by Lisa Cooke | Apr 9, 2015 | 01 What's New, Maps, Volunteer
The Beaver Map, 1715. By Special Collections Toronto Public Library. Flickr, via Wikimedia Commons.
Recently I’ve seen two calls for volunteers to help “georeference” old maps. Basically, you’re tagging the maps in a way similar to tagging photos of people on social media sites. This makes finding old maps online easier and more accurate. It also allows sites to overlay the old and new maps. “Some places have changed significantly or disappeared completely, creating a puzzle that reveals an exciting contrast,” explains the British Library.
These two sites are asking for volunteers:
The British Library Online Gallery. The British Library is asking for volunteers to help georeference 50,000 maps it’s put online. Go right to the site and you’ll see the invitation to help on the home page. You’ll also see that you can click on a tab to search maps that are already georeferenced! The British Library tells its volunteers: “Your name will be credited, and your efforts will significantly improve public access to these collections. Contributors can see the results of their work, as well as the progress of the pilot and other participants, and the top contributor will be publicly announced.”
David Rumsey Historical Maps. This mega-maps site is also looking for volunteers to help add locations to its online map collections. On the home page, click on the left where it says Georeferencer: Help Add Location to Maps.
We blog about maps a lot here at Genealogy Gems. To learn more about using old maps online and for genealogy, go to our home page and search on the Maps category on the lower left side of the page. Additionally, Genealogy Gems Premium members have access to full-length video classes like these:
Not a Genealogy Gems Premium member? Click here to become one!
by Lisa Cooke | May 29, 2020 | 01 What's New, Elevenses with Lisa, Preservation |
Live show air date: May 28, 2020
Episode 10 Video and Show Notes
This episode includes an interview with Faruq Tauheed, host of the NBC TV series Roots Less Traveled. Faruq shares what caught his interest about genealogy (as someone with no previous experience) and his favorite stories from the show. Our families are full of folks who have never had an interest in genealogy. And that makes the job of ensuring your genealogy research will be passed down even more difficult. That’s why in this episode we are tackling the subject how to ensure that your research doesn’t end up in a landfill after you’re gone. We will cover tangible things you can do today. Scroll down for all the show notes and details. Then, in our next episode, we’ll discuss ways to get your relatives on your team to preserve the family history.
9:32 Interview with Faruq Tauheed, host of the TV show Roots Less Traveled
29:06 What you must know to save your genealogy research from destruction.
Download the Handout
Show Notes PDF – Genealogy Gems Premium Members can click here to download the show notes PDF for this episode. (Log in required.)
Today’s Teacup: Lyme House mug
Click here to learn more about Lyme, the home that “played the part” of Pemberly, the home of Mr. Darcy in the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice.
Genealogy News
Watch the MyHeritage Facebook free video with Lisa Louise Cooke
Topic: Fabulous Photo Discoveries at MyHeritage
Speaker: Lisa Louise Cooke
Description: Lisa Louise Cooke, founder of the genealogy research website Genealogy Gems, will illustrate the incredible potential of MyHeritage’s Photo Discoveries™ feature.
From You:
Alexis writes:
I am absolutely loving the tea time shows!! Thank you for all of your work and for sharing it with us. I love the pictures and antiques in your office. So inspiring! I hope to have an office like that one day. I wanted to send you this picture of my girls and me having a tea party with you. We had milk and cookies. I don’t usually let the girls use the toy set for real food but I made an exception! The girl’s didn’t listen super well but I try to catch up on the show when I can. Thanks again for doing this!
Interview: Faruq Tauheed, Host of the NBC TV series Roads Less Traveled
Faruq Tauheed is the host of the new NBC series ROOTS LESS TRAVELED. Each week, Faruq leads a new pair of multigenerational family members who bond on a joint quest to learn more about their family history. In partnership with Ancestry, the series will feature relatives as they set out on an adventure to solve mysteries in their family tree. The show is adventurous, educational, inspiring and very often emotional. Faruq is best known as the ring announcer on the uber-popular Discovery Channel series BATTLEBOTS.
Click here to visit the Roots Less Traveled website where you can watch past episodes.
How to Save Your Research from Destruction
From Diana in the video comments at YouTube:
Save your research from destruction? Yes please for a topic. Greatly moved by your words and clip at the end. Even though I am in Australia now, all my family are from the UK and my parents were young kids living outside, or evacuated from, London during the war. Stay brave!
From Julie K in Live Chat:
I’m afraid that if I don’t have paper, my genealogy will get pitched with my laptop when I’m gone.
From Deborah:
That’s my question too – they might not even know that it’s there or want to bother with learning how to use it.
We’re tackling these questions in this week’s episode.
Don’t let your lifetime of genealogy research end up in the landfill! I’m sharing key strategies for securing the future of your research, including designating a “research keeper,” setting up a Genealogy Materials Directive, and making donations with a Deed of Gift. This episode will help you put a plan in place to ensure the survival of your family history.
Getting and Staying Organized
Don’t allow your research materials to become a burden in the future for others or they will be at risk. Research that is piled high and disorganized will look like a candidate for the recycle bin to the non-genealogist. Research that is neatly stored in binders or clearly labeled boxes will demand the respect it deserves.
Physical files
I use 3 ring binders, with custom printed spines and acid-free sheet protectors. Tabs in the binder separate my materials by head of household, mirroring my digital files.
Watch episode 6 on organizing your genealogy paper.
Genealogy Notes
Cloud note-taking services such as Evernote <www.evernote.com> or OneNote provide a way to collect, store and retrieve any type of file (typed, handwritten, clipped from the web, audio recordings, photos and videos). These services use the Internet to synchronize your notes across all of your computing devices. Each has a free version, and there are more robust subscriptions plans available as well.
Watch episode 9 to learn more about using Evernote for genealogy.
Protecting Your Files with Cloud Backup
The final step to organization is ensuring that all of your digital files are backed up automatically. I use and recommend Backblaze <www.backblaze.com/Lisa> and there are other online backup services as well. These services accomplish some critical backup goals: redundant, off site, and automatic (set it and forget it) backup!
Watch episode 7 to learn more about Cloud Backup and organizing your data.
Get it on Paper with a Genealogical Materials Directive
The future is unknown and illnesses can come on unexpectedly. Don’t wait another day to keep your research safe and secure for years to come. Take small steps each day toward ensuring the security of your research.
Create a Genealogical Materials Directive with the help of your family attorney that you include with your will to ensure that your wishes for your research materials will be followed. A directive outlines what you have, what you want done with it after you are gone, and identifies all the people involved in that process. Then give it to your family attorney for any legal modification or addition that he or she may suggest and include the directive with your will.
Click here to download my free Genealogical Materials Directive.
Identifying Your Research’s Keeper
Talk to your relatives and determine who will be willing to care for and distribute your research. They don’t need to be a genealogist. Give them a copy of the Directive so they will be fully informed and prepared to follow through with your wishes.
Preparing Now for Future Donations with a Deed of Gift
Start researching archives and societies to determine which would most benefit and be interested in your materials. Think about locations as well as families. Contact the repositories and make the appropriate arrangements. Then clearly outline those arrangements in your Directive.
Many organizations will have their own forms for donating materials. A Deed of Gift is a formal legal agreement that transfers ownership and legal rights of your research materials to the repository that you are donating them to. It is in everybody’s best interest to state the agreement on paper and make it binding. A Deed of Gift is signed by both the donor and an authorized representative of the repository.
A Deed of Gift may include other issues that are of interest to the repository. Have them all thoroughly explained to you. If you have any questions about the language of the deed of gift, it’s a good idea to check with your attorney.
If you are considering giving your hard-won genealogy research to an archive or library, there are two great brochures available from the Society of American Archivists that can help you through the process.
Donating Your Personal or Family Papers to a Repository: www2.archivists.org/publications/brochures/donating-familyrecs
A Guide to Deed of Gift: www2.archivists.org/publications/brochures/deeds-of-gift
Society of American Archivists
17 North State Street, Suite 1425, Chicago, IL 60602-3315
Telephone: 312/606-0722
Email: [email protected]
FamilySearch’s Gifts Donations and Loans Guidelines
For more information call: 1-866-406-1830
Final Thoughts
Share this image with your friends on social media.
Resources
Show Notes PDF – Genealogy Gems Premium Members can click here to download the show notes PDF for this episode. (Log in required.)
Please Leave a Comment Below
Please leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts on the the following questions:
- Have you implemented any of the ideas shared in this episode?
- What do you think the biggest obstacles are in passing down the family history you have assembled?
- Do you have a question about saving your research from destruction and gaining support from your family?
by Lisa Cooke | Jul 2, 2012 | NARA
Press Release from the National Archives:
Barry Landau Sentenced to 7 Years for Thefts From National Archives, Other Institutions
Washington, DC . . . U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake yesterday sentenced Barry H. Landau to seven years in prison, and three years of supervised release, for conspiracy and theft of historical documents from cultural institutions in four states, including the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library in Hyde Park, New York.
The items stolen from the Roosevelt Library, which is part of the National Archives and Records Administration, were seven “reading copies” of speeches that Roosevelt delivered. They contained his edits and handwritten additions, along with his signature. They have all been recovered.
Landau’s co-conspirator, Jason Savedoff, will be sentenced at a later date.
Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero said he was pleased that Judge Blake “recognized the seriousness of this crime and meted out an appropriate punishment that will serve as a warning to others who may contemplate stealing our nation’s history.”
“There is a very special bond that forms between researchers and research institutions. It’s kind of like an insider’s club. We speak the same language, share the same interests, explore the same minute details of historical knowledge that will eventually fill in the fabric of our shared history as a nation,” the Archivist added.
“When a researcher turns out to be a thief and steals the documents that are the very underpinnings of our democracy, our trust and respect for the community is shaken. Barry Landau is just that thief. Dressed in the guise of a scholar, he ingratiated himself with our staff and stole priceless documents from the Franklin Roosevelt Library. In essence he robbed from all of us—our collective history. And he did far worse damage to numerous other research institutions around the country.”
The Archivist said that because of incidents such as those involving Landau, the National Archives and other research institutions around the world have become more vigilant over the last few decades. They have instituted a number of measures aimed at preventing theft, such as closed-circuit cameras, clean research room rules, exit searches, and increased staff surveillance.
“When a theft does occur, we rely on the Office of the Inspector General and the Justice Department to build a case and bring the perpetrator to justice,” he added. “I want to thank them for their hard work.”
Lynn Bassanese, Acting Director of the Roosevelt Library, recalled that when Roosevelt dedicated his library on June 30, 1941, he declared it an “act of faith” in the American people.
“Barry Landau and Jason Savedoff violated that faith by taking advantage of the trust and confidence that the Roosevelt Library’s staff has for its researchers,” she said.”With the successful return of the stolen documents, the Roosevelt Library renews its commitment to protect and preserve the records of the Roosevelt Presidency and to make them accessible to the American people for generations to come.”
According to Landau’s plea agreement, the “reading copies” of Roosevelt’s speeches were stolen when he and Savedoff visited the Roosevelt Library on December 2, 2010.
“Reading copies” are the actual copies of the speeches from which the President read. They contain edits and handwritten additions made by him and bear his signature.
Four of these “reading copies” of speeches were sold by Landau on December 20, 2010, to a collector for $35,000. Three other “reading copies” of inaugural addresses delivered by Roosevelt, valued at more than $100,000 each, were recovered from Landau’s apartment in New York City during court-authorized searches, including the water-stained reading copy of the inaugural address Roosevelt delivered in a steady rain in 1937.
Judge Blake also ordered Landau to pay restitution totaling $46,525 to three dealers who purchased the stolen documents from Landau, not knowing they were stolen. She also ordered Landau to forfeit all the documents recovered during searches of his New York apartment.
The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent Federal agency that preserves and shares with the public records that trace the story of our nation, government, and the American people.
by Lisa Cooke | Oct 5, 2015 | 01 What's New, British, History, images, Libraries, Military, Records & databases
Recently I heard about a slew of WWII documents at The National Archives [U.K.], some newly available online. Look closely at the descriptions: they have holdings of records of non-British forces, too!
Battle of Britain air observer. Wikipedia Commons image. Click to view.
Recently The National Archives [UK] promoted some of the WWII documents in its vaults, in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Below are resources and collections they’ve highlighted.
The National Archives’ guide to researching WWII. This is an overview to researching British government and military records of WWII.
Guide to Royal Air Force Service Records. Use this overview to see what records are available at The National Archives, and learn about related records that have been digitized and indexed at Findmypast.
Royal Air Force combat reports. These are “official reports which pilots or air gunners filed after they had encountered enemy aircraft on operational flights,” says a description on the site. “The reports cover action seen by the squadrons, wings and groups serving with Fighter Command, Bomber Command, Coastal Command and the Fleet Air Arm. Now held at The National Archives in series AIR 50, they include Commonwealth, United States Army Air Force and Allied units based in the United Kingdom during the Second World War.”
Royal Air Force operations record books for squadrons. “Most of them date from the Second World War but there are some from the 1920s and 1930s and a few from the First World War,” says the site. “The ORBs, in series AIR 27, were created to provide a complete record of a unit from the time of its formation. Each book includes an accurate record of operations carried out by the unit. This online collection also includes some operations record books for dominion and Allied Air Force squadrons under British Command.” Part of the series is viewable online.
More Exciting WWII Resources from Genealogy Gems:
10 Maps for Family History at David Rumsey Map Collection
The Ghost Army of WWII Author Interview in the free Genealogy Gems podcast episode 182
The Bombing of London in WWII: Interactive Map of The Blitz
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