Rootsmagic 9 has been released today. I've been a fan for quite a few years, since Bruce Buzbee reached out to me in response to this blog post. Each release brings something new but the last release (Rootsmagic 8) was a rebuild from the ground up. 

Rootsmagic 9 builds onto this new foundation and introduces the following features:

1. Associations: these are new relationships beyond spouse, child, parent. A list of associations is provided plus you can make your own. Examples, friends, neighbours, apprentice, employee, employer. 

2. Colour code sets: currently I have two colours set in my file - a blue for my husband and his ancestors, and a red for mine. Colour codes let you have up to 8 sets of colours - each set can have quite 27 colours. The example provided was war (WWI, WWII, Civil, Revolutionary etc). I'm thinking it could be used to track Countries or Nationalities (Canada, USA, England, Scotland, etc). 

3. New database tools: Rearrange children or spouses for everyone in the file based on dates; Delete multiple people in a group, combining groups, change or removing fact types from everyone, enhanced property list. Note: BACKUP FIRST! These tools are particularly useful for people who have imported a gedcom into your own file in the past and need to do some cleanup.

4. View media from person view without having to select each fact or source citation. This is filterable by fact. This can be really helpful to identify duplicate copies of media. However, there is still no "merge" feature to merge two citation media together. This is one of my pet peeves with Ancestry source sync'ing as you end up with multiple copies.

5. Saved searches: I have been waiting for this for soooo long. I like to set these up and reuse them as task lists. For example, I have a search that looks for people who were alive and living in England during the 1880 census but whose census I haven't found yet:

The searches in Rootsmagic could still use some upgrading and aren't as good as genealogy software I was using in the year 2000 (Bruce please fix this!). I would like to see ability to add more parameters, ability to reorder parameters, and the ability to duplicate the saved search (e.g. I'd like to make a copy of this for 1870 census and just change the dates).

6. Filter tasks: Again another feature I've been waiting for. Tasks needed to be grouped by place, website, microfilms, books and so on. For example, if I am scouring birth records in England - I may as well be looking for *all* of the missing births at the same time. I've typically managed this with creative naming in the past but this is much better.

7. Citation usage: allows you to see all uses of the citation from the citation source and edit from there.

8. Groups: criteria for adding to people to groups. This feature is *powerful*. It allows you to select from the screen list, a saved search, or criteria you set on the fly. After you create the group you can then filter people from the people screen using the group. So if I use this feature with my saved search above, I can then filter people based on their membership of the search group.

A small ask

Upgrading to Rootsmagic 9 from Rootsmagic 8 is 50% off and comes in at $20 USD. Please support the Rootsmagic team by purchasing a copy and even buying the accompanying book. Bruce has spent years building and then rebuilding this software. Genealogy software is "niche" and large online companies like Ancestry are competing with the smaller guys. I want to make sure my file is available locally and I don't have to share *everything* with Ancestry for privacy reasons. Support Rootsmagic - buy your copy here.

Last week Rootsmagic finally realized Rootsmagic 8. This is a long awaited re-write of Rootsmagic 7. 

1. Make Rootsmagic now native to the Mac. This means an easier installation and less errors. The features on the Mac are also the same as on Windows - no more having a "lite" version. 
2. Simplify the navigation. The standard top Windows menu (File, Edit etc) has been replaced with something more intuitive and that allows you to switch screens while still remembering where your place in the other screen.
3. Enhance the editing capabilities. You can have multiple edits screens at the same time, and switch to another family member from any edit person's edit screen, then switch back.
4. Create more powerful searches. 
5. Save to modern file formats. RTF has been replaced with Word's .DOC format, lists can be exported to Excel .XLSX formats.
6. Create new wall charts and fan charts. 
7. Create resusable citations. Create it one time and attach to multiple people or events.
8. Combine to-do items, correspondence lists, research logs into a single tasks area. 
9. Improve the places and mapping features. The place list is now easier to edit and merge. It is also easy to see where the place is used (either event or person). After you geocode the location, you can then view it on a map.

My Edward III lineage

Two and two are four (your grandparents)

Four and four are eight (your great grandparents)

Eight and eight are sixteen (your great-great grandparents)

Sixteen and sixteen are thirty-two (your 3rd great grandparents)

- Danny has a significant number of female ancestors in his line to Edward III. Females generally married young, and bore children early into their marriage.

- I have a significant number of male ancestors in my line to Edward III. Males generally married later (to younger females), in fact, many had multiple marriages as spouses died in childbirth etc. In fact you'll see from the photo, my maiden name Hamersley is an unbroken patrilineal line back to 1565 (Sir Hugh Hamersley) before it switches to the first female. Danny's line switched to females much earlier. 

Where should you look? 

This text is taken from a sharing moment given at the Kelowna & District Genealogy Society on October 4th, 2010.

Who here watches the TV show “The Tudors”?...

Ok, so I know it’s not historically accurate, but I *love* that show. There’s something about seeing history unfold before your eyes and how the intricacies of the plot are played out in a way that you don’t pick up on when you read a book.

So there I was, watching The Tudors. And for those of you that don’t watch it, they are up to the rise and fall of Henry VIIIs 5^th wife, Catherine Howard. Maybe you learned this rhyme in school (I know my dad did): Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived. So this is the one who eventually was beheaded as a traitor for adultery and for representing herself as a “maid” prior to her marriage to the King. So imagine my interest when it was mentioned on the show that a young gallant, named Francis Derham, used to visit her in her chambers at night.

Hmmm, well I had to go look in my files. I knew my ancestor Sir Hugh Hamersley (Hamersley is my maiden name) married a Mary Derham, daughter of Baldwin Derham, in 1597, only 50 years later than the period being portrayed on TV. I also knew that she came from “good stock”, her brother was also a Knight. I have done quite a bit of research on her ancestry as she comes from the Audley/Courtenay line that is well documented as descending from King Edward Plantagenet. But I hadn’t done much on the Derham’s although did recently find a book on Google Books published by the Norfolk Genealogy Society based on the Visitation of Norfolk records from 1563. I had printed some pages on the Derham’s including a tree going back several generations that showed Mary and Sir Hugh. So I hunted it down and took a look.

Sure enough Mary did have a great-uncle (her grandfather’s brother) called Francis. And there, right beside his name it said “a traitor, who was executed”. It also said that Francis’ brother, Mary’s grandfather, had bought West Dereham Abbey off King Henry VIII. Aha! This lead was getting hot!

A quick search on Google books for Dereham Abbey revealed:
Thomas Dereham, in 33 Henry VIII, bought it off the king. Shortly after he was fetched out of it to the Tower, about the treason of his brother Francis Dereham, who was executed. Thomas at length was delivered out of prison: he had issue Thomas, Robert, John, and Baldwin, and a daughter.

Source: The History and Fate of Sacrilege - Discovered by Examples of Scripture by Henry Spelman (Google Books).

So now I had made the connection. Francis, the traitor, had a brother Thomas and a nephew named Baldwin. Mary’s father was Baldwin and her grandfather was Thomas.

And now this saga didn’t just affect Francis in isolation, his brother Thomas, my ancestor was also arrested and kept at the Tower of London, eventually being released.

So what was Francis guilty of? Well, it doesn’t appear that he was guilty of anything (and I’m not just saying that because he’s my family).

Quote:
"The interrogations proceeded intensively through the third week in November, and it is probable that both Culpeper and Dereham were racked. By the 22nd the council was satisfied of the guilt of all three, and it was proclaimed at Hampton Court that Catherine had forfeited the honour and title of Queen, and was to be known only as the Lady Catherine Howard. On 1st December the two men were arraigned, and both pleaded guilty, realizing the futility of any other course. Dereham's treason was actually much more problematic than Culpeper's because he never seems to have had any intention of resuming his relationship with Catherine. However, the fact that the relationship had existed, and that he had gratuitously been given the opportunity to resume it, were deemed to be sufficient. Moreover, it was Dereham rather than Culpeper for whom the King reserved his bitterest hatred, probably because it was he who had spoiled what Henry believed to have been his innocent bride. On 10^th December they were taken to Tyburn, where Culpeper was beheaded by the King's mercy, while Dereham suffered the full penalty of hanging, drawing and quartering. Both made 'a good end', confessing their faults, and their heads were displayed on Tower Bridge."

Source: The Six Wives of Henry VIII by David Loades, page 125

So there you have it. An interesting saga about my family, discovered through TV and Google Books.

I encourage you to check out Google Books if you haven’t already. To get to it, go to the main Google page and click on the link Books in the top left corner.

By early 2005, I had been researching my family history for about 15 years and had amassed tons of data that resided in a family history software program, Legacy 5.  At that time (and even now), I printed off my family group sheets and pedigree charts and stored them in a ring binder where they were easily accessible, but the ring binder wasn’t an interesting read for anyone else.  Even though I was also an avid scrapbooker, I had difficulty in scrapbooking genealogical information where, for the most part, there were no photos only census records, birth/marriage/death certificates and photocopies of parish registers.  I was disappointed that the information I had ever so carefully collected was now simply “going to waste” as nobody looked at it, especially as my parents and sister lived in Britain where I am originally from.

On recommendation from Claire Smith-Burns, a fellow KDGS member, I purchased and read Sharon DeBartolo Carmack’s “How to Write your Family History”.  This book is a great read and reasonably priced at (RSP $29.99 CDN) and I highly recommend it to anyone thinking about publishing a family history.  The first thing I learned from this book was that I didn’t have to do it all.  Sharon’s book suggested that I first determined the scope of the book.   Why this was a surprise to me I don’t know, but somehow I had set an expectation for myself that I should publish my entire family history or at least my entire paternal or maternal lines.  This was a relief as I knew that the very fact of trying to get ready to publish was causing me to delay the project.  As all genealogists know, for every ancestor you find there are two more waiting to be discovered.  You are never “done” with your genealogy and now this book was telling me that this was OK that I didn’t have to be finished, I simply had to define what I was going to include in the book.

The next thing I learned was that my book should be interesting.  This probably sounds funny to anyone reading this article but seriously, try reading an article in the National Genealogy Society Quarterly and you’ll soon discover that most written genealogies read more like lists of names, dates and facts.  The standard genealogy report formats are designed to provide genealogical data in an easy to comprehend written form but there is no requirement to make it interesting for the reader.  Now Sharon’s book was telling me I needed a plot and to develop themes in my family history, and it even explained how to create these using genealogical examples.  It further went on to introduce the concept of social history which Sharon explained “fills out the facts, breathes life into your ancestors, and turns the reader into an eyewitness of your family’s life.”

With these two ideas under my belt, I defined the scope of my project.  The story would be about my ancestors Carlo Aggio and Harriet Rayner, and would include information about their parents, children and grandchildren, most of which had ended up in workhouses or orphanages in Victorian London.

Now I had to develop a plan as to how I create my family history book.  While Sharon’s book stressed the need for proper citations, illustration, indices and appendices, she seemed to approach the project from the point of view that the book would be written by gathering all the documentation together and starting the text from scratch.  This didn’t sit well with me.  Why duplicate this effort, when I knew that my genealogy software could create a report (albeit uninteresting) that I could use as a base for my book complete with citations and an index?  So I decided that my approach would be to create a genealogical report of this family, export it into Microsoft Word and simply add more content to it to create my book.

I spent many hours doing background research to put my ancestors into historical context for the relevant time period and locations but by September 2005 I was finally ready to create my narrative report in Legacy 5 and begin combining the background research with the genealogy report.  This was where things suddenly didn’t go to plan.   I discovered that while Legacy could create a report that Microsoft Word would open, it didn’t export my 100 or so citations to Microsoft Word properly.  It created the citations in the body text and did not use Word’s footnotes or endnotes feature.  This was a huge problem because I knew I wouldn’t be able to add additional citations and have them renumber automatically.  In practice this would mean that every time I added a citation I would need to renumber every citation that followed it.

I enquired with Millennia Corp, the publishers of Legacy 5, about whether this would be corrected in the then due out Legacy 6.  They not only confirmed that it would not be a feature of Legacy 6 on launch, and they did not have an estimated date as to when the feature would be added.  After searching around online, I discovered that The Master Genealogist 6 was able to produce the report I needed complete with citations that Microsoft Word would read properly.  After trying to import my Legacy data file several times into TMG6 I discovered that TMG was losing part of the citation data!  Finally by January 2006 and several technical support calls and emails later, I had the report I needed in my hand (or rather in Microsoft Word) and could begin the merging of my genealogy with my background research*.

By the end of 2006 my book was finally complete. The text had been created, documents scanned, illustrations added, citations checked and the whole thing proofread. The next challenge was to determine how I was going to publish it.  Traditionally genealogists have been faced with enormous costs in publishing a family history book.  Publishers charge a certain amount to set up the book for printing and then want to make a minimum print run of a certain size.  This makes obtaining a single book an expensive prospect and, unless you can sell all the extra books, isn’t very practical.

In the Spring of 2007 I discovered online publishing.  Companies specializing in printing digital storybooks.  These full color books are printed with a hard cover, on archival quality materials and are hand-stitched so pages won’t fall out over time.  Books can include any combination of text, photos or even scrapbooking elements that you want.  They have several book sizes available including the horizontal 11 x 8.5 inches I selected for my book.  The online software is easy to use and after a couple of days uploading the contents of my book and finalizing my book project I was ready to order my book. I ordered two copies of my book which arrived 3 weeks later.

The amount of actual effort required to create my book was not huge even though the book took just over two years from inception to print.  Now I have been through the process it is much easier (and quicker) to repeat it. I have since published a few more books: a 4 generation pedigree book, a biography of my father based on letters he has written to my children, a history of the Hamilton family from Hamiota, Manitoba.

Genealogy is hard work.  We should take the time to share and enjoy our work with our family while we can.

* I have since switched to using Rootsmagic 4 www.rootsmagic.com which also exports citations to endnotes/footnotes in Microsoft Word. It is much easier than TMG to use and is substantially cheaper too.

I'm really excited to report that Who Do You Think You Are? is finally coming to the USA.  The series first started (to my knowledge) in the UK and has been produced in Canada (with Canadian stars).  Now the series is coming to the USA with a great line up of 7 famous people: Lisa Kudrow, Susan Sarandon, Spike Lee, Emmitt Smith, Brooke Shields, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick.

They have some interesting discoveries, including Slavery, Slave Owning (ironic considering this is Spike Lee's family), Holocaust, Gettysburg and more.

The series starts on March 5th, 2010, on NBC and is produced in conjunction with Ancestry.

For more information, watch the following introduction by Lisa Kudrow.

I'm happy to report that Legacy 7.4 (with new familysearch integration) is in beta testing and is officially "Familysearch Certified".

This is great news for Legacy users who have been waiting for this integration for quite a while (as a sidenote, Rootsmagic 4 introduced this functionality back in May 2009).

Legacy 7.4 allows the import of data to Legacy and Legacy 7.5 will allow the writing back to the familysearch database.  Both releases will be made available for *free* to existing Legacy 7 users.

For more information, click here.

This is the second in a 2 part series that outlines the strategy that I successfully use with the researchers I assist.

HELPING RESEARCHERS WITH SPECIFIC GENEALOGICAL PROBLEMS

Identify what the problem is (or in other words, what piece of information they are trying to find). Usually this is to identify the parents of a particular individual and is most commonly related to finding the birth of the known individual.

Identify the location and date range of the event you are looking for. Examine any known facts about the ancestor for clues that might help. Examples might be death record information, census returns with birth location and age, marriage record stating age, military records stating age, etc.

Identify the record types that might contain the data. This is not always the obvious. Yes a birth would be recorded in civil registration, possibly a baptismal record, but a census return may also have an age (calculated date of birth) as would a marriage certificate and military service record. A marriage (spouse) may be recorded on a civil marriage certificate, church marriage record, marriage licence (although technically this only proves intent), but a census return may also indicate a marriage by the words relationship to Head of Household: Wife.

Search the Family History Library Catalog for the location (either national, state/province, county, town levels) to see what records might be available. Also read the research guide for the country/state/province you are researching in to find out what records are available and for what periods of time. Usually the research guide will tell you the FHLC film numbers for the collections discussed if it is available through the FHL.

Consult the materials. This may involve ordering the films/fiche, searching online database, hiring a professional researcher, visiting an archive etc.

Record the results. All researchers record the information they find, but what about the information you don't find. Don't forget to record the materials that you have searched with no success. Why? Just to make sure that you search them again looking for the same thing. However, be aware that certain online materials are being constantly updated and that just because you don't find the record today doesn't mean that you won't find it in the future. For this reason it is advisable to make note of the date on which you did the research and which version of a record (online, film, etc) that you consulted with. If you found relevant information, record the WHOLE record. Sometimes there are hidden gems of information that don't seem relevant but may turn out to be important later on. Transcribe the whole record so you don't have to find it again or simply photocopy it.

Write down the citation. Just in case you didn't record the whole record or you need to refer to it again, make sure you write down the whole citation. This is usually a sore point for researchers who are hung up on the proper way to cite their sources. Don't worry about doing it "properly" worry about doing it "fully". Make sure there is enough information that ANYONE can find the record you are referring to. Usually this would require a book and author name with page reference, magazine and article name with date published or film/fiche number with page references.

Analyze the findings. If you found relevant information, don't forget to analyze it to see what it actually tells you. Does this new piece of information actually answer your question or is it just circumstantial evidence?
I hope this information helps you with your genealogy research. If it does I'd love to hear about your successes.

I've had a lot of experience helping patrons of Family History Centers over the years. Patrons vary in their level of experience in family history search. While it can be overwhelming to try to help patrons coming into the center, the strategy you use is the same regardless of level of ability, research location and research time range.

This is the first in a 2 part series that outlines the strategy that I successfully use with the researchers I assist.

FOR RESEARCHERS NEW TO GENEALOGY RESEARCH

Write down everything you know - The biggest advice I have for a new researcher is to put everything you know down onto a pedigree chart supported by a family group sheet for each "couple" with their children. Of course, they must start with yourself and work back without skipping any generations.
This was made clear to me a few years back when a fellow researcher told the story of their search which they started with their grandparent. This researcher was retired and their parent was deceased already. They researched for several years with much success before an elderly aunt? finally explained to them that actually their parent was adopted into the family and that the grandparent they had being researching was not actually a blood relation (being the adoptive parent).

This illustrates the importance of evaluating what you REALLY know and not what you THINK you know. Obtaining birth certificates for yourself and your parents may be part of this process especially if your parents are deceased.

Look for missing data - Once the pedigree chart is filled out, the next thing is to look for missing data on the pedigree chart. What I mean by this is not every life event that could have occured, but the main three events surrounding an individuals life: birth, marriage and death (birth and death can be supplemented with baptismal/christening and burial records).

The reason for obtaining this information is to establish relationships between individuals. A birth record will almost always name at least one of the parents and possibly both (as will the baptismal/christening record). A marriage record will obviously identify the two parties to the marriage and quite possibly one or both of their parents. A death record might identify the spouse or other relative reporting the death and may identify the parents of the deceased.

Once you have successfully identified that missing piece of information, you can move on to the steps I use for specific problems outlined in Part 2 of this article.

This article has been copied over to my new blog, Modern Memory Keeper.com
http://www.modernmemorykeeper.com/2009/10/broken-heritage-makers-heirloom-assurance-promise/
I am keeping the original post here to preserve the comments. Thanks, Marina.
************************************************************

About 2 years ago I created a genealogy book using the Heritage Makers self publishing system. The book was simple to make and I was very impressed with the results. While there was no output other than the book (no PDF file for example), I felt comfortable producing my book with them because they had an "Heirloom Assurance" promise, which stated:

The Heritage Makers Heirloom Assurance assures that your projects will last lifetimes. Torn pages, missed typos, daily wear and tear. Heritage Makers will print a replacement copy for you at only half price.

To receive your replacement copy, you'll need to mail us back your original book (or what's left of it) along with the Heirloom Assurance Form. You can get a copy of the form from your consultant who can find it their Virtual Office Library.

What a great guarantee! Even if you later discover a mistake or damage your book yourself, you will be able to replace the 1st copy for 1/2 price, or simply order more full price copies.

So recently I contacted Heritage Makers as I noticed that the genealogy book I had made was no longer showing in my projects list. I had wanted to print an additional copy as mine was getting very "ratty" as I'd passed it around at the local genealogy society to demonstrate Heritage Makers wonderful work and had used it in my seminar "Organizing Your Family History" taught at both the Vernon and Kelowna genealogy societies.

This is the response I received together with my replies:

Dear Marina,

I sincerely apologize, however, it looks like those books were in the 11.5x8.5 book sizes that were discontinued more than a year and a half ago. Unfortunately, our system does not have the ability to reprint them. I am sorry for this. Thank you so much!

Warm Regards,

Brandi Brady
Heritage Makers, Inc.
Client Services Agent


Brandi
I am sorry but that is completely unacceptable. Your emphasis is on preserving stories and family histories. My book has been damaged and I need to order a replacement.

If you are unable to reprint in a certain size, then the book should have been converted to a new size that you are able to print.

Tell me, how does a customer know that you are discontinuing the ability to print in a certain size? This was never announced. I was aware that I could no longer create new books in that size but not that my existing books were not available for reorder.

It does not give me any confidence that books I might create now may not be discontinued in the future.

Regards,

Marina


Dear Marina,

I apologize, after doing further research I discovered that your projects were actually Classic books. It was announced early in 2008 that the Classic system was being discontinued, as it had become inefficient and high maintenance. All projects needed to be completed before August when the system would be terminated. Then this year in the spring we announced that we would be bringing out a new studio, called Studio 3.0. Because of the complexity of the 3.0 upgrade, we announced that classic projects would not be able to be produced. We encouraged all client to get their classic project recreated in studio or print their projects before the 3.0 was released.

We did send out numerous amounts of communication to ensure all clients were aware of our changes. I sincerely apologize for your frustration.

Warm Regards,

Brandi Brady
Heritage Makers, Inc.
Client Services Agent

Brandi
Do you have access to the old files - is it possible to get a copy of the project in either pdf or image format so that I can recreate the project? As I mentioned, my book is damaged and I cannot read all the text.

Marina

Dear Marina,

I apologize, unfortunately because the old system was terminated, I am not able to access the files at all. I am able to see a list of the names and types of projects you have, but I cannot access them. I am sorry for this.

Warm Regards,

Brandi Brady
Heritage Makers, Inc.
Client Services Agent

Hi Brandy
So let me get this clear, are you saying that you will not honor the Heirloom Assurance?

Heirloom Assurance
The Heritage Makers Heirloom Assurance assures that your projects will last lifetimes. Torn pages, missed typos, daily wear and tear. Heritage Makers will print a replacement copy for you at only half price.

To receive your replacement copy, you'll need to mail us back your original book (or what's left of it) along with the Heirloom Assurance Form. You can get a copy of the form from your consultant who can find it their Virtual Office Library.


Regards,
Marina

Dear Marina,

We do honor our Heirloom Assurance program. However, as explained in my previous emails, to ensure the quality and speed of our system we found it necessary to terminate the Classic system and replace the studio with a newer version. With such large changes, in order to keep our word with our customers we do make many announcements to ensure all customers are aware and can make the appropriate preparations. I sincerely apologize that I am unable to reprint your book for you. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to assist you.

Warm Regards,

Brandi Brady
Heritage Makers, Inc.
Client Services Agent


So it appears that they *only* honour the Heirloom Assurance promise during the current version of their software and that any time they choose to upgrade their software, they will cut off all previous users from this guarantee. In practicality, this means that their guarantee is only good for approximately 18 months (an average software life cycle). Once you are beyond that time frame (which is when most of the damage is likely to occur) you are out of luck.

Hopefully Oprah (Heritage Makers is an Oprah top pick) doesn't damage one of her books 18 months after she makes one!

As for me and Genealogy Buzz, we give Heritage Makers a big "Thumbs Down" or "Not Recommended" rating for preserving your family's history.

The following is a press release issued today:

Here is some important information about a newly certified software application that will work directly with the new.familysearch.org Web site to prepare ancestral ordinances for the temple.

RootsMagic 4 is the first software affiliate product that is certified to reserve and submit ancestral names to temples to print LDS temple name cards using new FamilySearch Web services.

As an application that is certified to reserve ordinances, RootsMagic 4 has the ability to link people in your desktop genealogy file with matching people on the new.familysearch.org Web site. Once linked, a simple click on the temple icon next to a person’s name will display that person's official temple ordinances, complete with dates, temple name, and status. Incomplete temple ordinances may then be reserved to be performed at a later time. Your own file may also be updated with ordinances that are already completed. RootsMagic 4 can select reserved ordinances and print a Family Ordinance Request (FOR) form to take to the temple. Once at the temple, a worker will scan the bar code on the form and print all the desired temple name ordinance cards. Once the ordinances have been completed, RootsMagic will be updated with your ancestors’ new ordinance status.

For more product information go to: http://www.rootsmagic.com/fs/.

I will be participating in the Kelowna Public Library's "Ask A Genealogist" Day on Saturday 1st November 2008 in conjunction with the Kelowna and District Genealogy Society.  The library is located on Ellis Street in downtown Kelowna and everyone is welcome.  "Ask A Genealogist" hours are 9.30am to 4pm.  I will be there at least from 9.30am-12pm.

If you'd like to ask a genealogist something, then head on out to the library :)

It seems just about forever since I posted last but it's time for an update.  During the Summer I had my baby and things have been a little hectic every since.

However, I did manage to speak on LDS Resources at the Kelowna and District Genealogy Society's annual seminar.  I covered all aspects of FamilySearch including the two databases not available online (Scottish Church Records and Military Index), the FamilySearch.org web site, the Indexing project, Pilot Familysearch, Wiki Familysearch and finally New Familysearch.  To be honest, I wish the powers that be in Salt Lake City could actually come up with unique names for the different parts of the FamilySeach system, because it sure was confusing!  There were 29 registered for the session but I ended up with standing room only with 42 attendees :)

As a result of the preparation for that session I have been using New FamilySearch extensively and have made some exciting discoveries which I'll save for a separate post shortly.  Currently New Familysearch is only available to those with church membership numbers but you are able to access all the other sites mentioned abovve.

A while ago I reported that the Family Records Center in Islington were removing the birth, marriage and death record books as they were to be put online.  Unfortunately the project between the Family Records Center and the contractor has now been cancelled by "mutual consent".  There have been no comments as to whether a new project will be launched or a new contractor found.

It should be noted that most of these records (1837 to 1983) are already online at FreeBMD or Ancestry.  However, these are both private projects and (in theory) could be removed, and in the case of Ancestry become fee based, at any time leaving people without free access to these resources.

You may recall that I currently use Rootsmagic 3 for my genealogy research software. I settled on this package a while ago as it was one of two (the other being The Master Genealogist) that would export real footnootes/endnotes when compiling a book.

I am pleased to announce that Rootsmagic 4 is being released. Bruce Buzbee is blogging a series of articles about the new features in Rootsmagic 4 here.

If you haven't tried the new publishing feature at http://ancestrypress.ancestry.com/ you should try it. This tool is designed for you to produce a family history book.

You can create a tree on http://www.ancestry.com/ (set up a free account not a paid account) either by typing in the information or by using a genealogy software program such as free http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/ to export a GEDCOM file which you can then import into Ancestry. Then when you go into the publishing module you tell it to use your tree (and which one if you have more than one). You can then auto-generate a book using the information in the tree.

Books generally consist of a pedigree chart, family group records and individual timelines. However, you can add additional pages of various types as well as importing photos that you can then drag and drop onto the pages. You can also drag and drop various scrapbooking elements such as quotes, labels, journaling tags, flowers, buttons as well as choosing from a number of different background colors, textures and pictures.

When you’re done, you can either order a book or print the individual pages to your local printer for insertion into a scrapbook/ring binder. The tool is free, you only pay if you order a book (and then just the cost of book production).

I have just started work on some family history layouts and remembered the new publishing feature at http://ancestrypress.ancestry.com/. This tool was originally designed for you to produce a family history book, but I happened to notice that you can print to a local printer in letter size.

What this means is that you can create a tree on http://www.ancestry.com/ (set up a free account not a paid account) either by typing in the information or by using a genealogy software program such as free http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/ to export a GEDCOM file which you can then import into Ancestry. Then when you go into the publishing module you tell it to use your tree (and which one if you have more than one). You can then auto-generate a book using the information in the tree.

Books generally consist of a pedigree chart, family group records and individual timelines. However, you can add additional pages of various types as well as importing photos that you can then drag and drop onto the pages. You can also drag and drop various scrapbooking elements such as quotes, labels, journaling tags, flowers, buttons as well as choosing from a number of different background colors, textures and pictures.

When you’re done, you can either order a book or print the individual pages to your local printer for insertion into your scrapbook. The tool is free, you only pay if you order a book (and then just the cost of book production).

For those of you that volunteer at your FHC and have signed up as Family History Consultants at http://consultant.familysearch.org/ you will now have seen an announcement that TempleReady is being replaced by something called “new FamilySearch”.

A site has been made accessible to all Church Member consultants at http://new.familysearch.org/ and you can sign up for access at that site by clicking on the Register link. You will need your membership number (11 digits) and your confirmation date. If you do not have this information please contact your Ward Membership Clerk to get it so that you can sign up.

Once you have signed up, you will fill out a profile and will then have access to the site. What you will find on the site are training materials including a video that will launch automatically (which I suggest you watch), as well as links to PDF format guide books and lessons that you can follow.

All Church members will be using the new system to prepare to take names to the temple as of the switch over. They will be able to upload gedcom files or individual names for work (note: a gedcom file can be extracted from your genealogy software – it doesn’t need to be the whole file, maybe a family or group of individuals). The system will then compare the names to those in the up-to-date temple ordinance records (like IGI but current) and only let you prepare those that are incomplete. You will then be able to reserve which names you wish to complete ordinances for (I suggest only reserving those that you think you can complete in a reasonable amount of time – otherwise you are preventing someone else from doing the work if they wish) and print something called a Temple Ordinance Request to take to the temple (no disk is required).

In addition, anyone who is signed up on the system can also log in as a “helper”. This is to help other members prepare their names and I guess how we will assist others in the library (unless we encourage them to sign up with their own account).

The good news is that the system looks to be way simpler than the current system and has plenty of help options. However, we are still going to run into the existing issue of preparing a gedcom from PAF or whatever software is being used.

The New York Times has released all of its 11 million public domain articles from 1851-1980 in PDF image based format on its website NYTimes.com. These articles are available free of charge in an effort to eliminate their TimeSelect subscription service.

These articles are of great value to the genealogical researcher, both for genealogical information as well as providing a valuable social history to enhance your family history.

To access the archive, visit http://www.nytimes.com/ and in the search area (top center of page) enter your search term and select NYT Archive 1851-1980 and then click the Search button. Your search results will be shown on the next screen.

The following bulletin was issued by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints today. This is good news for the Family History Library and Centers network and hopefully they will expand it to include all FHCs in the near future.

FamilySearch and The Generations Network Agreement Give Patrons Access to More than 24,000 Ancestry.com Databases and Titles
Provo, UT – December 19, 2007 – FamilySearch and The Generations Network, Inc., parent company of Ancestry.com, today announced an agreement that provides free access of Ancestry.com to patrons of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and the 13 largest regional family history centers effective today.

With this new agreement, full access will be provided to more than 24,000 Ancestry.com databases and titles and 5 billion names in family history records. In addition to the Family History Library, the following 13 regional family history centers have been licensed to receive access to Ancestry.com:

Mesa, Arizona
Los Angeles, California
Oakland, California
Orange, California
Sacramento, California
San Diego, California
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Pocatello, Idaho
Las Vegas, Nevada
Logan, Utah
Ogden, Utah
St. George, Utah
Hyde Park, London, England

“We’re excited for our patrons to receive online access to an expanded collection of family history records on Ancestry.com,” said Don Anderson, director of FamilySearch Support. “Ancestry.com’s indexes and digital images of census, immigration, vital, military and other records, combined with the excellent resources of FamilySearch, will increase the likelihood of success for patrons researching their family history.”
The Generations Network and FamilySearch hope to expand access to other family history centers in the future.

FamilySearch patrons at the designated facilities will have access to Ancestry.com’s completely indexed U.S. Federal Census Collection, 1790-1930, and more than 100 million names in passenger lists from 1820-1960, among other U.S. and international record collections. Throughout the past year, Ancestry.com has added indexes to Scotland censuses from 1841-1901, created the largest online collection of military and African American records, and reached more than 4 million user-submitted family trees.

Free access is also available at Brigham Young University Provo, Idaho, and Hawaii campuses, and LDS Business College patrons through a separate agreement with The Generations Network.


“FamilySearch’s Family History Library in Salt Lake City is one of the most important physical centers for family history research in the world, and we are happy that patrons to the Library and these major regional centers will have access to Ancestry.com,” said Tim Sullivan, President and CEO of The Generations Network, Inc., parent company of Ancestry.com. “We’ve enjoyed a ten-year working relationship with FamilySearch, and we look forward to continued collaboration on a number of family history projects.”

About Ancestry.com – Visit us at www.ancestry.comWith 24,000 searchable databases and titles and more than 2.5 million active users, Ancestry.com is the No. 1 online source for family history information. Since its launch in 1997, Ancestry.com has been the premier resource for family history, simplifying genealogical research for millions of people by providing them with many easy-to-use tools and resources to build their own unique family trees. The site is home to the only complete online U.S. Federal Census collection, 1790-1930, as well as the world’s largest online collection of U.S. ship passenger list records featuring more than 100 million names, 1820-1960. Ancestry.com is part of The Generations Network, Inc., a leading network of family-focused interactive properties, including www.myfamily.com,www.rootsweb.com, www.genealogy.com and Family Tree Maker. In total, The Generations Network properties receive 8.7 million unique visitors worldwide and more than 416 million page views a month (© comScore Media Metrix, October 2007).

About FamilySearch
FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization that maintains the world’s largest repository of genealogical resources. Patrons may access resources online at FamilySearch.org or through the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and over 4,500 family history centers in 70 countries. FamilySearch is a trademark of Intellectual Reserve, Inc. and is registered in the United States of America and other countries.