UpFront with NGS

10 August 2011

Mark your calendars! SwedGen 2011 will occur in September 2011

Have you hit a brick wall in your Swedish research or don't know where to begin?

A group of Swedish genealogists will be visiting the

United States

in September to teach and assist Swedish- Americans in how to find their roots and how to do Swedish research. This year the group will be making stops in Chicago, IL., Rock Island, IL., Denver, CO. and Salt Lake City, UT.

At each location, the Research Day will include presentations on Swedish genealogical online resources, genealogical CDs, probate and tax registers and historical maps. Individual consultations with a Swedish genealogist will be available to a limited number of persons at each location.

Saturday, September 10, 2011 The Swedish American Museum in Chicago, IL., will host the SwedGen 2011 Research Day at the Swedish American on September 10^th (9 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.). Pre-registration is required. For complete details and registration information, go to:

http://www.swedishamericanmuseum.org/museuminfo/news/swedish-research-day-swedgen-2011/

Sunday, September 11, 2011 The Swedish Swenson Immigration Research Center in Rock Island, IL will host a SwedGen 2011 Research Day on Sunday, September 11, 2011 (9 a.m. to 5:00 p,m). The event is free but registration is required for both the event and individual consultations. For registration information, go to: http://www.augustana.edu/x34121.xml

Saturday, September 17, 2011. The Swedish Genealogical Society of Colorado will host the SwedGen 2011 Research Day at the Community College of Aurora, CO. For complete details and registration information, go to:

http://rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cosgs/documents/SwedGenTour2011.pdf

Tuesday, September 20, 2011 and Wednesday, September 21, 2011 The Research Day will be split into two morning sessions at the Family History Support Center in Salt Lake City. Go to: http://www.lilleskogen.se/ and then click on the schedule to see the presentation schedule for each day and registration information.

For additional information about the SwedGen Tour go to: http://www.lilleskogen.se/ or you can contact Kathy Meade at kathymeaderesearch@gmail.com.

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

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, Vimeo 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.

09 August 2011

Hebrides -- Did Your Ancestors Comes From These Wild Islands?

Check out this new website which reflects that Bill Lawson has been specializing in the Family and Social History in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland for over 40 years, and is widely recognized as an authority in the area.

Make sure you check out the History, Articles and Gallery tabs and searchable databases will be coming soon -such as the Emigration Database which will detail tens of thousands of records of families that left the islands.

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

Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo 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.

08 August 2011

Going digital at the cemetery

The FamilySearch Tech Tips blog has a great article about how digitally documenting cemeteries has distinct benefits. Here is an excerpt from the article …

“There are three distinct advantages in using modern technology to read and document cemeteries, as opposed to the pen and pad method.

First, a digital camera in the hand is faster than a pen in the hand—much faster. With a digital camera, you can record information at more than three times the rate than if you were using a pen and notebook.

Secondly, pairing a digital camera with a computer and photo program is like bringing the cemetery into the comfort of your own home. The information you enter into your database is information that you’re reading directly from the pictures you took at the cemetery. Having this ability translates into fewer database errors, as you are not transcribing from someone else’s handwriting—or worse, in my case, my own handwriting.

Thirdly, if you do happen across a suspected typo in your database later on, you can easily examine the specific photo the data came from, with no need for a sticky note reminding yourself to check that particular marker next time you’re at the cemetery.”

Do read the full article and also check out the posted comments. Some of the comments provide additional thoughts on how best to digitally document cemeteries.

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

Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo 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.

05 August 2011

National Genealogical Society August Video Releases

ARLINGTON, VA, 5 AUGUST 2011: The National Genealogical Society has released three videos for the month of August, all produced by Kate Geis and Allen Moore.

Available to the Public on YouTube and Vimeo:

The NGSGenealogy channel on YouTube presents Education at the National Genealogical Society with Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL, FASG, FNGS, FUGA. The same video is also posted on Vimeo.

Tom Jones describes the importance of understanding content and methodology, and how NGS helps genealogists develop their skills.

Available to the Public on the NGS Website:

The National Genealogical Society online interview series presents How Geology Made Me a Better Genealogist with Willis H. White, CG. In Will’s words, geology and genealogy are both about interpreting the past. He describes the foundation of learning he brought as a geologist to the study of genealogy and how he gained the education needed to become successful as a genealogist.

Available to NGS Members on the NGS Website:

In the Society’s newest production, the August offering for members of the National Genealogical Society, Thomas W. Jones, co-editor of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ), reflects on the challenges of seeking the truth in genealogical research.

This video is for National Genealogical Society members at the NGS website. Log in at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org, click on the Members Only tab, and then click on NGS Videos in the sidebar menu. Members who missed earlier releases can also enjoy conversations with Thomas Adams, Jan Alpert, Leslie Anderson, Laura DeGrazia, Helen Leary, Elizabeth Shown Mills, David Rencher, and Will White in the members’ area.

If you have comments on our videos please e-mail the executive producer, Arlene V. Jennings, CG, at arlenevj@earthlink.net.

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

Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo 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.

04 August 2011

USGS -- The National Map: Historical Quadrangle Scanning Project

For more than 125 years, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) topographic maps have accurately portrayed the complex geography of the Nation. The USGS is the largest producer of printed topographic maps, and, prior to 2009, USGS topographic maps were created using traditional cartographic methods and printed using the lithographic printing process.

Because historical maps are stored in a limited number of collections and are not readily available, the USGS National Geospatial Program (NGP) has begun a project to convert these historical printed topographic quadrangles to an electronic format (GeoTIFF and GeoPDF). This scanning and processing effort serves the dual purpose of creating a master catalog and digital archive copies of the irreplaceable collection of topographic maps in the USGS Reston Map Library as well as making the maps available for viewing and download from the USGS Store and The National Map Viewer.

03 August 2011

UK Digital Microfilm Online

If you are researching

ancestry, do check out the Digital Microfilm available online at the UK National Archives website!

As stated on the website …

Digital Microfilm allows you to search and download some of The National Archives' most popular records, which were previously available on microfilm. The National Archives has a large collection of microfilmed records, and we hope that making these available online will increase their accessibility. This will ultimately allow the microfilm readers used at The National Archives, Kew to be retired. Many of the records are indexes and we hope that these will be helpful in locating other relevant records.

The Digital Microfilm method of delivery is by using very large pdfs. Each download contains a whole piece, which could be up to 800 pages long. This means that Digital Microfilm is only available to online users with a broadband connection, and to users in the Research and Enquiries Room at The National Archives.

These records have not been indexed and so you will need to scroll through the pdfs, much as you would when using a microfilm. However, we would be more than happy for users to transcribe any of the Digital Microfilm content and post it on Your Archives, The National Archives' online community of records users.

These documents are currently free of charge to download.

Read here for full details of what is currently available as Digital Microfilms.

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

Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo 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 August 2011

Personal Rosetta Stones -- High-Tech Tombstone Technology

Now we can truly “speak from the grave.” RosettaStone™ now allows one to affix a tablet or disk to a tombstone, monument, etc, which contains a microchip containing GeoLocation information, one photo and over 1000 words of text. Another option is the placement of an aluminum tag which uses a 2D Barcode/QR Code.

Learn more about this exciting new technology!

Editor’s Note: There “were” many articles published on this technology in June. Since these links may not be to “permanent” articles, they may or may not work now that it’s August.

· http://www.9news.com/news/sidetracks/205657/337/Tombstones-become-equipped-with-technology-

· http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/high-tech-headstones-speak-grave/story?id=10078212

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

Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo 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 August 2011

MTGS Program -- "How to Publish Your Genealogical Research"

What:

The Middle Tennessee Genealogical Society Meeting will feature speaker, James Taulman, Vice-President of MTGS, and genealogical researcher. Our program will be "How to Publish Your Genealogical Research". If you are interested in publishing your research, you will receive helpful tips.

Where:

Nashville, TN, FiftyForward Knowles Senior Center, 174 Rains Ave., (Across from the State Fairgrounds)

When:

Sat. 17 September 2011, 1:00 PM

Cost: Free. Visit the website: www.mtgs.org for more information. Refreshments served.

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

Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo 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.