Wood County, Texas Genealogical Society Bulletin » Tips

Keeping Up-to-date Keeps Us From Falling Behind

netexas — Thu, 17 May 2012 23:10:55 +0000

Keeping up with the world of online genealogy sometimes pays off with gems of common sense such as this by Genealogy and technology blogger James Tanner:

What I am saying is that genealogy, as it is today, is a technologically sophisticated pursuit that requires some pretty technological tools. If you are going to survive in the genealogy world today, you need a set of computer skills and part of that set of skills is the ability to keep your tools (computers and software) up-to-date.

Writing on his blog, Genealogy’s Star, Tanner was talking in general about when to upgrade and buy new computer hardware, but his observation on the skills and tools has certainly become more and more true. You can read his entire blog article at this link: http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2012/05/anticipating-market-when-do-i-buy-new.html.

Indeed, as he suggests, we have to be prudent in spending on this hobby (avocation, addiction?), but it costs little or nothing to bring our computer skills up to date.

Tagged: Tanner, Technology

1940 Census Helps From April Meeting

netexas — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:39:08 +0000

Genealogy award-winning writer, professional researcher and experienced lecturer, Lisa McKinney, of Edgewood enlightened members of the Wood County Genealogical Society with background, hints, and tips about the 1940 census at the April society meeting.

The census gives us a look at conditions resulting from the Great Depression of the 20th Century by providing more data on American life ever collected before that time. One of the most useful features is the question of where the family was living in 1935 indicating migrations of the 1930s, the dark years of the world’s economy. Another unique feature was that of Hobo Night in which transients were censused in places like hotels, hospitals, etc.

Also unique was the fact that this is the first census which will be all digital and not searched on long rolls of microfilm.

The biggest downside is that the census was released without an index. Numerous online outlets are working to index the all the states and data, but estimates are that it could take at least until the end of the year 2012. In the meantime, people will have to search page by page to find their relatives unless they use finding aids such as those at stevemorse.org.

Once in the census, researchers are urged to look at all data which includes such items as street and house numbers, residence, and occupation. Sometimes margin notes also give additional information. Also, skip pages at the end of an enumeration district include those missed on the main walks up and own streets and the transient individuals.

Tagged: 1930 Census, McKinney, stevemorse.org

FREE SSDI Search

netexas — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:14:39 +0000

More good stuff from Mocavo.com with this FREE Security Death Index (SSDI) search. While others have taken down their SSDI search or hidden it behind a pay wall, Mocavo comes through with this for the rest of us at http://www.mocavo.com/records/ssdi.

Tagged: Mocavo.com, SSDI

An Online (and FREE) Genealogy Searching Aid

netexas — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:26:57 +0000

Mocavo.com offers halp with your online searches while you are sleeping, reading, or just off having a good time. This picture

Mocavo Search Results Example

is part of an email displaying results of a research request entered into mocavo (after the Free signup for a Mocavo account). The results are compiled while you are doing other things (on the computer or off) and sent to your email address. Clicking on the link takes you to a page where you can go to each item found and see if it helpful in your research. Since Mocavo adds new places to search on a regular basis, the search will be repeated in the future and sent to you. This is a great feature of this search engine/service.

Tagged: Mocavo.com

Germans Top Ancestral Groups

netexas — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 16:28:05 +0000

What is the top self-described ancestral descendancy of Americans in the Census Bureau’s 2010 American Community Survey? It’s those Europeans from Germany according to compilation of data for a report today of Bloomberg News at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-06/u-s-ethnic-mix-boasts-german-accent-amid-surge-of-hispanics.html.

Information from the report included these results:
German, 49.8 million
African-American, 37.7 million
Irish, 35.8 million
Mexican, 31.8 million
English, 27.4 million
Italian, 17.6 million
Asian, 14.7 million

The report did not have full results of all European ancestry (specifying only three other countries: England, Ireland, and Italy) nor for all Hispanic ancestry (listing only Mexico). There was also no breakdown of African-American or Asian ancestral groups.

Tagged: Ancestry

Useful Cheat Sheets

netexas — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:39:35 +0000

Hi,

The following link is for cheat sheets for all kinds of computer use. Especially useful is the Google search cheat sheet.

I thought you’d like this:
Click here

MakeUseOf Cheat Sheets

Tagged: Computer Tips

Not On The Census?

netexas — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:36:33 +0000

Yet another reason you might not find your ancestor on a specific census is pointed out by the Ancestry Insider in its latest blog article: Darned Missing Census Pages.

The Insider points out that NARA “missed the pages” when filming the census on which the Ancestry.com census is based. Going back to the original microfilm (while it’s still available) is the only recourse.

You can get full details of the Insider’s observation at one of the links to that blog which are highlighted in the text above.

Tagged: Ancestry Insider, census, Virginia

Obituary Documentation

netexas — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 23:28:14 +0000

When citing an obituary for your research or when fulfilling a research request from another person, the source and date lends credibility to the obituary or information from it which you present. It is particularly important to note the name of the publication and the date of publication. When preparing obituaries to go into a collection such as the one in the Wood County Texas Genealogical Society research room, it is important to add the publication name and date to the clipping.

Tagged: Obituaries

National Family History Month Ideas, Resources

netexas — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:52:01 +0000

From the newsletter of the National Genealogical Society comes these tips and ideas. You can subscribe to this newsletter at this link: http://upfront.ngsgenealogy.org/. When you arrive at the linked page, scroll down near the bottom of the page to the narrow left hand column for chances to subscribe by email or by RSS reader.

UPFRONT WITH NGS
The Blog of the National Genealogical Society
10 OCTOBER 2011
October is Family History Month! Let’s Celebrate …
Special events and activities abound. Do check out if your local society, library, archive, etc have any special events planned!

Some of what has crossed our desk includes:
o Kimberly Powell, About.com talks about how you might celebrate Family History Month
o Family Tree Magazine is offering some Free Webinars:
o Start Writing Your Life Stories with Sunny Jane Morton, author of the book My Life & Times: A Guided Journal For Collecting Your Stories, takes place Thursday, Oct. 13 at 1 pm Eastern Time (noon CT, 11 am MT, 10 am PT). Click here to sign up for this webinar.
o Be a Family History Detective: Secrets to Starting Your Genealogy, with Desmond Walls Allen, author of the book Family History Detective, is scheduled for Oct. 26 at1 pm Eastern Time (noon CT, 11 am MT, 10 am PT). Click here to sign up.
o The State Library of North Carolina has created a page with many tips and great resources for either starting or pursuing your Family History

What is happening in your community or state? Please let us know!
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copyright © National Genealogical Society, 3108 Columbia Pike, Suite 300, Arlington, Virginia 22204-4370. http://www.ngsgenealogy.org.
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Republication of UpFront articles is permitted and encouraged for non-commercial purposes without express permission from NGS.

Tagged: Allen, Family Tree Magazine, Morton, National Genealogical Society, Powell

Google News Archive – Gone for Good?

netexas — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:53:17 +0000

Reprinted with permission from the NGS Weekly, 23 September, 2011

If last month you were following the news about Google +, Google Maps and many of the other Google services and their latest and greatest features, the bit of news about the final chapter of the Google News Archives may have escaped your notice.

Read what Kimberly Powell (About.com) had to say about this (18 August 2011) … “I was not a happy camper last night when I went to the main Google News Archive page, previously available at http://news.google.com/archivesearch, only to find it redirecting to the main Google page. Today Google News Archive is still redirecting, although it takes you to the Advanced News Search page. Does this mean Google News Archive is gone for good?

“Read the full article to see what Kimberly learned….

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copyright © National Genealogical Society, 3108 Columbia Pike, Suite 300, Arlington, Virginia 22204-4370. http://www.ngsgenealogy.org.
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Tagged: National Genealogical Society, Powell