British Library and brightsolid Partnership to Digitise up to 40 Million Pages of Historic Newspapers

British Library and brightsolid partnership to digitise up to 40 million pages of historic newspapers

• Mass digitisation to make millions of newspaper pages available online and in the Library’s reading rooms
• Innovative deal will help safeguard the future of the world’s greatest newspaper archive

The British Library’s Chief Executive, Dame Lynne Brindley, will today announce a major new partnership between the Library and online publisher brightsolid, owner of online brands including findmypast.co.uk and Friends Reunited. The ten-year agreement will deliver the most significant mass digitisation of newspapers the UK has ever seen: up to 40 million historic pages from the national newspaper collection will be digitised, making large parts of this unparalleled resource available online for the first time.

Spanning three centuries and including 52,000 local, regional, national and international titles, the British Library holds one of the world’s finest collections of newspapers. Each year the Newspaper Library at Colindale is used by 30,000 researchers in subjects ranging from family history and genealogy to sports statistics, politics and industrial history. This vast resource is held mainly in hard copy and microfilm, necessitating a trip to the north London site for people wishing to use the collection.

The partnership between the British Library and brightsolid will enable the digitisation of a minimum of 4 million pages of newspapers over the first two years. Over the course of ten years, the agreement aims to deliver up to 40 million pages as the mass digitisation process becomes progressively more efficient and as in-copyright content is scanned following negotiation with rightsholders.

Delivering the keynote speech at the Westminster eForum this morning (Wednesday 19 May), Dame Lynne Brindley outlined how the partnership will transform access to this vital part of the national memory.

“I am delighted to announce the British Library’s partnership with brightsolid to embark upon the most significant programme of newspaper digitisation this country has ever seen,” said Dame Lynne. “Historic newspapers are an invaluable resource for historians, researchers, genealogists, students and many others, bringing past events and people to life with great immediacy and in rich detail. Mass digitisation unlocks the riches of our newspaper collections by making them available online to users across the UK and around the world; by making these pages fully searchable we will transform a research process which previously relied on scrolling through page after page of microfilm or print. brightsolid have an excellent track record of digitising archive materials and making them available to new audiences – I look forward to announcing the web service resulting from this partnership, which will launch and then steadily grow from next year.”

Digitised material will include extensive coverage of local, regional and national press across three and a half centuries. It will focus on specific geographic areas, along with periods such as the census years between 1841 and 1911. Additional categories will be developed looking at key events and themes such as the Crimean War, the Boer War and the suffragette movement. The aim will be to build a ‘critical mass’ of material for researchers – particularly in the fields of family history and genealogy.

brightsolid, a subsidiary of Dundee-based publisher DC Thomson, was selected following an EU procurement process. brightsolid has previously delivered the highly successful 1911census.co.uk project in partnership with The National Archives (TNA) and owns the leading family history resources findmypast.co.uk and genesreunited.co.uk. brightsolid is taking on the commercial and technical risks of the project, with no direct costs to the British Library. The firm will digitise content from the British Library Newspaper Library, which it will then make available online via a paid-for website as well as integrating it into its family history websites.

This resource will be available for free to users on-site at the British Library and copies of all scanned materials will be deposited with the Library to be held in the national collection in perpetuity.

Chris van der Kuyl, Chief Executive of brightsolid, said: “We’re delighted to be working with the British Library on such an exciting project. Digitisation will mean that those people who haven’t previously been able to access the physical resource will now be able to access it from anywhere at any time. In particular it is an important resource for the genealogy community, which we are closely involved with through our brands findmypast.co.uk and genesreunited.co.uk, helping them to bring to life how their ancestors lived. It will also offer a unique insight into major events and key periods of historical interest.

“We’re also closely linked to the publishing community through our parent company, DC Thomson and we very much see this project as a collaboration with the industry. In fact we are already in dialogue with some rightsholders and expect this to continue throughout the project. As a business, our core strength is in building innovative online businesses around people and places, and this project fits perfectly within our expertise. We are looking forward to working with the British Library on this project and developing this hugely important online resource.”

Along with out-of-copyright material from the newspaper archive – defined in this context as pre-1900 newspaper material – the partnership will also seek to digitise a range of in-copyright material, with the agreement of the relevant rightsholders. This copyright material will, with the express permission of the publishers, be made available via the online resource – providing fuller coverage for users and a much-needed revenue stream for the rightsholders.

David Fordham, President of the Newspaper Society said: “This initiative is a hugely significant and exciting development which will unlock many of the great newspaper treasures that lie within the millions of pages in the British Library Newspaper archive at Colindale. It represents a particularly exciting opportunity for regional newspapers which have a long and rich heritage and capture changing times in local and regional areas across the centuries. I look forward to watching the project develop and hope that it makes a major contribution to the industry.”

The successful appointment of brightsolid as its newspaper digitisation partner will help the British Library to fulfil its strategic goals of long-term preservation of and access to the national newspaper collection. The Library’s newspaper strategy aims to secure the future of this unique resource by moving the hard-copy collections from the current building at Colindale to a purpose-built storage facility in Boston Spa, West Yorkshire. Access to the collection will be provided via microfilm and digital copies made available at the Library’s main site at St Pancras.

“The success of our 19th Century British Library Newspapers website demonstrated the public’s huge appetite for digitised historic newspaper content,” added Dame Lynne. “Our new partnership with brightsolid will enable us to deliver a huge increase in the amount of digitised material available – transforming access and searchability for users on and off-site and reducing wear-and-tear on our often fragile collection items. It will help the newspaper collection to remain relevant for a new generation of researchers, more used to accessing research information via their laptop than travelling to a physical location.”

She concluded: “The British Library’s newspaper archive is one of the world’s great newspaper collections. Through this partnership with brightsolid we will make millions more pages accessible – and to many more people.”

Eight More Washington State Newspapers Added to the Library of Congress' Chronicling America Webste

From the Washington State Library blog:

On Friday, December 18, more than 42,000 historic newspaper pages from 8 Washington newspapers were contributed by the Washington State Library to the Chronicling America web site, hosted by the Library of Congress...More pages from other newspapers around Washington State will be periodically uploaded throughout 2010 as part of WSL’s National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) grant.  Pages will also be loaded locally and included in the WSL’s existing Historic Newspapers in Washington collection.

Representation from Washington State Newspapers:

• Colfax Gazette 1900-1912
• Colville Examiner 1907-1922
• Commonwealth 1911-1914
• Leavenworth Echo 1904-1922
• Pullman Herald 1888-1893; 1907-1922
• Ranch 1902-1914
• Seattle Republican 1903-1913
• Washington Farmer 06-15-1914

I lived for five years in Colville, when I first moved to Washington State, and the newspaper now is called the Statesman-Examiner, after an obvious merge. I'm excited to see this collection, as I have an ancestor's brother that lived in this county in the early part of the 20th century, as well as a niece whose birth father's ancestors were pioneers in the area.If you have Washington State ancestors, you'll definitely want to check out these FREE resources!

News from the Washington State Library: Vashon Island Heritage Digital Collection

From the Washington State Library's blog:


NEW DIGITAL COLLECTION – VASHON ISLAND HERITAGE

The Washington Rural Heritage initiative is pleased to announce the publication of our latest collection, Vashon Island Heritage, www.washingtonruralheritage.org/vashon. A project of the Vashon Library (King County Library System) and the Vashon-Maury Island Heritage Association, the collection documents life on the island from the late 1800s through the 1960s.


Read more about the project, and quickly link to some of our favorite items, on the WSL blog: www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/vashon.

Seven new digital collections are currently slated for publication in 2010, and a new Washington Rural Heritage grant cycle will be announced this spring. To learn more about participation in the initiative, contact Evan Robb, Project Manager, evan.robb@sos.wa.gov (360) 704-5228, or visit www.sos.wa.gov/quicklinks/WRH.

DAR Databases Now Online

From the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution:

After nearly a decade of scanning, indexing, and other behind-the-scenes work by DAR members and employees, the Daughters of the American Revolution is pleased to announce the availability of the DAR Genealogical Research System on our public website. Here are the direct links:

http://www.dar.org/library/online_research.cfm or www.dar.org (and click on the Library button at the top, then the second tab in the left-hand column).

The GRS is a growing collection of databases that provide access to many materials collected by the DAR over the past 119 years. Included in this collection of databases is the GRC National Index which has been available to researchers for the past few years. There are still some kinks we’re working out here and there.

When you go to the link above, you will find several tabs that will enable searching in the various databases:

Ancestor – established DAR Revolutionary War Ancestors and basic information about them with listings of the applications submitted by descendants who joined the DAR [updated daily]

Member – limited access to information on deceased/former DAR members – not current members.

Descendants – index of generations in applications between the DAR member and the Revolutionary War ancestor. There is much eighteenth and nineteenth-century information here. [ongoing indexing project]

GRC – everyname index to 20,000 typescript volumes (some still being indexed) of genealogical records such as cemeteries, Bibles, etc. This index is not limited to the period of the American Revolution at all.

Resources [In particular, the digitized DAR Library Revolutionary Pension Extract Card Index and the Analytical Index Cards. Other information sources will be coming in the near future, mostly relating to Revolutionary War service, bibliographies, Forgotten Patriots (updates), etc. Read the introductions to these to learn why these are both important genealogical indexes. For example, the Rev. War pension index includes the names of people mentioned in those pensions that were abstracted (not just the pensioner or widow)!!!!]

Library Catalog – our book, periodical, and manuscript holdings

Each of these has interrelated content, and a description of each is given more fully on the website. You will notice restricted information in many search results. This is the result of a concerted effort to protect the identity of our members while providing historical genealogical information to researchers.

The national numbers of members (without the names of living members) given in the search results are needed to order copies of applications and supplemental applications. They do not lead online researchers to any other information about the member.

P.S. Randy Seaver has written a wonderful tutorial on using these databases on his genealogy blog, Genea-Musings.

Digital Updates to the Washington State Library

From the Washington State Library Blog:

Digital Updates

Historical Newspapers in Washington – 1 new title.

The years 1861-1864 have been added to the Puget Sound Herald in Historical Newspapers in Washington online project, which now covers six years of Steilacoom pioneer news, from 1858 to 1864.

Classics in Washington History

We have added a new category – 20th Century Events – to our Classics in Washington History. This category currently contains the Works Progress Administration Papers and, new to the collection, papers by the War Relocation Authority on the Japanese Internment :

The Community Analysis Report concerns how authorities should “deal” with the Japanese and Japanese American people they have incarcerated through an understanding of their customs and cultural background. Causes of social unrest, segregation, education, Buddhism and labor relations are topics covered within these papers.

The Community Analysis Notes “reveal the life experience and viewpoints” of the incarcerated Nisei. Why did many young men say “no” to two questions on the Army registration form? How did the Japanese deal with engagement and marriage in the camps? How did it differ from pre-internment days? How did they adjust to life in the camps?

The Project Analysis Series analyzes various events that occurred during the relocation project. What happened at Tule Lake in November 1943? Why did it happen? What was the reaction to opening Selective Service to Nisei? What are the motives behind Nisei requesting repatriation?

Other additions to Classics in Washington History are :

Reminiscences of Washington Territory by Charles Prosch

The editor of the Puget Sound Herald, Charles Prosch, recounts his memories and opinions feely on such subjects as newspapers, the army, churches, and doctors in the early days of Washington Territory.

Seattle General Strike

Account of the Seattle general strike from the point of view of the unions, written by the History Committee of the General Strike Committee.

F. A. Chenoweth letter to Gov. McMullin

This Letter to Gov. McMullin from F. A. Chenoweth, a justice on the Territorial Supreme Court, concerns his role in and opinions on the controversy over the proclamation of martial law by the previous governor, Isaac I. Stevens. He outlines his disagreements with Stevens and explains his actions during the events and his disapproval of the arrest of Judge Landers.

Oregon: the claim of the United States to Oregon

This small book contains the diplomatic correspondence between the U.S. and England regarding the claim of America to the Oregon Territory. These arguments and counter-arguments were part of the negotiations leading to the Treaty of 1846 and the establishment of the border between the U.S. and what is now Canada.

The Whitman Massacre of November 29, 1847 provides a painful window into a time of conflicting cultures, priorities and prejudices. The State Library has added two works to the Digital Collections that further illuminate this painful event.

Authentic account of the murder of Dr. Whitman and other missionaries by Fr. J.B.A. Brouillet

For decades after the tragedy at the Whitman Mission, writers, preachers and others sought to place blame for the event itself and for the underlying causes. Resentments against the Hudson’s Bay Company and religious prejudices often colored narratives, and led to charges of cowardice or malice.

One viewpoint comes from Fr. Brouillet, the Catholic priest who first discovered the massacre and helped to bury the dead. His brief book, published in 1869, attempts to refute Rev. Henry Spalding’s accusations that the Catholics fomented resentments against the Whitmans among the Indians. He does this by gathering statements and letters from people present in the territory at the time and involved in the events, and by trying to analyze the underlying causes. See an Authentic account of the murder of Dr. Whitman and other missionaries in Classics in Washington History.

Journey across the plains in 1836 by Narcissa Whitman

This work contains three separate sets of letters from Narcissa Whitman to her friends and relatives, both back east and in the Oregon Territory. The collections include several letters from Marcus Whitman as well. The letters were published as part of the proceedings of the Oregon Pioneer Association, and the speeches and committee reports of the Association are also included, as is a separate essay on “The Schooner ‘Star’”.

The letters reveal a woman who is determined to live up to her religious ideals. She accepts the loss of home and her extended family. She accepts her husband’s frequent absences and the physical hardships of frontier living. Yet, she continually begs her family to write more often, and is without any letters from home for two years due to long distances. She is never quite at home with the Indians and has difficulty learning the language. There are hints in her narratives about the tensions among the missionaries and the discouragement when few others arrive to join the mission effort. The letters, though relentlessly optimistic, create a portrait of an intensely social and conventional woman laboring in isolation and surrounded by a culture that remains foreign to her.

FamilySearch News: 25,000 Historical Titles Now Free Online

FamilySearch Digital Preservation Initiative Hits a Milestone

Salt Lake City, Utah—FamilySearch International reached a milestone today with the digitization of its 25,000th publication online. It began the initiative in 2007 and is ramping up to do even more—and faster. The effort targets published family, society, county, and town histories, as well as numerous other historical publications that are digitally preserved and made accessible for free online. The digital publications can be searched at www.FamilySearch.org (Go to FamilySearch.org, then click Search Records, then click Historical Books).

The 25,000th digitized publication was A History of Lewis County, in the State of New York, from the Beginning of Its Settlement to the Present Time by Franklin B. Hough. The book was published in 1860. The lengths of titles digitized to date vary in length, but the average is about 350 pages. There are even publications in Spanish, German, French, and Russian.

FamilySearch has nearly a million publications in its famous Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and there are millions of similar publications elsewhere in the United States. “The problem with the collection [of out-of-print titles] is limited access,” said Ransom Love, FamilySearch senior vice president of Strategic Relations. “To view the publications, patrons have to travel to Salt Lake City or one of FamilySearch’s affiliate libraries. If you are lucky, you might be able to order a microfilm copy, but then you have to wait for it to arrive at your local family history center. And there’s the inconvenience of having to read it on a film reader,” added Love.

FamilySearch aims to change all of that. Working with volunteers and select affiliate libraries, it plans to create the largest digital collection of published histories on the Web. It is targeting a wide range of historical publications—for example, users might be pleasantly surprised to find digital copies of Hawaii Sugar Planters Association Filipino Laborer files (1909-1949), medieval family history resource titles, and oral history abstracts (mostly from Hawaii), and numerous gazetteers.

“These are publications that were usually limited in the number originally printed and therefore only accessible in a few libraries or special collections worldwide. Yet there can be some great information of genealogical significance in the publications that only a few people would have access to prior to now,” said Love.

Through its Records Access Program, FamilySearch is digitally preserving a copy of the publications and making them available online for the masses. Once digitized, the collections have "every word" search capability, which allows users to search by name, location, date, or other fields across the collection. The search results are then linked to high quality digital images of the original publication.

FamilySearch is not stopping with its own collection either. Over the past year, it announced that it is also helping to digitize and publish collections from the Brigham Young University Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University—Hawaii Joseph F. Smith Library, Allen County Public Library (ACPL) in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Houston Public Library, in Houston, Texas, and Mid-Continent Public Library Midwest Genealogy Center in Independence, Missouri. When all is said and done, there will be over a million publications in the digital collection online. It will be the largest free resource of its kind.

Hello to EWGS from the Family History Library

Hello, EWGS friends! Three of us, Cecily Kelly, Pat Bayonne-Johnson and me send you greetings from a whiteout-snowy Salt Lake City. The Family History Library is just as wonderful as ever and we've had a wonderful research week with the Salt Lake Christmas Tour. Best tip I've learned: click to the new FamilySearchWiki for all kinds of new help. Remember all the old Reference Guides and Resource Guides?? All of them were the foundation for the new wiki and information and links are being added daily to make this a "wunnerful" resource. Do check it out...and contribute. Currently, it's a work-in-progress and they ask help from all of us. But check out what is already there. We'll be back with you tomorrow; will see you all in 2009.

--Donna Potter Phillips

What you missed November 2008 Internet Class

The Internet education class scheduled for November 15, 2008 was postponed one week due to the sudden death of Gary Taylor, the EWGS treasurer.

Juanita McBride was the instructor for a class on PERSI and NUCMC. PERSI is short for PERiodical Source Index and is done by the Allen County Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
Juanita started out by showing the book form of PERSI which was the original way to use PERSI. Later on they put PERSI on a CD and that is where I first used it. PERSI is available from the library in their Searchable Databases under Heritage Quest, and can be searched either at the library or for Spokane City residents you can access those databases from your home computer using your library card number. Ancestry also has PERSI. PERSI is divided into four sections:

• Surname
• Locality
• Methodology
• Bibliography

Surname and Locality are self-explanatory; Methodology lets you search for articles on search methods. The last section is Bibliography and that lists all the periodicals in the Allen County library. It includes the EWGS Bulletin.

If you find an article you are interested in, Allen County Library has an order form for copies. They charge $7.50 plus 20 cents a page for the copies. That form is with the online database here. Be sure to check our own library for the periodical, since EWGS has a large collection of periodicals and the article you are looking for may be in that collection.

Dolly Webb brought an interlibrary loan form and said she had used it for items she had found in PERSI and using interlibrary loan is free. My suggestion is you can also send to whoever authored the periodical for a copy. I have received queries for copies of articles from the EWGS Bulletin that people found using PERSI.

The second part of Juanita's class was on NUCMC (pronounced "nuckmuck") or the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections, which was created by the Library of Congress in 1959 and contains records about materials in public, university and special libraries throughout the United States.

From 1959 to 1993, NUCMC was published in printed form. These books are in our genealogy collection at the library. The online version covers only records added after 1986 to the present.

To access it you need an internet connection, and then click here. It brings up a screen with three columns: clicking on "search OCLC catalog" brings up Questions on Searching; or Simple or Advanced search. Juanita suggested a simple search for Ohio Quakers, and it brought up several pages of hits. Clicking on one allows you to find out more detailed information on whatever you are interested in. I do not have any Ohio ancestors so I tried Massachusetts Quakers and several pages of hits came up. NUCMC is a real unused resource.

UPDATE: If you would like a copy of Juanita's syllabus, please e-mail Miriam Robbins Midkiff.

Photos Added to Tri-Cities Genealogical Society's Website

Recently the Tri-City (Washington) Genealogical Society added a significant information about photos of people or the Tri-Cities area (Richland and Kennewick in Benton County; Pasco in Franklin County) to their website. Check out the new and newly expanded offerings:

• The Hanford Site Historical Photo Gallery contains photos about the Hanford site supplied by the US Department of Energy.
• The Richland Police History and Photo Gallery contains a history and photos for the Richland Police Department. The page is very long and because of the pictures loads slowly even over DSL connections. Please be patient.
• The Marlin's Photo Indexing Project being done by TCGS now contains over 29,000 names tied to photos from 1952 through 1974. This list includes over 15,000 unique names.

2009 and 2010 Computer Class Schedules

Eastern Washington Genealogical Society announces its 2009 and 2010 computer class schedules. These classes are free for EWGS members, and are held in the Gates Computer Lab on the second floor of the downtown branch of Spokane Public Library. There are two sessions for most classes: a 10:15 - 11:15 AM session and a 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM session. Occasionally, there will be two different classes held the same day; one at the earlier time and one at the later time. There are no classes held in December, due to the holidays. Due to high demand, some classes are repeated the following year.

Our computer classes are a part of our society's education programs, and are designed to help our members learn how to use popular genealogy subscription and free-for-use websites, find online resources for specific ethnic and cultural backgrounds, improve skills in using digital and technological tools targeted specifically for family historians, and network with other researchers using the Internet. If you are looking to learn or improve general computer or Internet-surfing skills, the Spokane Public Library offers free hands-on classes to the public for beginners.

If you would like to become a member of EWGS, please go to our website here and download the membership application. To register for these classes, please e-mail me and let me know your time preference.

2009 Computer Classes:

Jan 17 - Using Google/Boolean Searches to Find Your Ancestors - Barbara Brazington

Feb 21 - Using Online Mailing Lists to Find Your Ancestors - Miriam Robbins Midkiff

Mar 21 - Using the Internet to Research Disasters that Affected Your Ancestors - Bette Butcher Topp

Apr 18 - Learning Computer & Keyboard Shortcuts to Improve Your Online Research Skills - Ruby Simonson McNeill

May 16 - Using Online Historical Newspapers to Find Your Ancestors - Karen Kramer Struve

Jun 20 - Honoring Your WWII Ancestors - Carol Nettles

Jul 18 - Using FamilySearchIndexing.org to Find Your Ancestors & Help Other Researchers - Donna Potter Phillips

Aug 15 - Finding Your Ancestors in Online Census Records - Barbara Brazington

Sep 19 - no class will be held, due to the Washington State Genealogical Society's state conference being held in Spokane the previous weekend

Oct 17 - Using Podcasts to Increase Your Genealogical Knowledge - Miriam Robbins Midkiff

Nov 21 - Finding Your Swedish Ancestors Online (10:15 - 11:15 AM only) - presenter to be announced AND Finding Your Norwegian Ancestors Online (11:30 AM - 12:30 PM only) - Barbara Brazington


2010 Computer Classes:

Jan 16 - Using Google/Boolean Searches to Find Your Ancestors - Barbara Brazington

Feb 20 - Using Online Message Boards to Find Your Ancestors - Miriam Robbins Midkiff

Mar 20 - Using the National Archives (NARA) Website to Find Your Ancestors - Barbara Brazington

Apr 17 - Finding Your German Ancestors Online - Cecily Kelly

May 15 - Using Online Family Tree Websites to Connect and Find Relatives - Miriam Robbins Midkiff

Jun 19 - Finding Your Ancestors in Online Land Records - Bill Hire

Jul 17 - Finding Your Dutch Ancestors Online (10:15 - 11:15 AM only) - Miriam Robbins Midkiff AND Finding Your French Ancestors Online (11:30 AM - 12:30 PM only) presenter to be announced

Aug 21 - Using & Comparing Online Photo Albums to Share Your Family History - presenter to be announced

Sep 18 - Using Animap Software to Locate Your Ancestors' Locations - John Fisher

Oct 16 - Using FamilySearch.org to Find Your Ancestors - Donna Potter Phillips

Nov 20 - Finding Your Ancestors in Online Vital Records and Obituary Websites - Miriam Robbins Midkiff

What You Missed: The August 2008 Computer Class

"WorldVitalRecords.com" was the topic of the August 2008 EWGS computer class held Saturday, August 16th in the Gates Computer Lab of the downtown branch of the Spokane Public Library. This free for-members-only class was presented by yours truly, Miriam Robbins Midkiff. We took a look at the genesis of this subscription website, the philosophy of founder Paul Allen (formerly of Ancestry.com), and the growth of database offerings that has occurred since the site's founding, many of which are available because of WVR's terrific partnering with other genealogy database websites and resource publishers, such as Everton Publishers, Simmons Historical Publications, and Godfrey Memorial Library, to name just a few. The free social-networking, online family-tree-building, and lookup service of WorldVitalRecords, FamilyHistoryLink, was reviewed as well. Attendees were encouraged to sign up for WVR's free weekly e-newsletter, which lists newly-added databases that are free-to-access for the first seven days they are online. They were also urged to try out WorldVitalRecords one of the local Family History Centers, which have free access to this database-rich genealogy subscription website.

If you would like a copy of the syllabus that was used for this presentation, please e-mail Miriam here.

The next computer class will be presented by Barbara Brazington on "Historical Societies & Museums Online" on Saturday, October 18th (September's class has been cancelled). If you are interested in signing up, please contact me, Miriam Robbins Midkiff, at the e-mail address listed in the previous paragraph, or see our member directory for my telephone number. Currently, there are some spots available during the 10:15 -11:15 AM and the 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM sessions. We no longer offer a 1:30 - 2:30 PM session. You must be a current EWGS member to attend. If you are interested in joining EWGS, please go to our website here and download the membership application.

What You Missed: The June 2008 Computer Class

Did you know that there are thousands of genealogy books, county histories, and biographies that can help you in your research which are available online, either in transcribed or digital form? Many of these may be historical or genealogical information about your direct ancestors or relatives in your family tree. You may find local or social histories about the areas or time period in which your ancestors lived which can help you understand their lives better. There may even be business or government records that provide snippets of personal information about a relative. All these things could help you break down a brick wall or add a generation or two to your ahnentafel!

How can you access these online books? If you attended Juanita Linton McBride's presentation on Digitized Book Sites on June 21st, you would know! If you would like a copy of Juanita's syllabus, please contact me at kidmiffatgmaildotcom, substituting the appropriate symbols for the green words.

By the way, one of my favorite digital book sites is Google Book Search:

Genealogy Resources on State Government Websites

Did you know that at each of the 50 United States' official government websites there is at least one page of genealogical and historical resources (online and offline) for that particular state?

AND did you know that there is a webpage that list links to all 50 of those sites' resource pages?

Neither did I until today, thanks to Carlie, a local librarian and a participant in my current Basic Online Genealogy class I'm presenting this month at the local county library district.

The webpage of links is located on the United States official government website, www.usa.gov: http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/History_Family/State_Genealogy.shtml

This is one you'll surely want to bookmark!

Everton’s Genealogical Helper Adds New Online Edition!

New Online Edition of Everton’s Genealogical Helper will debut July 1!
Subscribe today for only $10.00!

LOGAN, Utah, June 12, 2008. Genealogy Online, Inc., publisher of Everton’s Genealogical Helper, today announced the publication of the Genealogical Helper in an Online Edition. The Online Edition is an identical copy of the 176-page paper edition – complete with hotlinks to the hundreds of website addresses found therein.

Launch Date – The new Online Edition will launch on July 1 – simultaneous with the home delivery and newsstand date of the paper edition of the July-August issue.

Free Access – Subscribers to the traditional Genealogical Helper will have 100% FREE online access to the magazine – with no extra fees whatsoever. See http://www.everton.com for sign-up information.

Online Edition subscriptions – Everton’s Genealogical Helper, Online Edition, will sell for just $12.00 per year! That is only $2 per issue! And it’s only $10.00 for subscriptions made before July 1 at http://www.everton.com or phone 1-800-443-6325.

Net Family History – An important feature of Everton’s Genealogical Helper is the magazine within a magazine entitled Net Family History. New information specific to using the Internet for genealogy is always found in this portion of the bimonthly publication. Extensive website reviews are always located here, as well as articles dealing with Internet-related activities.

Why an online edition? – Every issue of Everton’s Genealogical Helper now contains hundreds of website addresses. The Internet is where some of the most exciting genealogical resource advances are taking place, so it’s required that information about these resources be disseminated to the Helper’s thousands of readers in every issue. Everton’s Genealogical Helper, Online Edition, will allow readers to go from their paper edition to the hotlinked Online Edition and access any of the websites with just a keystroke or two – no more typing in those lengthy website addresses! The Online Edition offers more than just the links found in the magazine – it is the entire magazine itself!

Format & hosting – Everton’s Genealogical Helper, Online Edition, will be in .pdf format, readable by anyone, with any computer running an Adobe Acrobat Reader (Available at Adobe.com as a FREE download.) The Online Edition will be hosted by FamilyLink.com, Inc.

Why subscribe to the Genealogical Helper? – Subscribe to have access to the Helper’s how-to & historical articles, Net Family History (see above), genealogical sharing, extensive book and CD-ROM reviews & announcements, queries, the most complete event calendar available anywhere, and hundreds of ads detailing new products and services. In addition to these day-to-day features, you will also have access to the NEW updated, hotlinked Directory of Genealogical and Historical Societies – to be published in the Sept/Oct and Nov-Dec issues! Edited by Leland K. Meitzler, the Helper is guaranteed to help you extend your lines and fill in those blanks in your family tree.

WHAT A DEAL! – Your cost for a full subscription (the paper magazine & online access both) is less than 3 cents per page – delivered to your home, and now accessible online. Subscribe to the Online Edition alone for just over a penny a page! Subscribe by July 1 and it’s less than a penny per page!

Subscribe NOW at: http://www.everton.com or phone 800-443-6325.

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About Genealogy Online, Inc.

Genealogy Online, dba Everton Publishers, is the publisher of Everton’s Genealogical Helper, now in its 62nd year of helping genealogists find their ancestors. Genealogy Online, Inc. also publishes the Handybook for Genealogists, 11th edition, a top-selling guidebook for family historians. Their website is found at: http://www.everton.com. Also see: http//www.GenealogyBlog.com.

German Ethnic Webinar Rescheduled

From Ancestry.com:

We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience. Due to an unforeseen circumstance, German Ancestry – Part of the Ethnic Ancestry Seminar Series, originally scheduled on June 10, 2008 has been rescheduled and will now take place on July 8, 2008 at 8:00pm EDT.

There is no need to re-register for this new date and time. You will automatically be sent a reminder email 24 hours prior to the start of the event.

If you are unable to attend the event on the new date, don’t worry! The webinar will be recorded and available for viewing shortly after the live event. You will be notified when this recording becomes available.

Again, we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience of canceling the webinar on such short notice and look forward to presenting the German Ancestry topic on the new date.

If you are interested in registering for this and other FREE ethnic webinars (Italian, Polish, Irish), go here. To view past webinars, including the English ethnic one, go here.

New Genealogy Guides for England and Scotland

News Release from FamilySearch:

SALT LAKE CITY-FamilySearch announced today the release of two new free research tools that will help those with British and Scottish roots to find their ancestors. The research guides, Finding Records of Your Ancestors, England, and Finding Records of Your Ancestors, Scotland feature easy-to-follow instructions, colorful graphics, and removable worksheets. Free copies can be viewed, downloaded, or printed online at FamilySearch.org.

The guides will help take the guesswork out of British and Scottish genealogical research by simplifying the process and giving users a specific, proven strategy to use. In an inviting workbook style, the guides show users which records to search, what to look for, and what tools to use. The steps and tools needed to navigate British and Scottish historical records to find ancestors are colorfully outlined.

Finding Records of Your Ancestors, England and Finding Records of Your Ancestors, Scotland, are the latest additions to the popular series of free online publications. The guides are designed for those who have already gathered some family history information about their British or Scottish ancestors and are ready to search public and private records-they are must-have reference tools for researchers of British or Scottish genealogy.

The guides explain different types of records in England and Scotland and instruct the user when and how to use specific records. Real-life case studies allow readers to see for themselves how the research process works. Expert search tips, including tips on how to use the Family History Library Catalog, are included. Also included are maps, key dates in British and Scottish histories, and guides for reading respective genealogical records.

Other guides in the Finding Records of Your Ancestors series include African American, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Jewish, Mexico, Norway, and Sweden.

FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization that maintains the world's largest repository of genealogical resources. Patrons may access resources online at FamilySearch.org or through the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and over 4,500 family history centers in 70 countries. FamilySearch is a trademark of Intellectual Reserve, Inc. and is registered in the United States of America and other countries.

What You Missed: The March 2008 Computer Class

"European Resources Online" was the broad topic that Bette Butcher Topp addressed on March 15th in the Gates Computer Lab of the Spokane Public Library. Because of the wide scope and the literally thousands of websites that address genealogy in Europe, Bette's syllabus covered some main points and some of the most popular European countries to research. She encouraged her attendees to use Google ("denmark genealogy", "french genealogy", etc.) and Cyndi's List (go to the main page and find the name of the country you wish to research) to find more resources. I always enjoy Bette's classes and never attend without coming away having learned something new! Here are some of the things from her syllabus that were new to me:

• She listed a variety of terms used in old European village names. For instance, "juxtz" means "next to" and often referred to a river which was used to distinguish between two places with the same name.
• Wisconsin had a lot of Belgian immigrants, and so their state library has a lot of Belgian resources.
• Norway and Denmark have free sites on the Internet with census and parish records.
  

Bette has listed her syllabus online at her website here for a limited time only! I encourage you to visit and then print up her syllabus for future reference.

The next computer class will be presented by Donna Potter Phillips on "Ancestry.com - Extended" on Saturday, April 19th. If you are interested in signing up, please contact me, Miriam Robbins Midkiff, at the e-mail address listed in the previous paragraph, or see our member directory for my telephone number. Currently, there are some spots available during the 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM and the 1:30 - 2:30 PM sessions. You must be a current EWGS member to attend. If you are interested in joining EWGS, please go to our website here and download the membership application.

What You Missed: The February 2008 Computer Class

"Finding Vital Records and Obituaries Online" was the topic of the computer class held Saturday, February 16, 2008 in the Gates Computer Lab of the downtown branch of the Spokane Public Library. This well-attended class was presented by Miriam Robbins Midkiff, who briefly went over some cautionary information regarding online records and indexes, then encouraged the EWGS members present to explore the websites listed on the syllabus.

Donna Potter Phillips shared her easy tip on finding vital records online. She simply goes to Google and enters "vital records" plus the location she's researching: "spokane county" or arkansas. Jeanne Coe shared a fabulous--yet controversial--resource, the Sound Politics Washington State Voter Database. How does this relate to vital records? Well, if you have relatives who are Washington State voters, their birthdate and last known address will be listed in this database. I filled in some blanks in both my husband's and my own family trees, and gleaned some addresses so that I can write to these relatives to ask for more information. Thanks, Jeanne!

Several members made some great finds on their ancestors during the class. If you think you've explored all the vital records and obituaries databases and websites out there, think again. New data and new websites are being placed online everyday. Some of it requires payment to access, much of it is free. Please e-mail me at kidmiffATgmailDOTcom, substituting appropriate letters for the green words in all capitals, for a copy of a free syllabus.

The next computer class will be presented by Bette Butcher Topp on "European Resources Online" on Saturday, March 15th. If you are interested in signing up, please contact me, Miriam Robbins Midkiff, at the e-mail address listed in the previous paragraph, or see our member directory for my telephone number. Currently, there are some spots available during the 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM and the 1:30 - 2:30 PM sessions. You must be a current EWGS member to attend. If you are interested in joining EWGS, please go to our website here and download the membership application.

New Genealogy Guide for Finland Research

SALT LAKE CITY--FamilySearch announced today the release of a free new research tool that will help those with Finnish roots to find their ancestors. The research guide, Finding Records of Your Ancestors, Finland, features easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions, colorful graphics, and tear-out worksheets. A free copy can be viewed or printed online at FamilySearch.org.

Finding Records of Your Ancestors, Finland helps take the guesswork out of Finnish genealogical research by simplifying the process and giving users a specific, proven strategy to use. In an inviting workbook style, the guide will show users which records to search, what to look for, and what tools to use. It colorfully outlines the steps and tools needed to navigate Finnish records to find ancestors. Users will learn where to start, how to find and use Finnish records, and what unique elements to look for in the records. The booklet provides expert advice every step of the way in a highly illustrative, user-friendly manner.

Finding Records of Your Ancestors, Finland, Before 1900 is the latest addition to the popular series of free online publications. It also completes the set of guides for the Nordic countries (Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden were published previously). The 37 page guide simplifies the research process and is a must-have reference tool for researchers of Finnish genealogy. It is designed for those who have already gathered some family history information about their Finland ancestors and are ready to search public and private records. Users will find simple instructions, examples, and removable pedigree and family group worksheets to help them capture what they already know about their families.

The guide explains different types of records in Finland and instructs the user when and how to use specific records. A real-life case study allows readers to see for themselves how the research process works. Expert search tips, including tips on how to use the Family History Library Catalog, are included. Also included are maps, key dates in Finnish history, and guides for reading Finnish genealogical records.

Additional guides in the Finding Records of Your Ancestors series published previously include African American, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Jewish, Mexico, Norway, and Sweden.

Finding Records of Your Ancestors, Finland can be viewed and printed for free online at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization that maintains the world's largest repository of genealogical resources. Patrons may access resources online at FamilySearch.org or through the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and over 4,500 family history centers in 70 countries. FamilySearch is a trademark of Intellectual Reserve, Inc. and is registered in the United States of America and other countries.