UpFront with NGS: August 2015

31 August 2015

ProQuest Content Now Discoverable in Google Scholar

We are often greatly challenged to determine where information of interest to us can be found! Because of this, websites or services that aggregate data from several sources can be quite useful to us.

A new and recent version of this where ProQuest content is available through Google Scholar is now alive. Back in April, it was announced ProQuest to Open Content Through Google Scholar.

Earlier this month, this effort went live, ProQuest Scholarly Content Now Discoverable in Google Scholar.

... The full text of its scholarly content – including journals and working papers – is now indexed in Google Scholar, enabling Google Scholar users to seamlessly discover and access their library’s ProQuest collections. Efficiency and productivity for both ProQuest and Google Scholar users is improved, while libraries benefit from increased usage for their subscribed collections...

Do know that in order to access any Proquest Content found in Google Scholar, you still will need to have access, typically via a University Library, to the appropriate ProQuest collection.

Did you make any neat finds?

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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28 August 2015

New Funding support for Digital Public Library of America facilitates a push to serve all 50 states by 2017!

It’s always nice to read about how Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) keeps growing! Digital Public Library of America makes push to serve all 50 states by 2017 with $3.4 million from the Sloan and Knight foundations.

This is a wonderful resource. It’s unlikely that you will find your ancestor listed and you will likely gain some historical context for the period of time during which they lived or the community they lived in!

Share your best find from DPLA.

Editor’s Note: More posts about DPLA.

+ Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) Continues to Expand (2015)

+ Digital Public Library Launches TODAY (2013)

+ Digital Public Library of America -- 1st Plenary Meeting, 21 October, National Archives (DC) (2011)

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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27 August 2015

Not just crowdsourcing -- a Crowdsourcing Game Jam!

Crowdsourcing continues to be a popular way to get lots of work done in a short period of time by involving individuals from around the world to participate.

This time, The British Library is putting a bit of a twist on it by hosting a Crowdsourcing Game Jam, 3^rd-11^th September.

The British Library has digitised 1,000,000 historical images and made them freely available, but we don't know as much about what's in them as we'd like. Normally this is the size of task we'd turn to crowdsourcing to tackle, but we're looking to have a bit more fun. So we're hosting a Crowdsourcing Game Jam. Can you help us make crowdsourcing information about this collection fun?

An ideal game draws a random image from our 1-million-strong collection and through gameplay the player tells us something about the content of the image. You might choose from our limited set of tags (flora, fauna, mineral, human portrait, landscape, manmade - eg. machine, buildings, ship, abstract, artistic, music, map), or opt to be more creative...

Do read all the details on what must be the objective of your game and the rules by which your submitted game must operate.

Editor’s Note: Related articles on this topic ...

+ Another Crowdsourcing Project to Benefit Genealogists (2015)

+ Smithsonian expands its crowdsourcing -- it's amazing what we can ALL accomplish in just a few minutes ... (2014)

+ Crowdsourcing -- making recently unimaginable amounts of information available to us at our finger tips! (2014)

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to [email protected]

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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26 August 2015

Historic Landmarks Database

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has a neat and free to access database – Historic Landmarks, http://www.asce.org/landmarks/.

As usual, I stumbled across this when I was doing some research, this time on the Great Dismal Swamp (NC/VA area).

My focus at the time was on barriers to travel – a large swamp certainly did and does present a challenge to getting from point A to point B!

The landmarks are all interesting. Regardless of whether you are researching a particular landmark relevant to your family or locale, each of the included landmarks is unique and is a bit of interesting history!

If you want to learn more about a specific landmark, you can also check out the Civil Engineering Database (CEDB), a free bibliographic database offering over 200,000 records of all publications by American Society of Civil Engineers. It is updated at the end of each month.

If you find a relevant article, it maybe available for purchase and you can definitely check to see if a local library (probably a University/College one) has the publication.

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to [email protected]

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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25 August 2015

How much DNA do you inherit from your grandparents?

This re-post on FB of a Slate post could not have come at a better time! The associated image alone speaks to a main takeaway point from my weekend.

On Saturday while visiting the delightful Augusta Genealogical Society, besides giving three talks on NC research, I gave one talk on the basics of DNA testing for genealogy.

One point I made is that due to the nature of genetics, we don’t get exactly 25% from each grandparent and as you go back in time, you might find that you have large bits of genetic material from one branch of your family tree and practically none from another, regardless of what the basic math suggests on the surface (e.g. 50% from each parent who received 50% from each of their parents, etc)! It is very important to appreciate this when considering autosomal testing.

Well, Which Grandparent Are You Most Related to? pursues this concept in some depth based on extensive personal DNA testing in his own family along with the supporting genetics math about how we disproportionately inherit. Though I don’t necessarily agree with the author’s intended use of what he is learning as a geneticist, the point that we don’t inherit equally from grandparents and succeeding generations, is what I want to emphasize.

Related to this, Upfront with NGS recently blogged about In the future ... we might be able to reconstruct what our ancestors looked like! that is based on using DNA data to reconstruct what ancestors may have looked like. A component of this at the individual level is understanding the correlation of DNA to various features along with the recognition that we did not inherit precise percentages of genetic material from all the ancestors of any one generation in our tree.

Some of us look like the spitting image of maternal great aunt Lucy while a sibling might look like paternal uncle Alfred. We know we are siblings and yet genetic inheritance clearly has endowed us with dominant bits from different branches of our family tree. Something to keep in mind as you do DNA testing, start processing your test results and correlate them with test family members, photos of the deceased and more.

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to [email protected]

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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24 August 2015

NGS Awards and Competitions: Deadline Changes

FYI. The deadlines for a few of the NGS Awards competitions are a couple of weeks earlier than in the past ...

Each year, the National Genealogical Society recognizes excellence in the genealogy field by presenting numerous awards to individuals and organizations. The deadline for some of these awards and competitions recently changed from December 31, 2015 to December 15, 2015. The awards and competitions that have a submission or nomination deadline of December 15 are: Family History Writing Contest; NGS Newsletter Competition; Award for Excellence: Genealogy and Family History Book; Award for Excellence: Genealogical Methods and Sources; John T. Humphrey Memorial Scholarship Award; and the Rubincam Youth Award. Visit the NGS website for information about nominations and submissions, and to view the awards and competitions calendar.

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to [email protected]

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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21 August 2015

Mega-Search ... an option for getting search results from just genealogical web sites

Reminder -- this is just a graphic representation of the page. Click on the link below to actually dive in and research for your ancestors!

We often find ourselves with soooo many places to search when we are researching our ancestors. It can be overwhelming.

Many Roads has created a so-called Mega-Search using Google’s technologies to search across Genealogy in Time’s Top 100 Sites for 2015. There are two searches offered. I suggest to first try the Top 100 search first. If you get too many results or too many of the results are from subscription sites that you cannot access, you can always then use the Top “46” Genealogy Sites search.

I had some fun playing around with it. And, after a day where I spent a lot of time doing internet searches, it was kind of nice to not see only genealogical results. Though, for completeness, I do suggest doing some across the WWW searches, just in case something pops up that is not on what is traditionally considered a family history website.

Want to try out some other Genealogy Search Engines? Check out the Search Engines page on Cyndi’s List.

Did you have any success? What worked or didn’t work? Which is your favorite Genealogy Search Engine?

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to [email protected]

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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20 August 2015

August is the Right Time to Tell Your Senators About Your Record Access Concerns

This post comes to us courtesy of the Records and Preservation Access Committee (RPAC)

If you have ever used the Social Security Death Index (SSDI), now is the time for you to write your United States Senator. Section 203 of the 2013 Bipartisan Budget Act, which went into effect 29 March 2014, closed access to the Death Master File (used by genealogists as the Social Security Death Index) for three years after an individual's death. Access during the three-year embargo is limited to persons certified by the Commerce Department. Certification costs $400; the annual cost to access the data is $995; the available data is limited; the search engine inadequate; and recent audit and security requirements will make access unaffordable by even professional genealogists. The Final Rule for the certification process is expected from the Commerce Department any day. Genealogists need to be further concerned because the Social Security Administration (SSA) has been reporting less information since November 2011 when several states notified the SSA that its information could no longer be released to the public. This widely used national death database is being whittled away because of concerns about tax fraud of the deceased.

The Records Preservation and Access Committee (RPAC) and several of our participating organizations have written the Commerce Department and key legislators on this issue over the last several years. Although genealogists are also concerned about identity theft of the deceased, we strongly believe the problem can be solved by omitting the Social Security Number (SSN) of the deceased from the Social Security Death Index. In addition progress has been made by the IRS in developing filters which flag fraudulent income tax returns. The Treasury Inspector General Tax Administration (TIGTA) Reports for 2011 and 2012 said less than 2% of all fraudulent tax refunds involved the deceased.

At the end of July the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved SB 1073, Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act. The bill was approved in a "business meeting" without a hearing. RPAC is making contacts with several Senators who could introduce the Amendment from the floor. Our request is simple, amend Section 203 of the 2013 Bipartisan Budget Act so the information in the Death Master File can be released to the public except for the Social Security Number.

Congress is currently recessed until 7 September 2015. Now is a good time to contact your Senators, either in person or by writing a letter. We have included talking points that you can use to make a personal visit or write a letter. We need your support. For additional background visit the RPAC Blog at http://www.fgs.org/rpac and see the posts on 1 April 2015, "DMF—Comment Period on Proposed Final Rule Closed 30 March," and under the Publications tab, "SSDI Timeline, 19 January 2015."

The Records Preservation and Access Committee (RPAC), is a national committee sponsored by the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS), the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS), and the National Genealogical Society (NGS) and supported by the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG), the American Society of Genealogists (ASG), and the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen). Members of RPAC meet monthly to advise the genealogical community on ensuring proper access to vital records and on supporting strong records preservation policies and practices.

With all of the decisions put in front of Senators, do not assume that they understand the intricacies of all proposed legislation, such as SB 1073, Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act. If we all make our voices heard, hopefully the final legislation will be a win-win by ensuring access to information that is both helpful to genealogists while maintaining the privacy of information (in this case social security numbers) to support Homeland Security.

Editor's Note: Details on the bill can be found here.

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to [email protected]

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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19 August 2015

Salt Lake Research trip still has some openings. The early bird discount ends 2 September 2015!

If you’ve been thinking about joining the National Genealogical Society’s guided research trip to Salt Lake City, Utah (24–31 January 2016) at a great price, your time is running out!

The early bird discount ends 2 September 2015. Early birds receive savings of between $200 and $250 per person depending on which registration option suits your needs.

On this trip you will join the NGS group leaders, Marie Varrelman Melchiori, Certified Genealogist Emeritus, and Shirley Langdon Wilcox, CG^sm, FNGS, FVGS, for a week at the world-renowned Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The library’s noteworthy records include deeds, wills, military, tax, and vital records from around the world. Researchers will have access to numerous commercial databases, more than two million rolls of microfilm, an immense collection of genealogical books, and outstanding worldwide maps.

For full details, or to register for the trip, visit http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/conferences_events/research_tips/slc_research_trip/slc_research_trip_general_information.

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to [email protected]

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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18 August 2015

First Recording Of Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream' in Rocky Mount In 1962

This is an image of the article page. The actual article (includes the snippet) link is in the body of the post.

Sometimes history is closer than you think.

I’ve written before that I periodically travel by train. What I hadn’t mentioned is that I do so from the wonderful train station in Rocky Mount (NC).

In all the times I have traveled to, from, and through Rocky Mount, I hadn’t realized that in 1962 something momentous took place there ...

“I have a dream tonight. It is a dream rooted deeply in the American dream.”

Eight months before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington D.C., he spoke these words to a crowd of 1,800 people in a Rocky Mount gymnasium on November 27, 1962.

For the first time, you can hear a clip from that 1962 talk via the WUNC (North Carolina Public Radio) web site, Listen To The First Recording Of MLK's 'I Have A Dream' In Rocky Mount In 1962 [AUDIO]

... Miller said the full audio of the speech in Rocky Mount will be available through a website being developed called kingsfirstdream.com. The speech will be a part of a documentary on King's and Hughes's relationship called "Origins of the Dream" by Miller and documentary filmmaker Rebecca Cerese ...

The clip mesmerized me ...

Besides reminding me of the struggle for all to share in the American dream, it also reminded me that many events of historical significance took place in small cities, towns and communities. Those who attended this 1962 talk in Rocky Mount are now a part of history. Did your ancestors similarly participate in events where history (either big or small) took place?

Many of our ancestors were involved in their community in support of social welfare issues by listening to speakers, attending rallies, participating in or supporting strikes, attending functions (e.g. temperance league picnics), and so much more!

Make sure as you research your ancestors that you look beyond life events, jobs, and church to see if they were a voice in their community or very involved in supporting voices for change within their community.

Here are some other articles about this discovery that might interest you:

+ (BET) Recording of MLK's 1st 'I Have a Dream' Speech Discovered

+ (USA Today) Early recording found of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I have a dream' speech

Editor’s Note: Related Upfront with NGS Posts, Ramblings from a train ... using travel as an opportunity to "see" the world as it is now and as it was! and Trekking in the footsteps of long ago ... seeing all that is out there ... invaluable to our family history research!

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to [email protected]

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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17 August 2015

NGS Announces a New Course in the American Genealogical Studies Series: Beyond the Basics

Credit: www.lttc.ied.edu.hk, Licence: CC BY 3.0, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

Arlington, VA, August 17, 2015: The National Genealogical Society proudly announces the release of its newest American Genealogical Studies course, Beyond the Basics. This course joins The Basics and Guide to Documentation and Source Citation in the series of online courses developed by NGS to help those interested in discovering their roots.

Beyond the Basics offers advanced genealogical training. During the course, you will learn how to conduct a more systematic genealogical investigation as you build your family tree. Its modules are designed to challenge you as you learn how to read, write, decipher, and cite numerous genealogical documents. You will expand your proficiency by collecting, interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating genealogical information. You also will hone your skills as you write genealogical reports.

The course contains five modules that contain information, videos, examples, self-correcting quizzes, a glossary, a topic reference list, and a final written assignment, which is graded by a professional genealogist. The modules are:

· Module 1 – Evidence Analysis

· Module 2 – The Library: A Research Repository

· Module 3 – The Federal Population Schedules

· Module 4 – FamilySearch.org

· Module 5 – Civil Registration Records

Beyond the Basics is the third course in the American Genealogical Study series. Registration requires students to successfully complete both The Basics and Guide to Documentation and Source Citation within the year before signing up for Beyond the Basics.

Beyond the Basics is available for $175.00 for members and $200.00 for non-members. The Basics and Guide to Documentation and Source Citation are available individually or as a bundle. For further information or to view the syllabus, visit the NGS website at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/ags_beyondthebasics.

The courses of the NGS American Genealogical Studies are presented through an online cloud-based learning management system. To take advantage of this system, you need either a computer or tablet with an internet connection and an updated standard browser. Please refer to the NGS website for specific computer and software needs.

Founded in 1903, the National Genealogical Society is dedicated to genealogical education, exemplary standards of research, and the preservation of genealogical records. The Arlington, Virginia, based nonprofit is the premier national society for everyone, from the beginner to the most advanced family historian, seeking excellence in publications, educational offerings, and guidance in research. It also offers many opportunities to interact with other genealogists. Please visit the NGS Pressroom for further information.

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to [email protected]

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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