hotspot when I can't get free wifi (like at a library or at a hotel).

I love my iPhone - I just wish the type was larger. It's not easy to read sometimes.

What other apps should I be using for genealogy and family history? What are your favorite mobile apps?

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/dear-randy-how-do-you-use-your.html

New or Updated Record Collections at FamilySearch.org - January 3 to 9, 2016

I'm trying to keep up with the new and updated record collections at FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list).

As of 9 January 2016, there were 2,055 record collections on FamilySearch (an increase of 0 from last week):

The new or updated collections are:

* United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014; 15,860,544 indexed records, with record images, UPDATED 09 Jan 2016

* Ukraine, Kyiv Orthodox Consistory Church Book Duplicates, 1734-1920; 1,837,807 indexed records, with record images, UPDATED 07 Jan 2016

* North Carolina, State Supreme Court Case Files, 1800-1909; 876,769 indexed records, with record images, UPDATED 07 Jan 2016

* Bolivia Catholic Church Records, 1566-1996; 61,549 indexed records, with record images, UPDATED 07 Jan 2016

* Utah Death Certificates, 1904-1964; 322,898 indexed records, with record images, UPDATED 07 Jan 2016

* Belgium, Hainaut, Civil Registration, 1600-1913; 321,812 indexed records, with record images, UPDATED 07 Jan 2016

* Rhode Island, District Court Naturalization Indexes, 1906-1991; 136,534 indexed records, with record images, UPDATED 06 Jan 2016

* Sweden, Örebro Church Records, 1613-1918; index 1635-1860; 243,219 indexed records, with record images, UPDATED 06 Jan 2016

* Italy, Napoli, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1809-1865; 559,011 indexed records, with record images, UPDATED 05 Jan 2016

* Australia, Tasmania, Miscellaneous Records, 1829-2001; 106,224 indexed records, with record images, UPDATED 05 Jan 2016

Unfortunately, it is difficult to tell which collections are brand new and which ones are updated. The asterisk they use is for "Recently added or updated." I am particularly interested in new collections, for the obvious reasons. FamilySearch does provide a listing of which collections are new or updated several days after my post.

In order to select a specific collection, go to https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list and use the "Filter by collection name" feature in the upper left-hand corner.

Each one of the collections listed above has a Research Wiki page (use the "Learn more" link). It would be very useful if the Wiki page for each collection listed the dates for when the collection was added as a new collection and the dates for major updates also.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/new-or-updated-record-collections-at_11.html