[Genealogy-SIG] Genealogy News - 20060719

[jotaito]

Subject:  Genealogy News - 20060719

Next Meeting:  Thursday, 27 July 2006, 7 PM, 119 Valley St.

AGENDA:  If anyone has any items to add to the agenda for the next meeting, please send it to me soon.  I am trying to reach Darlene about what she might have planned but she is very hard to reach.  I will try to put out an agenda as soon as I can be sure what she has in mind.

EDUCATIONAL ITEM:  

INTRODUCTION

It is my intent to begin a series of educational items for our DMA Genealogy SIG starting with this publication.  This will appear regularly on the website and lend confidence to visitors that we are, indeed, actively engaged in genealogy.  Our past postings do not lead visitors to that conclusion.  

Many books have been written on genealogy but on-line capabilities far exceed anything that has appeared in print, especially in the sheer numbers.  Therefore, I will slant toward the on-line issues.  I will keep these missives short and to the point in an attempt to NOT scare away anyone who may be new to genealogy research.  I, too, am new to genealogy and also to writing news items on a regular basis.  

Am I qualified to do this?  Probably not as qualified as some professional genealogists (most professional genealogists will have bona fides including either a license or certificate attesting to their recognized qualifications); but I have had some 37 years of government training which I perceive as having been the best training in the world for doing this type research work (as I now see it).  During the past year I have read, reviewed, studied and perused literally thousands of documents, guides, books, forms, and pamphlets.  I am short on experience and still probably have lots more to learn but I think I can offer some guidance and direction helpful to those just getting started.  And, because of the sheer volume of information available on-line, I hope to be able to direct/point some of the more knowledgeable members to on-line information that they may not have found yet.

I will be starting at the beginning and very basic level.  I don't want to overload anyone with too much information.  So I will try to keep things rather brief.  It is left to the reader to expand upon any of the information that I lay out for them.  What I lay out will be referenced and may even include some websites to visit.  Remember I am doing something new (to me/us) here; I will appreciate sincere constructive criticism.  I will attempt to respond to criticism but the reader should keep in mind that there will be more to come and the criticism may be addressed in some manner down the line.  Also, brevity sometimes, unfortunately, leads readers to premature conclusions.  

When all these articles are pulled together, we should have some sort of a "Genealogy Guide for Online Research" to post on the DMA website.
 
Anyone doing genealogical on-line research needs a good set of sources.  The list below is not all inclusive but all might be considered major sources.  These sources should be considered as generally useful/helpful.  As you pursue genealogical lines, other more useful sources will surely come to light.  

List of some major sources:

Cyndi's List
FamilySearch.com 
RootsWeb
Ancestry.com
Ellis Island Online
The Library of Congress
The National Archives and Records Administration
The National Genealogical Society
Everton's
DearMyrtle

A command line search from your computer will most likely, turn up these and many more sites. But these will have the deepest and broadest sets of information and guidance for doing research.  Many initial searches will originate with/through one of these sites.  

The reader is invited to search against sets of nouns from this list and find the websites listed here.  You may want to mark/save the site/address for future use.  It also will not hurt for you to roam around on any of the websites and see what is there and study how it might be of some use to you.  

No two non-family members will have need for the exact same sources of information (resources) except in the most general case.  When that is not the case, then you may be talking to someone about one of your own lost kin (cousins, aunts, uncles or a long line of predecessor grandparents).  Proving it will thrust you into the heart and soul of genealogical research.  



Ref:Genealogy ONLINE, 7th Ed.; by Elizabeth Powell Crowe; p. 7

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jotaito