DearREADERS, It is Sunday and time for the latest installment of DearMYRTLE’s BEST of the Internet for Genealogists Awards. You are probably spending time with family and friends over this long Easter weekend. -- Don’t worry, these wonderful sites will still be there when you get back to your research. [Ahem, drum roll please…] The BEST of the Internet for Genealogists – 23 March 2008 awards go to: BLOG: “Salamanca and a Common Problem” posted by Lynn Turner AG on his Hispanic Genealogy blog. ...

NOTE from DearMYRTLE: The following was just received from our friends at the Lowcountry Africana website. Please address all inquiries to Toni Carrier toni@africanaheritage.com. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 24, 2008 Contact: Toni Carrier, 813-246-2201 Results of Groundbreaking Slave Genealogy Research to be Released March 29, 2008 With Lowcountry Africana Website Launch The results of groundbreaking genealogical research to reconstruct family lineages of enslaved communities on Drayton family plantations in the United States ...

DearREADERS, Because I remember my best friend Jane Johnson’s brother, a medic who was with a unit not heard from for about six weeks while on the delta, I have special feelings about the Vietnam servicemen. Fortunately, he returned, though jarred by the experience -- but at least he returned alive. I have tears of joy, awe and respect as I write about a special project by Footnote that will be unveiled at a press conference tomorrow at the NARA building in Washington, DC. The official word from Footnote insiders is: “Archivist of the United States, Allen ...

DearREADERS, Though Second Life has been around for a few years, I’ve only been experimenting with it for 12 months. At first I saw it as a big virtual chat room, where you create & clothe your personal avatar (a lot more interesting that a name and generic type in a chat room). You go from here to there meeting all sorts of other folks. What I discovered is a wealth of information about how to do genealogical research and a growing community of people who get together to talk about their recent discoveries, as well as relax at the end of the day. ...

DearREADERS, The following is the outline from the presentation Ol" Myrt gave twice at the Brigham Young University Computered Genealogy Conference a week ago. During each session, we set up 2 blogs, created a post, then looked at some of the settings and layout options provided by Blogger.com. Blog author posts RSS Distributes VIEW with a “feed reader” WHY BLOG? Rising cost of paper & printing.No need for mailing committee.Save the cost of bulk mail permit and postage.Unlimited length.Bold, italics, ...

DearREADERS, The is the outline for one of my presentations at last weekend"s Brigham Young University Computerized Genealogy Conference. The Deseret News chose to report about the conference using this class as an example: Deseret Morning News Genealogy venturing into podcast territory "Podcast is another means of getting the word out on genealogy subjects without the expense" 5-STEP PODCAST PROCESS Record your podcast’s “talking/interview” content.Add “bumper music” at beginning ...

DearREADERS,The following is the outline (and a few of the graphics) from one of DearMYRTLE"s five presentations made last week at Brigham Young University"s Computerized Genealogy Conference. Several readers have asked, so here it is WHAT IS A PODCAST?Podcasts are pre-recorded internet radio shows of sorts, varying in length and available via the web 24/7 in .mp3 format. Although the term originated through the use of iPods, one does not need an iPod to listen to a podcast. Alternative listening methods include: Directly from the ...

NOTE from DearMYRTLE: The following was just received from our friends at APG - the Associaiton of Professional Genealogists. Please address all inquiries to: admin@apgen.org GENEALOGISTS PUSH FOR OPEN RECORDS Formation of the Keeping Genealogical Records Open Workgroup (KGROW) WESTMINSTER, Colo., March 21 - The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) contends that there is no proof that open records significantly contribute to ID theft or terrorism. In a position paper that ...

From: Lynn Turner, AG® RE: “More Hispanic Resources” DearMYRTLE, Some of your readers might be interested in knowing that the civil registration list of beginning dates that you posted are incorrect (understanding you got the information from the Latin America Research Outline). A few examples include: Brazil - 1889 generally accepted in the genealogical community as the official year of civil ...

DearREADERS, It is Sunday and time for the latest installment of DearMYRTLE’s BEST of the Internet for Genealogists Awards. I have had a hard time narrowing things down after attending the BYU Computerized Genealogical Conference in Provo, Utah this past weekend, and hearing about all sorts of resources available to family historians on & off the web. [Ahem, drum roll please…] The BEST of the Internet for Genealogists – 16 March 2008 awards go to: BLOG: “Salute to Gutsy Women Travelers” posted at ...

DearREADERS, A VERY GOOD idea has come to light through the 24/7 Family History Circle blog at Ancestry.com. The idea is to provide "supplemental chapters" in .pdf format to hard copy books sold. THE SCENARIO One of "The Genealogy Guys", George G. Morgan wrote The Official Guide to Ancestry.com, an essential resource if you"d like to get the most out of your Ancestry.com membership. George has a way of explaining things that makes the process "doable" for his readers. But the trouble with printed text in this day and age, is ...

DearREADERS, “Kids these days!” is a comment frequently used by the older generation, usually associated with some disparaging remarks, about the younger generation. Our parents said it about us, and their parents said it about them. Well, today’s Dallas Morning News brings a different sort of story to light about the younger generation. Parents Ginger & Gary Lyon should have nothing but great things to say about their sons Jared & Jeremy who created maps of the Greenwood Cemetery in Hopkins County, Texas and then ...

FOOTNOTE.COM ADDS MILLIONS OF HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS TO ITS COLLECTION - The SmallTownPapers Collection details the lives and histories of people and events across the United States Footnote.com announced today a new partnership with SmallTownPapers, Inc. that will add millions of pages of historical newspapers to the site. With over 28 million images of original documents already on Footnote.com, the historical newspapers will prove to be a valuable addition, providing a unique view of our nation’s history. After using Footnote.com, SmallTownPapers President Paul ...

NOTE from DearMYRTLE: I first heard about this through my membership in the Federation of Family History Societies mailing list. Closure of The National Archives´ services at the Family Records Centre 14 March 2008 The staff and services provided by The National Archives at the Family Records Centre (FRC) move to Kew when the doors close on 15 March 2008. The transfer of these services and expertise into one building will make research easier. The National Archives in Kew is being extensively refurbished and improved. This is part of an ...

NOTE from DearMYRTLE: The following was just posted at RootsWeb"s Newsroom by CEO Tim Sullivan. Please direct all inquiries to: feedback@rootsweb.com. It is a sad day to see the official domain RootsWeb.com going by the wayside. They say all links to RootsWeb will work with a forwarding notation to the new location on Ancestry.com. I wonder what this will do to all the USGenWeb pages that are hosted at RootsWeb? This is truly the passing of an era. RootsWeb Announcement March 13th, 2008 by Tim As you know, The ...