RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 5 September 2007, Vol. 10, No. 36 (c) 1998-2007 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ * * * Having trouble reading this newsletter? The online version is available at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0905.txt * * * ROOTSWEB HELPDESK: Check here for site maintenance announcements: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ * * * ROOTSWEB NEWSROOM: Check here for the latest RootsWeb news: http://blogs.rootsweb.com/newsroom/ * * * ROOTSWEB STORE: Check here for the latest in genealogy books, software, photos, and more: http://www.therootswebstore.com/ * * * ROOTSWEB REVIEW ARCHIVES: Check here for previous editions: http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ ============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. Editor's Desk: News and Notes 1a. Help Save U.S. Civil War Battlefields 1b. Book Notice (1) 2. Using RootsWeb: Using File Searches to Find Lost Files 3. Connecting Through RootsWeb: Message Board Success 4. Bottomless Mailbag: Regarding "A Strange Experience with NARA" from 22 August 2007 Use Caution when Cleaning Headstones WorldConnect Backup Cleaning Up Your Computer Miracle Viewfinder Re: Debbi Geer on Taking Photos 5. New at RootsWeb 5a. New User-contributed Databases 5b. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Individuals 5c. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Counties, States, and Genealogical/Historical Societies 5d. New Mailing Lists 6. Humor/Humour 7. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints ============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. Editor's Desk: News and Notes 1a. Help Save U.S. Civil War Battlefields The Civil War Battlefield Protection Bill is coming up for a vote in the House and the Senate. The legislation would help reauthorize federal grants for battlefield protection. If you would like to encourage your representatives to vote for this bill, follow the instructions on the following website: www.battlefieldactivist.com 1b. Book Notice (1) Young Adult Novel for Budding Genealogists What do you do with all of the fascinating stories you've gathered about your ancestors? You could turn them into a young adult novel, as Stephen Davidson did in "Letters for Elly." As a fifteen-year-old, Elly has to spend the summer with her great- aunt and uncle. Their idea of a good time is visiting graveyards and researching the family tree. It looks like Elly is doomed to have the most boring summer of all time until she leans against an ancient tombstone and begins to receive letters from the past on her laptop computer. Are they really from seven siblings who lived through the American Revolution? Using local archives, the Internet, and tombstone data, Elly attempts to unravel the mystery. At the core of this novel are the true stories of a family from Redding, Connecticut. Suitable for inspiring young genealogists or helping students learn about the loyalist experience, this illustrated paperback is available for $15.00 CDN, online at www.carterhousetearoom.com 2. Using RootsWeb: Using File Searches to Find Lost Files By Mary Harrell-Sesniak maryh@volunteer.rootsweb.com "Genealogy is not just a pastime; it's a passion." Have you ever worked long and hard on a project only to find your file has disappeared the next day? If so, do what I do in this situation-- panic. All kidding aside, stay calm and first try to determine if there was a mechanical problem. If your computer doesn't turn on, or it's groaning, I can't help you, so go hire a pro. If you have noted an error message, try researching it in Microsoft's Knowledge Base or Apple's online support. Type in questions; with any luck you'll get results. If they make no sense, print the results and pass them along to whoever helps you later on. Knowledge Base-- http://support.microsoft.com Apple's Support Page-- http://www.apple.com/support/ SEARCHING FOR LOST FILES Also, try searching for your lost files using Search, Find, Finder, or another utility designed to search your computer. I'm a Windows user, so I'll briefly explain the Search utility for that system. First, click on the Start button in the lower left-hand corner of your screen; then, click on Search. A window will pop up with a "What do you want to search for?" prompt, followed by these options: Pictures, music, or video Documents (word processing, spreadsheet, etc.) All files and folders Printers, computers, or people Click on "All files and folders." The following criteria will appear: All or part of the file name A word or phrase in the file Look in The first option allows you to enter all or part of a file name to search for. If you are looking for a file titled "FamilyMary," you could search for "Mary," "Family," or "Family Mary" to locate it. If I had multiple files named "FamilyMary," "FamilyJohn," "FamilyMargaret," etc., I could search for "Family" to find all of them. Capitalization is ignored initially, so it doesn't matter if you use uppercase, lowercase, or a combination of cases. If you have forgotten what you named your file, try searching for a file type. Each program tacks on a short extension to identify its type. Sometimes programs share extensions, but in genealogy most don't. This is a list of some commonly used ones: ftm, ftb--Family Tree Maker ftl--Family Tree Legends ged--GEDCOM (GEnealogical Data COMmunications) fdb--Legacy Family Tree tmg--The Master Genealogist paf--Personal Ancestal File rmg--RootsMagic Web pages, graphics, documents, and other file types all have individual extensions. Try to get to know them. For example, Web pages typically use the extension htm or html, indicating they are written in the Hypertext Markup Language. Graphics have their own extensions, such as bmp (bitmap), eps (encapsulated post script), jpg (joint photographic experts group) and tif (tagged information file format). Programs frequently use exe (executable) and com (command), and some common document extensions are: doc (Microsoft Word and others) odt (Open Office) pdf (Adobe's portable document format) rtf (Rich Text Format) txt (plain text) wpd (word processing document) wps (Microsoft Works) To learn more of the thousands of known extensions, try one of the websites that list them: www.file-extensions.org EXTENDED SEARCHING If these methods don't help you locate your file, try another type of search. Use the "A word or phrase in the file" option to search for a unique word within your file. This search method will be slow, as the computer will examine every line in every document. But you can hasten the process if you use the "Look in" option to limit the search to a specific portion of your computer, such as the desktop, the hard drive, or a disk. You can also try these three options listed at the bottom of the window, if you know the pertinent information: When was it modified? What size is it? More Advanced Options: Search system folders Hidden files and folders Subfolders Case sensitive Tape Backup The "When was it modified?" feature allows you to search using a selection of date ranges and is particularly useful when looking for current files. Specify a specific date range, or use the preset options to search for files created within the last week, month, or year. The "What size is it?" option allows you to search for a file of a particular size. You can select "small," "medium," or "large" as the file size, or you can specify a certain number of kilobytes (KB). FOLDER SEARCHING You can find all of these search items through another method. Right- click on the same Start button on the bottom left-hand side of your screen; then click on Explore. Select a directory (hard drive, disk, etc.) that you want to search, right-click on it, and then select Search. I hope you have enjoyed these tips; I'll write some more from time to time. In the meantime, if you have more creative tips on this subject, send your ideas along. * * * * * * * * * * Advertisements * * * * * * * * * * ANCESTOR SEEKERS NINTH SALT LAKE CITY RESEARCH TRIP--LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER 30 SEPTEMBER--5 OCTOBER 2007 (Registration Deadline: SEPTEMBER 15) Join others from throughout the U.S.A. and Canada for the dream genealogy vacation--a week at the Family History Library, accessing the world's largest collection of genealogical records with help from accredited genealogist professionals. Opening and closing socials, theater trip, and sightseeing tour! "Every time I go it just gets better." (Mary, Florida) Call TOLL-FREE at 877-896-0974 (9:00-6:00 MDT) or visit http://www.ancestorseekers.com/slcrt/ * * * * * * * * * * End of Advertisements * * * * * * * 3. Connecting Through RootsWeb: Want a free copy of "The Official Guide to RootsWeb.com"? We will be giving a free copy to ten people who send in the best "Connecting" story over the next two weeks. * * * Message Board Success By Adele Marcum Although my initial experience with message boards yielded no responses, hearing the success stories of others encouraged me to try again in April 2003. Before posting my own message, I searched through the Bartels family boards. To my delight, I saw a post inquiring about the location of an obscure town, Finnen Am Rhein, in Germany--the town I knew to be Vynen, Germany, where my Bartels family was from. I contacted the poster and after several exchanges we discovered that he descended from our common ancestor's youngest son and I descended from the eldest son. http://genforum.genealogy.com/bartels/messages/220.html Several weeks later we arranged a reunion in Milwaukee: My grandparents, my grandmother's cousins, and I met with the gentleman's family (including all of his brothers and their families). We had a lovely time together, exchanging stories, data, photos, maps, and more. Since then, we have continued to exchange information as it is discovered. And, as if this wonderful experience was not enough, a few months later another gentleman stumbled across our postings about Finnen/Vynen and contacted us. He is another long-lost cousin and has data about another branch of the family. I met with him and his family when I was on a trip in New England. It was another lovely evening and an opportunity to learn more about my ancestors. 4. BOTTOMLESS MAILBAG [Editor's note: The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the editor or of RootsWeb.com.] ------------------------------------------------------------- Regarding "A Strange Experience with NARA" from 22 August 2007 By Leslye Winslow I sent a request form to NARA in St. Louis for information on my grandfather, who was a private in WWI. I got a form letter back saying there wasn't enough information, and I should fill out another form. I did so and got another letter asking for more information. The initial form I sent had everything--every bit of information was filled in, plus I had attached a complete service history--so it was disturbing that they could not find my grandfather's file and were still asking for more information. I called them and they referred me to an e-mail address. When I e-mailed, I got a response: they found the records; I sent in the money, and I got copies. Shortly after that, we filled out the same NARA form for my husband's grandfather, with a copy of his obituary, which gave his entire military history, and a photo of his tombstone at West Point. The exact same form letters (from a different person) came back, just as they had for my grandfather: "We can't find the file without further information," etc. They could not find any records for a man who was a West Point student and later a teacher and superintendent there, a career military officer, a general who served in WWI and died in Korea? We e-mailed the address we had been given before and copied a couple of people in charge whose e-mail addresses were on the NARA website. We also attached JPEG copies of everything. The response was immediate. My husband has received many phone calls, e- mails, and a lot of personal attention and apology. NARA said that there had been a fire and the records were water-damaged. They were going to restore and copy the documents. We have gotten the first file (of three) that they plan to send, about 2" thick. All the copies are very clear. However--the first two letters were disconcerting. It would be interesting to hear NARA's side of the story. To read "A Strange Experience with NARA," visit http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0829.txt * * * Use Caution when Cleaning Headstones By Shara Forrister While I have enjoyed the comments on using non-invasive techniques to read illegible tombstone inscriptions, John Banbury's piece, titled "Cleaning Headstones," caused me some concern. While the product he mentions seems wonderful, I would caution individuals to always check a cemetery's rules and policies before using such a product. Numerous members of my family tree reside in a cemetery that will bring criminal charges against any visitor who uses any kind of defoliant, including simply scraping or cutting away crab grass encroaching on a headstone. Several other cemeteries in the area have similar policies. Use of the "safe" product mentioned in "Cleaning Headstones" by a visitor in any of these cemeteries could result in heavy fines or even jail time. However, the caretakers of these cemeteries have been more than happy to clear away the headstones for me when I have pointed out a headstone that needed care, and perhaps they would find this product of use in their job. Just my two cents. * * * WorldConnect Backup By Connie Trier Last week, in her article "Computer Crash Recovery," Mary Harrell- Sesniak mentioned being able to back up your genealogy data by submitting a GEDCOM to WorldConnect. A few years ago I accidentally erased my genealogy database. Fortunately I had uploaded my data to RootsWeb just three days before, so almost everything was saved. Then, last year my computer woke up dead one morning. Again, thanks to RootsWeb most of my genealogy data was saved. I can't say thank you enough. To read "Computer Crash Recovery," visit http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0829.txt * * * Cleaning Up Your Computer By Larry Thompson LarryThompson@TwoThompsongenealogies.com http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~lt0168/maps http://www.twothompsongenealogies.com/index.html In "Computer Crash Recovery," Mary Harrell-Sesniak recommended periodically cleaning up your computer by checking for errors, defragging, etc. This is an excellent idea; however, before performing maintenance on your computer, you should reboot and start in Safe Mode. Usually you can start in Safe Mode by hitting the F8 key as soon as the computer starts to boot. Using Safe Mode keeps the operating system from starting any other processes than basic Windows. Otherwise, some applications can interfere with the processes. For example, doing check disk or defragging, every time something accesses the disk these two processes will stop and start over, putting the computer in an endless loop. It will eventually finish, but it could take days. In safe mode it can usually be done in hours. To read "Computer Crash Recovery," visit http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0829.txt * * * Miracle Viewfinder By Kevin Hansen Debbie Geer wrote a comment titled "Miracle Viewfinder" last week in which she mentioned having an old camera with a viewfinder that helped her pick out the writing on illegible headstones. Then she mentioned her dilemma in no longer having that camera. Her story reminded me of a time in Hawaii when I was looking at ancient hieroglyphics carved hundreds of years ago into the lava. They were a bit hard to pick out when viewed with the naked eye, but when viewed through a 35mm single lens reflex camera with a polarizing filter on it, they popped out. The pictures were also more distinct than what we saw with our naked eye. For those not familiar with a polarizing filter, it allows light to pass through the lens that is oriented the same direction as the filter. It is mounted on a lens and can be rotated, changing the picture to make it more distinct. Unfortunately, with the digital camera age, filters mounted on camera lenses are limited to the highest cost cameras. Polarizing sunglasses use the same type of filter and in a pinch, could be used in front of the camera lens. The problem with doing that is that they need to be rotated to get the best effect (the way they fit on your face may not be the best way for the camera lens). If you're wearing polarized sunglasses, tilt your head to both sides while viewing the gravestone to see if the writing becomes any clearer. The contrast will change while rotating up to 90 degrees each way. Give it a try on your next trip to the cemetery. * * * Re: Debbi Geer on Taking Photos By Joy After I take a photograph of a gravestone with my digital camera I can zoom in on the photo and I find that I can read the engraving very easily. My camera only has a resolution of four mega pixels, but works very well. 5. New at RootsWeb 5a. New User-contributed Databases at RootsWeb http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/ ------------------------------------------------------------- The following databases have come online recently. They are searchable, but not browseable. Search: To look for specific data or occurrence of text in a file. Browse: To view the entire contents of a file or a group of files. CALIFORNIA. Los Angeles County. Glendale High School 1958 Stylus Yearbook Senior Portraits and Activities. 695 records. Susan Archer. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ LOUISIANA. Caddo Parish. Shreveport. 1936 Fair Park High School. 1,162 records. Gary Hardy. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ NEW YORK. Genesee County Batavia Daily News, 1944-45. 10,430 records. Leilani Spring. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/news/ 5b. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Individuals To Request a Free Web Account: http://accounts.rootsweb.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------- No New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Individuals 5c. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Counties, States, and Genealogical/Historical Societies To Request a Free Web Account: http://accounts.rootsweb.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------- No New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Counties, States, and Genealogical/Historical Societies 5d. New Mailing Lists To Request a New Mailing List: http://resources.rootsweb.com/adopt/ ------------------------------------------------------------- For information and an index to the more than 30,000 RootsWeb-hosted genealogy Mailing Lists and for easy subscribing (joining) options go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS BAUDER BERKHEISER BREHMEYER BULSO DEROSSETT FRIEDRICHSEN FROW GUILES HAENES KADAR LINDSKOG LITKE LUCACEVICH MCMONIGLE MCNERNEY MORMAN NEIGER PETILL SOYSTER SPRINGTHORPE STONESTREET STUHLDREHER TIDMARSH WINENGER ZERBEE NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS BRISTOL_AND_DISTRICT -- A mailing list covering Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and North Somerset for beginners and more experienced researchers. For sharing of information relating to family, social, cultural and local history, past and present, including dialect, slang and sayings, traditions, occupations, recipes, folklore, etc. Methods and problems of recording both family and associated historical information is also included. DEBATABLE-LANDS -- For anyone interested in the genealogy or history of the Debatable or Threip Lands on the bounds of Roxburghshire/Dumfriesshire/Cumberland or those of Roxburghshire/Northumberland. ENG-LAN-CROSTON -- A mailing list for anyone with a genealogical interest in the village of Croston, Lancashire, England and the surrounding area. RUS-SARATOV-SCHWAB -- The RUS-Saratov-Schwab mailing list is for the Volga German village of Schwab, intended for use by descendants of families that resided in that village. NEW ETHNIC OR SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS ASIA-GENWEB-CC -- A mailing list for the Country Coordinators of the AsiaGenWeb Project. EEUROPE-GENWEB-CC -- This list will be used by the Country Coodinators for EastEuropeGenWeb, to keep in touch and provide helpful information to other Country Coodinators in East Europe. FTM-2008-HELP -- A forum for discussing the FTM 2008 genealogy software program. To help in learning how to use the new interface and discuss problems encountered, etc. MASSGENCOUNCIL -- This list is for the use of the Massachusetts Genealogical Council--this is an umbrella organization for genealogical and historical societies and libraries. NORTHAM-GENWEB -- This mailing list is for the Country Coordinators of the NorthAmGenWeb Project. http://www.rootsweb.com/~nrthamgw/ SWITZER-DNA -- To discuss DNA testing related to the Switzer, Schweitzer, Swisher, and other variant surnames. 6. Humor/Humour This story was taken from the "Public Opinion," dated August 1906. "It wasn't a Missouri editor but a printer's devil who was going through his first experience on 'making up' forms. The paper was late and the boy got the galleys mixed. The first part of the obituary notice of a precocious citizen had been dumped in the forms, and the next handful of type came off a galley describing a recent fire. It read like this; 'The Pallbearers lowered the body to the grave and as it was consigned to the flames there were few if any regrets, for the old wreck had been an eyesore to the town for years. Of course there was individual loss, but that was fully covered by insurance.' "The widow thinks the editor wrote the obituary that way because the lamented partner of her joys and sorrows owed him five years subscription." --Thanks to Crystal Payne * * * Found a funny or "proper name for the job" in old records, or an amusing entry in census, parish, church, or other records? Send them to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com. We also welcome other humorous genealogy-related submissions. 7. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints ------------------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIPTIONS. To manage your e-mail communications (i.e. to subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, or to sign up for others), visit our newsletter management center any time at: http://newsletters.rootsweb.com/ If you use a spam-filtering program, in order to receive the RootsWeb Review please make sure that you're allowing e-mail from: rootswebreview@email.rootsweb.com The RootsWeb Review is a free publication of The Generations Network, Inc., 360 West 4800 North, Provo, UT, 84604 * * * The RootsWeb Review does not publish or answer genealogical queries, and the editor regrets that she is unable to provide any personal research assistance or advice. RootsWeb Review welcomes short (500 words or less) articles, humor, stories, or letters, and reserves the right to edit all submissions. The announcement of books and products is provided as a community service and is not an endorsement in any way. All mail sent to the RootsWeb Review editor is considered to be for publication--send in plain text (please, no attachments) to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com and please include your full name and e-mail address in the text. * * * ROOTSWEB REVIEW ADVERTISING CONTACTS. Ad Sales Worldwide: Tami Deleeuw, tdeleeuw@tgn.com * * * REPRINTS. Permission to reprint articles from RootsWeb Review is granted unless specifically stated otherwise, provided: (1) the reprint is used for non-commercial, educational purposes; and (2) the following notice appears at the end of the article: Previously published in RootsWeb Review: 29 August 2007, Vol. 10, No. 35. * * * *