April Newsletter

COMING EVENTS
Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 1:00pm at the Yucaipa Valley Genealogical Society at the Yucaipa Branch Library. Speaker will be Jean Wilcox Hibben.
Topic will be "Communicating in your Ancestors' Homeland: Understanding Other Cultures Can Make or Break Overseas Research".

Sunday, April 25, 2010 at 7:00pm Family History Research Class at the Redlands Stake Center High Council Room. Subject: “FamilySearch Indexing
& Pilot”. Presenter: Yvonne Gadbois

NEW FACE FOR FAMILYSEARCH
Within the next few months you will see a new homepage for Family Search. Right now it is being Beta tested. If you would like to get a feeling for this new look you can go to http://fsbeta.familysearch.org/ Within this new site, under the tab "Search", you will find the Wiki, Forums, Record search, Indexing. New Family Search will become a new tab named Family Tree.

WHAT IS FAMILYSEARCH WIKI?
FamilySearch Wiki, a new Web site at https://wiki.FamilySearch.org, will help you answer difficult research questions. FamilySearch Wiki is developed by the community of users. It is dedicated to helping people throughout the world to find, use, and analyze records of genealogical value. It will include the following:
· Content currently on FamilySearch.org. The wiki will replace the Research Guidance and Research Helps tabs on FamilySearch.org. The Church’s current research publications (research outlinges, foreign word lists, “Finding Records of Your Ancestors”) are in the Wiki with these important changes:
o Long publication have been divided into short articles so users do not need to read a 40 page publication to find answers.
o A Search engine makes the information easier to find.
o Content has been updated with current Web site addresses, contact information for libraries and archives, and other facts.
o Content has been added to cover localities, topics, and records never before covered on FamilySearch.org.
· New content. The community, including staff from the Family History Library, adds new information each day. This allows frequent updates and increased coverage of localities and ethnic, religious, and racial groups. The site currently has limited content in some areas and richer content in others.
The strategy that FamilySearch is recommending is that patrons be taught how to use the Wiki and the Forums. We talked about the Forums in the January Newsletter. This is a way of “social networking” or contacting others who might be working on your same lines.
As people learn to use these helps they can pretty much find any sources they may need to continue with their research. Everything links to a place to search. The new motto for FamilySearch is “Click and you shall receive”

FamilySearch Account or LDS Account FamilySearch Account makes it easier to access FamilySearch sites! Enjoy the convenience of just one user name and password for all participating FamilySearch Web sites, including FamilySearch indexing. Once you register, you can sign in to FamilySearch sites using either a FamilySearch Account or an LDS Account (which is tied to LDS Church membership). The FamilySearch Account/LDS Account is free and replaces your prior user names and passwords. You can register for these accounts at: https://wiki.FamilySearch.org or https://new.familysearch.org Please note: When you sign in to nFS now you will be directed to use your LDS account user name and password.

FAMILYSEARCH AFFILIATES
FamilySearch Certified Affiliates are third-party companies that provide products and services with features that are compatible with FamilySearch programs. Certification indicates the affiliate’s declaration of compliance with FamilySearch requirements. Note that these products and services are independently developed and supported by their respective organizations, not by FamilySearch. To see a list of certified software programs and Internet links to their Web sites, click this link: http://www.familysearch.org/eng/affiliates/index.html New affiliate programs are being certified on a regular basis, so be sure to check this website frequently. Links to affiliate Web sites can be found by following the above link. Some of these affiliates are: Ancestral Quest, Roots Magic 4, Family Insight, MagiKey Family Tree, Legacy, Mobile tree, Note from Larry and Phyllis Pope: Read about the App for Family Search (Ipod phone and Ipod touch) at http://mormontimes.com/print/?id=14005 Photoloom (Go to www.familyphotoloom.com ). Ages-online is an internet genealogy program. Take a look at http://www.ages-online.com
(Update as of Mar. 29. If you would like to see a new list of affiliates go to the sign in page of NFS and click on “More great products”)

The FamilySearch Family History Library is now making its popular classes available at http://www.familysearch.org , where anyone anywhere in the world can access them for free at a time that is convenient for them. The classes have been offered on-site in Salt Lake City for years. Until now, attendance has been limited to those patrons who are fortunate to live in the surrounding community or happen to be visiting the library as part of a research trip. Making the classes available online allows access to many more patrons.
There are currently 23 Family History Library classes available online, with subjects ranging from European research to United States military records. The most popular offerings are the Beginning Research Series for Ireland and England and a class on descendancy research.
The classes vary in length from 6 to 58 minutes, with most lasting about 25 minutes. The format of the class varies, depending on the content being presented. One type of class shows a video that alternates between the teacher and the PowerPoint slides. Another kind of class integrates video of the presenter, the accompanying PowerPoint slides, and links to supplemental materials all in one screen. Several of the classes are interactive, such as a course on reading German handwriting. In these classes, the teacher is represented with still photographs and audio narration, and the student can actively participate in learning activities, such as matching English and German characters or transcribing selected words from a document. As a student types, the correct text appears in green and incorrect answers appear in red, providing immediate feedback.

FREE TRIALS-Legacy Just go to http://www.legacyfamilytree.com. Here you will find a free download for the basic program. You will need to pay for the deluxe version but the free version will get you started in organizing and printing out family files in book form. Legacy will work on Window 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP, or Vista. Legacy will also run on newer Macs with Parallel, Boot camp or Fusion. It features a complete source citation system which is extremely important. Legacy imports both Personal Ancestral File® information as well as GEDCOM files.
RootsMagic Essentials is available for free at http://www.rootsmagic.com Users of other genealogy software products will find it easy to experiment with RootsMagic Essentials using their own data. Roots Magic Essentials can directly import data from PAF, Family Tree Maker (through 2006), Family Origins, and Legacy Family Tree. It can also read and write data using the GEDCOM format. This is not the full RootsMagic4 version.
Ancestral Quest has a free 60 day trial available from www.ancquest.com Reg. cost $29.95

SOME FAVORITE SITES LISTED AT FHCNET (You may need to copy and paste these in your browser)
www.genuki.org.uk -- THE place to start British research.
www.namethesaurus.com -- will show names that may sound alike -- uses 3 separate coding systems, not including LDS', which is VERY helpful if you suspect a dialect problem.
www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc -- manuscript collection index at Library of Congress.
www.dar.org has recently mounted some data that's available to the public
www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook has been useful on occasion.
www.sachsen.de/en/bf/verwaltung/archivverwaltung/inhalt_archive.html resource of Saxony-German research ...and don't forget the WorldGenWeb.org -- some places are a lot more useful than others, but you owe it to yourself to look.

FOOTNOTE has started an Interactive Census Collection.
Lindon, UT - March 11, 2010 – In order to encourage more people to find their ancestors and connect with family, Footnote.com, the web’s premier interactive history site, is opening all of their U.S. census documents for free to the public for a limited time.
Unlike any other historical collection on the web, the Interactive Census Collection has the unique ability to connect people related to ancestors found on the historical documents. Simply by clicking the I’m Related button for a name on the document will identify you as a descendent and also list others that have done the same. Never before has it been as easy to connect with distant relatives through historical documents. Finding a record featuring an ancestors name provides not only an emotional experience but also a connection with the past. On Footnote.com it’s more than just finding a name on a census record. Interactive tools allow people to enhance the documents by adding their own contributions including: Photos, Stories, Comments, other related documents.
Check out the Interactive Census at Footnote - Free for a limited time.

World Vital Records This month we have some great updates planned.
Web Site Redesign: We are in the process of launching our new site design and are excited for many of the improvements we have made. So keep your eye out for the announcement and please provide us any feedback. New Military Collections: We will be releasing some exciting military collections this month that will include the Air Force Officer Register Collection featuring over 1.65 million names of Air Force Officers who served in the military during 1958-1962.
We are excited for the upcoming improvements and content that will be coming.

WorldCat.org, Google Books and more...
WorldCat.org is a major international connection to over 10,000 libraries worldwide and catalogs over 1.5 billion items. Google Books contains over 10,000,000 digitized books and magazines. WorldCat.org and Google Books are now interlinked. If you search for a book on Google Books and find the item, one of the options is to find the item in a library. Clicking on this option gives you a link to WorldCat.org. The WorldCat search for the item gives you the full citation, a reference to every edition of the item and by entering your zip code, a list of libraries that have the item, including the distance from your own location. Quoting from the OCLC Website

Newspapers on line I personally would not like to go without one of the options to NewspaperArchives. I get a tremendous about of data from them. But I like to enhance my genealogy and make it family history. I love old newspapers because they published every little thing that went on in town. I get obits, marriage announcements, divorces, court cases, parties with family members attending, accidents, awards, pictures of people and even ads. It's a wealth of resources.
http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home
http://news2.nnyln.net/essex-county/search.html
http://digitalnewspapers.org/
http://www.cyndislist.com/newspapr.htm
http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/contentsearch.aspx?&rt=news (Access free at the FHC Portal)
World Vital Records does have some newspapers but not the entire newspaperarchive.com package.
Godfrey Memorial Library has a full subscription to newspaperarchives.com through their subscription site or it is also free at FHCs.(Email from FHCNET)


Bits and Pieces
Vital records - http://vitalrec.com/ If you are looking for vital records (birth, Death, Marriage, divorce degrees, naturalization, adoption and land records) you will need to scroll down and click on the state you are interested in. This site is free for 7 days.

FOOTNOTE.COM LETS PEOPLE CREATE AMERICA’S FAMILY TREE THROUGH THE ONLY INTERACTIVE U.S. CENSUS
Lindon, UT - March 11, 2010 – In order to encourage more people to find their ancestors and connect with family, Footnote.com, the web’s premier interactive history site, is opening all of their U.S. census documents for free to the public for a limited time.

Color-Coding Unverified Data Whenever I receive information that hasn’t been proven, or doesn’t have citations or documentations, I save it for a trail to further my research. No sense reinventing the wheel. But I make sure I put the data in my computer in red type. KAs I’m able to prove the information, I can easily change the color to black. This way my cousins and others know what work I’ve don myself and what’s been “donated” but not proven.
Family Tree Newsletter

Many thanks to Marsha Green for the following items:
Free Online Genealogy Books - This website has extensive links to genealogy books online. It identifies free digitized American biographies, genealogies and history books and categorizes them by state, subject, and material type. This is a site to bookmark! Go to: www.genealogybooklinks.com
Source: Generations Newsletter, March 2010, Washington DC Family History Center [info@wdcfhc.org]

Ancestral Atlas - I just happened upon a website that I find interesting and potentially very useful. It is called Ancestral Atlas and the URL is http://www.ancestralatlas.com/ancestral-atlas-genealogy-mapping-network.php Source: Venita Roylance, FHCNET mailing list, 3/7/2010

Dropbox - You can use this service to automatically backup a subset of files and access them when traveling, easily share files with friends and family, etc. It is easy to use because it appears as a regular folder on your computer. https://www.dropbox.com

Here is a pleasant surprise: the Internet Archive is placing the 1930 U.S. Census online and is making it available at no charge. This is a "work in progress;" but the census records from many states are available now, and the remaining states will be added in the near future. Read more about it at:
http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2010/03/1930-us-census-available-free-of-charge-on-the-internet-archive.html

What You Can Learn From Your Ancestor's SSN - Found an ancestor's Social Security Number using the Social Security Death Index? Here's what you can learn from those nine digits: The first three digits designate the state or territory where the number was issued. The next pair of digits relate to the sequence in which numbers were issued. The final four digits were assigned chronologically as forms were processed. SSNs beginning with 700 to 728 were used for railroad workers in the Railroad Retirement system. You can "decode" your ancestor's SSN using Stephen P. Morse's one-step tool. http://stevemorse.org/ssn/ssn.html
Submitted by Barb DeHart, This tip comes from George G. Morgan's Document Detective column in the May 2010 Family Tree Magazine.

Caution Type: U.S. Census Scam
Method of Delivery: In Person
Primary Region Effected: All Regions (National)
Source: Better Business Bureau (www.BBB.org)
Scam Characteristics:
Beginning March of this year the U.S. Census Bureau's will send out a short questionnaire to every household in the U.S. and Puerto Rico in an effort to collect important demographic data. As a citizen, you are required by law to respond to the 10 short questions. From April to July, those that haven't completed their census will receive a visit at their home address from a census taker.
Identity criminals are taking advantage of the census law and targeting unsuspecting victims in an attempt to steal sensitive information. The scams perpetrated range from fraudulent emails designed to obtain sensitive information to attempts to impersonate census collectors.

Most Citizens don't think twice about sharing personal information with a census worker, and that's why these scams can be very effective. It's important to remember there are distinct differences between a real census worker and an identity thief posing as a census worker.
U.S. Census workers will have identification, a handheld device and a confidentiality notice. But these things can be easily fabricated, so it's important to know what census workers will not do:
They will not ask for your Social Security number or financial information, e.g. bank or credit card accounts.
They will not ask you for money or say that you owe money.
They will not harass or intimidate you.
They will not contact you by email- only by phone, by mail, or in person.
For more information on this scam or variations of it visit the Social Security Administration’s website at www.ssa.gov. Use the search function and enter keywords "email scam".
It is recommended that you follow universal safety rules-- even with U.S. Census workers. For example, avoid inviting strangers into your home, and be suspicious when someone asks for your personal and sensitive information.
To learn more about the 2010 Census and U.S. Census workers, call (800) 923-8282 or visit them online at www.2010census.gov.

Coming Events
April 28–May 1, 2010 Full week of Genealogy Conferences. Highlighted by the National Genealogical Society 2010 Family History Conference, Brigham Young University 2010 Conference on Computerized Family History and Genealogy, Brigham Young University 10th Annual Family History Technology Workshop, and FamilySearch’s 2010 Developers Conference
If you want to attend the NGS conference classes, price and registration information can be found at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/attendee_registration. For additional information, please visit: http://familysearch.org/ngs2010.
Saturday, May 15, 2010 Hemet Family History Seminar “Harvesting the Family Tree”
Keynote speaker will be Jean Wilcox Hibben. Registration begins at 8am. Classes start at 9am. Pre-registration must be received by May 5, 2010.
No charge for classes. Syllabus $14.00 Lunch $9.00. A list of classes is available at the Redlands Family History Center or contact hemetfhc@gmail.com or call (951)658-8104 for more information