James Tanner's Blog – October 2009 Archive (29)

In teaching classes on family history research, I often find that the students lack even a basic knowledge of the online terminology. There seems to be a lack of understanding about even the most rudimentary computer terms. I found this interesting short video from Google that explains the concept of a "browser."
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Family Tree Magazine has opened the online voting for the top forty genealogy blogs. You can get more information about the categories and the voting from the following:

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For the past 34 years, every time I walk into a trial or an evidentiary hearing, I am aware of the burden of proof. Whether the case is tried to a judge or to a jury, it makes no difference. If I want to win my case, I have to prove it to the satisfaction of the trier of fact, judge or jury. At the same time I am always acutely aware that the opposing counsel will be working just a hard to prove his case and to persuade the judge or jury that his or her side is correct. Our legal system,… Continue

I had very little contact with Wisconsin until two of my children moved there for school. As I found out, Wisconsin is in the forefront of almost everything academic and its genealogical resources are no exception. Wisconsin has one of the most extensive collections of online materials of any state.
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In past posts, I have been discussing some of my impressions of the New FamilySearch program. Admittedly, New FamilySearch has a limited number of users, only those members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) that have registered and can register. At the present time, the last few English speaking Temple Districts are being scheduled for access.

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Through the efforts of FamilySearch and Brigham Young University, both the Family History Archives and Record Search continue to increase their collections and online holdings at a steady pace. These records, which can be viewed for free online, include many items not available anywhere else except the participating libraries. Record Search continues to make available records from around the world that have been entirely unavailable previously without ordering the microfilms from the Salt Lake… Continue

In the last posts, I began a discussion of some of the issues associated with the introduction of New FamilySearch. The interface for the program is deceptively simple. It is only through clicking on links at the bottom of the screens to show combined individuals, that you can begin to appreciate the complexity of the data being represented. For each name shown on the screen at any given time, there may be many hundreds of combined files of the same individual lurking beneath the simple looking… Continue

A new version of the Google Toolbar makes advanced in-page translation available at the click of a mouse. To quote Google, "The Translate feature automatically detects if the language of a webpage you're on is different from your default language setting
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When and attorney is getting ready to go to trial, one of the many things that has to be explained to a client is the standard or level of proof necessary to prove the case. In the U.S. there are basically three levels; a preponderance of the evidence, clear and convincing and beyond a reasonable doubt. For a simplified discussion see Burden of proof in Wikipedia. If a legal case is tried to a jury, the jury is specifically instructed by the Judge as to the standard of proof through written… Continue