Beginning March 2nd, 2020 the Mailing Lists functionality on RootsWeb will be discontinued. Users will no longer be able to send outgoing emails or accept incoming emails. Additionally, administration tools will no longer be available to list administrators and mailing lists will be put into an archival state.
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Kathleen (knacuna(a)comcast.net) was kind enough to send
the link to the following Arizona Dept. of Health
Services site for searching scanned images of birth
certificates which were issued at least 75 years ago
and death certificates which were issued at least 50
years ago:
http://genealogy.az.gov/
This site allows you to search by the individual's
name, as well as the names of their father or other.
Searches can be narrowed by date ranges and Arizona
counties if known.
__________________________________
Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click.
http://farechase.yahoo.com
The West Virginia Vital Research Records Project has
started placing scanned images of original birth,
death, and marriage records and certificates for
selected
counties and dates on-line at the following site:
http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/
Also note the option to search additional West
Virginia records in the lower left corner of this same
site.
__________________________________
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
http://mail.yahoo.com
============================================
FAST FACT: FREE CHARTS AND FORMS
============================================
You can download free charts and forms to help
organize and record
your family history at:
http://www.ancestry.com/save/charts/ancchart.htm
(Requires free Adobe
Acrobat Reader)
Charts include:
--- ANCESTRAL CHART
Allows you to record the ancestors from whom you
directly descend.
--- CENSUS EXTRACTION
Allows you to record census information. Forms are
available from
1790 to 1920.
--- CORRESPONDENCE RECORD
Helps you keep track of those with whom you have
corresponded.
--- FAMILY GROUP SHEET
Enables you to compile complete, correct and connect
families.
--- RESEARCH CALENDAR
Gives an account of every record source you have
searched.
--- RESEARCH EXTRACT
Summarizes information that may be time-consuming or
difficult to re-
read quickly.
--- SOURCE SUMMARY
Provides quick reference to information and sources
you have found
for a particular family.
__________________________________
Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click.
http://farechase.yahoo.com
History of the world. This is a huge, fascinating
website with worldwide
histories and time lines.
http://www.historyworld.net/default.asp
__________________________________
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
http://mail.yahoo.com
===================================================================
FAMILY HISTORY COMPASS
"A TALE OF TWO CATS," by Juliana Smith
=====================================================================
It all started very innocently. I was off to return a
library book to our
local library. At the counter there was a gentleman
with a box. Inside
the box were two cats (yes, in the library)--a mother
and one kitten. The
mother was very thin, and it was apparent that she was
still nursing. She
had been giving all she had to that kitten, who in
contrast seemed quite
robust.
Those of you who have read my columns for sometime
know that I have a
soft spot for animals. We have two dogs and two cats,
three of which were
rescued from either shelters or the street.
While it was easy to fall in love with these two as of
yet unnamed cats,
I know I can't take in any more animals. So how could
I help these
lovable creatures? The gentleman told me and the
librarians at the desk
that he couldn't take them himself because he didn't
have his own place.
Nor did he have a car to take them to a shelter. I
have a van! That was
it! I suggested that I could take them to a local
humane society, and
then continued to discuss various options with the
librarians. Shortly
after that, I turned around and the gentleman was
gone, leaving me with
the box of cats. Uh-oh.
Well, I ended up taking them to the humane society,
but they couldn't
take them. The lady said they were completely filled
up and had no cages
to spare. Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh!
We're still contemplating what to do with our new
friends, but I was able
to provide them with a temporary shelter in my garage,
some food and
fresh water, and for mom, a wipe down with some
"flea-killing wipes." In
return, they have given me some ideas for this
article.
SHOULD I BRING THEM IN?
While it is oh so tempting to take in these sweet
babies, I first need to
think about the consequences. There will be
compatibility issues, and
health issues that are critical to think about.
Bringing in strays could
expose my family and my pets to disease and parasites.
Before any thought
of bringing a new pet indoors, I need to consider it
carefully and
research any potential problems.
We might be equally tempted to bring in "branches"
from other peoples
family trees into our own family history files,
particularly those that
extend further back than our own or include famous
historical figures.
However, incorporating other people's data without
weighing the
consequences also bears risk to our own carefully
documented work. Every
twig on that tree should be examined and verified, and
potential problems
worked out before hitting that merge button. Once it's
in there, if you
discover it's not correct, it's going to be much
harder to get it out.
Bad information circulation has long been a problem
for family
historians, with erroneous data from publications
being picked up and
shared. These days we have to be extra careful though.
Information
circulates so quickly on the Internet, that within
days of a posting, it
can be picked up by surname lists, message boards, or
any number of other
ways, and reposted several times without verification.
You may see the
same fact, listed ten times on different websites, but
that doesn't make
it correct. Take the time to consult original records
and analyze the
conclusions that others have made. Their standards may
not be as high as
yours are.
THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY
As I tried to figure out what to do, I immediately
turned to the
Internet. It struck me how it has become such a
natural research tool. I
searched for shelters in the area that would take the
cats. I searched
for information about taking care of strays and on
taking care of small
kittens.
As genealogists, I think we're ahead of the curve in
this mode of
research. We spend a lot of time researching on the
Internet, but are we
getting all we can? Do we only look for records
online, or do we look for
information on records that aren't online, and
research ways we can
obtain them for our ancestors? Are we searching for
names, dates and
places, but overlooking the historical contextual
materials that are
available at the click of the mouse. As an example, a
search for the
terms "Chicago" and "1850s" turned up several
historical references:
VirtualItalia.comhttp://www.virtualitalia.com/ch/chicago_italians1.shtml
A three-part article on Italians who settled in
Chicago.
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago
A brief history of the city with links to related
topics. Search this
tool for other cities and you'll find similar entries.
Illinois During the Civil War: Settlement and
Immigration
http://dig.lib.niu.edu/civilwar/settlement.html
The Industrial Revolution: A Biography of America
Chicago and the Railroad
http://www.learner.org/biographyofamerica/prog07/transcript/page04.html
These are just a small sampling from the first two
pages of results. Try
this search using a time and place where your
ancestors lived and see
what you can find.
ESTIMATING THE KITTEN'S AGE
The cat seems to be around four or five weeks old. How
did I come to that
estimation? I looked at her size and compared her to
other kitten photos
I found online, and in addition, the kitten is still
nursing. The
websites I browsed for information on kittens told me
that at around
three to five weeks, the mother begins to wean the
kitten. This is just
an estimate, and since the mother obviously hadn't had
much food lately,
she may have continued to nurse the kitten for a
longer period.
We often have to estimate the dates of our ancestors.
We may estimate a
mother's date of birth using the birth date of a
child. Or we may use
events other than birth that we have dates for to
approximate the date of
birth for an individual. Several years ago, Pat
Hatcher wrote two
articles on this topic in the "Ancestry Daily News."
For more on this
subject, see the online versions at:
Dates: When You Don't Have a Record, Part 1
http://www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=A231401
Part 2
http://www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=A235901
NETWORKING AND GETTING THE WORD OUT
Since I can't keep the cats, I spent some time making
some phone calls
and getting the word out that I had them. I asked
friends to check around
and see if anyone knew anyone that might want to take
the cats. I also
asked for advice. I'm not in a position to spend a lot
of money on these
cats, but I do want to get them their shots. A call to
the Humane Society
that I had visited previously in the day alerted me to
a mobile service
that schedules visits to clinics in Indiana and will
neuter or spay
animals and give them vaccinations for a very
reasonable fee. My daughter
and I will be having a small garage sale fundraiser to
raise the funds to
have the cats taken care of and hopefully that will
increase our chances
of finding them a good home.
As genealogists, we have tools like message boards and
mailing lists
where we can network, ask for advice and seek out
others with similar
research interests. Take a look at some of your brick
walls, and why not
try a few posts to see if there's someone out there
with information that
can help.
For helpful tips on posting an effective query on a
message board or
mailing list, see Michael John Neill's article,
"Before You Post" at:
http://www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=A517801
I WAS JUST RETURNING A BOOK. . .
The real lesson is that you never know what you'll
find at your local
library. While most of us aren't in the market for a
stray cat (a stray
ancestor perhaps. . .), there are always surprises
within your local
library's shelves and resources. Hmm, and going back
to networking . . .
if there's anyone out there in northwest Indiana who
is looking for a
couple nice cats, send me an email.
____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
http://mail.yahoo.com
KEEP BACKUPS
My laptop computer was recently stolen. The good news
is that I back up my data every time I input family
information. The bad news is that I threw the most
recent back-up into the carrying case which was also
stolen). Luckily, I only lost one day's input. Tip to
myself: If I don't take the back up offsite (which I
will now do religiously), at least separate it from my
computer.
Jack Mahan
__________________________________
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
http://mail.yahoo.com
KEEP YOUR BACK-UP MEDIA CURRENT
Three years ago I did a series of interviews with an
elderly aunt and got some wonderful stories about her
family and particularly her sister--my grandmother. I
dutifully transcribed the interview tapes on the
computer and saved a back-up copy on a floppy disk. We
have since updated our computer from Mac to PC and of
course there is no floppy drive. I took the disk to
work where there are still some Mac hold-outs,
inserted the disk and got the "format" message. Over
the course of three years, the disk had deteriorated
and is unreadable. Even our in-house computer guru
could not extract the information. Fortunately, I
still have the cassette tapes of the interviews, but
the lesson is: don't assume that those old back-up
disks will last forever. This one was not exposed to
light, dust, etc. and still the information was lost!
Lenore Sroka
__________________________________
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THE INSIDER:
"TEN FREE THINGS TO DO ON ANCESTRY.COM,"
by Anastasia Sutherland Tyler
=====================================================================
Just about everyone loves free things, be it free
food, free concert
tickets, or free samples. So, without further ado,
here are ten things
you can do for free on Ancestry.com.
1. SEARCH TWO CENSUS INDEXES
Ancestry.com offers two census indexes for free
searching: the 1880 U.S.
Federal Census and the 1881 England, Wales, Isle of
Man, and Channel
Islands Census. The 1880 U.S. Federal Census
(http://www.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?sourceid=831&dbid=6742)
is an
every-name index and the last census available census
for the 1800s.
The 1881 census every-name index includes enumerations
for
(http://www.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?sourceid=831&dbid=7572)
England,
(http://www.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?sourceid=831&dbid=8059)
Wales,
(http://www.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?sourceid=831&dbid=8061)
the Isle
of Man, and
(http://www.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?sourceid=831&dbid=8063)
the
Channel Islands.
2. GET SEARCH TIPS FOR SPECIFIC STATES
You can easily find out what's available on
Ancestry.com for each U.S.
state by going to "Search Records" tab
(http://www.ancestry.com/search/),
scrolling down to the U.S. map, and clicking on a
specific state. You'll
be given a list of what you can find on Ancestry.com
for that state, plus
tips for searching for other records in that state.
(Note that accessing
articles for the online versions of "The Source" and
"Red Book" requires
a U.S. Records collection subscription.) For more
information, see my
article "Searching by Location, Location, Location"
(http://www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=A1001901).
3. DOWNLOAD THE FTM TRIAL VERSION
You can download and install Family Tree Maker 2005
Starter Edition, a
basic form of the most popular family tree program on
the market
(http://www.familytreemaker.com/download/starter.aspx).
This starter
version gives you full functionality to the program
for fourteen days.
After that you can buy a key code that keeps the full
functionality
unlocked, or, if you don't buy the key code, you can
continue to use the
basic tree editing. You can update to the full feature
set at any time.
Use this starter edition to see if moving to Family
Tree Maker is right
for you, or to begin building your family tree if
you're new to family
history.
4. DOWNLOAD FAMILY HISTORY FORMS AND LOGS
Ancestry.com provides many commonly used family
history charts to help
you extend your family tree. The downloadable charts
are:
Ancestral Chart
http://www.ancestry.com/trees/charts/ancchart.aspx
Family Group Sheet
http://www.ancestry.com/charts/familysheet.aspx
Research Calendar
http://www.ancestry.com/charts/researchcal.aspx
Correspondence Record
http://www.ancestry.com/charts/correcord.aspx
Source Summary
http://www.ancestry.com/charts/sourcesum.aspx
Research Extract
http://www.ancestry.com/charts/researchext.aspx
U.S. Census Forms, 1790-1930
(Plus 1890 veterans schedule and 1850 and 1860 slave
schedule)
http://www.ancestry.com/charts/census.aspx
U.K. Census Forms, 1841-1901
http://www.ancestry.com/charts/ukcensus.aspx
5. ADD MESSAGES TO MESSAGE BOARDS
Message boards are an easy way to connect with
researchers around the
world. Ancestry.com houses message boards that focus
on surnames,
locations, and other topics of interest, such as
adoption and cemeteries.
To access the message boards, click on the "Message
Boards" tab
(http://www.ancestry.com/share/) from the Ancestry.com
home page. Here
you can search the message boards for specific content
or browse the
message board topics. And check out George Morgan's
"Message Board
Postings That Never Get Answered"
(http://www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=A974206)
and
learn how to write effective posts on message boards.
6. REGISTER IN THE RESEARCH REGISTRY
The Research Registry is a way for you to connect with
people working on
the same surnames or families as you. Access the
Research Registry
through the Message Boards tab on Ancestry.com
(http://www.ancestry.com/share/). On the right side of
the page you'll
see a box titled Research Registry. From here you can
search for others
working on specific surnames or add your own research
profiles so that
others can find you. Note that if you are not an
Ancestry.com subscriber
or registered site user, you will probably have to
register your name and
e-mail address in to access the Research Registry.
This registration is
free.
7. FIND FACTS ABOUT SURNAMES
Knowing some basic facts about the surnames you are
researching can help
you know when and where to search for ancestors. Enter
Family
Facts--information about surname distribution across
the United States in
the 1840, 1880, and 1920 federal censuses, Civil War
service by surname,
occupations by surname, surname's place of origin,
ports of departure by
surname, and name origins (for both given names and
surnames).
Accompanied these facts are fields of text titled "How
is this helpful?"
and "What do I do next?" that may help you find new
research paths.
Access Family Facts by clicking on the Learning Center
tab, and then
clicking on the link under the "Family Facts" heading,
or by going to:
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx
8. FIND ANSWERS IN THE KNOWLEDGE BASE
The knowledge base is a little-known treasure trove of
information about
Ancestry.com. In it you can search though answers to
many questions asked
by our members or e-mail your question to Ancestry.com
support. Access
the knowledge base by clicking on the "Help"
(http://ancestry.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ancestry.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.ph
p)
link in the upper right corner of most pages on
Ancestry.com.
9. FIND ARTICLES IN THE LIBRARY
You read the "Ancestry Daily News" every day. You
might even print it out
and save it in your reference binder. But did you know
that each
"Ancestry Daily News," each featured article, and each
quick tip is
archived in the Library on Ancestry.com? Did you also
know that articles
(minus graphics) from past issues of "Ancestry"
Magazine and
"Genealogical Computing" are posted in the Library as
well?
To access these articles, click on the Learning Center
tab
(http://www.ancestry.com/learn/). Use the "Search the
Library" box to
find articles on a specific subject or by your
favorite author (my name
is spelled A-n-a-s-t. . .--just kidding!).
10. LEARN MORE IN THE LEARNING CENTERS
Ancestry.com houses ten Learning Centers--areas on the
website where you
can learn about various family history topics. Each
learning center
focuses on a family history concept or an Ancestry.com
record collection,
including census, vital, immigration, and military
records. These
topic-focused areas allow you to easily basic
information on each topic,
search tips both on and offline, success stories from
other researchers,
and much more.
Access Learning Centers by clicking the "Learning
Center" tab
(http://www.ancestry.com/learn/) from the Ancestry.com
home page. Then
click on one of the titles listed under "Learn More
About" on the right
side of the page. To learn more about these Learning
Centers, read "Viva
Learning Centers."
(http://www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=A1021601)
__________________________________
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