I'm in Burbank at the Marriott. Tomorrow morning, Thursday, will be my intro to technology and genealogy; more than a laptop and a digital camera. (That's the extent of my tech stuff.)
If you are in the session, please let me know. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions. Of course, it appears that so many bloggers are really much more advanced than I am. BUT, if you are a newbie in this area, I'd love to meet you. Please say Hi.
For ID purposes, I'll be wearing a long skirt and a little Indian jewelry.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Society Saturday - Writing & Publishing Ideas
Are you trying to decide how to write your family history? What format? What to include? How many generations? Descendant or Ancestor based? A personal story? A cookbook? A location book?
The number of ways to write about your family are endless. There are so many varieties of books. So, how do you decide?
This morning the Family History Society of Arizona (FHSA) held a mini-workshop about writing your family history. Three published writers, members of FHSA, attended. Also, books by 3 other FHSA members were available for review. In addition, a variety of other types of books about family stories were available for the attendees.
In the 2+ hours of this informal session, each author talked about her efforts and works. The attendees were able to ask questions. There was a lot of interest in the numerous ways to present research. Also included were discussions about photos, color printing or black and white, types of fonts, number of pages, types of paper and covers, and ways to bind the books. Some authors charged for copies; some gave the books as gifts. Some writers gave copies of their works to libraries. Options regarding printing were also discussed including self-printing, printing at local office-supply store, or paying a printer.
I know that this session has inspired me to start writing on some projects and to continue writing on others. I may actually get some books published next year.
If any of you are interested in providing this type of session for your friends and/or society members, and have questions, please contact me. I'd like to see more activities like this; I believe we would all benefit.
The number of ways to write about your family are endless. There are so many varieties of books. So, how do you decide?
This morning the Family History Society of Arizona (FHSA) held a mini-workshop about writing your family history. Three published writers, members of FHSA, attended. Also, books by 3 other FHSA members were available for review. In addition, a variety of other types of books about family stories were available for the attendees.
In the 2+ hours of this informal session, each author talked about her efforts and works. The attendees were able to ask questions. There was a lot of interest in the numerous ways to present research. Also included were discussions about photos, color printing or black and white, types of fonts, number of pages, types of paper and covers, and ways to bind the books. Some authors charged for copies; some gave the books as gifts. Some writers gave copies of their works to libraries. Options regarding printing were also discussed including self-printing, printing at local office-supply store, or paying a printer.
I know that this session has inspired me to start writing on some projects and to continue writing on others. I may actually get some books published next year.
If any of you are interested in providing this type of session for your friends and/or society members, and have questions, please contact me. I'd like to see more activities like this; I believe we would all benefit.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Adoption Question
Can you help?
How can an adopted child prove the relationship to a birth mother? Mother and child are in contact with each other. Neither one of them is against proving the relationship. The birth was in Connecticut and the adopted child still lives in Connecticut.
Suggestions? Thank you.
How can an adopted child prove the relationship to a birth mother? Mother and child are in contact with each other. Neither one of them is against proving the relationship. The birth was in Connecticut and the adopted child still lives in Connecticut.
Suggestions? Thank you.
SCGS Jamboree - In THREE weeks
Three weeks from now I'll be at Jamboree in Burbank, California. (It's sponsored by the Southern California Genealogical Society.) I'm excited. I know I'll see familiar and new faces. It's not too late to register. http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/Jamboree/2012jam-home.htm. Yes, that's where you'll find all of the information. Hope to see you!!!
Saturday, May 12, 2012
NGS 2012 - Day 4
A busy day started out with my getting up late. Last night some band was playing about 3-4 blocks away on an outdoor stage. I couldn't hear the music but I could definitely "hear" the bass sound. Then at 11 pm fireworks because the team won. Not being a baseball fan, I didn't even know they were playing. Anyway, I slept in late.
But I'm so glad I didn't miss my first session. The room was full, even at 8 am on Saturday morning. Patricia Wells Stamm spoke on "Railroad Men and the Records They Left Behind." Using the records may not be difficult IF you can find them. This was a great presentation with some good references.
Next I was torn between two courses. I attended "Indirect Evidence: What To Do When Perry Mason Isn't on Your Side" by Harold Henderson. Not a lot of new information here, but I loved the t-shirts on his slide that said "Department of Hints." I often wish there was a service desk in the next room.
I ordered the CD for Elizabeth Shown Mills' "Information Overload?" and attended the session by Laura Murphy DeGrazia on "Should You Believe Your Eyes? Sizing Up Sources and Information." She provided some of the most concise definitions of Source, Information and Evidence that I've seen. I would have liked the talk to be a little more at the intermediate level, but that's just me.
During and after lunch there seemed to be a lot of discussion about how uncomfortable the chairs were in the conference rooms. Lots of us were having hip and back problems. I don't know how these chairs were different, but it seemed like more of us were uncomfortable. But, then there are only 2 more sessions. I can do this.
So on the "Online State Resources for Genealogy" by Michael Hait. Michael said he has subscriptions to all of the major web sites, but he was going to talk about those "other" places to look. He provided a few specific web sites but then also suggested that we look at county government web sites and reminded us that some counties have archives. He also suggested looking at branches of county governments for possible probate and land record indexes online, and then university and public libraries.
The last session of the last day: Rev. David McDonald filled in for another speaker who had a family emergency. So there were no pages in the syllabus and he lost the file for this presentation. He couldn't find it on his computer. Well, if you think this was going to be horrible, you're wrong. David's topic was "Top 10 Tips to Concluding Effective Research." A syllabus was passed out that listed and explained 10 tips. For me, this was a perfect way to end the NGS 2012 conference. A way to decide when "enough is enough."
I'm going to have dinner, catch up (perhaps) on email, index (perhaps) a couple of batches and PACK. I need to leave the hotel about 7 am so the packing must be done tonight.
I have so many new ideas, and ways to be a better researcher and a better organizer and a better evaluator, etc. And, as many of you know, there just aren't enough hours in a day or days in a week, to do it all. But I will get started and I know I won't be sitting around "eating bon-bons" and being bored.
I hope to see you at Jamboree next month or in Las Vegas in one year.
But I'm so glad I didn't miss my first session. The room was full, even at 8 am on Saturday morning. Patricia Wells Stamm spoke on "Railroad Men and the Records They Left Behind." Using the records may not be difficult IF you can find them. This was a great presentation with some good references.
Next I was torn between two courses. I attended "Indirect Evidence: What To Do When Perry Mason Isn't on Your Side" by Harold Henderson. Not a lot of new information here, but I loved the t-shirts on his slide that said "Department of Hints." I often wish there was a service desk in the next room.
I ordered the CD for Elizabeth Shown Mills' "Information Overload?" and attended the session by Laura Murphy DeGrazia on "Should You Believe Your Eyes? Sizing Up Sources and Information." She provided some of the most concise definitions of Source, Information and Evidence that I've seen. I would have liked the talk to be a little more at the intermediate level, but that's just me.
During and after lunch there seemed to be a lot of discussion about how uncomfortable the chairs were in the conference rooms. Lots of us were having hip and back problems. I don't know how these chairs were different, but it seemed like more of us were uncomfortable. But, then there are only 2 more sessions. I can do this.
So on the "Online State Resources for Genealogy" by Michael Hait. Michael said he has subscriptions to all of the major web sites, but he was going to talk about those "other" places to look. He provided a few specific web sites but then also suggested that we look at county government web sites and reminded us that some counties have archives. He also suggested looking at branches of county governments for possible probate and land record indexes online, and then university and public libraries.
The last session of the last day: Rev. David McDonald filled in for another speaker who had a family emergency. So there were no pages in the syllabus and he lost the file for this presentation. He couldn't find it on his computer. Well, if you think this was going to be horrible, you're wrong. David's topic was "Top 10 Tips to Concluding Effective Research." A syllabus was passed out that listed and explained 10 tips. For me, this was a perfect way to end the NGS 2012 conference. A way to decide when "enough is enough."
I'm going to have dinner, catch up (perhaps) on email, index (perhaps) a couple of batches and PACK. I need to leave the hotel about 7 am so the packing must be done tonight.
I have so many new ideas, and ways to be a better researcher and a better organizer and a better evaluator, etc. And, as many of you know, there just aren't enough hours in a day or days in a week, to do it all. But I will get started and I know I won't be sitting around "eating bon-bons" and being bored.
I hope to see you at Jamboree next month or in Las Vegas in one year.
Friday, May 11, 2012
NGS 2012 - Day 3
It's been a long day. Sessions were generally OK. However, the most unexpected topic was the one that I really needed the most. Dr. William B Saxbe, Jr spoke at 4 pm today on "How to be a Bad Genealogist." I expected some humor. But this session had us all in laughs for the full hour. This was a great way to end the day. If you ever have a chance to hear Dr. Saxbe speak on this topic, and you need a laugh, make sure to attend this session.
I didn't go to any truly crowded sessions, but I'll order CDs for them.
While Tom Jones and Elizabeth Shown Mills had full classes in the largest room, according to some other attendees two other sessions (held in smaller rooms) also had to turn some people away. "Pursuing your Genealogical Research in the Library of Congress without traveling to Washington, D.C." by James Sweany and John T Humphrey's "German Language Skills for the Genealogist". Isn't it great to see the wide variety of choices?
Every time I walked by the 1940 indexing station, the computers were full. What a great way to get more indexers. While you index two projects, someone is right there to answer questions.
I'm making my list of sessions for tomorrow. I also need to get my CD order organized so I can turn it in during the morning. The vendor hall closes at 3 tomorrow so lunch time will be my last opportunity to make sure I haven't missed anything.
I've been talking to people who have ipads and other devices. I'm trying to decide what I want to replace my heavy laptop while I'm traveling. I definitely want a full-sized keyboard, since I touch type. I'm not sure I can deal with a keyboard on the screen. I appreciate all of the people who have shown me their "devices" and told me what they liked about then and what they might buy now, whether it is the same thing or something different.
It's time to get my two (minimum) projects indexed tonight. Then it's to bed. I think. Some music is reaching my room from street level (and I'm on the 28th floor). The front desk doesn't know where it's coming from. I'm afraid it's going to be a late night of entertainment for others, and "secondary music" for me until after 11. I hope not, but I'll deal with it.
Remember Las Vegas, 8-11 May, 2013.
I didn't go to any truly crowded sessions, but I'll order CDs for them.
While Tom Jones and Elizabeth Shown Mills had full classes in the largest room, according to some other attendees two other sessions (held in smaller rooms) also had to turn some people away. "Pursuing your Genealogical Research in the Library of Congress without traveling to Washington, D.C." by James Sweany and John T Humphrey's "German Language Skills for the Genealogist". Isn't it great to see the wide variety of choices?
Every time I walked by the 1940 indexing station, the computers were full. What a great way to get more indexers. While you index two projects, someone is right there to answer questions.
I'm making my list of sessions for tomorrow. I also need to get my CD order organized so I can turn it in during the morning. The vendor hall closes at 3 tomorrow so lunch time will be my last opportunity to make sure I haven't missed anything.
I've been talking to people who have ipads and other devices. I'm trying to decide what I want to replace my heavy laptop while I'm traveling. I definitely want a full-sized keyboard, since I touch type. I'm not sure I can deal with a keyboard on the screen. I appreciate all of the people who have shown me their "devices" and told me what they liked about then and what they might buy now, whether it is the same thing or something different.
It's time to get my two (minimum) projects indexed tonight. Then it's to bed. I think. Some music is reaching my room from street level (and I'm on the 28th floor). The front desk doesn't know where it's coming from. I'm afraid it's going to be a late night of entertainment for others, and "secondary music" for me until after 11. I hope not, but I'll deal with it.
Remember Las Vegas, 8-11 May, 2013.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
NGS 2012 - Day 2
Well, my choices today weren't as helpful to me as yesterday's but it was still a good day.
But I'm going to talk about dinner first. By the way it's sort of a joke in our family that when we travel, we enjoy seeing the sights, the architecture, etc. but we come home and talk about the FOOD. So, for those of you who know Cincinnati, I ate at Arnold's (on the patio, if that's what you call it).
I started out with "Lies and Sins of Omission" by Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens. She was pleased so see so many of us in the room at 8 am. And she was good. We all need to deal with lies, omission and family legend while we are researching. Liz, as she introduced herself, showed that even though we have 4 or 5 documents that all support the same fact, that fact may not be correct. Her example of a man whose records all claimed he was born in New Jersey, and come to find out he was naturalized at about age 23 with his father because he and his father immigrated from Ireland when he (the son) was about 3.
Next session I crowded into a room with a few hundred other people to hear Elizabeth Shown Mills talk on "Indexes! Indexes! Indexes! . . ." She presents her facts so "quietly" I guess you call it. Her syllabus is concise, makes taking notes easy, and then provides us with 2 pages (1 page back to back) with all of the great examples she had provided on her slides. Thank you so much ESM.
The last session of the day I heard Claire Bettag speak on "Assumptions: A Genealogical Slippery Slope." Yes, I am attending quite a few BCG Skillbuilding sessions, but that's what I think I need right now. I wish she had spent a little less time on the actual BCG standards, but the information provided was good.
As a side note, I really don't like to be read to. I don't think that slides should have everything that is printed on the syllabus and that someone should be reading it to me. I think that's overkill. And if the speakers are reading it just so that those who buy a CD have all of the information, then perhaps we, sitting there, shouldn't have everything on our pages. The two sessions that I haven't mentioned specifically still have a page each in the syllabus that will be helpful. Unfortunately, neither speaker even mentioned some of this.
Tonight I went to the Cincinnati-Hamilton County Library. I had made a list of microfiche to look at. Unfortunately after looking at all of the pages, there wasn't anything that helped me. But that's OK. The staff at the library was great. The tables were filled: overfilled in some cases. Can you image all of these librarians willing to help researchers until 11:30 tonight? And I know that some of them worked today also. I would have looked at some books but they had to be requested and brought up from another location. So I decided to come back to the room, sit with my feet up, and catch up on emails, blog reading and then writing this.
NGS 2012 is half over. Tomorrow Elizabeth Shown Mills and Tom Jones are both presenting in the morning. (No not at the same time.) I am trying to decide whether to just purchase the CDs rather than try to crowd into the room. When the chairs are so close together, and all the chairs are filled, it's just so difficult to take notes. AND, if I buy the CDs then I can listen to them over and over.
But I'm going to talk about dinner first. By the way it's sort of a joke in our family that when we travel, we enjoy seeing the sights, the architecture, etc. but we come home and talk about the FOOD. So, for those of you who know Cincinnati, I ate at Arnold's (on the patio, if that's what you call it).
I started out with "Lies and Sins of Omission" by Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens. She was pleased so see so many of us in the room at 8 am. And she was good. We all need to deal with lies, omission and family legend while we are researching. Liz, as she introduced herself, showed that even though we have 4 or 5 documents that all support the same fact, that fact may not be correct. Her example of a man whose records all claimed he was born in New Jersey, and come to find out he was naturalized at about age 23 with his father because he and his father immigrated from Ireland when he (the son) was about 3.
Next session I crowded into a room with a few hundred other people to hear Elizabeth Shown Mills talk on "Indexes! Indexes! Indexes! . . ." She presents her facts so "quietly" I guess you call it. Her syllabus is concise, makes taking notes easy, and then provides us with 2 pages (1 page back to back) with all of the great examples she had provided on her slides. Thank you so much ESM.
The last session of the day I heard Claire Bettag speak on "Assumptions: A Genealogical Slippery Slope." Yes, I am attending quite a few BCG Skillbuilding sessions, but that's what I think I need right now. I wish she had spent a little less time on the actual BCG standards, but the information provided was good.
As a side note, I really don't like to be read to. I don't think that slides should have everything that is printed on the syllabus and that someone should be reading it to me. I think that's overkill. And if the speakers are reading it just so that those who buy a CD have all of the information, then perhaps we, sitting there, shouldn't have everything on our pages. The two sessions that I haven't mentioned specifically still have a page each in the syllabus that will be helpful. Unfortunately, neither speaker even mentioned some of this.
Tonight I went to the Cincinnati-Hamilton County Library. I had made a list of microfiche to look at. Unfortunately after looking at all of the pages, there wasn't anything that helped me. But that's OK. The staff at the library was great. The tables were filled: overfilled in some cases. Can you image all of these librarians willing to help researchers until 11:30 tonight? And I know that some of them worked today also. I would have looked at some books but they had to be requested and brought up from another location. So I decided to come back to the room, sit with my feet up, and catch up on emails, blog reading and then writing this.
NGS 2012 is half over. Tomorrow Elizabeth Shown Mills and Tom Jones are both presenting in the morning. (No not at the same time.) I am trying to decide whether to just purchase the CDs rather than try to crowd into the room. When the chairs are so close together, and all the chairs are filled, it's just so difficult to take notes. AND, if I buy the CDs then I can listen to them over and over.
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