GRIPitt 2013

The Genealogical Research Institute of Phoenix in Pittsburgh is the newest institute for genealogists.  I posted updates of the 2012 institute that I was fortunate enough to attend.  Now
the GRIP classes for 2013 have been posted on their web site: http://www.gripitt.org/?page_id=547.  This information is more than just the title and coordinator; it's the detailed description.

You may want to put July 22 through July 26, 2013, on your calendar.  Registration for 2013 will begin at NOON (Eastern Time) on Thursday 7 February 2013.

Make sure you look at all of the information on the web site.  There is a tab for "Blogs" that you can check out and read about all of the bloggers listed and their comments regarding the 2012 institute.

And, as full disclosure, I have received no compensation for these comments other than being listed on the blogs page.  I am commenting because I had a great time and learned so much that I'm still processing a lot of the information.  So, thank you to Debbie and Elissa.

1940 Census on Family Search - Indexing DONE

I'm sure most of you received this email announcement.  If not, here it is.  And thank you to all who helped.

We did it! Today just before 2:00 p.m. (MDT), the very last batch of the 1940 US Census was arbitrated and submitted for publication. The indexing portion of the 1940 US Census Community Project is officially done!

Just look at what we accomplished: The project was supposed to take at least six months, yet it was completed in just 124 days—two full months ahead of schedule! An "army" of more than 160,000 volunteers participated. Plainly stated, there is nothing in the annals of the genealogical community that can compare with this achievement. Because of the familiarity of the volunteers with the names and places contained in the records, the resulting index is thought to be among the most accurate of any census ever published. Tens of millions of people will benefit for generations. That's quite a legacy!

It will take a few more weeks to complete the quality audit of the remaining states and publish them online for searching; however, the majority of the 1940 US Census records are already searchable online at the sites of the consortium members. Meanwhile, we hope the feelings you have at this moment of accomplishment are satisfying and will motivate you to continue giving. Families are being united across the generations with every name you index or arbitrate.