RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 17 October 2007, Vol. 10, No. 42 (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/2007/1017.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. Family History Department Develops a Wiki 1b. "Who Do You Think You Are?" Canadian Edition 2. Using RootsWeb: Living Persons Options 3. Connecting Through RootsWeb: Newspaper Articles 4. Bottomless Mailbag: More Full-Text Books Available Online Another Source for Out-of-Print Books Ink on Photographic Prints Genealogy Photos Reading Tombstones Identifying Old Photos Re: Armie Cannon 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. Family History Department Develops a Wiki The LDS Family History Department has developed a new research tool in the form of a Wiki, or a website that allows users to add to and edit it: http://www.FamilySearchWiki.org. The research Wiki is in development and is not currently searchable, but does contain a lot of good material organized by country, some based on printed pamphlets that have existed at the Family History Library for years. You can make Google work as a search engine for the site by doing the following: Go to www.google.com and click the Advanced Search feature. Enter "www.FamilySearchWiki.org" in the "Domain" field on the Advanced Search page. In the "Find Results" field, place a genealogical term of interest to you and then click "Google Search." Be sure to browse the Wiki for other available and forthcoming features. 1b. "Who Do You Think You Are?" Canadian Edition The popular UK television show "Who Do You Think You Are?" has launched a Canadian version on CBC. You can watch a promotional video for the show on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-VIqDxBhMs. For scheduling information, visit: http://www.cbc.ca/whodoyouthinkyouare/ 2. Using RootsWeb Living Persons Options: Controlling What Information Is Visible on Your WorldConnect Family Tree (This article is a modified version of a post that was recently published in the RootsWeb Newsroom.) By Gerhard Ruf RootsWeb Staff Some people are wary of submitting their genealogical data to WorldConnect (WC) because they don't want others to be able to see information about living individuals on their tree. However, WC allows you to control what data others can view. You can also select whether or not the notes or sources will be displayed, allowing you to prevent the display of sensitive information you may have included in these sections. You can determine whether to display names on living individuals and, if no death date is included for an individual, what the cutoff age will be in order for that person to be considered no longer living. None of these controls affect the content of the GEDCOM file you upload. They only affect what others can find. To control what others can see on your family tree, do NOT change it on your tree before you create the GEDCOM. Any information you choose to leave out as you create the GEDCOM file will not be available if you have to retrieve it and use it as a backup later. Instead, use the "Living Persons Options" to limit the information that is displayed. You can access the "Living Persons Options" in one of two ways, depending on whether you are uploading a GEDCOM for the first time or simply updating one that has already been uploaded. If you are submitting your tree for the first time, you will automatically see a page with a box labeled "Tree Settings" after you have finished uploading your GEDCOM. "Living Persons Options" is the second link in this box. If you are updating your tree, simply click the "Family Tree" tab on the homepage; then, select "Go here to update or correct your existing Family Tree." Next, select the tree you would like to update. You will see the same page, with a box labeled "Tree Settings." Again, "Living Persons Options" is the second link in this box. Keep the following in mind when filling out the "Living Persons Options" page: 1. Set the cut off year high enough to eliminate the oldest living person in your collection. 1900 should be sufficient for all databases. (Note: Make sure that everyone in your database that might still be living has a birth date listed, even if you have to estimate it.) 2. The "Remove Notes" option may be important if you have entered personal or controversial information about someone in notes in your database. This option can be set to affect living individuals or everyone in the database. 3. The "Remove Sources" option is usually unnecessary unless you don't want others to see the notes you have entered into your source citations. 4. The "Process Events as Notes" option allows you to display special events that you have created. For example, you may have created events for census information on individuals. You can view these events as a part of the notes if you select this option. 5. The "Other Tags to Treat as Notes" field by default includes tags for LDS ordinances. If you do not put them in the "Tags to Remove" field, this information will be included in the notes for an individual. Note: Every item in your genealogy file (birth, marriage, baptism, death, source, etc.) has corresponding GEDCOM tags (BIRT, MARR, BAPM, SOUR, etc.). To see a list of tags, visit http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/FAQ/wcgedcom2.html. 6. Use the "Individuals to Remove" field to add the identifying numbers--which are assigned in your genealogy program--for any individuals that you do not want to be viewable online. (For example, you may want to remove a spouse and children from a particular union because it may give offense to some family members to have that data displayed.) Consult your genealogy software documentation to learn how to locate an individual's ID number. You can also find the ID number in WC by going to the individual page for someone in an uploaded file. The ID appears on the line above the name on the individual page. These numbers begin with a capital I, which must be included in the "Individuals to Remove" field. Place only one ID number on each line. When you've made all your selections on the "Living Persons Options" page and finished uploading your GEDCOM, you and anyone you send the link to will be able to view your data. However, it will not be searchable until the database is re-indexed. This is usually done every one or two days. This gives you some time to view the data and see if your selections worked the way you expected them to. If they did not, you can go back and change the criteria as often as you want, until you get it just right. And remember--none of these changes affect the GEDCOM file you uploaded--only what is visible online. So if you ever retrieve a backup from WorldConnect all the original data will be intact. Additional details about WorldConnect and the "Living Persons Options" are located on the WC Help pages at: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/FAQ/wcindex.html. Note: If you do not use "Living Persons Options," everyone born after 1930 in your file will be assumed to be living--unless a death date is given--and their given name will display as "Living." Their surnames will be visible, as will their relationships to other people. No other information will be displayed about the individual. * * * * * * * * * * Advertisements * * * * * * * * * * SUSBSCRIBE TO "INTERNET GENEALOGY" AND GET "101 BEST GENEALOGY RESEARCH TIPS" FREE! Subscribe to "Internet Genealogy" now and we'll send you a copy of our exclusive booklet absolutely free! Visit http://internet-genealogy.com to download a PDF sample copy or to subscribe. Here's what some people are saying about "Internet Genealogy": "'Internet Genealogy' provides a fun, thorough, and informative look at the world of online genealogy research. I write about Internet genealogy research for a living--and even I learned a new thing or two!" -- Kimberly Powell, "About: Your Guide to Genealogy" "I'll go out on a limb and say that 'Internet Genealogy' will soon become the most widely read genealogy magazine . . . period. " -- Rick Roberts, Global Genealogy and History Shoppe "WOW! ['Internet Genealogy'] is stupendous. . . . You've done a great job and I am very impressed!" -- George Morgan, GenealogyGuys.com * * * * * * * * * * End of Advertisements * * * * * * * 3. Connecting Through RootsWeb: Newspaper Articles By Penny Niceley McCracken tursiops@cccomm.net Some time ago I connected with an old high school date through www.classmates.com. It had been more than fifty years since we had gone to school with each other in California. Turns out he lived close to a cemetery in Missouri (I live in Nevada) where about ten of my direct ancestors are buried. He was kind enough to take photos of the gravestones. One of the pictures was of the headstone of a young man, killed before his twenty- first birthday. He was my great-granduncle. I didn't have a printer, so I stored the pictures in the "My Pictures" file on my computer, which I also use as the folder to get my screensaver pictures from. I must have had that picture up on my computer for a year before it suddenly dawned on me that if somebody shot a twenty-one-year-old man, somebody else would have written about it. I contacted the city and they referred me to the archives at the library. Since I had the exact date, the archivist had no problem locating the headline. She came back on the phone, chuckling, and said, "Did you know he was shot by a jealous husband?" I had to laugh and said, "No, but knowing the Niceley men, I'm not surprised." Then I paid the $2.00 required to get a copy of the article, and when I received the clipping in the mail I got a real shock. The "jealous husband" was his own first cousin! Both men's names were in the article, along with the name of their grandfather. I am related to all three men. From the perspective of a hundred years, that was not so much tragic as ironic. And it helped me find out the name of my great- grandfather. 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.] ------------------------------------------------------------- More Full-Text Books Available Online Catherine Green Hutchinson, Kansas greenks@sbcglobal.net In addition to Google Book Search, which was mentioned in the Rootsweb Review several weeks ago, genealogists may find great historical, geographical, and biographical information online in old books no longer under copyright that are being put online--searchable for free--at www.archive.org. My best find so far on this site is a book titled "Biographical History of the American Irish in Chicago," by Charles French. It was published in 1897 and unlike biography sketches in such books as county histories, it included a special emphasis on Irish heritage in each biographical sketch. I have found old Irish books by using search terms like the name of a county in Ireland (e.g., Leitrim or Sligo). If your search term is too limited--such as the name of an ancestor--you will get zero results, but if you locate books on a geographical location first, you may find a particular ancestor in a book's index. As I mentioned, this site is free; you don't even have to register to use it. It has a lot of books available, but only a few are genealogically useful and you will have to do some work searching what is available. To use this source, type your search terms in the search box at the top of the page. For example, type in "Oregon history" and limit the media type to "text." (The site offers other non-book media such as music.) When you find a book, click on the link that interests you. Then, click on the cover of the book when it appears. Use the arrows to turn pages-- they load rapidly, almost as easily as reading a book on paper, though text size runs small and is sometimes difficult for me to read. A new search box will open, and you can type in a surname or place name; you will be told if any instances of those names are in the book. If so, yellow place mark tabs will appear on the book and you can click on these one by one to see the pages, where your search term will be highlighted in yellow. To read the article on Google Book Search, visit: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/1003.txt * * * Another Source for Out-of-Print Books Kimberly Yavorski Ambler, Pennsylvania kyavorski@verizon.net The best source I found for out-of-print books is the Gutenberg Project at www.gutenberg.org. The site offers more than 20,000 free books as well as a collection of digitized sheet music in the public domain (some of the material is only public domain in the U.S., but I believe it is listed as such). The project also accepts volunteers and monetary donations to continue to add to its collection. * * * Ink on Photographic Prints G. David Thayer Sarasota, Florida I enjoyed Mary Harrell-Sesniak's article titled "Message Boards and Identifying Photographs." Her advice never to write on the back of a photograph, especially not in ink, was well taken--of course. But here is a surprise for you. In about 1967, a good friend gave me an 8" x 10" matte photograph of himself sitting in front of a race car that had once been our family sedan. He was leaving the state never to return, so he wrote an inscription across the face of the print in ball point ink. This should have been a disaster, but it turned out not to be. Now, some forty years later, the ink has completely disappeared from the print. In fact, it is very difficult to see where it once was without shining a light across the print at a shallow angle (which reveals the depressions left by the ball point). My scanner (set at 400 pixels per inch) did not pick up any trace of this writing when I scanned the print about a year ago. The scanned image is virtually perfect and shows no trace of any damage from the ball point ink writing that once disfigured the surface of the print. I am at a loss to explain this, but I'm certainly not disappointed in the result. To read "Message Boards and Identifying Photographs," visit: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/1003.txt * * * Genealogy Photos Sterling E. Putman I'd like to add an important topic to the article on using photos in genealogy: negatives. I am so dismayed at the number of negatives that are thrown out because people do not know what to do with them. Negatives can be duplicated or scanned--producing many surprises. It is expensive and many people are reluctant to have a studio do the work at high prices knowing that the picture may or may not turn out to be a treasure. But, most flatbed scanners can now be purchased with slide copier attachments so you can do it yourself at a much cheaper rate. It's those out-of-date sizes that cause a problem. When I upgraded my systems a couple of years ago, I insisted that the printer have certain capabilities such as the ability to scan 4" x 5" press negatives and the older 120-size film. It cost extra, but I have been able to scan many negatives for myself, friends, and relatives. One of my treasures was discovering a 1948 photo of my father wearing a beard--something to my knowledge he never did in his entire life. * * * Reading Tombstones Nancy Augustowski Nancya@yorktownny.org Much has been written lately about using mirrors to read difficult tombstone inscriptions. My friend Jeanann and I find a large flashlight to be better than a mirror. The only drawback is you have to do it in the dark or near dark. The first time we tried it was in late October and we had visions of being arrested for Halloween pranks or grave robbing. * * * Identifying Old Photographs Anonymous I have an album labeled "Who Am I?" full of pictures of unidentified family members. I take it with me whenever I go see a relative and ask them for help identifying different individuals. It has been very successful so far. When I make an identification and remove the photo, I leave the spot blank. It gives me inspiration when I see the blank spots--that many more photos identified. * * * Re: Armie Cannon Carol I got a good chuckle out of the humor piece in last week's issue, mentioning an individual by the name of Armie Cannon Springfield. My maiden name was Cannon and it was torture. I got called big guns, boom boom, etc. 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. NEW YORK. Genesee County. "Batavia Daily News," 1948-50. 11,487 records. Leilani Spring, volunteer for the Genesee County Historian of New York. 5b. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Individuals To Request a Free Web Account: http://accounts.rootsweb.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------- Can your cousins find your website at RootsWeb? Has it ever been mentioned here or do you have a new, updated, or substantially revised website at RootsWeb (it will have "freepages" or "homepages" in the URL)? Send the URL, the title of the website, the name of the author, and a BRIEF description of the site, including major surnames, to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com * * * If your genealogy- or history-related site is located somewhere other than at RootsWeb.com, you can add the link here: http://resources.rootsweb.com/~rootslink/addlink.html * * * 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/ ------------------------------------------------------------- Some of these Web pages might not be accessible yet. They are created by volunteers, so if one that interests you isn't up yet, please check again in a few days or next week. http://www.rootsweb.com/~xxxxxx[accountname] * * * Note that the ~[tilde] before the Web account name is required. For example, the Strafford County (New Hampshire) website is at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~nhstraff/ * * * DAR = Daughters of the American Revolution USGW = USGenWeb DAC = Daughters of American Colonists USD = United States Daughters of 1812 U.S.A. ctcemete -- Connecticut Cemeteries ilechs -- Edwards County Historical Society (Illinois) ilfchgs -- Fulton County Historical and Genealogical Society (Illinois) kypcdar -- Paducah (Kentucky) Chapter DAR mobcgs2 -- Barton County Genealogical Society (Missouri) msjrcdar -- Judith Robinson (Mississippi) Chapter DAR mtcemete -- Montana Cemeteries njpwcdar -- Peggy Warne (New Jersey) Chapter DAR nmcatron -- Catron County (New Mexico) USGW nmcibola -- Cibola County (New Mexico) USGW ohcemete -- Ohio Cemeteries orahcdar -- American Heritage Committee (Oregon) Chapter DAR pacccdar -- Colonel Crawford (Pennsylvania) Chapter DAR pascdar -- Shikelimo (Pennsylvania) Chapter DAR passdar -- Pennsylvania State Society DAC txrcgs2 -- Rains County Genealogical Society (Texas) txvzchc -- Van Zandt (Texas) County Historical Commission vaacdar -- Amherst (Virginia) Chapter DAR vapcdac -- Pocahontas (Virginia) Chapter DAC wassusd -- Washington State Society USD CANADA bcprgg -- Powell River Genealogy Group (British Columbia) 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 BLEWFIELD BRANDUM CHAMPENOIS COWHEY DRAYER ENDERT EVENING EWERT FECHLE GENSKE GUTHALS HERMISTON HUGASIAN LUETTEN MCCUGH MCGANNON MCQUERTER MCVAUGH MESSAGE SODERMAN UJLAKI VARDEN VIRDEN NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS Chile -- A mailing list for discussing research about individuals from Chile. Colombia -- A mailing list for discussing research about individuals from Colombia. IRL-Down -- A mailing list for genealogy queries and research dealing with County Down, Ireland. NEW ETHNIC OR SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS Biddle-DNA -- For the discussion of DNA testing as it applies to the genealogy of surname BIDDLE and its many variations. 6. Humor/Humour My mother tells me that she went to school with a man by the name of Harry Legg. I was told by a man whose last name was Bell that he knew of another Bell family (no relation) that named their daughter Tinker. --Thanks to Norm Carlson * * * I have two funny comments: 1. A few years back I ran across a funeral home in the Covington, Kentucky/Cincinnati, Ohio, area that was called "Swindler's Funeral Home." 2. My father was a plumber for several years and a Plummer all his life. --Thanks to Lewis Plummer * * * 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: 17 October 2007, Vol. 10, No. 42. * * * *