The best public library for genealogy

How do public libraries compare based on the quality of genealogy resources provided? How do you know if your library is offerring good genealogy service? As a genealogist what do you look for from a public library?

I've selected three aspects of the service to genealogists and compared several libraries across Canada using the information on their web sites. You may consider other resources and criteria important. I'd welcome comments.

The libraries I choose are, from West to East, Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, London, Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, St. John's. Sorry Charlottetown, Fredericton, Regina, St John and many others.

First, a good public library should have a section on their web site dedicated to genealogy, preferable one that's easy to find. On Thursday 8 June Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Hamilton, Ottawa, Montreal and St John's all had a link to genealogy from their home page. Saskatoon, Winnipeg, London, Toronto and Halifax had rather more obscure genealogy content. No genealogy page could be found for either Victoria or Vancouver.

Second, most people think of books when they think of a library, so I expect to find a good selection of genealogy and genealogy-related books. I chose six books: Megan Smolenyak and Ann Turner's Trace your Roots with DNA; Bryan Sykes' Seven Daughters of Eve; Angus Baxter's In Search of your Canadian Roots (all editions); Brenda Merriman's Genealogy in Ontario; Mark Herber's Ancestral Trails; and Elizabeth Mills' (ed) Professional Genealogy.

Seven libraries had all six including all the libraries from Winnipeg westward, Toronto and Ottawa. London, Hamilton and Halifax had five of the six, and St John's four. Montreal was excluded as the catalog appeared to be combined with a provincial facility and not reflect holdings at branch libraries. I did not consider Montreal in the final analysis.

Third, increasingly people want their library to be an information resource. The library should have a range of freely accessible databases of genealogical interest, with as many a possible accessible by card-holding patrons over the Internet. I looked for Ancestry Library, Heritage Quest, Pages of the Past (Toronto Star), Globe and Mail (Canada's Heritage from 1844 ), Times of London, Oxford DNB, Newspaper Archive. There was a lot of variability.

All the libraries from Montreal westward, except Hamilton and Winnipeg, offer Ancestry Library, the library edition of ancestry.com, for use in-branch. As the largest subscription genealogy database, and with the service not now being offerred through Family History Centres, Ancestry Library is a major benefit to genealogist-subscribers. It was given major weight in the final analysis.

Victoria offers none of the other databases. Vancouver offers the Globe, Times of London and Oxford Dictionary of National Biography with at home access. Calgary offers the most extensive range - Heritage Quest, Toronto Star, Globe, and Times of London all available for use at home.
Edmonton offers Heritage Quest and the Globe for at home use. Saskatoon offers no additional databases, and Winnipeg, which does not offer Ancestry Library, is the only library to offer Newspaper Archive which has some historic Manitoba newspapers. According to their web site Newspaper Archive is offerred free to public libraries so its puzzling that more libraries don't offer it.

The picture gets grimmer as you move east. Hamilton, Halifax and St John's offer no genealogy-related databases. London and Ottawa provide the Globe for use at home. Toronto offers both the Star and the Globe for at home use. Montreal gives access to the Globe at its facilities.

Congratulations to the Calgary Public Library which appears to offer the most comprehensive range of genealogy services and gets top rating, 14 points. Next are Edmonton (12), Toronto (11.5), Ottawa and Vancouver (11), London and Saskatoon (9), Victoria (8). Montreal was not rated and the others follow.

It's quite likely your library is not included. I know there are places outside Canada, and communities in Canada outside the Cities mentioned. Also it's possible I may have overlooked something for the cities rated. In any of these situations, especially where I missed something, please leave a comment.

Victoria's Victoria

There's nothing like student labour to get things done at low or no cost. The University of Victoria has taken advantage to develop a great local resource by way of project work for a course "History 481: Micro History and the Internet." Gradually since 2002 research from this and related courses, as well as contributions from members of the larger community, have been added to the Victoria's Victoria website.

The jewels in the crown for genealogy are four indices to tens of thousands of summarized transcripts of newspaper articles:

A general index to the British Colonist (also called the Daily Colonist) from 1858-1921 (years 1894-1899 incomplete but in process);
A specialized index to stories related to the West Coast of Vancouver Island in the British Colonist (also called the Daily Colonist) from 1858-1921;
A specialized index of stories related to the Boer War the British Colonist (also called the Daily Colonist) from 1899-1915;
A specialized index to stories related to buildings, builders, building trades, architects etc... from 1858 to c. 1900.

Many of the people mentioned are of British origin. It's another place you may turn up that wayward ancestor who was never heard from again.

Apropos my recent Timelines blog entry, there's also a timeline for Victoria on the site, covering 1592 - 1925.

Should I switch?

Back in March I posted suggestions for improving Family Tree Maker, the genealogy software I've used for many years. This weekend I had a chance to talk to Geoff Rasmussen from Legacy Family Tree at the OGS Seminar and asked about two of the three concerns with FTM mentioned in the previous post. I didn't ask about the other, recording DNA information, as the Legacy web site mentions that the product has a capability to record DNA results, although can't do anything with them.

Asked about the capability to include sources, Geoff explained the existing capability, and mentioned the company is working on simplifying source input for version 7.0, due later this year. Asked about mapping he intimated that there may be integration with Google Maps in the next version.

I remain concerned about Legacy's range of charts. Legacy reportedly requires an add-on Charting Companion at extra cost to be competitive. Someone who knows both FTM and Legacy told me last year he runs Legacy, but retains FTM for its superior charting capability.

The bottom line is that I shall be taking a serious look at Legacy when the next major release arrives.

Timelines

One of the presentations I made a point of attending at the recent OGS seminar in Ottawa was by Laura Prescott, a US-based speaker, professional researcher and writer. Judging by the number of times it's listed on her web site "Timelines: Placing Your Heritage in Historical Perspective" is her most popular talk. It was a polished performance. In it Laura shows matching historical events to an ancestor’s life; synchronizing one ancestor’s life events to another’s using genealogical software as well as everyday software programs to create a graphic profile and timeline.

Her main point was that, although genealogy software and custom programs do a nice job of making graphical presentations of timelines, often the most useful is a chronology in text format. Unlike graphic presentations, which almost force you to show a linear march of time, with text you can easily give more detail for especially active periods of an ancestor's life.

One of the challenges of producing a timeline is finding an appropriate overlay of historical events. The web sources listed in the conference syllabus were largely US-oriented, but in her presentation Laura suggested some web sources for the rest of us. The BBC has a convenient British timeline, part of a great website on British history. There are many others that can be discovered with your favourite search engine using timeline and topic as the search terms. For topic Scotland I found the Timeline of Scottish History, for Wales try here. Wikipedia has a useful Timeline of Canadian History.

First thoughts on the OGS Seminar

It's over. I dragged my weary feet home on Sunday afternoon after three days of extensive walking around Ottawa's Algonquin College and the annual Ontario Genealogical Society Seminar. The research room, which I co-lead, was at one extreme while the rooms where the meals were served, and special events held, was at the other.

I had forgotten how, when a meeting is in your own city, you get to experience less of it owing to your involvement in the organization. Fortunately I did manage to attend a few good presentations, and heard nothing but compliments about all the presentations. I also spent time in the marketplace, as well as making two presentations and doing duty in the research room.

Kudos to the many folks from the Ottawa Branch of OGS who volunteered for the event, all under the capable leadership of Branch Chair, Mike More.

The big announcement, one I missed, was of a cooperation agreement between Library and Archives Canada and Ancestry.ca which will see an index to passenger lists of ships arriving at Quebec from 1865 to 1900 made freely available. Border crossings records from the United States to Canada that took place between 1908 and 1935 will also become available. Dick Eastman has the full text here. I am informed these agreements with Ancestry.ca do not imply there is a lack of scope for other companies or organizations to partner with LAC.

Odds and Ends

OGS Seminar
Big announcements are expected this weekend in Ottawa from Library and Archives Canada, and Ancestry.ca.

When not giving my two presentations I expect to spend considerable time in the BIFHSGO computer room. See the line up of free trial site here and stop by to try one or more. I'll also be in the marketplace which looks like it will be a busy place. Please introduce yourself and let me know your opinion of the blog.

Ancestry.co.uk
After several days with nothing but state level US records being added Ancestry have announced an upgrade to their version of the 1861 census of England and Wales. If you're had trouble finding someone the update may make it worth trying again.

Free BMD
It's getting to the point that you're rather unlucky if you're not able to find an indexed GRO registered birth in England and Wales from mid-1837 to 1912, and to 1915 for marriages and deaths. The FreeBMD Database was updated on Saturday 26 May 2007 and currently contains 134,484,978 distinct records.

If you can't find the person you seek maybe the record is missing from the GRO index. The problems with it have been well documented. In such cases it's worth seeing if there's a local index, check under the county at the UK BMD web site.

A lost opportunity at Library and Archives Canada

They've done it again. There's an interesting new exhibit at the LAC web site, featured on the front page.

The text gets immediately into the detail of navigating the album, no context. Would it have been so difficult to make a starting page modified from the Introduction? It's a shame such material isn't allowed to shine. Why would one not show one of the photos, like that below, rather than a tiny image of the album's front cover?

As the Introduction notes "Their dedication to their work, their country and, most importantly, to their patients, serves to measure their contribution to the Canadian war effort." This is a story worth telling, worth reading and viewing, and worth more thought given to the presentation.

Top 5 signs you’re genealogy obsessed

You check Dick Eastman’s blog before reading emails from the family.

You’re familiar with most of the 5,120,000 genealogy web sites found by Google.

When you hear the phrase “an inconvenient truth” you think of a relative's dubious paternity.

You spend more on genetic genealogy than electricity.

Your doctor has diagnosed "citation fixation", losing sleep wondering if you cited the source correctly.

UPDATE
Randy Seaver, who certainly recognizes the genealogy obsessed when he sees them, has a much more extensive list worth browsing at The Geneaholic. Maybe I should add "operates three (or more) genealogy blogs" as a sixth sign.

If you can't get in to my presentations ...

By some misfortune two other speakers share the same two time slots as me on both Saturday and Sunday at the Ontario Genealogical Society Seminar; and they're both well worth hearing.

Sharon Murphy is well known to OGS Seminar audiences as well as being a Past Chair of the Ontario Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists. I recall her giving a hilarious presentation several years ago in Ottawa. This time her topics are: "Learn the Secret and not so Secret Rules about BMD Records in Ontario and How to Use Them" on Saturday, and "Things that will make your Genealogy Road Trip Successful" on Sunday.


Less well known across the Province, but very well respected locally, is Hugh Reekie. Just last weekend one especially enthusiastic person thanked him at the end of a talk and called him a genius. Perhaps that was a bit overboard, but I always learn something from Hugh and have no hesitation in recommending his talks: "The Development of the Lower Ottawa River 1790-1910" on Saturday, and "City & Trade Directories on the Internet" on Sunday. Explore Hugh's interests further from the BIFHSGO member links page.

Keeping up to date on genetic genealogy

On Saturday I'll be giving a talk about my experiences with DNA testing to OGS Seminar. To start getting an appreciation of the topic I recommend the book Trace Your Roots with DNA by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak and Ann Turner. I'm not aware whether a new version is coming, but you can find copies remaindered at abebooks.com selling at between $6 and $7US plus shipping. It's a deal.

To stay abreast of developments I scan the discussions on the Genealogy-DNA Rootsweb mailing list. You might also look at some of the links from the Wikipedia article on Genetic Genealogy.

"The Genetic Genealogist" is a fairly new blog written by Blaine Bettinger. He describes himself as having been using traditional genealogical research to learn more about his ancestry for almost 20 years, and he also has a Ph.D. in biochemistry with a concentration in genetics. The blog is aimed above the beginner level. I found it quite comprehensible, although a recent article had a Flesch reading index of 33, "teetering on the edge of unclear." This post is only slightly better! I find "The Genetic Genealogist" helpful so it's added to my links list.

Get new posting notifications by email

If you're a regular visitor here ... thank you.

In the right hand column, below the photo, I've added a box for email subscription. It's simple, fill in your email address, retype a string of characters, receive a confirming email with a clickable link as another form of verification.

One email will arrive any day, more or less, something new is posted with a link for you to click to go to that item. No items posted means no email that day. There's an unsubscribe link with every message, useful if your interests change or you don't need to fill up your inbox while on vacation. The company claims no spam emails will result from the subscription. I can't guarantee it, but reports are good. You trade off the convenience of email notification for the slight risk of spam.

New Ancestry Military Records

My inbox was inundated this morning with messages about the latest addition to the ancestry.com service, US military records. As they have free access to these records until the anniverary of D-Day, June 6, it's worth taking advantage to look for family strays. Here's the announcement:

Ancestry.com is announcing it has launched the largest collection of U.S. military records available and searchable online, featuring more than 90 million names that span more than four centuries of American history from the 1600s through Vietnam.

This U.S. Military Collection includes exclusive record sets such as the only complete collection of WWI draft registration cards and commemorative military yearbooks and newspapers. Combined, the records bring to life the stories and sacrifices of the millions of brave men and women who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.Inside the U.S. Military Collection

Ancestry.com’s U.S. Military Collection captures all major wars and conflicts from American history, including the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts as well as the Spanish-American War and the War of 1812.

The eclectic volume of records features more than 700 databases and titles and 37 million images of original and often personally autographed documents including:

• World War I and World War II draft registration cards
• Prisoner of war records from the War of 1812, Civil War, World War II, and Korea
• Muster rolls (unit rosters) for the Marine Corps 1893-1958 and WWII U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Muster rolls, 1939-1949
• U.S. Military burial registers 1768-1921
• Service Records from Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Civil War
• Civil War Pension Index
• Casualty listings from WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam
• WWI and WWII Stars and Stripes Newspapers
• Young American Patriots Military Yearbooks (post WWII)

Rare historical media such as the United Newsreel Motion Pictures (1942 – 1945) are another highlight of the collection, making Ancestry.com the only online source for all 267 counter-propaganda films shown in U.S. theaters and abroad during WWII. Produced by the Office of War Information and financed by the U. S. government, the United Newsreels consisted of several short stories concerning allied military operations and were reportedly released in sixteen languages. Newsreels were also dropped behind enemy lines in a German language version and distributed in friendly and neutral countries.

Beginning now through June 6th (D-Day), Ancestry.com will make its entire U.S. Military Collection free to the public. For more information on Ancestry.com’s U.S. Military Collection, visit www.ancestry.com/military.

In order to see the new titles added to Ancestry for this military release, go to www.ancestry.com/military and view titles by war/conflict.

OGS Seminar presentation pick

War service records, where they survive, are a bonanza for the genealogist. They document, usually in much more detail than you will find for any other period, a key phase in the person's life. They name a next of kin providing a link to a parent or spouse.

"For King, Empire and Home: Documenting Service in the First World War" will be presented by Glenn Wright at the OGS Seminar in Ottawa, June 1-3. He stresses that Canadian Expeditionary Force attestation papers, available online here, are just one of a number of records in the service files which also contain medical and pay records. About a third of all men who served in the CEF were born in Britain so these are important records documenting Anglo-Celtic connections.

He also deals with records for naval and air forces service, and for those who served in other allied forces, the Imperial War Service Gratuity. There's a complementary document, "Documenting Military Service in Canada and Abroad 1885 - 1918: A Short Guide to Sources" on the BIFHSGO web site.

The surviving 1851 Irish census

There is only a fragment of the pre-1901 Irish censuses that survived the depredations of man and fire. Now the Irish Research Group of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society have placed online a transcript of the surviving parts of the 1851 Irish census and supporting documentation, all accessible from here.

The records are mainly for part of County Antrim, located in the extreme north-east of the island, include part or all of 14 civil parishes from various parts of the county (almost 29,000 records).

Added are a 1853 occupant summary of the 1851 census of County Cork, which is located in the south-west part of the island, includes nearly 4,000 records from four adjacent parishes: Kilcrumper, Kilworth, Leitrim and Macroney.

A primer on copyright for genealogists ...

For genealogists, and everyone else. The details are US specific, but this pointed YouTube item is instructive as well as creative.

Anglo-Celtic Roots wins

Anglo-Celtic Roots (ACR) was awarded first prize in the National Genealogical Society newsletter competition at the Society's annual conference just ended.

This is the second time in three years the BIFHSGO publication has been so honoured, following several years of honourable mentions. Congratulations to all volunteers in the ACR editorial and production teams, and especially Irene Ip who was editor for the issues that were appraised.

Read some classic articles from Anglo-Celtic Roots here.

Campbell River, BC, genealogy seminar

Campbell River, BC, is a little outside the range of my normal interest, but I noticed an announcement for a Seminar next Saturday, May 26 to be given by Lady Mary Teviot. President of the Federation of Family History Societies (UK), she was theme speaker at the BIFHSGO annual conference some years ago. I'm wondering if a certain BIFHSGO member, now resident of the area, who I recently saw on a return visit, is responsible for the choice of speaker.

The seminar is sponsored by the Campbell River Genealogy Society, details are here. Topics of her presentations are:

UNDER USED SOURCES FOR FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH
I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT
GENEALOGICAL GEOGRAPHY

It should certainly be well worth the detour if you're in the area.

OGS Seminar presentation choices

Looking over the program for the OGS Seminar in Ottawa, June 1-3, there are many presentations I'd like to hear. I have several other commitments so may not get to them all.

One is "Using Unorthodox Ways and Websites to Break Down Brick Walls" by Bob Dawes. He is addressing computer technology in the modern genealogist’s kit beyond the Internet: a genealogy program, a web browser, an email program and an office suite. All are available commercially at a wide range of prices or for free. He will also discuss some favourite web sites you may not think of in the context of genealogy.

Another presentation I'd like to hear is "Full Text on the Web: What the Digitization Revolution Means to Genealogists" by Marian Press. With an estimated 900,000 works published in English prior to 1923 (the current cut off date for U.S. copyright) there is a massive effort underway to digitize these. Marian will review the projects digitizing works of interest to family historians.

I'll mention other picks in days to come.

Googling for Genealogy

1. If you want to search Google without getting back a whole bunch of ads with the results try: www.google.com/search?output=googleabout

2. Google has a new Experimental Search facility. It has several components and I was attracted by timeline and map views, which "extracts key dates and locations from select search results so you can view the information in a different dimension." They claim these "work best for searches related to people, companies, events and places." You can try it from your main Google search page by appending view:timeline or view:map to your search terms. I've done a very few searches, too early to give an evaluation but I've found nothing very exciting yet.

Cite your genealogy sources, eat your broccoli

The first President Bush endeared himself to millions when he said "I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli." He's now well past his 80th birthday and his broccoli-phobia doesn't seem to have hurt him.

I feel rather the same way about citing the sources of my genealogical information. Yes, I know that citation will help me and others find information again, and avoid a lot of needless searching when conflicting information comes to light. Unfortunately it's plain dull, there's a substantial overhead to assembling a source citation, and experts with claws ready to pounce when its not done according to Hoyle.

The new site BibMe might help a bit for books, websites, magazine, newspaper and journal articles. You get a choice of MLA, APA and Chicago formatting depending on the taste of the editor. For many books you can go online, enter the title, and it will find the rest and fill in the blanks. Often a blank form is presented which at least does away with the burden of formatting.

Wouldn't it be nice to find a similar handy web utility to help with at least the most common genealogical citations, for civil registration and census sources? Even better would be the online database providing a citation you could cut and paste into your document or transfer to your genealogy database.

To learn how to cite sources correctly come to the OGS Seminar in Ottawa, June 1-3. Alison Hare will speak on "Citations for Canadians" on Saturday afternoon in a presentation sponsored by the Ontario Chapter, Association of Professional Genealogists. I know several people who have it marked in their schedule as not-to-be-missed.

Genealogy Tip: Exonumia

Last Saturday's speaker at the BIFHSGO monthly meeting, Pat Wohler, dealt with unusual sources for family history. A very short list of links from his talk is here. He mentioned a word new to me, exonumia.

Wikipedia has an article which defines it as the study of coin-like objects such as token coins and medals, and other items used in place of legal currency or for commemoration. These are the kind of items many of us have around the house, they don't take up much room and tend to accumulate in jewelry and old cigar boxes. Perhaps you have lapel pins from organizations with which you were or are associated.

When the day comes for you to clear out the house of a deceased relative what will you do with the exonumia you find? A colleague in BIFHSGO recently found a mint condition Canada Northwest medal tucked away in the back of a closet while doing such a clear out. It's worth at least several hundred dollars, likely more as it was for one of the men who was killed.

More likely the items you'll find aren't so valuable, but if the person is part of your family history their exonumia may provide a lead to an unlikely source, perhaps a fraternal society, to illuminate a corner of the person's life. Exonumia.com was recommended by Pat as a starting point in exploring these items. You might also look for a medal and similar collectibles show, or call the reference desk at your local library.

City of London burials 1788-1855

FindMyPast.com, has introduced a new database containing 292,000 entries, each a full transcription of the burial record for major cemeteries in and around the City of London. Those with more than 10,000 burials, are: Bunhill Fields (47,622 records), Golden Lane (17,856), Spa Fields Burial Ground (60,636), St Andrew, Holborn (24,972), St Clement Dane (13,201), St James, Clerkenwell (22,607), St Mary, Whitechapel (19,779). There's a complete list of the cemeteries, including in an informative introduction here (click search tips).

This is a commercial database available by subscription or on a pay per view basis. For those coming to the Ontario Genealogical Society Seminar in Ottawa at the beginning of June, it's one of the databases we expect to have available on free trial in the computer room.

FamilySearch Centres?

Dick Eastman has posted an announcement with the title "Godfrey Memorial Library and FamilySearch Centers Announce Partnership." The term "FamilySearch Center" is a new one to me, but the announcement makes it clear we're looking at a rebranding of the Family History Center, another strong signal of the direction the LDS Church is taking in its genealogy mission.

"We are excited to include Godfrey Memorial Library to our list of premium databases or services offered throughout FamilySearch centers worldwide. They provide some premier resources that will certainly be of great value to FamilySearch center patrons," said Paul Nauta, manager of public affairs for FamilySearch. "In return Godfrey Memorial Library will significantly broaden its reach and awareness by being introduced to scores of researchers through 4500 FamilySearch facilities in over 70 countries,"

Adding "Genealogy Reviews Online" to my links

There's a new genealogy blog around, Genealogy Reviews Online. It seems to be new anyway. I like what I've seen so far. It deserves more than eight confirmed readers so I've added it to my links, over on the right. They are all worthwhile stops.

The recent item that took me there, also blogged by several others, is about what appears to be rather heavy-handed legal action on the part of Ancestry.com. I won't repeat the details, that's why there are links.

It seems a bit rich when Ancestry has no qualms about appropriating other people's information, notably postings to Rootsweb World Connect, and then selling the work to Ancestry subscribers without permission. As I understand it, facts cannot be the subject of copyright, but appropriating the assembly of those facts, as in a gedcom, seems rather dubious practice. It's a shame, as Ancestry have so much going for them. Companies often list goodwill as an asset, I now have rather less of that toward the company.

Only in Ottawa, Eh!

Next Saturday, May 12, will be a great day, and not just for what happened quite a few years ago. It's also the next BIFHSGO monthly meeting. Come to the auditorium of Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa to hear Pat Wohler, CG (C) speak on "Some Offbeat Untapped Genealogy Sources" at 10 am. Pat happens to have an article "French Canadian Research: Bienvenue à Québec!" in the June 2007 issue of Family Chronicle magazine.

Want more? Come early, at 9 am, to hear Lesley Anderson, BIFHSGO's Director (Education) present on the use of directories and gazetteers. As usual the morning admittance is free to all.

In case you don't know them, the picture is of Pat, taken by new Society photographer Ken Wood. We don't have a picture of Lesley; Google "Vanna White" instead.

Genealogy Tip: Map your surnames

Folks are often at a loss for leads when they find a record of their immigrant ancestor and all it says is they were from England, Scotland, Ireland, or occasionally Wales. If the name isn't too common you can start localizing the possible origin with a surname distribution map. At the left, from the Surname Profiler facility at the spatial-literacy web site, is the distributions for the surname Northwood, for the year 1998. I wrote a bit about the Northwood search last summer in a posting Update your searches.

The name has become more widespread in a century, but still has two areas of concentration. You can confirm this my doing the search and displaying a map for 1881. Focussing the search on Bedfordshire and the West Midlands are indicated. My lot are from Staffordshire and can be traced back many generations in the village of Pattingham.

I frequently use surname distribution as a way to interest beginners in family history. Many folks have a name they know little about. In a beginner group you can usually find some who have a suspicion about the region the family came from, and are delighted to see that confirmed with a surname distribution map.

Is digitization killing genealogy tourism?

The bonanza in digitized genealogical records online, especially those transcribed and/or indexed and linked to original images, has revolutionized family history. But archives and record offices worry that making these records available online cuts into their revenue and harms the local economy as genealogists no longer visit to find the information they seek.

Others argue that it shifts the focus of tourist visits away from the confines of such offices. Being able to complete the basic research at home means the family historian becomes more, not less motivated to visit, but opts for a richer tourist experience in local museums, walks the roads and byways, visits the homesteads, churches and graveyards of their ancestors.

There has been a discussion on this in the electronic journal First Monday. In volume 12, number 1 (January 2007), Emily Heinlen published "Genealogy and the economic drain on Ireland: Unintended consequences." She points out that while the increase in popularity of digitized genealogical documents has been an economic boost for online companies that specialize in genealogy, it has had the unintended consequence on Ireland of decreasing the incoming revenue of the genealogy tourism industry. The basic data table referred to is reproduced below.

Table 1: Genealogy tourism visitors — 1999-2004. Source: Bord Fáilte (Irish Tourist Board).
Overseas Visitors (000’s)	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Britain	32	26	20	11	11	9
M Europe	2	2	1	1	2	0
North America. USA	61	74	49	20	37	26
Australia/New Zealand	11	14	18	4	3	10
Total	106	116	88	35	63	45

In a letter to the editor in the March issue Fiona Fitzsimons and Cathy McCartney of Eneclann, a company linked to Trinity College, Dublin, involved with digitization projects, comment on the article's "limited and selective use of statistics on Irish visitor numbers." They point out that total visitor numbers increased by 1,262,000, or over 18%, from 1999 to 2005. That's despite worldwide tourist reductions that occurred in the aftermath of 9/11 and the SARS outbreak. While comparable figures for 1999 are not available, a very healthy 39% of visitors in 2005 engaged in cultural and historical activities.

Should you take a free DNA genealogy test?

A free DNA test is being offered by the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF) at this year's Ontario Genealogical Society Seminar in Ottawa. You can also participate at any time by sending for a sampling kit; the only cost is mailing the sample back. SMGF collect the DNA sample using a mouthwash swill technique, require you to submit your four generation pedigree including birth dates and locations, and sign a consent form. You get nothing directly back in return, but eventually part of your DNA data, and genealogy data more than 100 years old, will appear in their public databases for you to find. Their practice is to not release your name, although the sample is identified by surname.

It sounds good, and they deliver as you can see from the data presented on their web site. The Y-Chromosome database includes more than 17,645 men with more than 7 markers; the mitrochrondrial database has 19,543 sequences.

According to the site's FAQ "Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation is a non-profit foundation that is creating the world's leading collection of DNA results and corresponding genealogies. We are making the collection available on-line to the public to help in finding new family connections and extending one's genealogy. SMGF is not affiliated with any other commercial organizations, religious institutions, or other DNA testing projects."

The Foundation is State of Utah Business Entity number 4898157-0140, registered on 12 March 2001 as a non-profit corporation currently in good standing, officially described as in the business of information services. An expired registration for a company by the same name, at the same address, listed it as a religious organization.

SMGF is shown under the umbrella of the Sorenson Companies, along with Relative Genetics, a commercial DNA testing company. People who provide a sample to SMGF are eligible to receive a coupon for a test with Relative Genetics at a discount rate. Lab testing for both SMGF and Relative Genetics is conducted by another Sorenson Company, Sorenson Genomics. In my view these relationships call into question the FAQ statement that "SMGF is not affiliated with any other commercial organizations, religious institutions, or other DNA testing projects."

Folks wanting to take advantage of the test should be aware of the following:

The requirement to provide a four generation pedigree, including the donor providing the DNA sample, leaves one open to release of personal information which could be highly sensitive. The tests undertaken include not only those for the Y-chromosome and mitrochrondrial DNA but also autosomal DNA. Analysis of autosomal DNA can reveal the values for the CODIS markers used for forensic and criminal investigation purposes, and also information related to health vulnerabilities that could potentially impact on the ability of the donor, or relatives, to obtain medical insurance coverage.

According to the SMGF Privacy Policy:
"we make all reasonable efforts to protect the privacy of contributors"
"we will never share your genetic information with any outside companies. Your name will never be listed in our on-line pedigree charts. We will never list the names and genealogical information of any of your ancestors born after 1906 in our on-line pedigree charts."

Nevertheless, we are all aware that mistakes happen. Computers with personal data are occasionally lost or stolen and network security breached. The consent form you MUST sign in agreeing to participate in the SMGF project includes amongst the warnings under the heading "Risks, Inconvenience, and Discomfort":

"It is possible that the confidentiality of your records could be compromised. There are risks associated with a loss of confidentiality of your genealogical information and genetic testing results. Information about genetic test results may affect your employment, insurance, or family relationships. The sponsor cannot be certain that your genetic test results could never be linked to you."

In the State of Utah there is a process to convert from a non-profit to profit motivated corporation. Without any requirement to consult the donor, the information supplied could be used for private profit if such conversion was made. Furthermore, in the unlikely event that SMGF should run into financial difficulty, assets could be sold and it is unclear whether that might lead to the undertakings of confidentiality being compromised.

While there is no indication that SMGF and its sponsors have intentions that are anything other than honourable, potential donors would be wise to weight the risks and benefits in advance -- before having to do so while at the company booth at the OGS conference.

Canada's Federal Genealogy Strategy

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and their Canadian Genealogy Centre (CGC) are good reasons for a genealogist to live in Ottawa. From a national perspective they have simply the best collection of genealogical and related resources. The knowledgeable and usually helpful staff can be reached by telephone at 1-866-578-7777 (toll free in Canada and the US). There are good research and meeting facilities. Their web site has a selection of free online resources serving wherever the web reaches, still, nothing like the range conveniently available on-site.

CGC have a lot to offer. I'm a booster, but don't hesitate to express what I hope is constructive criticism. For example, look at the main page of the web site and you'll see statements of mission, vision and policy. That's content that only a policy wonk could love. It's not what a typical user comes to the site to learn. I'm told a new front page presentation is coming soon.

What are the organization's plans for development? There is a Genealogy Strategy in the works. In the meantime the official word is in the LAC Report on Plans and Priorities 2007-2008. It's full of bureaucratize and non-specific commitments.

Whatever the Strategy eventually says, the fact is that when it comes to what most genealogists would like, more digitized content online, especially major records like the census, city directories and newspapers, LAC and the Department of Canadian Heritage mostly choose not to fund it. That's despite genealogy being the largest user group. CGC/LAC struggles to find external funding sources for digitization projects that usually have other agendas.

DNA Podcast

The Naked Scientist, a popular BBC radio science show, had two interviews in its most recent edition on DNA studies of interest to genealogists.

The first was about a DNA sampling study from Oxford University, concentrating on people with all four grandparents from the same locality in the UK. It appears that the thrust is the analysis of autosomal DNA, although the example used was from a Y-chromosome study. There is a project web site here.

The second interview was with a PhD candidate from Leicester University who spoke of her Y-DNA study, and particularly finding a man whose ancestors were from Yorkshire, but whose DNA showed a rare African origin.

The interviews are available as a podcast, starting about a third of the way through the program, from here.

Genealogy Tip: Recheck for digitized books

New digitizations of out of copyright books are appearing all the time. It's worth periodically checking the main digitization sites for people, events and locations in your family history.

Back last August I blogged about Google Books, and how they had digitized, and then extended copyright protection to a book published in the 1880s, only allowing a snippet view. The book was about my old home town of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England. Not showing the full text of a book published that far back was a mistake, an example of being overzealous or simply careless in copyright protection.

Apparently Microsoft agree with me as I found the complete text of The silvery hosts of the North Sea : with a sketch of "quaint old Yarmouth" appearing in the texts section of the Internet Archive with MSN credited as the digitizing sponsor. Against possible copyright status is printed NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT. It's also on Microsoft's Live Search Books. Live Search adds a capability to search inside the book, not just the title as with the Internet Archive.

Trend-setting genealogy

Family Tree DNA, the largest commercial DNA testing company for genealogy, shows annual growth in the number of records over 60%. Ever more people are getting tested as they search for genetic cousins and explore their deep roots.

FTDNA is also seeing growth in the number of distinct surnames in their database, up about 30% in 12 months. As of 1 May there are 62581 unique surnames in the database. If you test through one of their 4010 surname projects you benefit from a discount rate for tests and enhance your chances of finding genetic cousins.

The graph shows the trends in number of haplogroups found for different numbers of markers tested. Haplogroups are the genetic equivalent of surnames, defined by a string of digits representing the number of short tandem repeats at specific locations on the Y-chromosome. As of 1 May FTDNA has found 23,449 distinct 12-marker haplogroups. That's not very many if you consider that theoretically only three possibilities for the number of repeats at each of 12-marker would mean 531,441 12- marker haplogroups. This implies many people share the same 12-marker haplogroup; 360 people tested share mine which is included in the R1b1c group.

People with many 12-marker genetic cousins need more markers tested to reduce the number of matches. There are now more 25- than 12-marker haplogroups. 37-marker haplogroups are increasing more rapidly and slowly converging on the number of 25-marker haplogroups.

Marian's Links for Ontario Genealogy

Marian Press is one person I always try and find time to listen to when at a conference. Marian, a librarian and lecturer on information literacy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, teaches courses on website creation and using the internet as a genealogical information source.

On Saturday Marian gave a lecture for a conference organized by the Ontario Genealogical Society Region V. The handout, with links to web sites of particular interest to folks searching Ontario genealogy, is online here.

Likely you'll find most of these Canadian and Ontario resources on Cyndi's List, which I always suggest as a starting point when venturing into unfamiliar genealogical territory. But you won't find them as easily accessible as on Marian's Links categorized under the topics:

Getting Started; Getting Here; Hatch,Match and Despatch; Death; Census Records; Directories; Where Did They Live Exactly? Going to War; Were They in the News? Finding Your Canadian Ancestors in Books; Keeping Up With What’s New.

Unusual names in family history - update

One of the delights of an Ancestry.com subscription is exploring newly available databases. This week "English Settlers in Barbados, 1637-1800" came online. I took the opportunity to search some of the less common surnames in my family, without success, and then remembered the one previous occasion I'd had to explore Barbados' records.

One of the two men from the Ottawa Company of Sharpshooters who died at the Battle of Cut Knife Hill on 2 May1885 was John Rogers, a native of Barbados. While researching for the book "The Ottawa Sharpshooters" I found his mother was baptized Mary Licorish Kidney, one of the most unusual names I've ever found. It rivals a Norfolk man I stumbled on baptized February Backlog.

Previous information was that Mary had been born in Barbados in 1818, too late for this dataset. There were lots of Kidney and Licorish family members, and John's paternal line was tentatively extended back to a g-g-grandfather named Andrew. That's a nice bonus benefit on this useful subscription.

Update

Ancestry.com have also added a new database, Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1812-1834, which includes information on Barbados slave owners as well as slaves. I probably should not have been surprised to kind that James T(homas) Rogers, father of John Rogers who died at the Battle of Cut Knife Hill, owned more than 100 slaves in 1834. the Kidney family owned 21 and the Licorish family 116 slaves.

Archive CD Books Canada to provide FREE look-up service at OGS Seminar, 1 - 3 June 2007.

The following is a news release from Archive CD Books Canada about a unique opportunity to search a wide range of offerings from the Archive CD Books partners.

Archive CD books Canada are pleased to announced that, as their contribution to the success of this year's OGS Seminar, to be held at Algonquin College in Ottawa between 1st and 3rd of June 2007, they will be providing free access to their entire inventory of CANADIAN, USA, IRISH and AUSTRALIAN books on CD. You can preview the inventory at: www.ArchiveCDBooks.ca/

The access will be through a self-service computer work station and will feature their new FastFind enhanced search technology. Using this great new feature it will be possible to search the contents of hundreds of books in just a few seconds. To further enhance the search speed it will also be possible to confine your search to selected countries.

This is a unique opportunity to gain full access to the contents of the International Archive CD Books Project inventory - absolutely free of charge.

The computer work station will be provided with complete instructions to assist you in making your search, or you can select to review any book on CD in its entirety. You will be welcome to take notes from the books for your reference or records.

Archive CD Books Canada personnel will also be pleased to meet you at their vendor display in the Market Place to discuss your research needs or answer your questions.

Information about the OGS Seminar 2007 can be found at: www.ogsseminar.org

Released by Archive CD Books Canada Inc., 26 April 2007. For more information please contact Malcolm Moody, President, by e-mail at Malcolm@ArchiveCDBooks.ca or by phone at (613) 692-2667. Web site: www.ArchiveCDBooks.ca/

Find that lost genealogy website

You have a website bookmarked, or find it referenced, and when you try and go to it you get an error message. Frustrating. What do you do?

It may just be the site is temporarily down, perhaps owing to a power cut or maintenance. If so just wait until it returns, possibly only a few seconds, sometimes overnight.

It may be the site is, like the Python's Norwegian Blue Parrot "no more, ceased to be, expired and gone to meet it's maker, bereft of life it rests in peace. " It's an ex-website.

Fortunately there's a place to retrieve some websites bereft of life. It's called the Internet Archive, also known as the Wayback Machine. You can browse through 85 billion web pages archived from 1996 to a few months ago.

You enter the web address of a site or page where you would like to start, and press enter. Then select from the archived dates available. The resulting pages point to other archived pages at as close a date as possible. You may find some of the formatting, and sometimes images, are lost, but the basic content should remain. What you will not find is material from the hidden web, pages not accessible by a web spider, especially searcheable databases and the like.

Unfortunately keyword searching isn't supported. You need to know the web address, perhaps from a bookmark, published reference or dead link on an existing page.

If it looks like your goose is cooked the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine may just save your bacon!

Did your mother come from Ireland? So what?

How about your grandmother, or her grandmother? Wherever you live there's a good chance many folks celebrate their Irish roots on St Patrick's Day, and throughout the year. In the Ottawa area that's reflected in a very active Irish research group that meets monthly under the sponsorship of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society.

The Irish population of 4.5 million in 1901 had dropped from 8.2 million in 1841 with the decline continuing decade after decade as emigration continued.

One oft quoted statistic is that in 1891, 39 per cent of all Irish-born persons in the world were living outside Ireland. Where did they go? The pie chart shows about 25% were in the US, 6% in England and Wales, over 3% in Australia, 2.5% in Scotland and 2% in Canada. Canada's Irish-born population peaked earlier, likely around 1861 as did that in England. In the US and Australia the migration continued longer. Their Irish-born population peaked in the 1890s.

Can you relate these trends to your family history? The migration was so extensive that if your "mother" came from Ireland the chances are you have cousins to discover in one or more of the other countries.

Randy's Musings

A tip of the hat, and more practically a link on my blogroll, to Randy Seaver who mentioned my post on the top ten genealogy words. It has created a spike in visits here. Randy is a driving force behind the Chula Vista Genealogical Society. I frequently visit his blog for ideas and inspiration.

Randy also does most of the postings on the new Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog. which already contains some useful postings on genealogy basics, with a San Diego area emphasis. My southern California genealogy is a bit hazy but apparently San Diego is a suburb of Chula Vista.

St George's and other fraternal societies

April 23rd is St George's Day, set aside for the patron saint of England who in legend killed a dragon.

There was an active St George's Society in Ottawa from 1844 to 1956. Its objectives were uniting English people and their descendants for social and patriotic purposes and affording its members advice and pecuniary assistance in case of need. The announcement shown was placed in the Ottawa Journal in February 1895 on the funeral of William Mills, mentioned here recently. It shows the logo of St George killing the dragon.

Ottawa in 1923 boasted many similar societies: the Ancient Order of Hibernians of America; Ladies' Auxilliaries of Carleton County; Ancient Order of United Workmen; Catholic Mutual Benefit Association; Foresters - Ancient Order; Foresters - Canadian Order; Foresters - Independent Order; Free Masons; Order of the Eastern Star; Royal Arcanum; Knights of the Maccabees; Knights of the Pythias; Loyal Orange Association; Loyal True Blue Association; Oddfellowes - Canadian Order; Oddfellows - Independent Order; Rebekahs; St Andrew's Society; St George's Society; St Vincent de Paul Society; Sons of England Benefit Society; Sons of Scotland; Ladies' Auxilliary of St George's Society; Daughters and Maids of England; Women's Christian Temperance Union.

St George's societies existed in Toronto and Montreal and likely many other communities. Their records may be an unexploited resource for family history. Ottawa's St George's Society records are with Library and Archives Canada.

Ken Aitken Passes

I'm saddened to receive news of the passing of noted Canadian genealogical speaker, librarian and blogger, Ken Aitken.

"Kenneth George Aitken passed away April 21, 2007 at the age of 59 in Penticton, British Columbia. He was born and grew up in Penticton, but spent most of his working years in Saskatchewan as the librarian supervisor of the Prairie History Room at the Regina Public Library. Ken was a well-known genealogist and a popular genealogy speaker and educator in western Canada and the United States. Active in genealogical organizations for many years, Ken was the charter president of the Hambrook Family History Society and served for 15 years as editor of the journal of that society. With the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society he served as a branch chairman, a director and as second vice-president of the Society. He also served briefly as the Director of Student Recruitment for Canada for the National Institute for Genealogical Studies.

He was predeceased by his mother Winifred Margaret Hambrook and father George Neil Aitken. He will be greatly missed by his loving wife Christine Mei-Chiang; his son Neil Aitken; his daughter Emele (Adam) Dykes; his grandson Thomas Dykes; and his siblings: Janet Taggart; M. Neil Aitken (Ruth); Peigi Sakota (Jay); and numerous nephews and nieces.About Ken’s Life:Ken held a BA in Linguistics, and a Master of Library Science degree from the University of British Columbia. He had also undertaken course work in local and family history with Brigham Young University and with the University of British Columbia.Ken was a member of the Genealogical Speakers Guild and the Association of Professional Genealogists. Ken had been a professional genealogist for over 25 years, a genealogy librarian for over 20 years and an adult educator for more than 40 years. He was currently focusing on genealogical education and was working on a book on evidence analysis. Active in genealogical organizations for many years Ken was charter president of the Hambrook Family History Society and served for 15 years as editor of the journal of that society. With the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society he served as a branch chairman, a director and as second vice-president of the Society.

Articles by Kenneth Aitken appeared in genealogical and family history journals and other scholarly journals in Canada, Australia, the U.S. and England.

As a lecturer, Ken spoke at conferences, seminars and workshops of the National Genealogical Society, BrighamYoung University, Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society, Saskatchewan Genealogical Society, Alberta Family Histories Society, Alberta Genealogical Society, Manitoba Genealogical Society, Ontario Genealogical Society, British Columbia Genealogical society, Kamloops Family History Society, and the Kelowna & District Genealogical Society as well as to local genealogical groups in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, British Columbia, Washington State and England.Over the past two decades he had been involved in family and local history. Ken had taught classes for libraries, community colleges, church and community groups. For many years he regularly taught local and family history classes at the Regina Public Library.A memorial service and celebration of his life will be held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2946 South Main St., Penticton, B.C., Saturday, April 28th, 2007 at 2:00 pm. "

Improve your genealogy research skills

Mary Poppins sang "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down." That's true of the task of improving your research skills. Here's how.

Archive CD Books Canada have just added to their catalogue "A Rideau Jaunt in 1872". It's timely as 2007 is the 175th anniversary of the Rideau Canal, the development that made Ottawa. The CD contains the first hand description of an adventure on a steam paddle-wheeler from Ottawa to Kingston down the Rideau Canal made in 1872. The story has never before been published, this is a reproduction of the originally handsomely hand-written document. There's a sample for download from this page.

How is this useful to improve your research skills? The author was Ottawa public servant William Mills. According to additional information on the download page, draw from other Archives CD Books Canada publications, he was born on 17 July, 1824, and first became a Civil Servant on 10th August 1858 (at the age of 34). Some Ottawa addresses where he lived were also given.

This was an opportunity to hone my research skills by finding out more about him. In genealogy research the three ways to improve are: practice, practice, practice. You make a few mistake and learn, Attaching that practice to an event can be a challenge .. fun .. snap, the jobs' a game. It can even provide material for a presentation, article -- or a blog.

How did I research William Mills? From the 1881 census, he was English-born, his wife was Mary Ann and daughter Nellie. There is a tempting IGI entry for the birth of William Peter Mills on the same exact date, 17 July, 1824, son of William Mills and Sarah , with baptism the following year in Stepney, London.

There is an Ontario registration for a death of a William Mills in Ottawa on 25 February 1895.

Checking the Ottawa Journal for the next few days reveals notices that he was long time Treasurer of the St George Society, and a Mason.

He is listed amongst burials at Beechwood cemetery, with his wife buried in 1913 in the same plot.

She is in the 1901 census living in the home of a son-in-law. The entry gives her birth date, 21 Apr 1834, and year of immigration, 1858. Note, that's the year William started working for the government.

The 1901 census also helps link her to others buried in the plot at Beechwood Cemetery which takes the family forward four generations.

A web site to be proud of

As a long-time board member of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa I've been delighted to see the Society grow over the years while continually improving. Monthly Saturday morning meetings in the auditorium of Library and Archives Canada are regularly attended by well over 100 members. There is research on home children, especially those brought to Canada by the organization founded by John T Middlemore. The quarterly chronicle, Anglo-Celtic Roots, is an award winner.

Webmaster Andy Coates has done a fine job in updating the look and content of the site in recent weeks. Admire his work and find out more about the Society at www.bifhsgo.ca

DNA or house history?

There are two meeting choices in Ottawa this Saturday morning, April 21. Both start at 9:30

BIFHSGO is holding an interest group meeting on DNA and genealogy at Library and Archives Canada. Those who have had a DNA test for genealogy, and those thinking of having one done, are welcome.

Do you know the history of your Ottawa home? The Ottawa Public Library is running a session at their Main Branch on Metcalfe Street revealing resources and information to help your search. Registration is required: 613-580-2424 x32165.

Microfilm or digital for genealogy?

Dick Eastman had a posting in his plus edition lamenting a decision to microfilm rather than digitize a dataset. It's "so 1980s" was his comment. There's still a lot of microfilm around. How 1980s is it? Here's what the Rootsweb archives mailing list search engine I've been using in recent posts has to show.

The bar graph shows percent of postings for the year that mention microfilm*, digit*, and for good measure, CD.

Microfilm* was mentioned in 1.4% of postings in 1996, peaked at over 1.5% in 1999 and has declined slowly to about 1.1%.

Digit*, including "digitized", "digital", "digitization" and other forms with this root, has doubled from 0.4% in 1996 to 0.8% in 2006.

Microfilm* is still mentioned in more postings than digit*. For a dying technology it's making a healthy contribution.

The trend that surprised me most was for CD. 1996 was an especially successful year for CD at over 2%, dropped back to just over 1.5% and spiked in 2002 at 2.2%. A more substantial decline has followed. It looks like this is a technology on the way out. DVD technology, not shown on the graph, has seen a consistent increase. It still gets only a tenth the mentions of CD.

It's evident that with microfilm, CD and other physical media we are seeing legacy technologies. Does anyone really want a microfilm or CD sitting in storage in their home of office? What they want is the data on it, and a small part of the data at that? Physical media will still have a role as robust storage, secure against damage by a major electromagnetic pulse.

Top ten genealogy words

Here it is, a definitive list of the top words used by the genealogical community, counted down from ten to one. I searched the contents of 31,127,950 messages in the Rootsweb mailing list database using their archives search engine. You may find a surprise or two.

TEN: Death
Appearing in 2,736,649 documents, death was slightly more popular than marriage, which may say more about marriage than death. Both were mentioned more than birth.

NINE: Daughter
Despite there being more women than men genealogists, males were mentioned more often than females. Daughters were mentioned more than mothers; every mother is a daughter but not every daughter a mother.

EIGHT: Genealogy
You expected Scrabble?

SEVEN: Father
That male preference again.

SIX: Date
Dates are fundamental. When did an event happened? Looking a bit deeper, here may be a good reason why May has four times more mentions than any other month. The next most frequently mentioned is June, also a woman's name. Is this where the gender balance gets restored? March – July all have significantly more mentions that the other months. December, closely followed by February, has fewest mentions.

FIVE: Son
More sons than fathers too.

FOUR: Census
The most popular documentary source. The word is found in 14% of Rootsweb mailing list messages.

THREE: Children
Where would we be without them? May they all grow up in good health ready to become happy taxpayers contributing to my pension.

TWO: Name
Genealogy is about names, dates and relationships. Finding a name is the most fundamental thing we do as genealogists. We rejoice when we identify another generation back, and fret about remembering colleague’s names.

ONE: Family
For genealogists it’s Family first. Many of us pursue our family history as a way to unite or reunite the bonds of family, or to see the ties that bind the larger family of mankind. Organizations recognize this with names like Family Tree DNA, Family Tree Maker, Your Family Tree and Familysearch.

Other words tested, in descending order of use were: History, Mother, Marriage, Search, Cemetery, Book, Research, Year, Birth, Living, Surname, Web, Index, Record, Child, Tree.

A few words were eliminated from the ranking. Stop words, like “the” and “a”, could not be searched. The most hits, over 12 million, came for the word “list”, next came “message”, both to be expected for messages posted to Rootsweb mailing lists, but not specific to genealogy.

The rise and fall of the Rootsweb mailing list

Genealogists love Rootsweb; just not quite as much as before. Using the new improved Rootsweb mailing list search capability the bar chart in red shows year by year the number of messages posted on all Rootsweb mailing lists. A steep rise to 2000 was followed by two years of slight increase. The peak in 2002 saw over 4.1 million messages posted. 2003 saw a drop which has continued as a gentle decline since.
What's happening? Is interest in genealogy declining? Is the mailing list moving out of favour as a technology as the blog and web 2.0 take over? Have all the questions been asked, with the answers available on the mailing list archive? Something else?
Other searches show technology trends. Microfiche are mentioned half as frequently in postings in 2006 as 10 years earlier.
The chart in blue, postings with DNA in the message body, shows healthy growth as interest in this area continues to develop after commercial DNA tests for genealogy started in 2000. Lest we get too excited, that's still less than 3.3% of all postings in 2006.
Another emerging word is blog. There were nearly 5000 postings with the word in 2006, up from just nine in 2001 when the word first appears with its current popular meaning.

Library Thing for genealogy

Library Thing is an online service where you can enter the books in your collection. I've never thought there was much benefit in entering recipes, CDs, books and other collections into a computer database. Library Thing and the online world have changed my ideas a bit.

I gave this system a try with my books on genealogy and related topics. The first pleasant surprise was how easy it is to enter the data. Because everything is online all you have to do is enter, say, the title and a pick-list appears for you to select the appropriate book. If it doesn't you can switch to another major database, such as a major national library catalogue, amazon.ca, amazon.com, amazon.co.uk and many others. Select the appropriate title and all the other data, author, publisher, number of pages, ISBN, and more is ingested. If available you also link an image of the cover, or you can add it.

What you get in return is the ability to see your collection in context. Apparently 106 other Library Thing users own "Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians", 44 have "Ancestral Trails: The Complete Guide to British Genealogy and Family History." "In Search of Your British & Irish Roots: A Complete Guide to Tracing Your English, Welsh, Scottish, & Irish Ancestors", by the late Angus Baxter, the first genealogy book I ever owned, is held in 38 collections.

You can also get suggestions for other books you might want based on those owned by Library Thing members who have similar holdings. The system even explains why it makes the suggestion. I was a bit disappointed that the recommendations were US-oriented, even though my collection is British and Canadian. It would be nice to have a way to indicates aspects of a topic that are not of interest.

You can enter up to 200 books for free, as many as you like for $10 (year) or $25 (life).

The image above shows my books most owned by others.

Contemplating the Future of Genealogy

Dick Eastman recently published an article "A New Computer Revolution is rising around us?"
in his newsletter. It got more attention and reaction than most things he writes. The thrust was to draw attention to the emergence of web-based applications vying to replace stand alone genealogy software.

But what about longer term trends; accelerating technological change and the pace at which knowledge continues to be generated? Is there any danger that all the genealogy possible will one day soon be done, and if so when? There's a short video, Shift Happens, I can recommend viewing when you contemplate the global trends that will play into answering these question. I stumbled upon it courtesy of Stephen's Lighthouse.

Genealogy Odds and Ends

Ancestry have now completed the transcriptions of the Scottish census from 1841 to 1901. Transcriptions for 1881 and 1901 were added on April 3.

Also new on Ancestry as of April 5, Oxford University Alumni, 1500-1886. It's based on the publications Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford, 1715-1886 and Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford, 1500-1714.

Ancestors on Board have added the third decade, 1909-1919 to their database of passenger lists from ships outbound from Britain.

There is a database of some British taken prisoner of war in 1914-1918 here. It's part of the Long, Long Trail web site on The British Army in the Great War.

The Canadian edition of "Who do you think you are?" exploring family history's of celebrities, is expected to debut on CBC on Sunday 7 October.

Military history and family history: students and immigrants

The media are providing close to saturation coverage of the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, considered by many a defining event in Canada's development as a nation. The Ottawa Citizen has been running a series on Vimy and its significance with involvement of a panel of recent immigrants, and another panel of students. A larger group of students have travelled to Vimy for the unveiling of the restored memorial, after having researched a soldier involved in the battle.

Anyone can research a soldier. I chose, almost at random except for his last name, Ernest Howe Reid. He served with the 78th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry (Manitoba Regiment), died on 9 April 1917 at the Battle of Vimy Ridge, is commemorated at the Vimy Memorial and recorded in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission web site here. Like many of his soldier compatriots he was an immigrant to Canada. His attestation paper informs he was born in County Cavan, Ireland, on 27 January 1889.

I'm not sure it has come out but Vimy shows for me the importance of immigrants to Canada. Although seemingly not a popular things to point out, checking randomly in the CEF deaths at Vimy I estimate half were immigrants, born in Britain, including Ireland. Canada is a country where immigrants play a leading role. Unlike in the US, that can be and is up to and including the highest office in the land. The present and previous Governor General demonstrate the leadership role. Vimy shows the importance for Canada's development of more ordinary, yet exceptional, immigrants

What did I find in researching Ernest Howe Reid?

On the attestation paper his wife's name was Irene, living in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. Reid enlisted on 24 April 1915 giving his occupation as railway fireman. He is found with his wife and a son, James, born February 1910, in North Battleford in the 1911 census giving his month of birth as February 1890, emigration as the same year as his wife, 1907. She was born in India in July 1892.

The best fit for him on a passenger list departing the UK is Ernest Reid, single, age 18, who sailed third class on the Lake Erie from Belfast on the 26th of September 1907, arriving in Quebec on the 6th of October. He gave his occupation as farm labourer. This is found at Ancestors on Board, a commercial database.The corresponding passenger list deposited on arrival in Quebec, found at Library and Archives Canada, indicates he is bound for North Battleford.

There is a land grant in his name for 10th section in township 47, range 16, W3 meridian.

Going to the Irish civil registration index, not online, the birth of Ernest Reid is registered in the district of Cavan in the 1st quarter of 1889.

Apparently Irene and James moved to BC shortly after the war. She remarried. The son, James Howe Reid, was a fatality during WW2. An attachment to his file on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial, here, includes a mention of his father dying at Vimy.

Create your own Google genealogy map

It's free and easy. Google has just implemented a method of placing your significant landmarks on a map, labelling them, even linking in photos and videos, and sharing them with relatives, your family history society, or the world if you wish.

You need a free Google account, then click on My Maps and start creating your personalized map. I've done one of places relevant for family history in Ottawa, including address and links to web sites. It includes archives, libraries, major cemeteries and a few other sites from Gatineau to Vernon.

John Green: whose father was he?

This month BIFHSGO has an Easter treat for you -- a day before the chocolate Easter eggs appear. Alison Hare, a previous winner of BIFHSGO's best presentation of the year award, will speak on "John Green: whose father was he?"

Alison writes about the presentation "In 1836 John Green petitioned for land in the Ottawa Valley near an unnamed son he said had come to Canada at the time of the Peter Robinson settlers. Research eventually determined that none of the Peter Robinson settlers were viable candidates. When all the possibilities have been ruled out, what is a researcher to do? This case study will reveal the surprising answer to the mystery; and demonstrate how the Genealogical Proof Standard can help solve difficult problems."

Alison is a BCG certified genealogist, a former journalist and graduate of the Carleton School of Journalism and served for five years as editor of Ottawa (OGS) Branch News. I always learn something from her presentations, even on hearing them a second time.

That's this Saturday, April 7 at 10:00 am in the auditorium at Library and Archives Canada.

Update on Welsh parish registers

Last July I posted on an agreement reached to film and digitize Welsh parish registers, long withheld from the LDS (GSU) microfilming program. An item posted on GENBBRIT-L reports on progress.

Filming started in Gwent last October and has been completed, namely: Baptisms, up to 1906; Marriages up to 1921; Burials up to 1958.

The Monmouthshire film is beginning to show in the Family History Library catalogue.

Glamorganshire filming should be finished by now but will be awaiting cataloguing in Salt Lake City

Reportedly the agreement was a contract included GSU indexing all the parish registers, and to be completed in two years. I wonder if these films will show up as projects within Family Search Indexing?

Family Search Indexing

There's been a lot of buzz about Family Search Indexing, an initiative from the LDS Church. They're looking for volunteers to extract family history information from digital images of historical documents. This will create indexes that "assist everyone in finding their ancestors." The web site boasts "in 30 minutes you can help people find their ancestors!" I thought I'd try it.

Before you can index you have to register and download the special application. It runs independent of your regular browser. Registration is online. You don't have to give personal information -- but you do have to provide an email address. When I registered it took a day for them to get back to me with the password, likely too long to be able to use one of those temporary email addresses.

The application download is 28.6MB, not something you want to try on dial-up. Installation went smoothly and, after changing the initial password, I was ready to download the first batch of images. You have a choice of projects to work on. See the list here.

First I tried a page of the 1900 US census from New York. The screen is divided into two, the original image on top, the transcription you are making below. They attempt to highlight the element you should be transcribing, and usually come close.

It's good to read the instructions first so you know what to do when anomalies arise, such as missing data or entries that don't match the default format. Failing that information is repeated for each element as you come to it in a small box to the lower right.

If you're reasonably computer literate it's reading the original document image that you'll find to be the greatest challenge. Even with a good capability to magnify it can be tough. No doubt that improves with practice, I didn't feel I'd anywhere near mastered the skill.

For the second batch I switched to transcribing Ontario death registrations and felt more comfortable as I have a better grasp on the geography. The data wasn't as compact as on the census and you got a second chance at the name as there was repetition.

It turns out the images I dealt with had already been transcribed by Ancestry, although not in as much detail. It was certainly tempting to check what I read against the Ancestry transcription. I tried it a couple of times and didn't feel I did any better a job. It's also tempting where you find something difficult to read to search for a complementary record, like a census, to resolve the problems. In most cases where I thought I found one it was hard to justify using the spelling from that other record. You might question whether that one is correct anyway.

I couldn't complete a batch transcription in 30 minutes, which seemed to be the promise. Maybe I'm slow and will get there with practice. You can always work for 30 minutes, save the result and come back later to continue the task.

At the end of the batch the program allows you to run through and review elements it finds unusual. I had quite a few in each batch, some for missing elements, some for names that were non-English. Apparently the same batch is served to two different people, then a third looks at items where those two differ.

Given that the data I was indexing was already on Ancestry, for which I have a subscription, I found my motivation flagging a bit. You can go in and see a list of the items you've completed but it would be nice to receive some additional feedback. Part of the problem was that there were no records on offer that I had a personal motivation to index. Presumably that will change as the project gets up to full steam.

My recommendation? Why not give it a try. We all benefit when more data becomes available. Even if it's already indexed the competition helps keep the commercial guys honest.

Famous Relatives?

April Fools Day seems like an appropriate occasion to post this item. What do Oliver Wendell Holmes, T.S. Eliot, Louisa May Alcott, Butch Cassidy, E.E. Cummings, Jane Austin, Henry David Thoreau, John Milton, Spencer Tracy, Jimmy Hoffa and William Lamb have in common?

If you believe the genealogy behind the beta "Find Famous Relatives" tool in Ancestry's One World Tree they all have a documented common ancestor with my late sister-in-law. They vary from 5th cousin, several time removed in the case of Milton and Cassidy, to 9th cousin.

Given that the connection is made based on family trees submitted by patrons I'm not putting much stock in the information. It does attract family interest, but it may not pay to look too closely. There are people holding high elected public office in this world I would rather not be related to, April Fools Day or any other day.