30 April 2012
Index to Chelsea pensioner records now on FamilySearch
The (UK) National Archives Chelsea Pensioners British Army Service Records, record series WO 97, has for a couple of years been available with images of the originals at findmypast.co.uk.
Now familysearch.org has added the index to 933,943 records to their collection with links to the FMP images. Aside from name the index gives birthplace (county) and estimated birthyear. Records are for 1760-1913.
TNA's finding aid on WO 97 is at http://goo.gl/XvY26
TNA podcast: Digging for diamonds: hidden histories at TNA
In this talk given on 19 April 2012 Jenni Orme, a records specialist of diverse histories in the Advice and Records Knowledge Department of The (UK) National Archives discusses researching topics not well covered in the catalog.
Using analogies of ‘parachuting’ and ‘truffle-hunting’ she describes the many ways to research such topics at TNA. Using lesbian, gay and bisexual, slave and, handicapped examples she highlights the importance of searching terminology now considered inappropriate.
The approaches suggested are of broader application than for the examples used.
Start at http://goo.gl/hqrkL
Using analogies of ‘parachuting’ and ‘truffle-hunting’ she describes the many ways to research such topics at TNA. Using lesbian, gay and bisexual, slave and, handicapped examples she highlights the importance of searching terminology now considered inappropriate.
The approaches suggested are of broader application than for the examples used.
Start at http://goo.gl/hqrkL
29 April 2012
BIFHSGO conference announcement
Quietly detail of the program for this year's Scottish-themed BIFHSGO conference, 14–16 September 2012, has appeared on the society website.
Some of the speakers I've already mentioned, those conducting pre-conference workshops including Chris Paton, listen to the interview recorded back in February at WDYTYA Live.
Here's the complete list of presenters:
Tony Bandy is a professional librarian and consultant in information technology. He also writes for Internet Genealogy, Family Chronicle and Trains Magazine, and posts for blogs such as Teleread and his own Adventures in History.
Jane Buck first used Family Tree DNA for personal research, then worked for the company; though now an environmental consultant, she continues to give talks on genetic genealogy.
Dr. Lucille H. Campey is a well-known historian who began her career as a scientist, then did her post-graduate studies in history. She went on to write eight books on Scottish emigration and more recently has studied Canada’s English pioneers.
Susan Davis is the current Director of Communications for BIFHSGO. She uses social media to document her family and to share the stories with her family and long-lost relatives.
Chris Paton runs the Scotland’s Greatest Story research service, writes for British genealogy magazines and teaches Scottish genealogy courses through Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd. He is the author of numerous genealogy research books and of the daily British GENES genealogy blog.
Patricia Whatley, of the University of Dundee, is a registered archivist and a historian. She is co-author of Lost Dundee and regularly lectures on archival and family history topics.
Shirley-Ann Pyefinch, the Director of the Ottawa Stake Family History Center, teaches family history classes and preservation workshops, and lectures at various societies and conferences.
Victor Suthren, former Director General of the Canadian War Museum, is a writer, seaman and historian. He has written thirteen books, including a popular history of the War of 1812, and consults on historical TV and film productions.
Edward Zapletal is the co-owner and publisher of Moorshead Magazines Ltd., and editor of Internet Genealogy, Family Chronicle and History Magazine. His personal genealogy interests lie in researching his Czech ancestors.
I hope to record interview with most if not all the presenters in the weeks up to the conference.
The conference brochure is available as a pdf at http://goo.gl/Xl4CT
Some of the speakers I've already mentioned, those conducting pre-conference workshops including Chris Paton, listen to the interview recorded back in February at WDYTYA Live.
Here's the complete list of presenters:
Tony Bandy is a professional librarian and consultant in information technology. He also writes for Internet Genealogy, Family Chronicle and Trains Magazine, and posts for blogs such as Teleread and his own Adventures in History.
Jane Buck first used Family Tree DNA for personal research, then worked for the company; though now an environmental consultant, she continues to give talks on genetic genealogy.
Dr. Lucille H. Campey is a well-known historian who began her career as a scientist, then did her post-graduate studies in history. She went on to write eight books on Scottish emigration and more recently has studied Canada’s English pioneers.
Susan Davis is the current Director of Communications for BIFHSGO. She uses social media to document her family and to share the stories with her family and long-lost relatives.
Chris Paton runs the Scotland’s Greatest Story research service, writes for British genealogy magazines and teaches Scottish genealogy courses through Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd. He is the author of numerous genealogy research books and of the daily British GENES genealogy blog.
Patricia Whatley, of the University of Dundee, is a registered archivist and a historian. She is co-author of Lost Dundee and regularly lectures on archival and family history topics.
Shirley-Ann Pyefinch, the Director of the Ottawa Stake Family History Center, teaches family history classes and preservation workshops, and lectures at various societies and conferences.
Victor Suthren, former Director General of the Canadian War Museum, is a writer, seaman and historian. He has written thirteen books, including a popular history of the War of 1812, and consults on historical TV and film productions.
Edward Zapletal is the co-owner and publisher of Moorshead Magazines Ltd., and editor of Internet Genealogy, Family Chronicle and History Magazine. His personal genealogy interests lie in researching his Czech ancestors.
I hope to record interview with most if not all the presenters in the weeks up to the conference.
The conference brochure is available as a pdf at http://goo.gl/Xl4CT
5,002,440
The British Newspaper Archive just hit a milestone, passing the 5 million page mark. That's 5 million down, 25 million to go.
They claim "thousands of new pages are scanned for you every day." 6,448 pages were added since the previous day.
If you haven't tried the BNA why not register and receive 30 free credits. Searching is free.
They claim "thousands of new pages are scanned for you every day." 6,448 pages were added since the previous day.
If you haven't tried the BNA why not register and receive 30 free credits. Searching is free.
LAC offers E-commerce
The following is an announcement from Library and Archives Canada.
Beginning April 26, 2012, installation of the Government of Canada's Receiver General Buy Button (RGBB) will allow clients of Library and Archives Canada (LAC) to use their credit or debit cards to purchase online, photocopies and digital copies of textual material.
The RGBB is a common service used by federal departments and agencies for the electronic acceptance of payments and the secure storage of related payment information. This function also provides convenient, reliable and secure payment services to clients and businesses during their online dealings with the federal government.
Clients who purchase photographic prints, video, sound recordings or microfilm reels will continue to be contacted by our third-party suppliers for payment.
28 April 2012
War of 1812 articles and events
Jim Stanzell has a posted on the OGS Ottawa Branch blog about war of 1812 items in the May/June Legion Magazine. He also mentions other events coming up in Eastern Ontario.
http://www.ogsottawa.blogspot.ca/2012/04/war-of-1812.html
http://www.ogsottawa.blogspot.ca/2012/04/war-of-1812.html
Happy 6th anniversary 23andMe
On 28 April 2012 a tip of the hat to pioneer DNA testing company 23andMe on their 6th anniversary. At the start the test cost about $1000, today its $99 and a $9 monthly subscription for at least a year with twice the coverage.
Although originally focused in DNA and health they've paid increased attention to those of us who tested because of our genetic genealogy interest, witness their involvement with the PBS program Finding Your Roots.
Although originally focused in DNA and health they've paid increased attention to those of us who tested because of our genetic genealogy interest, witness their involvement with the PBS program Finding Your Roots.
27 April 2012
FamilySearch.org adds Glamorgan Parish Registers, 1558-1900
Index entries, no images, for births, marriages, and deaths from Glamorganshire are in this latest release. There are 921,889 records between 1558 and 1900. No list of parishes covered is given.
With seven records sets exclusively for Wales now in the familysearch.org collection, three of them contain exclusively Glamorganshire records, genealogists interested in the county are unusually well served.
WDYTYA: Rob Lowe
Actor Rob Lowe is the subject of tonight's US WDYTYA episode on NBC and CITY TV in Canada at 8pm EDT.
The blurb mentions "his ancestor’s shocking role in the Revolutionary War" A Loyalist maybe!
With 4.5 million Google hits perhaps the show will help pull up the season's ratings.
The blurb mentions "his ancestor’s shocking role in the Revolutionary War" A Loyalist maybe!
With 4.5 million Google hits perhaps the show will help pull up the season's ratings.
Canadian Library Association to meet in Ottawa
Right before, and somewhat overlapping the Ontario Genealogical Society conference in Kingston, the Canadian Library Association has its annual conference. It's at Ottawa's new Convention Centre. There's activity of genealogical interest this year.
Already mentioned is the new CLA Local History & Genealogy Services Network which will have its first meeting on the morning of Friday 1 June.
Scheduled the previous day for an opening morning session keynote speech, billed as Finding Our Place on the Digital Shelf, is Daniel Caron.
Also on the program, in several places, is Stephen Abram of Stephen's Lighthouse, an always informative library blog I follow.
Check out the program at http://www.cla.ca/conference/2012/. If you think you have problems deciding which session to go to at a genealogy conference -- pity the librarian at this event!
Already mentioned is the new CLA Local History & Genealogy Services Network which will have its first meeting on the morning of Friday 1 June.
Scheduled the previous day for an opening morning session keynote speech, billed as Finding Our Place on the Digital Shelf, is Daniel Caron.
Historically, knowledge repositories have played a significant role in the successive waves of social transformation that have occurred as a result of literacy extending into all layers of society. In the twenty-first century, however, traditional formats and supports are no longer the pre-eminent mediums for the transmission of knowledge. In fact, the value added to these repositories has shifted as they rapidly become hubs within social networks with physical and virtual nodes centred on the democratic creation, curation and distribution of information resources. Will this, indeed, become the new look of knowledge repositories?In the afternoon, 1-2pm "CLA is pleased to offer a conversational session with Mr. Caron where he will take your questions from the opening session and continue the exploration of Library and Archives Canada and their vision."
Also on the program, in several places, is Stephen Abram of Stephen's Lighthouse, an always informative library blog I follow.
Check out the program at http://www.cla.ca/conference/2012/. If you think you have problems deciding which session to go to at a genealogy conference -- pity the librarian at this event!
Registration is costly, the early bird rate for CLA members is $525. However, there is a retiree rate of $200 for non-members. I'm tempted.
26 April 2012
OGS Ottawa Branch April meeting
Susan Davis, BIFHSGO Director of Communications, is the speaker for OGS Ottawa Branch's monthly meeting on Saturday, 28 April 2012, starting with meet and greet at 1:00 PM. The formal meeting starts at 1:30pm,
Susan is speaking on Social Media and Genealogy, As an avid tweeter and Facebooker Susan knows a lot about the topic, and will likely appreciate the opportunity to try the simulcast for Branch members using Live Meeting.
Everyone is welcome at the City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive.Room 115 Room 226 is large enough for most branch meetings, inadequate if too many come to enjoy Susan's presentation on this popular topic.
Susan is speaking on Social Media and Genealogy, As an avid tweeter and Facebooker Susan knows a lot about the topic, and will likely appreciate the opportunity to try the simulcast for Branch members using Live Meeting.
Everyone is welcome at the City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive.
The Ottawa Room: Ottawa on the Internet
Brian Silkoff, the master of the Ottawa Room at the Main Ottawa Public Library, directed my attention to a subsection of the Ottawa Room page on the OPL website. It's buried to the extent that when I visited he was preparing a map to help people find it.
The part of most interest for local history, within the Ottawa on the Internet section, is at: http://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/main/interest/learn/local/workshop/historical. You can drill down further to for historical information on: Arts & Entertainment; Communities; Economy; Festivals; General; Historical Buildings; Immigration/Settlement; Miscellaneous; People; Religion; Sports & Recreation; Transportation.
The part of most interest for local history, within the Ottawa on the Internet section, is at: http://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/main/interest/learn/local/workshop/historical. You can drill down further to for historical information on: Arts & Entertainment; Communities; Economy; Festivals; General; Historical Buildings; Immigration/Settlement; Miscellaneous; People; Religion; Sports & Recreation; Transportation.
WDYTYA Australia: John Wood
The episode with actor John Wood was in two parts, first tracing the steps of his father, who served in the Australian Army during WW2, was captured in Greece and became a German prisoner of war. It was a story his father had only hinted at, but as war stories go not especially extraordinary.
The presentation was strange. He was handed a copy of an Australian war diary by a researcher in Greece when surely it would be found in an archive in Australia. He was also handed an original photo of his father's fiance carried through the war, and a letter he sent to her on being released in May 1945, without there being any indication or curiosity about where they came from.
The second part explored why his great-grandfather was able to buy a large quantity of land. The story told was that he, or his children, had stumbled across a large gold nugget, but it seemed he was already living on the property. Perhaps he bought an addition to an originally small acreage, but that wasn't clear.
While the story was reasonably interesting there were lapses in the continuity you would expect in developing the story.
The presentation was strange. He was handed a copy of an Australian war diary by a researcher in Greece when surely it would be found in an archive in Australia. He was also handed an original photo of his father's fiance carried through the war, and a letter he sent to her on being released in May 1945, without there being any indication or curiosity about where they came from.
The second part explored why his great-grandfather was able to buy a large quantity of land. The story told was that he, or his children, had stumbled across a large gold nugget, but it seemed he was already living on the property. Perhaps he bought an addition to an originally small acreage, but that wasn't clear.
While the story was reasonably interesting there were lapses in the continuity you would expect in developing the story.
25 April 2012
Morse & Sons (Niagara) Funeral Home Records Index
Steve Fulton, chair of the Niagara Branch (OGS) announces the completion of the Morse & Sons Funeral Home Records Index. Morse & Sons was Canada's First Funeral Home. With records between 1828 to 1960 it contains about 18,000 records. Find it online at www.ogs.on.ca/niagara
Niagara Branch invites you to revisit their website often as many things will be changing over the next couple of months relating to various indexes.
Chester and Boer War records new at findmypast.co.uk
The latest additions to findmypast.co.uk are:
Chester wills and probate, approximately 113,000 new records on findmypast.co.uk for the period 1492-1911. Published in partnership with Cheshire Archives and Local Studies, these are images of all surviving original wills of Cheshire residents proved at the Chester diocesan consistory court 1492-1857 and registered copies made at Chester Probate Registry 1858-1911.
and
An update to the Boer War collection with almost 10,000 new records bringing the total number of Boer War records on FMP to 269,425. Canadians who served in South Africa, including in Strathcona's Horse, may be found.
An update to the Boer War collection with almost 10,000 new records bringing the total number of Boer War records on FMP to 269,425. Canadians who served in South Africa, including in Strathcona's Horse, may be found.
Also note that FMP added 12,000 new burial records for Handsworth Cemetery, Birmingham, last week.
Book announcement: Researching Your Irish Ancestors at Home and Abroad
Dundurn Press and the Ontario Genealogical Society have a new publication in the Genealogist's Reference Shelf series. The official release date is May 14.
Researching Your Irish Ancestors at Home and Abroad is by David R. Elliott, a retired professor of Canadian and European history, the past-chair of the London/Middlesex branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society and the vice-chair of the OGS Irish Special Interest Group. There are 44 items listed under his name in the LAC AMICUS catalogue including several for County Fermanagh published by his company Kinfolk Finders.
According to the book's introduction:
The cover price is $19.99. Amazon lists it for a 32% discount. There is also a Kindle edition for $7.99.
Researching Your Irish Ancestors at Home and Abroad is by David R. Elliott, a retired professor of Canadian and European history, the past-chair of the London/Middlesex branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society and the vice-chair of the OGS Irish Special Interest Group. There are 44 items listed under his name in the LAC AMICUS catalogue including several for County Fermanagh published by his company Kinfolk Finders.
According to the book's introduction:
The key to successful genealogical work in Ireland is homework prior to going to Ireland. This book is designed to help you identify the county and parish of your ancestors using documents and Internet sites in your home country.A full review will appear here shortly.
The cover price is $19.99. Amazon lists it for a 32% discount. There is also a Kindle edition for $7.99.
Kent parish registers at Familysearch.org
The FamilySeach collection England, Kent, Parish Registers, 1538-1911 now has 100,541 images for you to browse covering around 180 parishes. Some records for a couple of nearby Surrey parishes, Battersea, St John and Penge, St John are also available under the heading.
Find My Past also added Kent parish records earlier this year.
Find My Past also added Kent parish records earlier this year.
24 April 2012
LAC seeks bureaucratic writer
Library and Archives Canada has issued a request for proposal for writing and editing services for Library and Archives Canada’s (LAC) corporate reports including the Departmental Performance Reports (DPR), Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP) and tentatively, the LAC’s Business Plan.
There are mandatory requirements including providing documentary evidence of two (2) years experience delivering Corporate Report Writing services in English for a federal government department with evidence provided by two (2) corporate reports.
Price is one of the criteria for selection. The estimated value is $50,001 - $100,000.
There's more information at http://goo.gl/uaPlL
There are mandatory requirements including providing documentary evidence of two (2) years experience delivering Corporate Report Writing services in English for a federal government department with evidence provided by two (2) corporate reports.
Price is one of the criteria for selection. The estimated value is $50,001 - $100,000.
There's more information at http://goo.gl/uaPlL
Our Digital World
The Ontario Government has ended funding for Knowledge Ontario. It is being disbanded. Assets (money, equipment, intellectual property, etc) are being transferred to stable or committed torch-bearers who will give best‐effort for ongoing support and operation.
One of KO's components was OurOntario which housed digital collections from libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, community groups, government agencies. It included a collection of digitized newspapers and and indexes, now at ink.ourontario.ca and news2.ourontario.ca/
The torch-bearer for the newspaper collection is Our Digital World which:
One of KO's components was OurOntario which housed digital collections from libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, community groups, government agencies. It included a collection of digitized newspapers and and indexes, now at ink.ourontario.ca and news2.ourontario.ca/
The torch-bearer for the newspaper collection is Our Digital World which:
- Provides access to over 4.1 million digital images, videos, scrapbooks, newspaper collections and more – via the ourontario.ca portal
- Offers the VITA digital toolkit for creating and managing multimedia collections, indexing and newspaper projects, including content hosting and display site (see vitatoolkit.ca for the nitty-gritty)
- Has created the largest online archive of Ontario newspapers (the fourth largest public newspaper archive in the world)
- Provides easy search and access to more than 32,000 Ontario government documents from yesterday and today
- Implements successful projects like the Community Digitization Project and is a trusted resource for digitization project planning
Our Digital World is seeking a Heritage Trust Project grant, the result should be known in early May. Find out more about Our Digital World at their stand at the OGS conference in Kingston.
LAC on self-digitization
On March 29 I posted a collection of LAC news items including news that the program at LAC that allowed clients to digitize records was ended. I asked when will LAC live up to the promise to make the product people digitized available?
On April 23 LAC posted information, LAC wraps up its crowdsourcing photography digitization pilot project. It notes that "Fifteen people participated in this pilot and provided us with 20,000 images from LAC holdings which have been made available online."
Will LAC please posted a linked list so we know what's there to be accessed as a result of the efforts of these volunteers.
Presumably the project was somewhat successful or the posting would not include the statement that "LAC will be pursuing other crowdsourcing opportunities in the future."
On April 23 LAC posted information, LAC wraps up its crowdsourcing photography digitization pilot project. It notes that "Fifteen people participated in this pilot and provided us with 20,000 images from LAC holdings which have been made available online."
Will LAC please posted a linked list so we know what's there to be accessed as a result of the efforts of these volunteers.
Presumably the project was somewhat successful or the posting would not include the statement that "LAC will be pursuing other crowdsourcing opportunities in the future."
23 April 2012
Milestone 600,000
Today, 23 April, at 9:31am, this blog received its 600,000th page view. That person was from Ottawa, subscribed through Bell, uses Internet Explorer 9.0, Windows 7 and viewed the article regarding my interview with Rick Roberts.
The statistics don't identify that person explicitly. Thanks to her/him and everyone whose visits contributed to the previous 599,999 page views.
The statistics don't identify that person explicitly. Thanks to her/him and everyone whose visits contributed to the previous 599,999 page views.
Family Tree Maker with Rick Roberts
Rick Roberts of globalgenealogy.com is presenting a workshop “Using Family Tree Maker Software to Record and Share Your Family History” at OGS conference 2012 on Friday, June 1st, 1:30-4:00 pm. This weekend I had a chance to sit down with Rick to talk about the workshop. We also went into some of the history and future of Family Tree Maker.
Connect to our conversation, which runs about 12 minutes, at: http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2012/archives/category/announcement
Connect to our conversation, which runs about 12 minutes, at: http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2012/archives/category/announcement
Family Chronicle: May/June 2012 issue
Finding Your Ancestors in Old Newspapers
Lisa Louise Cooke taken from her recent book How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers, one I reviewed in February. Editor Ed Zapletal adds a note pointing out that while the article is primarily US oriented the book has an appendix that mentions sources for other countries. I'd be hard pressed to recommend it to anyone but US researchers.
Butler's Burial Ground
An interesting four page article by Andrew Hind on Butler's Rangers, their involvement in the American Revolution and the small Niagara cemetery named for Lt-Col. John Butler. Does it really warrant the description of "huge historic value to genealogists" when "a dozen or so headstones remain" and "no complete burial records have ever been found?"
12 Questions
Other articles in the issue are:
Mark Golden: A World War II Case Study
Mary Kircher Roddy documents her quest to learn more about the fate of the heroic WWII B-17 pilot
Researching Western European Ancestors
Leslie Albrecht Huber offers basic, sound advice on tracing your ancestors in Western Europe
Michigan Pioneers
Diane Dittgen reveals a valuable resource in the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections
Finding Grandfather's Farm
Evann Wilcosky documents her quest to discover her ancestor's long-forgotten farm
Austrian Military Family Research
Smiljka Kitanovic pursues the Spilauer sisters across the Austrian Empire in the 19th century
Secret of White Deer Valley
Richard H. Goms, Jr., searches an interesting location to find out more about his great-grandfather
Rev Up Your Family Reunion!
Lisa A. Alzo offers advice on how to make your family reunion an event to remember
Matchbooks and Genealogy
According to David A. Norris, old matchbooks can add a poignant touch to your genealogy research
Military Medal Framing Andrew MacGregor on how to honor your military ancestors' achievements with medal framing techniques
Lisa Louise Cooke taken from her recent book How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers, one I reviewed in February. Editor Ed Zapletal adds a note pointing out that while the article is primarily US oriented the book has an appendix that mentions sources for other countries. I'd be hard pressed to recommend it to anyone but US researchers.
Butler's Burial Ground
An interesting four page article by Andrew Hind on Butler's Rangers, their involvement in the American Revolution and the small Niagara cemetery named for Lt-Col. John Butler. Does it really warrant the description of "huge historic value to genealogists" when "a dozen or so headstones remain" and "no complete burial records have ever been found?"
12 Questions
Last year the Jewish Genealogical of Canada (Toronto) published "Tracing Our Roots, Telling Our Stories" in celebration of their 25th anniversary. This extract by
Leslie Kelman describes researching his great-grandparents' emigration to Australia, his great-grandmothers' return a year later and the questions it raises.
Leslie Kelman describes researching his great-grandparents' emigration to Australia, his great-grandmothers' return a year later and the questions it raises.
Other articles in the issue are:
Mark Golden: A World War II Case Study
Mary Kircher Roddy documents her quest to learn more about the fate of the heroic WWII B-17 pilot
Researching Western European Ancestors
Leslie Albrecht Huber offers basic, sound advice on tracing your ancestors in Western Europe
Michigan Pioneers
Diane Dittgen reveals a valuable resource in the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections
Finding Grandfather's Farm
Evann Wilcosky documents her quest to discover her ancestor's long-forgotten farm
Austrian Military Family Research
Smiljka Kitanovic pursues the Spilauer sisters across the Austrian Empire in the 19th century
Secret of White Deer Valley
Richard H. Goms, Jr., searches an interesting location to find out more about his great-grandfather
Rev Up Your Family Reunion!
Lisa A. Alzo offers advice on how to make your family reunion an event to remember
Matchbooks and Genealogy
According to David A. Norris, old matchbooks can add a poignant touch to your genealogy research
Military Medal Framing Andrew MacGregor on how to honor your military ancestors' achievements with medal framing techniques
Information on Family Chronicle, now available in a variety of formats, is at http://www.familychronicle.com/
Queen Victoria's scrapbook
What better was to mark St. George`s Day than by pointing to a website on Queen Victoria?
Do you have an ancestor who served in the royal household? If so you may be interested in an online collection assembled in connection with the present Diamond Jubilee year. Note the film on the final page. http://www.queen-victorias-scrapbook.org/
Another way to celebrate St George's Day would be to listen to Sunday's Music from the Glen program with host Gord Peeling on CKCU FM, available on demand for a limited period from http://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/31/index.html
Do you have an ancestor who served in the royal household? If so you may be interested in an online collection assembled in connection with the present Diamond Jubilee year. Note the film on the final page. http://www.queen-victorias-scrapbook.org/
Another way to celebrate St George's Day would be to listen to Sunday's Music from the Glen program with host Gord Peeling on CKCU FM, available on demand for a limited period from http://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/31/index.html
22 April 2012
OGS Region VIII AGM
Folks from across Eastern Ontario, from Kingston to Petawawa, came through the rain to the Ottawa Central Archives, 100 Tallwood Avenue, to hear three presentations and/or attend the Annual General Meeting of OGS Region VIII on Saturday, 21 April 2012. The building's hallways were crowded with exhibits and attendees.
The routine matters of the AGM were dealt with expeditiously. There was a brief mention of the OGS privacy policy and the increasing use of GoToMeeting and webinars. Balloting is underway for changes to OGS bylaws, these being necessary owing to new requirements from the provincial government. OGS now has a special interest group for home children in operation and another, for Scotland, approved for formation with 50 members having expressed interest.
Reports from the various branches and associated societies within Region VIII showed that most, but not all, were still seeing declining membership. However there were encouraging signs with some branches having filled all their committee assignments, and active programs of meetings and publications continuing.
Nancy Cutway, Chair of OGS Conference 2012, reported that registration now exceeds 450 and over 50 vendors have registered.
Mike More stepped down as Regional Director in anticipation of his election as Vice President of OGS. Patti Mordasewicz, Chair of OGS Leeds and Grenville Branch, was acclaimed as the incoming Regional Director.
The routine matters of the AGM were dealt with expeditiously. There was a brief mention of the OGS privacy policy and the increasing use of GoToMeeting and webinars. Balloting is underway for changes to OGS bylaws, these being necessary owing to new requirements from the provincial government. OGS now has a special interest group for home children in operation and another, for Scotland, approved for formation with 50 members having expressed interest.
Reports from the various branches and associated societies within Region VIII showed that most, but not all, were still seeing declining membership. However there were encouraging signs with some branches having filled all their committee assignments, and active programs of meetings and publications continuing.
Nancy Cutway, Chair of OGS Conference 2012, reported that registration now exceeds 450 and over 50 vendors have registered.
Mike More stepped down as Regional Director in anticipation of his election as Vice President of OGS. Patti Mordasewicz, Chair of OGS Leeds and Grenville Branch, was acclaimed as the incoming Regional Director.
Canadian local history and genealogy librarians form network
The Canadian Library Association has established a Local History & Genealogy Services Network with purposes:
- Provide a forum serving the interests of historians, genealogists and librarians whose work is in, or related to, the field of local history and genealogy
- Provide on-going training and support to local history and genealogy librarians, library staff and information professionals working in organizations such as libraries, archives, museums or genealogical societies which serve and assist history and genealogy researchers
- Provide an opportunity to discuss issues and concerns related to organization and management of local history and genealogy collections and delivery of specialized services to this diverse clientele
- Provide collaborative opportunities between and with local, regional and national libraries as well as with international organizations, including ALA RUSA History Division, IFLA GENLOC, CILIP LOCSTUDIES and EBLIDA.
The initial, optional, plan of activities includes:
- To facilitate the exchange of information pertaining to local history and genealogy resources, services and collections via an online listserv, blog, wiki, chat rooms and/or electronic means
- To provide online webinars to instruct and train local history and genealogy librarians and information professionals
- To moderate workshops and/or meetings aimed at librarians and information professionals at the annual CLA conference or similar conference venues.
The founding members, with email addresses, are:
Penny Allen pallen@vulcanlibrary.ca (Moderator)
May P. Chan maychan@reginalibrary.ca
Kim Harrison kharrison@ancestry.com
Peter McNally peter.mcnally@mcgill.ca
Diana Hall diana.hall@biblioottawalibrary.ca
Kam Teo kteo@southeast.lib.sk.ca
Frank Van Kalmthout frank.vankalmthout@ontario.ca
Laurie J. Cooke lcooke@surrey.ca
Christine Hayes christine.hayes@calgarypubliclibrary.com
Yvonne Brown ybrown@epl.ca
The network has a meeting scheduled for 1 June in Ottawa at the Canadian Library Association annual conference.
FreeBMD April update
The FreeBMD Database was updated on Friday 20 Apr 2012 and currently contains 215,273,933 distinct records (272,311,530 total records), that's up from 214,279,072 distinct records (271,156,806 total records) at the March update.
The years with major additions, over 5,000 index entries, are for births 1939-40, 1943-45, 1949, 1955-62; for marriages 1920, 1952-55, 1958, 1960-62; for deaths 1953, 1955, 1957-58, 1960-62.
The years with major additions, over 5,000 index entries, are for births 1939-40, 1943-45, 1949, 1955-62; for marriages 1920, 1952-55, 1958, 1960-62; for deaths 1953, 1955, 1957-58, 1960-62.
21 April 2012
Blaker website on TNG
BIFHSGO member, and former Canadian Member of Parliament, Rod Blaker contacted me for advice and happened to mention the Blaker Genealogy Pages, a one name study website.
Blaker is a one name study registered with the Guild. Rod said the study was managed by a hardworking webmaster, and the work of developing the one name study is parceled out to a group of about a dozen.
The Blaker Genealogy Pages is developed using one on the templates from The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding, now in version 9. It looks like a straightforward implementation with the group's work in the content, not the presentation.
TNG I've looked at before, but been discouraged by the line "if your web server supports PHP and MySQL ..." even though the end of that sentence is "you can set up and run TNG with very little effort."
My requirement has never been enough to tempt me to pay about $5 per month for my own hosted site. That day may come
There are lots of compliments about the facility on the TNG site, but you'd hardly expect otherwise. Do you have experience with TNG? If so please post a comment.
Blaker is a one name study registered with the Guild. Rod said the study was managed by a hardworking webmaster, and the work of developing the one name study is parceled out to a group of about a dozen.
The Blaker Genealogy Pages is developed using one on the templates from The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding, now in version 9. It looks like a straightforward implementation with the group's work in the content, not the presentation.
TNG I've looked at before, but been discouraged by the line "if your web server supports PHP and MySQL ..." even though the end of that sentence is "you can set up and run TNG with very little effort."
My requirement has never been enough to tempt me to pay about $5 per month for my own hosted site. That day may come
There are lots of compliments about the facility on the TNG site, but you'd hardly expect otherwise. Do you have experience with TNG? If so please post a comment.
Ottawa's Knox Presbyterian church records
The Central Ottawa City Archives holds records of Knox Presbyterian Church in MG 8. Knox was formed in 1844 by succession from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church and has been at the present location on the corner of Elgin and Lisgar streets since 1933.
Of most interest for genealogists are records of baptisms 1845 - 1954; marriages 1845 - 1964; burials 1931 to 1955 and; communion 1871 to 1969. These are not available online, nor published. Also in the collection at the Archives is a wide variety of other records of the Church such as annual reports, financial information, minutes, correspondence, photographs and audiovisual material.
The Central Ottawa City Archives is located at 100 at Tallwood Avenue. As with all archives it's wise to check hours of opening and other administrative details - http://www.ottawa.ca/en/rec_culture/museum_heritage/archives/resource_library/index.html.
Of most interest for genealogists are records of baptisms 1845 - 1954; marriages 1845 - 1964; burials 1931 to 1955 and; communion 1871 to 1969. These are not available online, nor published. Also in the collection at the Archives is a wide variety of other records of the Church such as annual reports, financial information, minutes, correspondence, photographs and audiovisual material.
The Central Ottawa City Archives is located at 100 at Tallwood Avenue. As with all archives it's wise to check hours of opening and other administrative details - http://www.ottawa.ca/en/rec_culture/museum_heritage/archives/resource_library/index.html.
Ancestry Canadian databases updated
You never know when Ancestry announces an update to a database whether they've doubled the number of entries, or just corrected one record. This past week they updated the 1881 census of Canada which now has 4.28 million records, and their Drouin collections for Quebec (1621-1967) and Ontario (1747-1967) , 1.45 and 1.27 million records respectively.
Also of note this week is Ancestry's addition to their U.S. City Directories (1821-1989) collection, now with more than 1 billion records.
Also of note this week is Ancestry's addition to their U.S. City Directories (1821-1989) collection, now with more than 1 billion records.
20 April 2012
Protestation Returns for Cumberland
Elizabeth Kipp, on her English Research from Canada blog, is in the process of posting lists of names of those who signed Protestation Returns for Eskdale Ward in Cumberland.
The Protestation was an oath of loyalty to the Crown, Parliament and the Protestant religion taken 1641/42. It was signed (mostly) by males age 18 and upward.
Elizabeth will be posting her transcription of the returns for eighteen parishes in Eskdale Ward which included: Arthuret, Bewcastle, Brampton, Castle Carrock, Crosby Eden, Cumrew, Cumwhitton, Denton, Farlam, Hayton, Irthington, Kirk Andrews, Kirk Linton, Lanercost, Scaleby, Stanwix, Stapleton, and Walton. This happens to be the area where my earliest known Reid ancestor lived so I'll be monitoring for names in my tree.
The Protestation was an oath of loyalty to the Crown, Parliament and the Protestant religion taken 1641/42. It was signed (mostly) by males age 18 and upward.
Elizabeth will be posting her transcription of the returns for eighteen parishes in Eskdale Ward which included: Arthuret, Bewcastle, Brampton, Castle Carrock, Crosby Eden, Cumrew, Cumwhitton, Denton, Farlam, Hayton, Irthington, Kirk Andrews, Kirk Linton, Lanercost, Scaleby, Stanwix, Stapleton, and Walton. This happens to be the area where my earliest known Reid ancestor lived so I'll be monitoring for names in my tree.
Eltham cemetery records now at deceasedonline.com
Another major database from deceasedonline.com, all 210,000 records for Eltham, one of London's biggest and busiest crematoria.
- As one of the Capital's largest cremation facilities, it services a large part of South East London including two London Borough areas, Bexley and Greenwich, together with the Dartford area in North West Kent
- Digital scans of cremation registers typically include: name, address, marital status, cremation number, date of cremation, date of death, age, sex, denomination, occupation, applicant and death registration details
- In addition, for the first time we have included the map locations of ashes, scattering and burial, in the Crematorium grounds (where available)
- There are now nearly 1.5 million records for London on Deceased Online together with records for nearby Tunbridge Wells Cemetery and Kent & Sussex Crematorium
19 April 2012
Two days only: genetic genealogy tests on sale
It's time for the Family Tree DNA sale for DNA day.
The following is via Debbie Kennett's blog
The following is via Debbie Kennett's blog
April 25 is the anniversary of the day on which James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin and colleagues published papers in the journal Nature on the structure of DNA.
The following notice is taken from the announcement sent out to project administrators:
Nearly the entire offering will be on sale these two days, including upgrades that were not on last year's sale. The sale will begin at 6pm Thursday April 19th and will conclude at 11:59pm on Saturday April 21st.
There will be no need for a coupon - all prices will be automatically adjusted on the website.
New Kits
Note that all prices are in US dollars. The times cited are for the local time in Houston, Texas.
The following notice is taken from the announcement sent out to project administrators:
Nearly the entire offering will be on sale these two days, including upgrades that were not on last year's sale. The sale will begin at 6pm Thursday April 19th and will conclude at 11:59pm on Saturday April 21st.
There will be no need for a coupon - all prices will be automatically adjusted on the website.
New Kits
| Current Group Price | SALE PRICE | |
| Y-DNA 12 | $99 | $59 |
| mtDNA | $99 | $59 |
| Y-DNA 37 | $149 | $129 |
| Y-DNA 67 | $238 | $199 |
| Family Finder | $289 | $199 |
| mtFullSequence (FMS) | $299 | $249 |
| Y-DNA 12 + mtDNA | $179 | $118 |
| FF + Y-DNA 12 | $339 | $258 |
| FF + mtDNA | $339 | $258 |
| FF+ Y-DNA 37 | $438 | $328 |
| FF + mtDNAPlus | $438 | $328 |
| Comprehensive (FF + FMS + Y-DNA 67) | $797 | $657 |
| Upgrades | ||
| Y-DNA 12 | $89 | $59 |
| mtDNA add-on | $89 | $59 |
| Y-DNA 12-37 Marker | $99 | $69 |
| Y-DNA 37-67 Marker | $99 | $79 |
| Y-DNA 12-67 Marker | $199 | $148 |
| mtFullSequence upgrade (HVR1 to Mega) | $269 | $199 |
| mtFullSequence upgrade (HVR2 to Mega) | $269 | $199 |
| mtFullSequence add-on | $289 | $219 |
| Family Finder add-on | $289 | $199 |
Note that all prices are in US dollars. The times cited are for the local time in Houston, Texas.
WDYTYA Australia: Vince Colosimo
Actor Vince Colosimo travels to Italy to find out about his grandfather’s service with the WW2 Italian army on the Russian front and learns about the winter retreat during which only one in ten survived. He also explores the triumphs and tragedies of his maternal grandmother's family where four brother died in two days from an unidentified cause suspected to be malaria.
Italian families are often large and extended. There are more comments about this program than any other so far in the series, most from Italian-Australians judging by the names.
Italian families are often large and extended. There are more comments about this program than any other so far in the series, most from Italian-Australians judging by the names.
West Yorkshire Non-Conformist records new at Ancestry
If you have ancestors from Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds or Wakefield, even if you think they were not Non-Conformists, consider checking this new Ancestry database taken from records at the West Yorkshire Archive Service.
It has 602,876 records from registers of Baptist, Congregationalist and Independent, Moravian, Methodist, Inghamite, Quaker, and Presbyterians, among other Non-Conformist churches.
Most are registers documenting baptisms, marriages, or deaths, though some miscellaneous records, such as church rolls and notices of members joining or leaving a congregation, are included as well.
The breakout of year ranges per event type are
A larger collection of Non-Conformist records is at The National Archives in series codes RG 4, RG 5, RG 6, and RG 8 available online at BMD Registers or The Genealogist.
It has 602,876 records from registers of Baptist, Congregationalist and Independent, Moravian, Methodist, Inghamite, Quaker, and Presbyterians, among other Non-Conformist churches.
Most are registers documenting baptisms, marriages, or deaths, though some miscellaneous records, such as church rolls and notices of members joining or leaving a congregation, are included as well.
The breakout of year ranges per event type are
Births and Baptisms: 1646-1906Along with names, dates, and places for events such as baptism or marriage, these records may include details such as birth date, age, parents’ names, maiden names, address, occupation, marital status.
Marriages and Banns: 1659-1921
Deaths and Burials: 1656-1985
Residence: 1772-1973
A larger collection of Non-Conformist records is at The National Archives in series codes RG 4, RG 5, RG 6, and RG 8 available online at BMD Registers or The Genealogist.
Dick Eastman falls to GenealogyInTime.com .. maybe!
GenealogyInTime must be delighted with the news. In a tweet they point to an Alexa list showing they are now the most popular online genealogy magazine. GenealogyInTime has been climbing the listings, and according to Alexa has now overtaken Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter.
When I checked on Wednesday GenealogyInTime had a rank of 31,026, EOGN ranked 37,499. When it comes to "links in" GenealogyInTime still lags with 236 while EOGN has 1,079. If you want to understand Alexa ranking visit the FAQ.
The GenealogyInTime ranking as a magazine also has to be taken with a grain of salt. It has a search engine and toolbar so it's more than a magazine. Those other roles must do a lot to boost hits on the site.
Some of the other rankings are unusual. The Ancestry Insider blog, one I read, is 5th, with a rank of 2,637,038.
Checking out some of the other sites I use, equally as much magazines as The Ancestry Insider, finds Chris Paton's British GENES ranking 227,147, Mick Southwick's British and Irish Genealogy at 497,934, CeCe Moore's Your Genetic Genealogist at 1,236,485, and ... Anglo-Celtic-Connections ranking 125,213.
The list selected by Alexa is woefully incomplete.
When I checked on Wednesday GenealogyInTime had a rank of 31,026, EOGN ranked 37,499. When it comes to "links in" GenealogyInTime still lags with 236 while EOGN has 1,079. If you want to understand Alexa ranking visit the FAQ.The GenealogyInTime ranking as a magazine also has to be taken with a grain of salt. It has a search engine and toolbar so it's more than a magazine. Those other roles must do a lot to boost hits on the site.
Some of the other rankings are unusual. The Ancestry Insider blog, one I read, is 5th, with a rank of 2,637,038.
Checking out some of the other sites I use, equally as much magazines as The Ancestry Insider, finds Chris Paton's British GENES ranking 227,147, Mick Southwick's British and Irish Genealogy at 497,934, CeCe Moore's Your Genetic Genealogist at 1,236,485, and ... Anglo-Celtic-Connections ranking 125,213.
The list selected by Alexa is woefully incomplete.
18 April 2012
Good news on England and Wales probate calendars
Long-awaited news, via Geoff Swinfield, about probate calendars for England and Wales coming online .
Read the full post: Probate Calendars to be Online Soon
"At two meetings for users held on 17 April, John Briden of the Probate Service outlined plans for the calendars to be put online, some hopefully by the end of 2012. John was accompanied by a team from Iron Mountain, the archive facility which currently holds the contract for storing post 1858 wills and providing copies on demand. They gave a demonstration of how it will work, although some final details of the search are still to be decided."There's also news about digitisation of 300,000 wills of solders, except officers, killed in action from all conflicts from the Crimean War onwards held by the Probate Service but never included in the calendars.
Read the full post: Probate Calendars to be Online Soon
British and German genealogy development
A major article by Nicholas J. Fogg in the most recent, March 2012, issue of Genealogists' Magazine "German Genealogy During the Nazi Period (1933-1945)" includes two paragraphs which compare the development of genealogy in Germany and the UK in the period from the late 19th century to the present day.
In the author's opinion both countries were on an approximately equal footing leading up to the First World War with the UK seeing the publication of an impressive number of transcribed parish registers by Phillimore and Co (set up in 1897) and parish registers societies. The Society of Genealogists was founded in 1911. He then sees "a curious lull" in Britain between the wars. By contrast Germany saw a post-WW1 explosion of regionally based genealogical societies. this was reinforced by the growing belief in eugenics and the desirability or fulfilling the Nazi ancestral proof requirement. (There's much more detail on this in the article.)
The author notes the start of microfilming of parish registers shortly before WWII but notes the resurgence of genealogy in the UK as dating from the 1960s onward as a result of the depositing of the vast majority of parish registers in the county record offices and the establishment of various local family history societies beginning with the Birmingham and Midland Society of Genealogy and Heraldry in 1963. Also identified as significant are the establishment of the Federation of Family History Societies in 1974 and the Professional Association of Genealogists and Record Agents (subsequently AGRA) in 1969.
Fogg concludes that "Although the Germans were great pioneers in the organizing of their hobby, the British have ultimately perhaps been better at exploiting the actual genealogical records, in spite of the relative paucity of the information provided in them."
In the author's opinion both countries were on an approximately equal footing leading up to the First World War with the UK seeing the publication of an impressive number of transcribed parish registers by Phillimore and Co (set up in 1897) and parish registers societies. The Society of Genealogists was founded in 1911. He then sees "a curious lull" in Britain between the wars. By contrast Germany saw a post-WW1 explosion of regionally based genealogical societies. this was reinforced by the growing belief in eugenics and the desirability or fulfilling the Nazi ancestral proof requirement. (There's much more detail on this in the article.)
The author notes the start of microfilming of parish registers shortly before WWII but notes the resurgence of genealogy in the UK as dating from the 1960s onward as a result of the depositing of the vast majority of parish registers in the county record offices and the establishment of various local family history societies beginning with the Birmingham and Midland Society of Genealogy and Heraldry in 1963. Also identified as significant are the establishment of the Federation of Family History Societies in 1974 and the Professional Association of Genealogists and Record Agents (subsequently AGRA) in 1969.
Fogg concludes that "Although the Germans were great pioneers in the organizing of their hobby, the British have ultimately perhaps been better at exploiting the actual genealogical records, in spite of the relative paucity of the information provided in them."
National Volunteer Week
A post on the Ottawa Branch OGS blog notes this is National Volunteer Week in Canada.
Thank a volunteer using the website at http://volunteer.ca/nvw to send an e-Card.
Thank a volunteer using the website at http://volunteer.ca/nvw to send an e-Card.
The 25 Most Beautiful Public Libraries in the World
Ottawa's main public library doesn't rate in this collection, maybe inspiration for its eventual replacement will be found there.
Surprising to me was the Ontario Association of Architects recognizing the new Ottawa city archives and library building at 100 Tallwood, basically two linked rectangular boxes, with a design excellence award. The award to the Ottawa Convention Centre I could understand.
You can have your say until Friday by voting for one of the 15 OAA award winners as the People's Choice award. Start at http://www.oaa.on.ca/the%20oaa/awards/2012%20oaa%20peoples%20choice%20awards
Surprising to me was the Ontario Association of Architects recognizing the new Ottawa city archives and library building at 100 Tallwood, basically two linked rectangular boxes, with a design excellence award. The award to the Ottawa Convention Centre I could understand.
You can have your say until Friday by voting for one of the 15 OAA award winners as the People's Choice award. Start at http://www.oaa.on.ca/the%20oaa/awards/2012%20oaa%20peoples%20choice%20awards
17 April 2012
Ottawa Public Library on genealogy
The Board of Trustees of the Ottawa Public Library met on Monday with "Genealogy Services at OPL" as an educational item on the agenda.
Most agenda items were unrelated to genealogy. Board members were pleased to note a 5.65% increase in circulation for 2011 over 2012. Staff were questioned about the 3.5% drop in library database use and 20.2% drop in Arabic language materials circulation. The full report is at http://goo.gl/SA7bY
The staff presentation on "Genealogy Services at OPL" was given by Jane Venus, manager, lifelong learning and literacy. She gave details on the services provided, including that the libraries had 11,700 Ancestry Library Edition logons in the past year; it was their second most used database.
I was invited to pose some questions starting out by mentioning that I was there as an individual but had discussed comments with the leadership of the two largest Ottawa-based genealogical societies, The Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society and the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa.
I expressed appreciation for the contribution the OPL makes to help people gain the benefits of learning about their roots and mentioned that local genealogical societies are open to a variety of cooperation for which there are models in other Ontario communities. I was assured that OPL was open to discussion on cooperative initiatives.
I asked specifically about possible cooperation to replace the OPL card index to birth, marriage and death announcements in the Ottawa Journal with an online version. The cards now occupy old card file cabinets in the Ottawa Room. Putting them online would free up the space taken up by those cabinets and expand the service city- and world-wide. OPL expressed interest in exploring a cooperative project further.
Finally I asked about materials in the Ottawa Room pointing out that these days if it can't be seen online it may as well not exist. Local genealogical and historical resources in the Ottawa Room are no exception. By digitizing selective material from the Ottawa Room, which is essentially operating as it did when founded in 1955, OPL could avoid its materials being destined to become a midden-heap of neglected books and documents. The response was that likely most of the Ottawa Room material would be still subject to copyright or other rights issues.
Most agenda items were unrelated to genealogy. Board members were pleased to note a 5.65% increase in circulation for 2011 over 2012. Staff were questioned about the 3.5% drop in library database use and 20.2% drop in Arabic language materials circulation. The full report is at http://goo.gl/SA7bY
The staff presentation on "Genealogy Services at OPL" was given by Jane Venus, manager, lifelong learning and literacy. She gave details on the services provided, including that the libraries had 11,700 Ancestry Library Edition logons in the past year; it was their second most used database.
I was invited to pose some questions starting out by mentioning that I was there as an individual but had discussed comments with the leadership of the two largest Ottawa-based genealogical societies, The Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society and the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa.
I expressed appreciation for the contribution the OPL makes to help people gain the benefits of learning about their roots and mentioned that local genealogical societies are open to a variety of cooperation for which there are models in other Ontario communities. I was assured that OPL was open to discussion on cooperative initiatives.
I asked specifically about possible cooperation to replace the OPL card index to birth, marriage and death announcements in the Ottawa Journal with an online version. The cards now occupy old card file cabinets in the Ottawa Room. Putting them online would free up the space taken up by those cabinets and expand the service city- and world-wide. OPL expressed interest in exploring a cooperative project further.
Finally I asked about materials in the Ottawa Room pointing out that these days if it can't be seen online it may as well not exist. Local genealogical and historical resources in the Ottawa Room are no exception. By digitizing selective material from the Ottawa Room, which is essentially operating as it did when founded in 1955, OPL could avoid its materials being destined to become a midden-heap of neglected books and documents. The response was that likely most of the Ottawa Room material would be still subject to copyright or other rights issues.
Army, Air Force and Navy lists free online
Find British military officers in the three services in their respective lists now available on the Internet Archive (Texts). Most cover the period of the two world wars, and are digitized from the National Library of Scotland. A few earlier issues are available, mostly from the University of Michigan.
(Harts) Army List is available from 1840 to 1946, 201 issues, some more than 1000 pages. Publication is annual except quarterly during the two world wars.
Air Force List, available from 1919 to 1945, 59 issues includes civilians associated with the military, meteorologists for instance.
Navy List, available from 1914 to 1945, 122 issues with a few additional issues as early as 1849.
via Chris Paton at http://goo.gl/7KXfX who lists some other NLS finds.
Air Force List, available from 1919 to 1945, 59 issues includes civilians associated with the military, meteorologists for instance.
Navy List, available from 1914 to 1945, 122 issues with a few additional issues as early as 1849.
via Chris Paton at http://goo.gl/7KXfX who lists some other NLS finds.
16 April 2012
24 top indexed databases from FamilySearch
It seems as if FamilySearch is coming close to incorporating all the records extracted from parish records that were in the IGI into the reorganized record collections. Although the largest isn't, some of the large indexed databases are British. The counts are as of 15 April 2012 for all databases with more than 10 million indexed records.
1. United States Social Security Death Index 90,732,247
2. England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 69,083,664
3. Mexico, Baptisms, 1560-1950 44,093,129
1. United States Social Security Death Index 90,732,247
2. England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 69,083,664
3. Mexico, Baptisms, 1560-1950 44,093,129
4. Germany, Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898 37,703,414
5. England and Wales Census, 1911 36,354,828
6. England and Wales Census, 1901 34,138,362
7. United States Census, 1930 32,436,590
8. England and Wales Census, 1891 31,782,845
9. United States Census, 1920 30,663,476
10. United States Census, 1910 29,847,397
11. United States Census, 1860 27,126,196
12. California, Birth Index, 1905-1995 24,596,236
13. New York Arrivals (Ellis Island), 1892-1924 24,414,218
14. Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958 21,090,790
15. England and Wales Census, 1861 19,178,973
16. England and Wales Census, 1851 18,341,933
17. Hungary Catholic Church Records, 1636-1895 17,731,987
18. Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997 17,102,198
19. United States Census, 1900 17,014,324
20. England, Marriages, 1538–1973 16,145,328
21. England and Wales Census, 1841 15,806,949
22. England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991 15,077,843
23. Florida, Marriage Index, 1822-1875 and 1927-2001 11,718,373
23. United States Census, 1870 10,544,804
24. United States Census, 1880 10,263,875
Ancestry boasts 54 databases with more than 10 million records.15 are larger than FamilySearch's largest.
TNA podcast: Keynote Talk UK Archives Discovery Forum 2012
An excellent keynote talk delivered by Bill Thompson sharing his perspectives from the BBC on some of the latest thinking around online access to archives and archives data and making archives more accessible through online development.
http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/united-kingdom-archives-discovery-forum-2012-keynote-talk/
15 April 2012
Another BIFHSGO record
If anyone knows of a family history society regular monthly meeting that gets more attendees please let me know, or BIFHSGO will claim the record.
The presentation was clear, well organized with appropriate slides and plenty of specific suggested resources, especially for English researchers. Ruth laid emphasis on The England Jurisdictions 1851 database available at http://maps.familysearch.org/.
Ruth mentioned her blog, The Passionate Genealogist, and her Facebook page that is featuring a hint a day, 366 Days of Genealogy.
OGS Region VIII AGM and Genealogy Day
Next Saturday, April 21, 2012
From OGS Ottawa Branch
Join us at the City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive, located on the southwest corner of Woodroffe Avenue and Tallwood Drive. Tallwood Drive is the western extension of Meadowlands Drive, from Woodroffe Ave to Centrepointe Drive. The entrance to the parking lot is from eastbound Tallwood Drive. Free parking is available in the lot.
9:30-10:00 Check-in. Coffee and tea will be available on arrival.
10:00-11:00 Rick Roberts – “Organizing, Preserving and Sharing Physical Documents, Pictures, Printed Charts and Reports”
11:00-11:30 break
11:30-12:30 Region VIII Annual General Meeting and elections of Regional Director & Secretary (Note: AGM is open to all current and prospective members of OGS Region VIII, whether registered for Genealogy Day or not; only paid up members are allowed to vote)
12:30-2:00 Lunch. Time to browse the book tables and displays from local genealogical and historical organizations as well as Global Genealogy and others.
2:00-3:00 Robert Serré - “An Earlier Settler than Philemon Wright?”
3:00-3:30 break
3:30-4:30 Paul Henry, City of Ottawa Archivist - “Introduction to the City of Ottawa Archives”
Cost at the door: $15 does not include lunch (there are several eating establishments within walking distance.) Please make cheque payable to “Ottawa Branch, OGS”.
The City Archives will be open 10am to 5pm for research as well.
The building is a scent-free environment. Some staff have a severe allergic reaction to scents and fragrances. We urge people to use unscented products and to avoid perfumes, body spray and other fragrances.
Free parking is available in the lot but spaces are limited. There is three- hour parking on Avenshire Street. OC Transpo buses number 94, 95, 156, 172, 174, 178 stop at the corner of Tallwood and Woodroffe. For more information about parking arrangements, please contact the security desk at 613-580-2424 extension 39731. All participants need to register at the security desk when they enter and sign out when they leave.
The building is only equipped with hydration station, not water fountains. Participants need to bring their own water bottle to refill.
The One-Namer’s Internet
The handout and slides for a talk by Peter Christian, author of The Genealogist's Internet, given at the Guild of One-Name Studies conference on Saturday are available at http://www.spub.co.uk/lectures/guild.pdf
With new databases and updating happening so frequently it`s good to see the 5th revised edition of The Genealogist's Internet identified as being available at amazon.ca in late June.
With new databases and updating happening so frequently it`s good to see the 5th revised edition of The Genealogist's Internet identified as being available at amazon.ca in late June.
14 April 2012
Yesterdays Journey
A helpful Rootsweb site for those with Derbyshire connections
"Yesterdays Journey is a compilation of available sources concerning Settlement Examinations, Settlement Certificates, Removal Orders, Bastardy and Apprenticeship Indentures, documents that reveal our ancestors brush with Officialdom. It will be added to over the months.Information is under the headings: Apprentice Records, Bastardy Papers, Board of Guardians, Board of Guardians - Derby, Cemetery Records, Coroner's Records, Law and Order, Miscellany, Red Tape, Removals, Rogues and Vagabonds, Transportation to the Americas, Transportation Beyond the Sea, Schools
These documents can add flesh to bones, but more importantly give clues to where ancestors were "hiding" between known details. Some are more informative than others, but all will add substance to your family tree.
The details listed are the bare bones in many cases, with Settlement Examinations and Certificates usually giving additional material such as ages of children and occupation."
Settlement Certificates, Settlement Examinations, Wills and Administrations, Workhouse Registers, Information Pages, Today's Journey, Derbysgen mailing list,
1857 White's Directory
Ottawa relaunches Sm@rtLibrary
The Capital Sm@rtLibrary portal, which permits searching the catalogues of 12 libraries in the National Capital Region through a single interface, recently had a "soft" re-launch.
The re-launch features a new interface. Ottawa Public Library borrowers will now be able to physically borrow items from l’Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) the Canadian Museum of Civilization, as well as Carleton University and the University of Ottawa.
The catalogues of several federal reference libraries are linked into the system. Library and Archives Canada is noticeably absent from the list.
More details on lending partners, the services offered and a link to search are at http://smartlib-bibliogen.ca/intro-en.
13 April 2012
Over half a million new English parish records on findmypast.co.uk
The following notice from Find My Past will be of particular interest to those searching in Northamptonshire.
Leading UK family history website findmypast.co.uk has today published online transcripts of 574,800 English parish records, and at the same time made it easier to research parish records by adding a browse facility .
Users of the website will now notice the addition of a previous and a next button on their screens when viewing a parish record image, enabling them to browse through the registers page by page.
Ian Tester, Product Manager at findmypast.co.uk said: “Adding previous and next page buttons to the parish record screens is an example of a really simple piece of development that will transform how you search for your ancestors in our burgeoning parish record collection. Now you can leaf through the pages of the registers, just as if you were handling the original volume in a record office. You’ll be amazed at the new avenues this will open up in your research.”
The new parish record transcripts now available on the site include:
· 96,545 Northamptonshire marriage records 1538-1975
· 431,683 Northamptonshire burial records 1527 to 2006
This significant new record collection at findmypast.co.uk covers a multitude of parishes, including Towcester, Harpole, Peterborough St John, Northampton All Saints and Oundle and is a new project withNorthamptonshire Family History Society in association with the Federation of Family History Societies.
· 16,713 Kent baptisms from the parishes of Crayford, Greenwich and Darenth covering 1813 to 1856
· 1,454 Kent marriage records from Greenwich spanning the years 1791 to 1842
This record launch marks the start of a new project betweenfindmypast.co.uk and North West Kent Family History Society.
· 7,169 Dorset baptism records from the parishes of Whitchurch Canonicorum, Lydlinch, Morden, Portesham, Frampton, Dorchester St Peter and Hamoon spanning 1559 to 1894
· 704 Dorset marriages from Symondsbury and Lydlinch, 1560 to 1812
· 6,346 Dorset burial records from Durweston, Loders, Lydlinch, Spetisbury, Milton Abbas, Dorchester Holy Trinity, Warmwell and Morden, 1641 to 1812
These records are published online at findmypast.co.uk in association withDorset Family History Society.
· 86,806 Yorkshire baptism records from Oughtibridge, Norton Lees, Ecclesfield, Ecclesal, Netherthorpe, Attercliffe, Sheffield and St Pauls spanning 1599 to 1996
These records are published in association with Sheffield & District Family History Society.
In addition findmypast.co.uk has added more baptisms to its Docklands record collection as follows:
· St Dunstan Stepney 1680-1689 10,027 entries
· St Matthew’s 1790-1799 4,159 entries
All the new records can be searched for free within the Life Events section of the website, along with the 42 million other parish records currently available on the site. The transcripts can be viewed either by purchasing PayAsYouGo credits or with a Full subscription to findmypast.co.uk.
n to findmypast.co.uk.
Cotswold cemeteries added to deceasedonline.com
Find 20,000 burial records, all those available for two cemeteries managed by Cotswold District Council now on Deceased Online.
- Chesterton Cemetery, opened May 1872, is located in the ‘Cotswold capital’ Cirencester. It contains 80 Commonwealth War Graves Commission graves mostly airmen and 12 Canadians. Alexander F. McCulloch was born in Ottawa, "the son of Mary McCullough, of 198, Cobourg St., Ottawa, Canada, and the late Alexander McCullough." and died in WW1. The other Canadian servicemen buried there were from WW2 including three who died on 19 April 1943
- Stratton Cemetery (just outside Cirencester) has records from July 1888 including one WW2 military burial.
The records comprise digital scans of burial registers, details of graves and maps indicating the locations of many of the graves.
Cotswold District Council is a large area serving a region that stretches from Chipping Campden in the north down to Tetbury in the south west and covering towns such as Moreton-in-Marsh, Bourton and Stow-on-the-Wold.
Scroll through parish records at findmypast.co.uk
Will they please fix the previous page arrow pointing forward!
Maybe they'll now start working on the ability to select a parish to search.
Rethinking the Stewardship of Newspapers in the Digital Age - 2
The previous post summarized a November 21, 2009 draft discussion paper with the above title, focusing on a subsection on the current state of newspaper stewardship.
The follow is an extract from 21 April 2010, a draft of the newspaper "Pathfinder" co-authored by Susan Haigh and Samuel Generoux.
4.3 Stewardship and Growth of the Retrospective a Digital Collection
While the above strategies for microforms are recommended, the group recognized that continuing to build the microform collection does not extend online access to historical newspapers, which is what users clearly want.
There are three approaches to extend access to and digital preservation of the Canadian retrospective newspaper collection. The first two would seek to build LAC's collection through the digitization of existing retrospective holdings – by us or by others – and by increasing acquisition of retrospective newspapers digitized by others. A third approach that would strengthen the overall national collection is facilitating better long-term preservation practices by others and the provision of federated access to digitized newspapers.
The first two approaches are discussed below while the third falls into discussions in section 6, the section on National Collaboration.
Digitization of Holdings
There are a range of decisions to be made before LAC would be in a position to launch a substantial newspaper digitization project or program. The decisions related to priority, purpose, content, and approach include:
The working group looked a bit more closely at the possibility of digitizing some of the daily newspapers, because that option would allow stewardship decisions to be taken on the corresponding print collection. It obtained some sobering scale and cost indicators that ranged from $.10 per page all the way up to $1.70 per page depending on the quality of the output, the type of post production and indexing, and who does the digitization.
The following are three examples of content and cost scenarios. These should not be considered as recommendations from the working group and are only meant to illustrate the range of cost options and price points associated with newspaper digitization.
The follow is an extract from 21 April 2010, a draft of the newspaper "Pathfinder" co-authored by Susan Haigh and Samuel Generoux.
4.3 Stewardship and Growth of the Retrospective a Digital Collection
While the above strategies for microforms are recommended, the group recognized that continuing to build the microform collection does not extend online access to historical newspapers, which is what users clearly want.
There are three approaches to extend access to and digital preservation of the Canadian retrospective newspaper collection. The first two would seek to build LAC's collection through the digitization of existing retrospective holdings – by us or by others – and by increasing acquisition of retrospective newspapers digitized by others. A third approach that would strengthen the overall national collection is facilitating better long-term preservation practices by others and the provision of federated access to digitized newspapers.
The first two approaches are discussed below while the third falls into discussions in section 6, the section on National Collaboration.
Digitization of Holdings
There are a range of decisions to be made before LAC would be in a position to launch a substantial newspaper digitization project or program. The decisions related to priority, purpose, content, and approach include:
- Whether to digitized newspapers as a priority, giving them precedence over other parts of the LAC collection as necessary;
- The goal of the digitization. Options include: to extend access by providing microfilm-like image-only online access; to provide new forms of access through OCR and indexing; or to create high-quality digital masters with full structural analysis (using e.g. METS/ALTO XML standard) to serve preservation, presentation, and enhanced access;
- The part(s) of the newspaper collection, and the specific titles, to digitize. For example, the program could aim to digitize selected major daily newspaper titles from microform, or instead, multicultural and aboriginal titles from print. Notably, digitization from print is approximately 10 times more costly;
- Whether the project is broader than just LAC digitizing from its own holdings; and if so, with whom to collaborate;
- How to deal with rights issues. For example, a project could target pre-1920 material as it would be effectively rights clear; or target pre-1960 material, as producers' rights have expired; or seek permissions from rights holders to digitize complete runs;
- Who would undertake the digitization. Options include in-house, outsourced, or collaborative arrangements, and each carries pros and cons;
- The standards and methods that will be employed. Choices related to grayscale/bi-tonal, resolution, processing, output quality and output format are tied to the project's goals. Each carries cost implications, resulting in the fact that newspaper digitization costs can range from about $.10 per page to $1.70 per page;
- How to resource the undertaking, and ultimately, what budget will be available.
The working group looked a bit more closely at the possibility of digitizing some of the daily newspapers, because that option would allow stewardship decisions to be taken on the corresponding print collection. It obtained some sobering scale and cost indicators that ranged from $.10 per page all the way up to $1.70 per page depending on the quality of the output, the type of post production and indexing, and who does the digitization.
The following are three examples of content and cost scenarios. These should not be considered as recommendations from the working group and are only meant to illustrate the range of cost options and price points associated with newspaper digitization.
1. For digital scanning of the 12 major dailies in-house:
Number of reels: 21,482 (entire backruns for all 12 titles)
Cost per reel (includes duplicating the real, scanning the duplicated reel, no OCR, no indexing, no zoning, etc.) including labor, materials and hardware: $86.02 (about $.10 per image)
Total cost: $1,847,881.64.
Number of weeks it would take (one microfilm scanner): 286.4 weeks (5.5 years)
The estimate should be seen as illustrative only as not all 12 titles would need to be digitized, and permissions from rights owners cannot be assumed.
2. If LAC were to collaborate with the microfilming/digitization company, higher quality imaging could result by being able to digitize from the microfilm master, but the cost per page would increase to perhaps $.20 per page (and that is imaging only).
It is notable that converting images to searchable text through automated and uncorrected optical character recognition (OCR) processing and indexing constitutes a relatively minor additional cost. However, reaching an acceptable level of OCR accuracy to support optimal retrieval introduces substantial human labor costs for quality assurance and OCR correction. Australia has undertaken the interesting approach of enabling volunteer end-users to correct OCR errors.
3. A more sophisticated preservation and access project, such as that being undertaken for selected Western Canadian historical newspapers at University of Alberta, produces high-quality digital image files with full structural and content analysis using METS/ALTO XML for enhanced search and retrieval. It costs much more (up to $1.70 per image), but provides the most comprehensive access for users.
Clearly any digitization project would have to be scoped carefully with a view to balancing cost factors with the desired outcomes in terms of improved public access to newspapers and their digital preservation.
Collecting Digitized Newspapers
It is unclear that newspapers digitized by others are subject to legal deposit, and owing to the potential scale of that type of ingest, and the fact that LAC's TDR is just now being implemented, LAC has not endeavored to exercise that provision. It is possible, however, that some of the memory institutions and other organizations that are digitizing newspapers would be willing to deposit digital files with LAC for long-term safekeeping and appropriate redundancy. As their project funding and use model (i.e. business model) is likely based on providing access from their own website, and they would most likely seek for LAC to be a "dark archive".
It is important to note that newspaper files tend to be large and the number of files that could be massive. There will be significant ingest and storage implications for LAC's TDR if LAC endeavors to take on a large scale digitization digital preservation role for digitized as well as born digital newspapers.
As there are significant digitization projects currently in play at University of Alberta and at BAnQ in partnership with SOCAMI, exploratory discussion should begin with both of these.
In summary, the working group recommends that LAC:
- Determine whether newspapers are one of its top priorities for digitization, and if so, develop a mass digitization project plan that will meet its identified preservation and access goals and is scaled to the resources that can be obtained or allocated to it.
- Explore the feasibility of LAC obtaining files from others digitization projects on deposit or by agreement on a preservation basis, and initially through discussions with University of Alberta and BAnQ.
12 April 2012
LAC in the twittersphere
"Library and Archives Canada (@LibraryArchives) uses its twitter feed primarily as a discovery tool, posting frequent “#collection fishing” tweets with links to images pulled from the archives. They are often thematically linked to timely events ..."
That's the start of a comment post on the Libraries in Space blog on Library and Archives Canada in the twittersphere. http://librariesinspace.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/library-and-archives-canada/
There's a constructive comment on an aspect which the author finds confusing.
The overall summary is:
That's the start of a comment post on the Libraries in Space blog on Library and Archives Canada in the twittersphere. http://librariesinspace.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/library-and-archives-canada/
There's a constructive comment on an aspect which the author finds confusing.
The overall summary is:
"I like the collection discovery aspect of this feed, which is enjoyable in a way that has little connection to being a user of the physical space or even the digital collections themselves."This is especially high praise given that the Vancouver-based blogger is naturally more interested in nearby library facilities.