There seems to be no end to the Websites claiming to have millions, if not billions of records online. In case you were wondering, here is another site with a huge collection of online records. The site is called Genealogyarchives.com . It is a company whose only location is shown in Nebraska. They have a newer Website with a significant number of records, as of 18 November 2009, they claim 1,035,043,627 records with the number changing as you watch. At the time of this writing they have 75… Continue
Added by James Tanner on December 18, 2009 at 12:16pm —
No Comments
The starting point for the use of place names in a family history or genealogical context is the rule that the place is the location at the time the event happened, especially if the place name was different at the time of the event. If there is a need for further explanation, the modern or current place name should be in a note. The reason for this rule is simple, any other notation obscures the historical reality and makes further investigation more difficult.
FamilySearch's Record Search has added another round of new records. December 14, 2009 shows records from Argentina, Guatemala, Georgia (USA) and Germany. Here are brief descriptions of the new records: Read more...
Added by James Tanner on December 15, 2009 at 10:16pm —
No Comments
The latest revisions to New FamilySearch contain some disturbing developments. In the release notes for the New FamilySearch Web Site of December 2009, it states: "In addition to the other information that is required for temple ordinances to be performed, an individual’s record must now have at least the country for birth, christening, marriage, death, or burial. The place-name must be standardized." There are actually two problems with this requirement; first, place names change over time and… Continue
January 22nd and 23rd will find me at the Family History Expo at the Mesa Convention Center. I mentioned previously that I have been asked to attend as a Blogger of Honor. I don't mind giving free publicity to the Family History Expo because I thought the one last year was very well done. I put the Blogger of Honor button and the Family History Expo button on my site and you can find them off to the right. Feel free to copy the Family History… Continue
Added by James Tanner on December 14, 2009 at 10:04pm —
No Comments
It is commonly reported that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has more than 3,500 Family History Centers around the world. What does this actually mean to those interested in genealogical research? First of all, the main repository for genealogical information collected by the Church is located at the Family History Library and other storage facilities in and around Salt Lake City, Utah. The local Family History Centers are branch facilities of the Family History Library.… Continue
Added by James Tanner on December 14, 2009 at 7:54am —
No Comments
After two consecutive Beta test runs, FamilySearch has introduced some more major changes to the New FamilySearch program. Anyone, even if you cannot register yet for New FamilySearch, can see the changes. Just click on the News and Updates link from the home screen.
Chief among the many changes is the introduction of the Family Tree interface, long available on the Labs.FamilySearch.org Website. By clicking a Change View button from the familiar Family Pedigree (3 generation) view… Continue
Added by James Tanner on December 13, 2009 at 4:45pm —
No Comments
I have a continuing interest in Australian genealogy records, although I admit I haven't done as much as needs to be done, because part of my family immigrated from England to Australia and then a smaller part came to the U.S. The National Archives of Australia has a very impressive Website with tens of thousands of digitized records, the Mapping our Anzacs Website. The scanned image above comes from an online collection of hundreds of thousands of military records maintained by the National… Continue
Added by James Tanner on December 11, 2009 at 8:26am —
No Comments
December 8, 2009 brings significant additions to FamilySearch's Record Search collection of world wide genealogy source material. In addition to Australian, Mexican and Argentine records, there were additions to the U.S. States of Arkansas and Indiana. The references here to the "Wiki" are to the Family Search Research Wiki reference for that collection. The following collections were added: Read more...
Added by James Tanner on December 10, 2009 at 9:06am —
No Comments
There is no doubt that using a digital camera is a boon to all researchers and particularly to those doing genealogical research. A survey in 2006 of professional photographers showed that over 80 percent were using digital cameras as opposed to film. That trend has undoubtedly continued. Genealogists benefit from this transition to digital cameras because you can use your camera to record information directly from books, microfilm and onsite visits, such as those to cemeteries. In years past,… Continue
The term professional commonly means being paid or compensated for work rather than doing work for free. But, the word also implies excellence in the various skills employed by an individual in comparison to others less skilled. Historically, professionals sought prestige and mutual support from guilds. The guild system dates back into antiquity, pre-dating the Roman Empire in China and Egypt. Guilds, somewhat like modern labor unions, set professional standards and acted to protect the… Continue
Added by James Tanner on December 6, 2009 at 5:33pm —
No Comments
January 22nd and 23rd will find me at the Mesa, Arizona Family History Expo where I have been asked to serve as a Blogger of Honor. To quote the Website:
We have invited some very special 'Bloggers of Honor' to provide you with information on their blogs and via Twitter throughout the two-day Expo. Other attendees will be using Twitter to communicate highlights of the activities, share photos, and link to blog posts, while also providing additional related information.
Everyone… Continue
Added by James Tanner on December 5, 2009 at 2:15pm —
No Comments
Technically, New FamilySearch is still in the Beta Test stage of its development, even though the program has been available to a limited number of users for over two years. In a Help Center release of December 4, 2009, the latest Beta Test version is designated the "new FamilySearch .99 beta." I would guess from this designation that a "final" release version is imminent, but given the long introduction time of the program, imminent may mean some considerable time yet. Recently, there has been… Continue
Added by James Tanner on December 4, 2009 at 9:04am —
No Comments
Where do you go to get started in genealogy? Even if you have been involved in genealogy for years, where do you go to be reminded of how to research effectively? What if you are asked about how to get started? What do you say? There are quite a few how-to books but they are generally more than a few pages long and don't lend themselves to answering immediate questions. OK, if I asked the question, it must have an opinion about the answer. The answer is, you may wish to consider using the… Continue
Added by James Tanner on December 1, 2009 at 5:59pm —
No Comments
The best thing I can say about Windows 7 after a few weeks of working with the program is that it is rather ordinary. There are no outstanding issues. There are no glitches or bugs. It just does the job an operating system is supposed to do. Now, as a genealogist, I have some other questions to ask.
What about the price? It is rather expensive, the prices at the larger retailers runs close to $300 with a few prices below that. The one big drawback is the upgrade from Windows XP is… Continue
Added by James Tanner on November 30, 2009 at 10:41pm —
No Comments
What is the best strategy for searching online for your ancestors? Surprisingly, there are few simple rules that will lead to a dramatic increase in the reliability of the returns from a search with any search engine, be it Google, Yahoo, Ask, Alta Vista, Bing or whichever. These rules also work with nearly all of the online databases, including Ancestry.com, WorldVitalRecords and many others.
Before getting into the search rules, you must first understand tiny bit about a very… Continue
Added by James Tanner on November 28, 2009 at 5:09pm —
No Comments
Many of the newer versions of genealogical database programs now contain some form of a mapping program. But the world of maps has changed and unless you have investigated the possibilities lately, you cannot imagine how interesting and dramatic the mapping world has become and you have missed the boat unless you know about 360 degree spherical views of places around the world.
How would you like to have this picture (and millions of others)?…
If a witness were testifying in court and began to relate a conversation they had outside of the court, the attorney for the opposing party would immediately object to the testimony on the basis of the hearsay rule of evidence. Almost uniformly in the U.S. court system testimony about what someone said, with a few specific exceptions, if inadmissible and objectionable. If the witness manages to say something about their conversation before the attorney can object, the Judge can order the… Continue
Added by James Tanner on November 26, 2009 at 8:22am —
No Comments
Although Switzerland is one of the smaller countries in Europe, many people in the U.S. can trace their ancestry to Swiss immigrants. Except for collections of individual Swiss family files, there have been very few actual Swiss source documents online and especially those with free access. Now in its worldwide reach, FamilySearch's Record Search announces the first online Swiss records. In an announcement dated November 24, 2009 Record Search added Switzerland, Schaffhausen Church Records… Continue
Added by James Tanner on November 25, 2009 at 7:51am —
No Comments
With the winding down of the introduction of New FamilySearch to U.S. Temple Districts, FamilySearch has apparently turned some of its resources towards increasing the number of records available on Record Search. An announcement on November 23, 2009 indicates that Record Search has just added over 250,000 images to the Brazil Catholic Church Records collection. Here is a description of the records from the FamilySearch Wiki:… Continue
Added by James Tanner on November 24, 2009 at 8:27am —
No Comments
