Tag: geneabloggers Page 51 of 72

Tuesday’s Tip – NGS’s New Monthly Newsletter

On 24 February 2015

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by the National Genealogical Society and represents my own opinions.

My favorite genealogy membership is by far to the National Genealogical Society (NGS). I have also found them to be one of the most beneficial memberships for me! To me, the membership really paid for itself. I started to look into a membership because of the discounts I saw on items I already wanted to do: take the Home Study Course and go to the NGS conference. Becoming a member gave me discounts that covered the cost of the membership. Not to mention I also got a discount on the Boston University Online Genealogical Research Certificate class I took last summer, so it pretty much paid itself off and then some. There are other perks to being a member too:

Subscription to the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ)
Subscription to the NGS Magazine
Members Only section of NGS
Other partnership discounts
Free online courses for members

And just yesterday, they announced a new perk: the NGS Monthly!

Now this is available to anyone to view (you don’t have to be an NGS member), but this goes along with articles featured in the NGSQ that NGS members receive. This new monthly newsletter focuses on methodology, sources, and analysis from the case studies in the NGSQ. For those of us (if not all) who have come across a research problem that can’t be solved with sufficient direct evidence, this is for you. By studying what other genealogists have done to come to a conclusion on similar difficult questions, we can learn how to be better researchers and genealogists.

The NGS Monthly kicks off with two great articles:

“What is an NGSQ Case Study“
“Eight Tips for Deconstructing an NGSQ Case Study“

For those of you who wonder what exactly a professional genealogist can do for you, these articles show how a researcher pulls together information from sources to come to a soundly reasoned conclusion.

This also goes along with my post on Monday about using genealogical periodicals to not only further your own research, but to learn more about genealogy research methods. I personally look forward to this new monthly newsletter that will help me to use my subscription to the NGSQ more effectively!

Genealogy Journals and PERSI

By Nichelle Barra

On 23 February 2015

In Research, Resources

Most professional groups have some sort of periodical or journal. This is different than a magazine in that articles take up the majority of the space instead of advertisements, and the contributors are those in the field instead of a journalist. Genealogy has several journals that everyone, even the hobbyist, can learn from. These are relatively easy to find and use as well.

There are several perks to reading and studying these journal articles:

Methodology – Most articles are about a complex research question and how the author figured out the most reasonable answer.
Resources – The articles will mention resources in various places around the world that you may have been unaware of.
Citations – The articles in journals have wonderful citations that could lead you to similar findings.
Writing – Genealogy journals are an excellent example of genealogical writing.
Surnames – There are other people looking for the same people you are; perhaps they even wrote an article about it and you can see their research in a journal.

PERSI (Periodical Search Index)

PERSI is a subject index for history/genealogy periodicals from all over. I mentioned above that you can find your research surname in journals, so if you’re curious if anyone has written about a surname you research, you can search PERSI. Where do you find PERSI?

FindMyPast.com
FamilySearch.org (on microfilm, not online)
Heritage Quest (Usually offered through your public library – see their subscriptions for more information)

Ancestry.com used to have it but no longer does, just an FYI.

Searching PERSI with HeritageQuest

PERSI is not an every word index – you can search by:

People – you can search by surname, keyword, or periodical – Remember that the surname shows up only if it’s in the title. Adding a location or periodical can help with results.
Places – state, county, keyword, record type, Canada, and other countries are all available to narrow down your search
How-To’s – you can search by keyword and record type
Periodicals – specific title keywords can be searched here

Randy Seaver from Genea-Musings created a blog post about how to search PERSI on FindMyPast.com that is well worth reading if you have a subscription there (or have thought about a subscription).

Major Journals

Most libraries will have the top periodicals available in their genealogy section, especially if genealogy is a big research draw for them. Here are some major journals that are well worth reading:

Many times you can also find an index published by the periodical’s organization that list the surnames for their specific publication. These indexes can also be found online at times. For example, the New England Historical and Genealogical Register can be searched through Ancestry.com for the years 1847-2011.

Local Journals/Newsletters

Don’t forget to check out if there are local journals for your area too. Most genealogy societies do have at least a newsletter or quarterly with the same kind of information in the major journals, except more local. These can be found at the local library.

Local journals are also becoming more available online too as newsletters and journals become electronic. For example, I am a part of the Indiana Genealogical Society and their publication, Indiana Genealogist, is available online for members. I love this as I can then search the publication with a keyword search from my computer if need be. Not to mention this is a lot more cost effective!

Leave a comment below if you feel I left out a great journal or if you have had some great finds using periodicals. Happy hunting!

Genealogy News for the week of Feb 14th-20th

By Nichelle Barra

On 20 February 2015

In Friday Finds

Articles/Blog Posts from around the Web

CASTING CALL FOR GENEALOGY ROADSHOW! Interested on being on the next season of the show? Go here for more information and a casting application!
Judy Russell’s The Legal Genealogist is probably one of my favorite genealogy blogs. This past week after RootsTech she cleared up the issues of what a lecturer has copyrighted and what a participant is cannot do with the material (like copying the syllabus for others and taking recordings/video of the presentation). A must-read for any conference participant!
Judy Russell also goes into credit and copyright – which is something people often think are the same. This blog post clears up the misconception!
A 178 year old family Bible made it’s way back to the family after many years. I love stories like this one!
I’m sure some of you have heard of A.J. Jacobs and his Global Family Reunion event. Here’s an article about how he decided to do this project.
Ever thought about writing your own history? The New York Public Library gives 20 reasons why you should!
Want to take a trip to Fort Wayne’s Allen County Library? The National Genealogical Society is hosting a trip! Check out here for more information!

Technology

History Lines was one of the contestants for the RootsTech Innovator Challenge. They made it all the way to the semifinalists to compete with eight other groups in the final round. They sadly didn’t make it to the top four, but I personally really liked their program. Check out their website for a beta version and this video to learn more about them.
The winner of RootsTech’s Innovator Challenge is StoryWorth! Dick Eastman posted more information about the group found here.

Webinars/Videos

There is still time to register for Researching Ancestors in the Era of Freedom presented by Angela Walton-Raji! This is a free webinar from Legacy Family Tree Webinars and this lecture is about the Civil War years and what records you can find for that time. It starts today at 2pm EST!
PBS’s Genealogy Roadshow’s latest episode took place in Philadelphia. Check out the video here.
Five Minute Friday from Ancestry – Find the Parents – This video works on trying to find parents in about five minutes!
If you missed some of RootsTech’s streaming videos, there are a few that were archived and are free to view! Check them out here.
Are you Italian? Have you heard of the PBS show Italian Americans? The episodes can be found here!

New Records/Resources

The Irish Genealogical Research Society announced last week Friday that there is a new database called the Early Irish Birth Index, which is available for members only but anyone can do a free surname search to find out how many entries are there. There is also an Early Irish Marriage Index available for everyone!
TheGenealogist.co.uk announced a new collection called Tithe Records for England and Wales. These show landowners and where they lived from 1837-1850’s.
MyHeritage has new exclusive Scandinavian records online. See here for more information.
There are new restrictions on New York City Death Records. Dick Eastman wrote about them here.
The New England Historical Genealogical Society and FamilySearch are going to collaborate with resources. Find out more in Dick Eastman’s article about it here.

Wordless Wednesday: A Last Picture

By Nichelle Barra

On 18 February 2015

In Pictures

My great-grandmother, Erma, wrote on this picture. From left to right: Nancy (Abby) Almy (Erma’s grandmother), Arthur Almy (Erma’s father), Margaret (Hagerl) Almy (Erma’s mother) and unknown. This was taken in the first half of 1919 as Margaret died in July.