20 April 2010

New Video Feature — American Genealogy: Home Study Course

The NGS Online Video Series is now showing a new feature from our award-winning filmmakers, Kate Geis and Allen Moore. Now on the NGS website: www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/publications/videos/interviews/about_the_ngs_home_study_course.

Elizabeth Shown Mills and others talk about our widely appreciated Home Study Course. The experts agree the Home Study Course prepares a solid foundation for all researchers.

The graduates tell us they love it because they are learning while doing their own research – a unique feature of this program. And they love it because in the graded option they get personal feedback from experts. One graduate recently called the Home Study Course “number one” in the “grand slam of genealogy.” Now that’s a compliment!

Have a look at the video for an insight into the value the Home Study Course can have for you. For details on getting started with the course, visit http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/homestudy_course_cd.

11 April 2010

Digital Archive Provides Access to Historic Atlanta Newspapers







A new digital database providing online access to 14 newspaper titles published in Atlanta from 1847 to 1922 is now available through the Digital Library of Georgia, housed at The University of Georgia Libraries.

The Atlanta Historic Newspapers Archive (http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/atlnewspapers) consists of more than 67,000 newspaper pages and provides historical images. In addition to searching the full text, you can also browse by date and title.

“This site will provide users with a record of Atlanta's history from its origins as a railroad terminus, through the devastation of the Civil War, to its eventual growth into one of the nation's largest cities,” said Toby Graham, director of the Digital Library of Georgia and deputy university librarian. “Of great interest to anyone curious about Atlanta history, it promises to be invaluable to researchers on any number of topics.”

The archive includes the following Atlanta newspaper titles:
Atlanta Daily Examiner, 1857
Atlanta Daily Herald, 1873-1876
Atlanta Georgian, 1906-1911
Atlanta Intelligencer, 1851, 1854-1871
Atlantian, 1911-1922
Daily/Georgia Weekly Opinion, 1867-1868
Gate-City Guardian, 1861
Georgia Literary and Temperance Crusader, 1860-1861
New Era, 1869-1872
Southern Confederacy, 1861-1864
Southern Miscellany, and Upper Georgia Whig, 1847
Southern World, 1882-1885
Sunny South, 1875-1907
Weekly Constitution, 1869-1882

The Atlanta Historic Newspapers Archive is a project of the Digital Library of Georgia as part of the Georgia HomePLACE initiative. The project is supported with federal LSTA funds administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.

Other newspaper archives available through the Digital Library of Georgia include the Macon Telegraph Archive (1826-1908), the Columbus Enquirer Archive (1828-1890), the Milledgeville Historic Newspaper Archive (1808-1920), the Southern Israelite Archive (1929-1958, 1984-1986), and the University of Georgia's student newspaper, The Red and Black Archive (1893-2006).

Where needed for viewing the images, each section includes links to download the appropriate DjVu browser plug-ins for Windows, Mac, and Linux/UNIX users.

These archives can be accessed at: http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/MediaTypes/Newspapers.html

Patricia Law Hatcher Elected Fellow of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania

Editor's Note: The following release is from the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania.

At the Annual Meeting of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, held on 26th March 2010, Patricia Law Hatcher, FASG, was honored as a Fellow of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania (FGSP). For her exemplary service to GSP and scholarly achievement as editor of Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine, she was unanimously elected by the Board of Directors of the Society at its meeting on 22nd January 2010.

Patricia Law Hatcher, FASG, FGSP, has been editor of the Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine since 2001 and editor of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record since 2006. She is the author of Researching Your Colonial New England Ancestors, Locating Your Roots—Discover Your Ancestors Using Land Records, Producing a Quality Family History, and other books. She has written over three hundred articles, which have appeared in over a dozen publications, many of which have been on Pennsylvania topics. She is a former trustee of the Association of Professional Genealogists and in 2000 was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists. A popular lecturer and instructor, she has spoken at many national conferences and institutes.

Notable of the numerous articles she has authored are three published in Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine: “Finding George Lorah: An Exercise in Genealogy,” (Spring/Summer 2000); “Untangling the 15 Henry Hoffs of York County,”(Fall/Winter 2001); and “Land Record Magic, Scotch-Irish to German: The Wiley/Wahle Family of York and Cumberland Counties,” (Fall/Winter 2005).

For more information about the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, visit http://www.genpa.org

Invitation to Participate in Focus Groups or Interviews

Dear Genealogist,

A research project at the University of Maryland aims to learn more about how historians and genealogists deal with copyright issues when using online archival sources. In particular, we are looking for genealogists who have used the online holdings of American archival institutions in their research, and who are willing to participate in a focus group or telephone interview to discuss how you deal with copyright issues that arise in your uses of online archival material.

Focus Groups:
  • will be held on a weekday in the Washington, D.C., area
  • will last for approximately 2 hours
  • will consist of 5-8 participants
  • Participants will receive a $50 honorarium.
Interviews:
  • will be conducted by telephone
  • will last for approximately 1 hour
  • Participants will receive a $25 honorarium.
Interested?? For further information, please contact Dr. Jean Dryden at [email protected] or 301-405-3777.


Dr. Jean Dryden, Principal Investigator
College of Information Studies, University of Maryland College Park