Hi All!
This is the news story concerning formation of a new internet
genealogical socierty for the purpose of making thousands of .raw data
and record available, FREE, on the internet.
Thank you
By JOAN ROSE
Public Information Officer
By JOAN ROSE
Public Information Officer
As one-stop shopping at the Mall has simplified buying habits, founders
of a new national genealogical organization are hoping to do likewise
with integrated research sites on the internet for American root
tracers.
Traditionally, American genealogists have had to rely on a paper trail
in
often distant libraries, musty courthouse basements and weed grown
cemeteries to lead to their elusive ancestors. Only recently, in the
last
five years, have they turned to the Internet to find information that
others have written into cyberspace for them. Internet resources have
been multiplying rapidly in the past two years, but available
information
is often sketchy, always scattered and frequently without the
documentation so dear to the earnest researchers heart.
The United States Internet Genealogical Society in May was incorporated
as a non-profit corporation under the laws of California with four major
goals and lots of little ones. USIGS, as it will be known on the Net,
not only will seek out, index and point to all kinds of research data
for
free public access online, but it will seek out funding grants and
contributions to help defray the costs of puting it there.
"The Internet will be the Genealogical Research Library of the 21st
Century," believes James Streeter, USIGS president and a descendant of
the Mayflower, who has been working on his family history for 35 years
to
include 6500 individuals in 50 generations.
"USIGS brings a new concept to the genealogy community," he explained,
inasmuch as "it is dedicated to provide FREE online access to records of
interest to the entire genealogy community."
To this end, USIGS will encourage volunteers, both individuals and
groups, to transcribe their records to websites, it will correlate all
such information now online and that which is to come, and it will raise
funds to pay for costs incurred in such mammoth projects as eventually
putting online U.S. Census records, a long-time dream of many
internetters.
USIGS is not unlike an international organization, IIGS, which came into
being at the same time about two months ago, and with some overlapping
founders. The two will not compete, but will complement each other and
work together in some fields for the benefit of genealogists. USIGS,
however, will concern itself with American records, primarily of the
United States, while IIGS will be open for world-wide research.
Unlike IIGS, USIGS has a tightly structured executive branch, including
a
12-member board of directors, a staff of officers who will oversee all
projects and fund-raising activities and appointed committees with
definitely-delineated duties and missions.
Besides Streeter, of Buena Park, Calif., newly-elected officers include:
Tom Ward of Columbus, Kans., vice president; Linda Lewis of Rancho
Cucamonga, Calif., secretary; and Jerry E. Dill of Emmett, Idaho,
treasurer.
Board members are Don E. Dale of Kansas, David M. Leininger of
Mahomet,Ill., and Billie McNamara of Knoxville, Tenn. , who are now
holding one yearterms; Donald L. Spidell of Safford, Ariz., Ken
Hollingsworth of Redlands, Calif., John Rigdon of South Carolina, and
Larry V. Stephens of Bloomington, Ind. ,now holding two year terms; and
Nancy Trice of Hopkins County, KY, Pat Smith of Prince of Wales Island,
Alaska, and John G. West of Evansville, Ind., who are now holding three
year terms.
Vacancies are now being filled by appointment as worthy Web Genealogists
volunteer for membership.
USIGS has set up a web site at:
http://www.dsenter.com/usigs/
and is providing ongoing membership information to those who subscribe
to its members list. Committees already formed and chairmen are listed.
?volunteers are needed to assist in all of them and in the various
projects that are in process of getting started.
At this time membership is free, and all interested are encouraged to
sign on at the USIGS home page. Members will be asked to volunteer time,
talents, expertise and ideas as needed and to spread the word to their
local organizations and other online sites to assist USIGS in getting up
and running.
One of its main functions is to solicit grants from corporate
sponsorship and other sources and through tax-deductible contributions.
Streeter has indicated that "announcement of a major source of funding
may be expected soon." Any funds received will be distributed to
individuals or organizations for specific projects.
No priority list has been set up to receive first funds available, but
one major project identified by organizers has been the Census Project,
beginning perhaps with that of 1850, to put the entire census data,
state by state and county by county, on line.
Streeter emphasized that all records funded by USIGS will be available
on line free to anyone with internet access. USIGS was not set up to
make money, he stressed, but to find money to further transcription and
preservation of genealogical data at internet sites.
USIGS does not plan to duplicate work already in progress by other
online groups, such as the USGenWeb project, he noted, but to coordinate
that work to make such data readily accessible. Streeter and other
officers and directors are associated with one or more of these other
organizations in top management and/or working positions.
Work will depend largely on local volunteers who will be able to access
various physical locations, transcribe or scan records and create a site
online to store and maintain it.
As envisioned, this is a program that will take many years to bring to
fruition, and probably never will be completed. But as more and more
research sources are transferred to the internet, more and more family
tree tracers will be able to pursue their hobby at home.
Take care,
Yvonne, Listowner
USIGS, Publicity Committee
******
Yvonne James-Henderson, Burke, VA
My Home page: Daisy's Roots:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~daisy/1daisy.htm
alternate addresses: daisy(a)usroots.com or hen1(a)idt.net
Listowner for these Family Discussion Lists: BALLEAU BRISBIN COOKSEY
HITT HORN KENTON LAWSON LUCKY MORROW SWEET ZIMMERMAN
Listowner for: The PRINCE WILLIAM, OLD FREDERICK and ROCKBRIDGE
County,VA Discussion Lists