NEWS
Ancestry.com has decided to go public and has filed an IPO this month to raise $75 million , and have expanded their online Jewish family history record collection in collaboration with the American Jewish Historical Society and the Routes to Roots Foundation. They can now offer subscribers online access to more than 200,000 Jewish records.
To search through all the new Jewish record collections and Ancestry.com’s entire Jewish Family History experience visit http://www.ancestry.com/JewishFamilyHistory.
Google is adding three-dimensional images of Europe to Google’s Street View Maps.
MAILBOX:
Emails from Premium Members Valerie Brown & Tina Kelly
Visit the Measuring Worth website which does Retail Price Index and Average Earnings in Pounds Sterling.
Genealogy Conference:
Family History Expo genealogy conference
Sandy Utah, just outside Salt Lake City
August 27 & 28, 2009.
It promises to be a terrific weekend and I’m really looking forward to getting a day in at the Family History Library as well. For more information on the expo go to http://www.familyhistoryexpos.com
GEM: Interview with Joel Weintraub PhD about the Census 72 Year Rule
Many genealogists think the 72 year confidentiality rule for the US Census is based on life expectancy, or that the 72 years is found directly in some law. In reality, this is just not the case. And to give us the background that shatters this myth is Joel Weintraub PhD.
Joel is an emeritus Biology Professor at California State University, Fullerton and has won awards for his science teaching. He became interested in genealogy about 13 years ago, and was a Long time volunteer at the National Archives and Records Administration in Laguna Niguel, California. While there, Joel started transcribing streets within census districts in 2001 to help researchers search the 1930 U.S. Census. He was joined in the venture by David Kehs and Stephen Morse in 2002, and together, they have produced a number of online census searching utilities for both the federal and the New York State censuses on the Stephen Morse One Step Website.
Genealogy Conference:
Family History Expo genealogy conference
Sandy Utah, just outside Salt Lake City
August 27 & 28, 2009.
It promises to be a terrific weekend and I’m really looking forward to getting a day in at the Family History Library as well. For more information on the expo go to http://www.familyhistoryexpos.com
Stop by the Genealogy Gems Podcast booth in the exhibit hall to pick up your free official Genealogy Gems name badge ribbon.
Gem: How to Do Site Searches Beyond Google
Google Site search was the very first gem I ever shared on the podcast.
In this gem I’ve got the scoop on how you can do site searches with Bing, Yahoo and a few other creative options. So no matter where you like to search you can zero in a specific web site.
In the Show Results section, enter the keywords you want to search for.
Under the next heading called Site / Doman click the button for “only search in this domain/site:”
Enter the address for the web site you want to search in the box.
Click the Yahoo Search button.
www.Bing.com
Bing is Microsoft’s new challenger to Google and Yahoo.
How to Do A Site Search with Bing:
Do a regular search on the terms you want to find on the web site you want to search
At the results page, click the link under the right hand corner of the search box that says “advanced.”
There are four tabs across the top of the search box – click “site / domain”
Enter the URL address for the web site you want to search
Click the Add to Search button – Bing will search for those same Keywords only on that site.
How to Do A Quick Site Search on Bing
1. Go to www.Bing.com
2. Type the query you want to search in the search box
3. Press the space bar to create a space
4. Type site:and the website address.
Example Site Search Query: immigration site:genealogygems.tv
You can use this same site: technique with Yahoo.com as well.
Here’s a quick way to do a site search without having to remember how to construct the search using site: feature.
In the first box type the URL address for the website you want to search
Click the SUBMIT button
In the second box type in your key words
Click the Google Search button
GEM: Interview with Jean Wilcox Hibben Jean Wilcox Hibben is a Board-Certified Genealogist, family historian, national speaker, folklorist, and troubadour. Sit back and enjoy my conversation with the Happy Wanderer and Songstress.
California Family History Expo
Fri. & Sat. October 16 & 17, 2009
Redding Convention Center
747 Auditorium Drive, Redding, California 96001
Friday October 16th, 2009. 8 AM to 6 PM
Saturday October 17th, 2009. 8 AM to 6 PM
Lisa will be presenting: Google: A Goldmine of Genealogy Gems Parts 1 Google: A Goldmine of Genealogy Gems Parts 2 Sharing the Joy: Projects that Will Captivate the Non-Genealogists in Your Life Unleash Your Inner Private Eye: Eight Key Strategies for Finding Living Relatives
The Hemet–San Jacinto Genealogical Society One Day Seminar
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Hemet Public Library, Upper Floor, 300 E. Latham Ave. Hemet, California 92543
Time: 8:45am – 3:30pm
Lisa will be presenting Google: A Goldmine of Genealogy Gems Parts 1 & 2 and Suzanne Russo Adams will present several exciting and informative lectures about the Ancestry site.
Cost is $10.00 before October 15th and $15.00 after. Free giveaways and door prizes.
MAILBOX:
Graham Wilkie, from Australia asks where the Google Earth files containing place names are stored on your computer.
Graham follows up with his own answer: “I have now found where the My places file is stored on the hard drive and have now included in my backups. It is stored in “C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application data\Google\Google Earth\myplaces.kml”.
Anne-Marie Eischen writes Lisa about the Google Earth Video Series videos you can create in Google Earth.
From Maria Romano: “Hi Lisa. I continue to love your podcasts!” Maria asks how she might be able to improve the qualtiy of very light or very dark census records downloaded from Ancestry.com.
Lisa has two strategies for dealing with hard to read census images:
1) Download the image to your computer and manipulate it in a basic photo editor software program.
a. Listen to The Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 18 and the segment on “Vehicular Forensics.”
b. Picasa is a free photo editor available from Google.
ISUmom24 posted a note in the Genealogy Gems Message Forum at www.genealogygemspremium.com recently called “Have a Cemetery Record; Can’t Locate Death Certificate!”
Sign in to your Premium Member account on the website and check out her genealogy dilmema under the Getting Startedin Genealogy message board. You’ll need to register to participate in the Message Forum but it’s just a matter or re-entering you email address and a password.
GEM: Homestead Records with Billie Edgington
Billie has a BA in History from University of California Irvine, and over 40 years experience in historical and genealogical research. She is the co-author of “Vital Information from the Guion Miller Roll” and author of “African-Cherokee Connections,” and a past contributor to the “Genealogical Helper.”
Thanks so much to Billie Edgington for being on the show, and if you have an ancestor who homesteaded land, I’m going to be sharing some amazing things that you can do with Google Earth and homestead records in upcoming videos in that Google Earth series, so keep an eye out for that!
Down on the Farm in Harvest Time Sung by Byron Harlan in 1913
Coming soon: The Genealogy Gems Podcast app for iPhone and iTouch
