Upfront Mini Bytes

Dear Upfront with NGS readers,

We frequently find there is more news of interest to publish than we can write a full blog post about. So we pondered how to convey all these great family history gems to you.   Yes, we could probably do a string of Facebook (FB) posts that become tweets, and we might still do that. But we also wanted all of our NGS members, friends and family to hear about the news items that catch our eye. 

Starting today, we are launching “Upfront Mini Bytes.” In Upfront Mini Bytes we will provide eight tasty bits of genealogy news that will help give you a deeper byte into your family history research. This type of blog post will appear on Fridays, biweekly to start and possibly weekly depending on the volume of neat genealogical and family history-related news items there are to report.  Our goal is to include a smattering of news and resources on a variety of topics of interest to genealogists and family historians, regardless of where and what time period you are researching!

Each item will be short and sweet.  We encourage you to check out the links to articles, blog posts, resources and anything genealogical!

Do you have questions, suggestions for future posts or comments?  Please post a comment!

Editor's Note:  Every item below contains one or more hyperlinks that you can click on. On the web, the hyperlinks are in a green versus grey font.  The easiest way to find them is to run your mouse over the text and they will show up in a burnt red color.  Then, just click!  If you are receiving these posts via an e-mail subscription, they are the bold text. Again, place your cursor over that text and just click.

[Added 02/02/2013] Editor's Note: Depending on your browser and other settings, hyperlinks may show up differently.  For Google Chrome I see them in dark green, whereas in Internet Explore I see them in burnt red.

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Are you curious to know if a NARA microfilm has been digitized, in whole or in part, by Ancestry.com or Fold3 (was Footnote).  Check out Microfilm Publications and Original Records Digitized by Our Digitization Partners.  Why take a trip to NARA when the records you seek might already be available (or available soon) from the comfort of your home!

Does your library provide access to Gale Genealogy Connect? This collection features a wide range of comprehensive references and is powered by authoritative information from Genealogical.com — the parent company of Genealogical Publishing and Clearfield Company, leading publishers of works on genealogy and family history.

Was your ancestor one of the Homestead Land-Entry Case File Records to be found for Nebraska? If so, read A million pieces of history (Beatrice Daily Sun, 1 September 2012) and learn more about the Homestead National Monument in Nebraska. From home, you can access these records if you are a Fold3 subscriber.

Graveyards and cemeteries just keep getting more technological!  We've posted before about the ability of information to be associated with a tombstone so that someone can easily access it via their smartphone.  Read about how a cemetery in Denmark is looking into using QR (Quick Response) codes Graveyard tech: QR codes to bring cemeteries alive.

Do you have a trade or occupation that your family has practiced for five or more generations?  If so, you might want to read Family butcher for 100 years about a New Zealand family where the 4^th and 5^th generations of the family are butchers. When you see ancestors who practiced a particular occupation or trade, especially one where an apprenticeship might be involved, it's always worth considering "who" they learned it from and was it a "family trade."

Are you on Facebook (FB) yet?  If not, you might want to read Sharon Tate Moody's take on the topic in Facebook is a friend to genealogists.  My college-age daughter has commented that from my FB page it appears that the genealogical community does more posting on FB than her friends ever have!  If you are on FB or when you leap into this massive social network, do check out the National Genealogical Society FB page.

Building a Personal Digital Genealogy Library, by Kimberly Powell (about.com), gives you some great tips on how she has been building her personal digital genealogy library.  She also mentions that her personal library includes "The National Genealogical Society Quarterly (current and back issues are available in digital format on the website for NGS members). NGS, by the way, also offers their Research in the States series for purchase in PDF format."

It's always neat to see an online newspaper that contains a regularly running column on history topics.  History is so important to genealogical and family history research.  After all, people created history and history impacted the people we research.  Our genealogy research can make learning history so much fun – our ancestors make “history come alive.”  Check out two examples of this genre: Sampling our History (Mississippi) and Past Times (Raleigh, NC)

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We hope you found the contents of this first edition of Upfront Mini Bytes helpful.  If you have news items to share with readers, please send an e-mail to [email protected]

Upfront with NGS, including the “new” Upfront Mini Bytes feature, can be read by and/or subscribed to by anyone.  You do not have to be an NGS member to take advantage of the news posted in this blog. 

If you, your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would like to receive Upfront with NGS blog posts as an e-mail, please subscribe.  To do so, go to this page, http://upfront.ngsgenealogy.org/, find the box below in the left-hand column and enter your e-mail address.  It’s as easy as that to get a daily (Monday-Friday) e-mail with helpful information for genealogy and family researchers.