My current job at Ancestry.com is working on improving the product we put in Libraries and Institutions. Today I’m off to the Allen County Public Library to see how the do things and use our product.
I’ll be shadowing librarians, doing two presentations, and with any luck I’ll be sneaking in some research time!
Should be a good we
What I’ve been reading this week:
A lot of good stuff from The Legal Genealogist:
Harold Henderson’s Posts on Certification from Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog:
I knew this was going to happen. Between work and trying to organize my CG stuff, my blogging has fallen behind. But the clock has started.
It sounds like a lot of days, doesn’t it. HA!
I’ve chosen my three couples for my Narrative Lineage and organized the outline of that paper. They are my grandmother’s family and I did them early on. Oh my goodness. What sloppy, sloppy research. But I think I’ve cleaned it up and identified the families and am in the process of creating my initial Research list.
I’ve ordered more books. Turns out my library doesn’t have as much on Smyth County, Virginia as it should. And my husband is giving me those “how many genealogy books does one human being really need?” looks. Do you know those looks?
I’ve got my conflicting evidence problem picked out. And the research is done, it just needs to be written.
My transcript arrived and it doesn’t look too bad. The handwriting was fairly readable. I believe we aren’t suppose to give any details on those, so no more on that!
I’ve picked out a delightful Chancery Case that deals with gambling debts because I would like to delight the reviewers with something different than the same old wills and deeds I’m sure they see. It’s either that or a bible page I have, but I can’t figure out what half of it says at the moment.
A few of you sent me some good case studies, as did a friend, and once I get the rest of this in order, I will respond, I promise!
It all seems doable.
I’m also going to Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana next week to meet with librarians. It’s a work trip, but I should be able to squeeze some research in, so I’m pretty excited about that. I’ll try and post from the road. I’m doing a presentation for patrons while I am there, and once I give it I’ll post the PDF of the presentation on my How To page.
The state of Georgia has decided to close the their State Archives to the public. My understanding is that they will be the only state without a public archives. This is sad and disturbing to those who try and keep the past alive.
Dick Eastman posts the statement from Jared S. Thomas, Press Secretary for Brian P. Kemp, Secretary of State for Georgia in his post Georgia State Archives to be Closed to the Public!
You can sign the petition here: The Governor of GA: Leave our state archives open to the public.
We know the squeaky wheel gets the grease. 🙂
National September 11 Memorial in NYC “honors those killed in the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001 and 2/26/1993”. by LizBallerPhotos
This week we remembered 9/11 victims and relived our own experiences of the day and we remembered our family in other ways as well.
9/11 Thoughts and Remembrances
Remembering Our Ancestors
Genealogy Thoughts and Useful Knowledge
I imagine most people who are reading this remember where they were on 9/11. You don’t have to put the year, we all know what we are talking about.
9/11 Memorial Museum, Ground Zero, Manhattan 02/11/2009 by DG Jones, on Flickr
I live on the west coast so I was still sleeping when the chaos started.
My day begin with a phone call from a neighbor saying we were under attack. I thought she must be over-dramatizing something. If only.
I saw the first tower collapse. We woke our 12 year old son up. Explaining to a 12 year old what was happening was near impossible, wasn’t it? We had no idea. We saw the second tower collapse. Worried about my sister who lived in the DC area. Worried about my dad who flew a lot. My family was all fine.
It was all so senseless. All those innocent lives.
From my back yard you see planes on their final descent into Oakland and SFO. The sky was so quiet. It was so eerie.
I remember going to a baseball game, the first one that A’s played after the tragedy. Do you remember singing the national anthem in the those days? It suddenly meant so much more.
A few years after 9/11, I sat next to a woman on a Southwest flight who had seen the second plan crash into the tower. She told me her story of what it was like to be in NYC. We drank too much on that flight; sometimes numbing the pain seems a very reasonable way to deal with it.
I remember going to Ground Zero, I think it was in 2004 and seeing what was left, what they were building. So sobering.
I remember finding out that Osama Bin Laden was dead. That was a good day. I know there are those who say we should not celebrate his death. But it is not a celebration of jubilation. It is a celebration of justice.
Even now, 11 years later, I still tear up thinking up that day. It was all so insane.
I wonder for our ancestors who lived through the attack on Pearl Harbor, was it those same feelings? What is happening? Why? And did it linger with them for years and decades like 9/11 does for us? I imagine so.
We shall never forget.
It’s been two weeks since my last Follow Friday, so the list is long. Some really good stuff in here.
And a couple of interesting news articles:
We all know that family histories, local histories, indexes of vital and the sort are awesome for finding nuggets of gold. Check out FamilySearch’s Family History Books beta site:
http://books.familysearch.org/
Second link, courtesy of Mark Lowe: Bouvier’s Law Dictionary, which can be found in google books:
Notice the dates? These were the references that law clerks and the like used as reference in the 1800’s in the south. Want to know about what a drove-road is and what it means? The information is there.
Remember, don’t look if you just have two minutes! Trust me!
While I was at FGS 2012 in Birmingham, Alabama I took the plunge and started my CG clock. I was being nudged. Mark Lowe said something about steel toed boots! I had been considering doing this since I graduated from my BU course and the time seemed right. I’m also doing this with 3 friends….a little encouragement along the way should be a good thing.
So I have a year to complete the following tasks:
After listening to many current CGs talk, I’m looking at this next year as not a OMG I have to prove myself, but a really good learning experience. This is not about being the most brilliant genealogist but about proving to myself I understand the process and how records are used to illustrate the lives of our ancestors.
Oh, and reading instructions. Critical for every application!
I am really excited.
So I was at FGS 2012 in Birmingham, Alabama this week and I meant to post. Really I did. But between meeting with librarians, attending classes, spending time with old friends, meeting new friends and maybe spending just a little time at the bar, it just didn’t happen.
My first day was Librarian’s Day and it was great fun.
Librarian’s Day 2012 in Birmingham, Alabama.
Great speakers and great company. I ate lunch with Sedalia Gaines and Valencia King Nelson. Valencia is the pioneer in web based African American research; Sedalia also works on Afrigeneas.org and they entertained and educated me with stories on their past and how to do African American research. I will be catching up with these ladies at a later date to learn more!
The next day, I took the plunge and put myself on the clock for certification. I have a year (until the endo of August) submit my application for BCG Certification. There is no going back now. I’m excited, more about that to come.
For me, the highlight of Friday was our focus group with librarians. This was very work related and I learned quite a bit about how they use Ancestry.com in libraries. If you don’t have an subscription to Ancestry.com, check your library, they might.
Saturday, I caught up with more friends, attended more classes, talked to more librarians and then flew home. It was a great conference.
And in case you wondering, how is genealogy like the oldest profession? First you do it for love, first you do it for friends and then you do it for money. (It’s funny if you are a genealogy geek like me!)
I should be back to regular posts this week!
