UpFront with NGS

05 February 2011

RootsTech Conference Will Broadcast Select Sessions Free Online

SALT LAKE CITY—RootsTech, a new family history and technology conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah, February 10-12, 2011, announced today that six of its popular sessions will be broadcasted live and complimentary over the Internet. The live broadcasts will give those unable to attend worldwide a sample of this year’s conference content. Interested viewers can watch the live presentations at RootsTech.org. The first-year conference has attracted over 2,000 registered attendees.

The free online sessions include some of the keynote speakers and a sampling of technology and family history presentations. Following are the six broadcasts, speakers, and times of the presentations. All times are in Mountain Standard Time (MST):

Thursday, February 10, 2011

· 8:30-9:00 a.m., A world of Information, Shane Robison, chief technology officer, Hewlett Packard

· 9-9:30 a.m., Turning Roots, Branches, Trees into Nodes, Links, Graphs, Jay L. Verkler, chief executive officer, FamilySearch International

· 3-4:00 p.m., Digitally Preserving Your Family Heritage, Barry Ewell, founder of MyGenShare.com

Friday, February 11, 2011

· 8:30-9:30 a.m., The Changing Face of Genealogy, by Curt Witcher, manager of the Historical Genealogy Department, Allen County Public Library

· 9:45-10:45 a.m., Cloud Computing: What is it and how it has been used to create the next familysearch.org, by Brian Pugh, senior engineer, FamilySearch International

Saturday, February 12, 2011

· 8:30-9:30 a.m. Personal Archiving and Primary Documents, Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archives

· 1:45-2:45 p.m., Virtual Presentations Round Table and Collaborative Panel Discussion, Thomas MacEntee, professional genealogist and technology specialist

· 3:00-4:00 p.m., The Power of PDF: Tools for Every Genealogist, D. Josh Taylor, Director of Education and Programs at New England Historical Genealogical Society.

About RootsTech

RootsTech is a new conference designed to bring technologists together with genealogists to learn from each other and find solutions to the challenges faced in family history research today. The conference’s activities and offerings are focused on content that will help genealogists and family historians discover exciting new research tools while enabling technology creators to learn the latest development techniques from industry leaders and pioneers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com.

03 February 2011

More Prime Time Genealogy!

NGS predicts that genealogy will soon be the new black. Right on the heels of an all-new season of Who Do You Think You Are? comes a brand new genealogy series brought to you by the Queen of Media herself. Searching For... premieres Feb. 14 on OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network. The docu-series focuses on Pam Slaton, a real-life professional investigative genealogist, as she helps clients track down their loved ones. Pam's commitment to helping others is anchored by the devastating experience she had in her own search for her birth mother 20 years ago.

There's no doubt about it: with Oprah's name behind this project, genealogy will be catapulted into the mainstream with more energy than ever. See more at the show's homepage. Then, weigh in with your thoughts on the NGS Facebook page.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Republication of UpFront articles is permitted and encouraged for non-commercial purposes without express permission from NGS. Please drop us a note telling us where and when you are using the article. Express written permission is required if you wish to republish UpFront articles for commercial purposes. You may send a request for express written permission to UpFront@ngsgenealogy.org. All republished articles may not be edited or reworded and must contain the copyright statement found at the bottom of each UpFront article.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com.

Black History Month Resource Spotlight

February is when we celebrate Black History Month. Throughout this month we will be posting resources to help with your African-American ancestral research, some available via NGS and some available elsewhere. Some will help you directly with your genealogy while others might educate you on relevant historical topics.

We’ll start off with this resource list posted this week at Genealogy Insider, the website for Family Tree Magazine.

If you have a favorite African-American research resource you’d like to see us mention, please drop a note to UpFront@ngsgenealogy.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Black History Month Genealogy Resources
Posted by Jamie, 31 January 2011, Genealogy Insider

Black History Month is celebration of the role African Americans played in shaping

U.S.

history. The annual event started as “Negro History Week” in 1926, and blossomed into a month-long commemoration marked by every

U.S.

president in office since 1976.

Festivities kick off Feb. 1, and we'd like to help you celebrate your heritage. Discover your black history with some of our genealogy resources:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com.

02 February 2011

2011 FGS Conference registration is open

“Pathways to the Heartland” - A Conference for the Nation’s Genealogists

February 2, 2011 – Austin, TX. Registration for the 2011 Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference, scheduled for 7-10 September 2011 in beautiful Springfield, Illinois, is now open. This year’s conference theme is “Pathways to the Heartland,” and the local host is the Illinois State Genealogical Society.

This year's conference offers an exciting opportunity for anyone interested in researching their family history. Over 165 educational sessions and 13 luncheons are designed to balance the needs of genealogists at all levels, exploring a variety of records, strategies, and other tools available to those interested in researching their family history.

Session sponsors include FamilySearch (offering extensive Focus on Societies, Migration and Immigration, and Technology tracks), Ancestry.com, the National Archives and Records Administration, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Association of Professional Genealogists, Board for Certification of Genealogists, and others. In addition, the Genealogical Speakers Guild and ICAPGen will present their own tracks of sessions by their members that you won’t want to miss.

Conference Highlights

· Librarians Day: On Tuesday, September 6, 2011, ProQuest is sponsoring a full day of free sessions designed for librarians, archivists, and other information professionals serving family history researchers.

· Focus on Societies: On Wednesday, September 7, 2011, all new programs and focus group sessions to help improve the operations and effectiveness for genealogical societies’ officers, as well as their members and volunteers.

· Conference Sessions: A wide variety of genealogy-related lectures and workshops for all experience levels. Topics include Mid-Western research, migration and immigration, military, strategies and techniques, technology, and writing.

· Special Events: Include An Old Fashioned Prairie Social, the FGS 35th Anniversary Celebration, and Spotlight on Societies—all providing an excellent environment to meet and network with others interested in family history and genealogy. This exciting week of genealogy closes with a Farewell Brunch on Sunday.

· Exhibit Hall: Filled with a wide array of vendors and organizations, and a special Spotlight on Societies area will showcase local and regional genealogical and historical societies.

There are more activities and research opportunities too numerous to list. However, you can learn all about the 2011 FGS Conference and register for this exciting four-day event at http://www.fgs.org/2011conference. Be sure to also visit or subscribe to the FGS Conference Blog at http://www.fgsconferenceblog.org/ for more information and travel advice.

We look forward to seeing you in Springfield in September!

Learn More and Stay Connected

· Subscribe to Conference eUpdates: 2011Conference@fgs.org (place “Subscribe” in Subject line)

· Visit the Conference News Blog: http://www.fgsconferenceblog.org/

· Follow the Conference on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/fgs2011 and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/fgs2011

· Discover Springfield: http://www.visit-springfieldillinois.com/

About the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS)

The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) was founded in 1976 and represents the members of hundreds of genealogical societies. FGS links the genealogical community by helping genealogical societies strengthen and grow through resources available online, FGS Forum magazine (filled with articles pertaining to society management and genealogical news), and Society Strategy Series papers, covering topics about effectively operating a genealogical society. FGS also links the genealogical community through its annual conference -- four days of excellent lectures, including one full day devoted to society management topics. To learn more visit http://www.fgs.org/

#####

Contact:

Federation of Genealogical Societies

PO Box 200940

Austin, TX 78720-0940

phone: +1 (888) 347-1500

fax: +1 (866) 347-1350

fgs2011@gmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com.

Ground Hog Day

Today, 2 February 2011, is Groundhog Day.

According to folklore, if a groundhog sees its shadow on Groundhog Day, it will scurry back inside its burrow and winter will continue for six more weeks. If the groundhog does not see a shadow, winter will end soon. Read more about Groundhog Day at Wikipedia.

Here is the local Raleigh prognosticator – Sir Walter Wally

Though I enjoyed the excuse to post a photo of what can be a cute rodent and definitely a fun event, it got me thinking that though too many of us don’t have groundhogs as part of our family tree, we might have or had a family member who was or is known as a prognosticator.

One often hears tales of family members with this talent, though, frequently connected to sports and betting! And, obviously, there are people whose jobs are to “predict” what future trends might be.

Did or does your family have a prognosticator? If so, please tell us about this person!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Republication of UpFront articles is permitted and encouraged for non-commercial purposes without express permission from NGS. Please drop us a note telling us where and when you are using the article. Express written permission is required if you wish to republish UpFront articles for commercial purposes. You may send a request for express written permission to UpFront@ngsgenealogy.org. All republished articles may not be edited or reworded and must contain the copyright statement found at the bottom of each UpFront article.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com.

New NGS Video -- Thomas W Jones About Genealogical Education

NGS invites you to learn from NGSQ co-editor, Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL, FASG, FNGS, FUGA, about opportunities for a sound genealogical education from NGS. A new film in the NGS online interview series by Kate Geis and Allen Moore.

Also showing for our members

· Leslie Anderson, MSLS

· Laura DeGrazia, CG

· Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG, FNGS, FUGA

· David E Rencher, AG, CG, FIGRS, FUGA

· Willis H. White, CG

Now showing for everyone

· Thomas Adams, 2009 Rubincam Youth Award Winner

· Helen F. M. Leary, CG (EMERITUS), FASG, FNGS

· Paths to Your Past

· Home Study Course

· NGS Conferences

· Finding Your Family at the National Archives

· NGS & NARA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com.

01 February 2011

The Gottscheer Heritage and Genealogy Association will hold its annual meeting on 17-18 June, 2011

The program consists of a Board of Director’s meeting on Friday, June 17 and the annual membership meeting on Saturday, June 18. The annual meeting agenda will include presentations on Gottscheer history and a Genealogy Workshop. The region of Gottschee was a Germanic linguistic island in

Slovenia

that was first settled in the 1300's and was dissolved in 1941. Gottscheers have emigrated to the

United States

and

Canada

since in the 1880's. Further information is available at http://gottschee.org or contact Elfriede Stonitsch at stonitsel@aol.com.

About GHGA

The purpose and objectives of the organization:

· Preserve the history, culture, and genealogical records of Gottscheers.

· Collect oral histories of Gottscheers in print, videotape, or audio cassette.

· Coordinate research trips to the former area of Gottschee in

Slovenia

· Support archival activities by locating, purchasing, translating, and archiving important books and articles on the history and culture of Gottschee.

· Support restoration of Gottscheer cemeteries and other cultural monuments in the former Gottschee county in

Slovenia

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com.

Shawnee, KS - The Gottscheer Heritage and Genealogy Association (GHGA) will hold its annual meeting on June 17 and June 18, 2011 at the Tropicana Resort and Casino, 3801 Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, Nevada.

The program consists of a Board of Director’s meeting on Friday, June 17 and the annual membership meeting on Saturday, June 18. The annual meeting agenda will include presentations on Gottscheer history and a Genealogy Workshop. The region of Gottschee was a Germanic linguistic island in

Slovenia

that was first settled in the 1300's and was dissolved in 1941. Gottscheers have emigrated to the

United States

and

Canada

since in the 1880's. Further information is available at http://gottschee.org or contact Elfriede Stonitsch at stonitsel@aol.com.

Second Season of “Who Do You Think You Are?” Starts this Friday, 4 February …

Beginning on Friday 4 February 2011, NBC will air the second season of the hit show “Who Do You Think You Are?” During the first season, millions of viewers tuned in each week to watch the featured celebrity uncover his or her family history, and the

United States

saw a renewed interest in genealogy not seen since the days of Roots.

The first episode is on Vanessa Williams followed by episodes featuring these celebrities (not in order): Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Rosie O’Donnell, Steve Buscemi, Kim Cattrall, Lionel Richie, and Ashley Judd.

Check out the web-site features including full episode videos for the first season which looked into the ancestry of Spike Lee, Susan Sarandon, Brooke Shields, Matthew Broderick, Lisa Kudrow, Emmitt Smith and Sarah Jessica Parker. The web-site also includes a large variety of related video clips. There is also a Facebook page.

This show is a fun way to get your family excited about genealogy research. The same types of research performed for this show are exactly what we do as we research our own families. The more extended family members involved in the research, the more likely that those “missing” puzzle pieces might show up!

After the broadcast on Friday, please share with us anything that caught your eye – a new research technique, a new resource, etc.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com.