Digging for Roots Online: R. I. P. Google’s Tilde

By Dennis L. Maness, MLS

   

Some of you (most of you?) read that title and thought “Tilde?”.

In an earlier blog post in 2012 on the subject of genealogy books online I wrote:

 “Quick Search Tip—On Google the use of the tilde “~” (it’s on the top of the upper left key on my keyboard) means that the search will include synonyms of the word you’re searching for. For instance “~genealogy” will include the words “family history”, “family tree” “vital records” “genealogical” “surname” and probably many more in your search.”

The news that this is now no longer available as a search operator on Google is one of the reasons I read genealogy blogs. I recently read the October 9, 2014 Lisa Louise Cooke’s “Genealogy Gems” blog  that announced that the tilde had gone away.

Apparently this happened, with no notice, sometime before June 15, 2013 so all my searches using the tilde since then have been misleading.  Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Why did Google use the tilde? In math, the “~” symbol means “is similar to.” The tilde told Google to search for pages that are synonyms or similar to the term that follows. But I digress.

Now we will have to go back to using (genealogy OR geneology OR “family history” OR genealogical) ad infinitum.

There is a list of Google’s current Search Operators at Search Operators  and 

Punctuation, Symbols and Operators in Search.

I missed the “+” sign when Google “deprecated” it (the term they use) and now this. Oh well, life goes on.

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Remember, as Legacy Family Tree’s Geoff Rasmussen says,

“Life is short; do genealogy first!”

Digging for Roots Online: Cemeteries and Tombstones

By Dennis L. Maness, MLS

  

At the July Society meeting we had an interesting program, "Care and reading of old tombstones" by Martha Wallace, and it reminded me of the many places on the Web where I’ve recently seen information about genealogy and cemeteries. To supplement Ms. Wallace’s talk, let me add a few places to “dig for roots” (but not literally, please!)

Usually the first place I start when I’m thinking about specific genealogy topics is the Family HistoryResearchWiki. I typed “cemeteries” in the “Search by place or topic” box and the first entry was “Cemeteries”.

I clicked on the link and got a wonderful page on cemeteries that listed various ways to find cemeteries and links to other websites.

Further searching on the Wiki led me to a page on UnitedStates, Tombstone and Sexton  records:

Next I searched the FamilySearch Learning Center for “Cemetery” and got 9 video or slides on topics such as: episodes of the TV show Ancestors; “Researching Funeral Homes, Gravesites and Cemetery Records”; “Cemetery Art”; and “Messages From the Grave: Listening to Your Ancestor’s Tombstone”!

Now I went to Ancestry.com and searched their Wiki for “cemetery records” and got this article from “The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy”:

Next I used my third favorite Web site, About.com to search for “CemeteryRecords”:

In addition there were links to: “Tiptoeing Through the Graveyard”, “How to Do a Tombstone Rubbing”, Tips for Taking Great Cemetery Pictures” (and yes, they recommend a mirror as mentioned by Ms. Wallace),  and other topics including a link to “The LimitedEncyclopedia of Grave Terminology ”.

The fourth place I go to is the “GeneaBloggers” site by Thomas MacEntee, where one can search almost 3,000 genealogy blogs.

Here I found something I hadn’t even thought about (and have probably broken the law doing!)--an article on the “Legal Genealogist” site by Judy Russell, called “Cemetery Photos-Permission Required?"

Another listing was “Cemeteries and Cemetery Symbols” by Joe Beine.

On another of Thomas MacEntee’s sites, “Blogtalkradio” there is a program called “Bring Out Your Dead! Cemeteries and Genealogy ”

And, of course, we can’t forget the fine articles on our very own Blog on San Mateo County Cemeteries by the very knowledgeable Cath Madden Trindle!

There is a site on the MyHeritage genealogy blog called Cemeteries: Gravestonesymbols.

On the Ancestry.com blog (yes, they have a free-to-read-blog too) there is an informative article for newbie cemetery genealogists called CemeteryEtiquette: What you Need to Know for that Cemetery Trip.

On a personal note, a few years ago I found, in a used book store, the book Storiesin Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography that is both visually attractive and fun to read. (Note: the link is to the Amazon.com site but the book is available elsewhere. When you look at the prices don’t hate me for paying only $2.00 for my used copy!)

And finally there was recently a news article about a person who did awful damage to many tombstones so they could photograph them for Find-A-Grave (which had no responsibility for this person’s actions). I think it illustrates perfectly what Ms. Wallace told us.

http://goo.gl/Bmw9Zg

Cemeteries can give us more information about our ancestors and have broken many a genealogical brick wall.

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Remember, as Legacy Family Tree’s Geoff Rasmussen says,

“Life is short; do genealogy first!"

Digging for Roots Online: Palaeography

 By Dennis L. Maness, MLS

I had just sat down in a RootsTech 2014 classroom for what should have been a class in using non-English language records when it was announced that the speaker had to cancel the class. Instead they were substituting a talk by a professor and graduate student from BYU (Brigham Young University) on a new program and website that was just then being built—the website is called “Script Tutorial: Making sense of oldhandwriting”.  

Now I have to admit that, in spite of this actually being important if one wants to do serious family history research, I have never done much handwriting transcription or abstracting, relying on others to do the job for me. After hearing this lecture that may change.

Before we continue let’s make sure we know what we’re discussing; in a blog post in the UK’s version of The Huffington Post (http://goo.gl/G4Pa8O) , Scott Phillips defines it this way:

"Palaeography Noun (mass noun): The study of ancient writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts."

He continues: “If you have worked with any manuscripts, wills, indentures, deeds, etc. from before the invention of the typewriter, then you know this isn't your father's handwriting we often find ourselves dealing with in our family history.”

At this point may I say that “palaeography” is the British spelling; in the U.S. “paleography” is the more common spelling. But since most of the sites I’ll be mentioning today spell the word the British way I used that in the title.

The site we’re talking about, “Script Tutorial” had literally come live on the Web just two days before RootsTech! As they say on the home page 

“Work on the Script Tutorial will continue throughout 2014, please "Pardon Our Dust" as we make these revisions.” The authors describe the page this way:

“This website offers guidance in the deciphering of documents written in handwriting styles or alphabets no longer in general use. It concentrates on alphabets used between 1500 and 1800 in western Europe.

Currently it offers instruction in English, German, Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese;Latin and eastern European languages will be added in the future.” (We will be discussing only English in this post.)

The opening screen shows this:

You should click on the center “Researchers” where, on the right hand side, you will see:

  

You will find an introduction to English Script, Techniques & Tools, Documents, and my favorite, Interactive Exercises.

But, perhaps, before you continue, I would recommend going to the FamilySearch Wiki  and searching for “handwriting”. (They don’t use the word paleography!) You’ll see this:

They also took my next suggestion right out of my mouth: Other web sites can be found by going to Cyndi's List - Handwriting & Script or by doing a search on Google for terms such as handwriting, paleography, or Old English with the term England.

                       

Although I think “Script Tutorial” may become the #1 place to go to learn palaeography for now you may wish to go to the [U.K.] National Archives-Palaeography, and use some of their tutorials.

Another excellent place for tutorials is “EnglishHandwriting 1500-1700: an online course”  

A bit more academic tutorials can be found at MedievalPalaeography.

Clicking on the Henry VIII half groat for instance, will get you to a page with a column of choices:

(This is a partial list) I clicked on “Start reading 1):

  

There is a good discussion on the “Society of Genealogists: The National Family History Centre” site. (http://goo.gl/pGYFOk)

And on another page (http://goo.gl/m8Hzb2)

Kip Sperry is considered one of the best experts on Early American Handwriting. In fact that is the name of possibly the best book on the subject. We have it in our Society library:

Since this blog post is about online learning, I recommend a page offered by Genealogy.com that has an excerpt from this excellent book (http://www.genealogy.com/68_sperry.html):

And it goes on from there.

I suspect I have just scratched the surface of Internet information on Palaeography/Paleography and that you will find this useful in the future when you run across those seemingly undecipherable manuscripts and records.

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Remember, as Legacy Family Tree’s Geoff Rasmussen says,

“Life is short; do genealogy first!”

Digging for Roots Online

By Dennis L. Maness, MLS

  

Twice during lectures I attended at the Southern California Genealogical Society’s Jamboree 2013 the great genealogical reference books Red Book and The Source were mentioned. A few months ago at a SMCGS meeting The Source was listed in the speaker’s handout, and just last month both works were mentioned in two webinars I attended.

Now I have a confession to make—I haven’t used either of these books in years even though I actually own a copy of “The Source”! But they are wonderful sources for doing your genealogy so these mentions prompted me to look into them again. Now you may be asking what does this have to do with my “Digging for Roots Online” theme but I have great news—they are both online! And free! And, unlike the print books, have clickable links in their articles. (Confession #2—I hate typing in links from printed sources.)

On the Ancestry.com site (http://www.ancestry.com/) click on the “Learning Center” tab at the top and scroll down to “Family History Wiki”.

On the right hand column you will see

Explore the Wiki

The Ancestry.com Wiki is made up of four kinds of fantastic content:

§  TheSource: A Guidebook to American Genealogy

§  RedBook: American State, County, and Town Sources

§  Other great Ancestry.com content

§  Content added by you

and there you see links to both books.

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The current edition of The Source, the third, was published in 2006. Ancestry describes it this way:

When Ancestry published the first edition of The Source in 1984, it quickly became a standard reference in the field of genealogy and family history. That same year, it received the coveted “Best Reference” award from the American Library Association. The 1997 edition, built upon the foundations laid down by its predecessor, sold more than 100,000 copies. A poll of librarians placed The Source, sometimes referred to as “the genealogist’s bible,” at the top of the “Top 10 Genealogy Books” for the wealth of information it offers to beginning and experienced genealogists…”

Next there is a clickable listing of the table of contents:

Third Edition Table of Contents

§  The Foundations of FamilyHistory Research

§  Computers and Technology

§  GeneralReferences and Guides

§  Business,Institution, and Organization Records

§  Census Records

§  Church Records

§  Court Records

§  Directories

§  Immigration Records

§  Land Records

§  Military Records

§  Newspapers

§  Vital Records

§  African American Research

§  Colonial English Research

§  ColonialSpanish Borderland Research

§  Hispanic Research

§  Jewish American Research

§  Native American Research

§  Urban Research

List of Appendixes

§  Abbreviations and Acronyms

§  Family Associations (Coming soon...)

§  Genealogical Societies

§  Hereditary and Lineage Organizations (Coming soon...)

§  Historical Societies

§  The LDS Family History Library

§  The National Archivesand its Regions

§  State Archives

The current edition of Red Book, the third, was published in 2004. Ancestry describes it this way:

“Red Book is designed to help family historians learn where to find information about their ancestors by taking an approach focused on localities. It is an expansive guide to the most useful resources in each of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia. Organized by state, the content easily directs the user to information-rich resources in areas including:

§  Vital Records

§  Census Records

§  Internet Resources

§  County Resources

§  Background Sources

§  Land Records

§  Probate Records

§  Court Records

§  Tax Records

§  Cemetery Records

§  Church Records

§  Military Records

§  Periodicals, Newspapers, and Manuscript Collections

§  Archives, Libraries, and Societies

Major highlights of the content are the county resources published in table format for each state. Information in these tables often include county name, when the county was formed, which counties the new county was created from, and dates for when each county started recording information such as birth, marriage, and death records or land, probate and court records. Each state also has a county, town, or parish map.”

The clickable table of contents is very basic:

Alabama Family HistoryResearch

Alaska Family History Research

and so on to:

WisconsinFamily History Research

Wyoming Family HistoryResearch

Now you can see one of the few drawbacks of using either book; the copyright dates, 2006 and 2004, respectively.

But there is an easy way to check for outdated links—just use the FamilySearch “Research Wiki” (https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Main_Page) and search for the county you are working in.

Both of these online books are extremely helpful tools and will repay many times over your looking and using them. I’m so very glad I rediscovered them.

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Remember, as Legacy Family Tree’s Geoff Rasmussen says,

“Life is short; do genealogy first!”

Digging For Roots Online

By Dennis L. Maness, MLS

  

I’ll have the privilege of attending RootsTech 2013 in Salt Lake City this year. It’s turning out to be the biggest genealogical conference ever in the U.S.—5000 people have already registered!

Now here’s the “online” part—13 of the classes will be broadcast including the usually very exciting keynote addresses.

There was an announcement about what else will be broadcast on the FamilySearch Blog at http://goo.gl/ojQpj. And even better news, you don’t have to watch at the same time as the broadcast, they will be archived on the RootsTech site just as they did last year so you can watch them anytime.

The really exciting news is that right now you can download the syllabi of all the classes on the RootsTech site. Click on the “Schedule” link on the left side of the page, click on “Main Schedule. Under the “Session” column there are links in red to the syllabus of each class. I don’t know how long the links will be up so you might want to download them now.

I personally thank RootsTech and FamilySearch for doing this; it’s a great way for those of you who can’t attend the conference to learn new things and methods.

Digging for Roots Online

 By Dennis L. Maness, MLS

  

I love genealogy conferences. But they have two drawbacks: they cost a lot, especially when you add in travel, food, and hotel expenses and secondly they cram so much into a few days that you can get overwhelmed and probably forget some (much?) of what you learn. But I’ve discovered a supplement and sometimes a substitute—the genealogy webinar.

Dictionary.com defines a webinar this way:

“…a seminar or other presentation that takes place on the Internet, allowing participants in different locations to see and hear the presenter, ask questions, and sometimes answer polls.

The best place to start is to check out the listings on GeneaWebinars, which describes itself as “a calendar and blog devoted exclusively to coordinating online genealogy seminars.”

Here you’ll find a calendar of upcoming webinars;

 

and a “How It Works” essay.

In this post I’ll talk about some webinars I’ve attended and some that I’ve heard good things about.

The first is my personal favorite, Legacy Family Tree Webinars.

Most of the webinars are at 11 AM on Wednesdays but if you can’t watch them then they are held for free viewing for about 10 days on the Legacy Family Tree Website. After that you can purchase them on CD.

This is a sample of what topics have been covered just this year:

“The 5 C's for Success in Genealogy Today” by Barbara Renick

“Neglected History” by Megan Smolenyak² (and may I say I paid big bucks to hear this same talk at SCGS Jamboree this year; you could have seen and heard it here for free!)

“The Genealogy Cloud: Which Online Storage Program Is Right For You?” by Thomas MacEntee

“Digital Images for Genealogists and Technologists: scanning, digitizing, editing, and preserving your photos” by Geoff Rasmussen

“Researching Your German Ancestors” by Kory Meyerink

“Obituaries: Clues to Look For. Tips for making sure you get the full benefit from an obituary notice” by Thomas Jay Kemp

“Ten Brick Wall Tips for Beginners” by Marian Pierre-Louis

“Tracing Immigrant Ancestors” by Lisa Alzo.

This is just a small sample of the topics covered. And did you notice the presenters? They are top-of-the-line and nationally known genealogists.

Next are the webinars put on by the Southern California Genealogical Society (SCGS).

As they say on their site: “Jamboree Extension Series presentations will be scheduled on the first Saturday and third Wednesday of each month. Saturday sessions will be held at 10am Pacific time / 1pm Eastern time; Wednesday sessions will be scheduled at 6pm Pacific time / 9pm Eastern time…. The live broadcast of each session is open to the public and FREE to all everyone (space is limited to 1000 attendees). Webinars are recorded, archived, and available for the next twelve months day or night, in the members-only section of the SCGS website.”

Here’s a sample of their past webinars:

“Me and My Laptop: Getting the Most out of your Laptop while Researching Onsite” by Linda Woodward Geiger

“Seeing the Patterns: Organizing Your Information” by Michael John Neill

“Grandma’s Flak Jacket: Why Your Children Need You To Do Family History” by Janet Hovorka

“Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker. Researching Your Ancestors’ Occupations” by Denise Spurlock

“The Genealogist as CSI” by George G. Morgan

Family Tree University sponsored by Family Tree Magazine.

These are for-pay webinars and a little too pricey for my poor budget but I’ve heard good things about them.

Here is a list of future webinars:

DearMYRTLE

This site has free webinars on such subjects as:

Instagram for Genealogists featuring Carrie Keele

FAMILY TREE MAKER WEBINARS feature one-on-one training provided by Russ Worthington

Ancestry Trees can Jumpstart Your Genealogy Research

Michael John Neill has a reasonably priced for-pay site

Topics include:

Sections, Townships, Base Lines, etc--Land Descriptions in Federal Land States.

Did Your Ancestor Get a Civil War Pension?

Charts, Charts and More Charts.

The Genealogical Proof Standard for the Non-Professional.

Creating Families from Pre-1850 Census Records

There are still other webinar sites you might enjoy (check out the Geneawebinars site listed above.)

Genealogy webinars started becoming common and popular around 2010 and continue to grow in both number and quality. Try some out today.

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Remember, as Legacy Family Tree’s Geoff Rasmussen says,

“Life is short; do genealogy first!”