About the Header Photograph

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

The Legal Genealogist-Judy Russell


Judy Russell is coming to Menlo Park in October for a full day seminar.  It is being held on November 1, 2014.  Location is 1105 Valparaiso Avenue in Menlo Park, California. The cost is $42.00 for the day and $8.00 for lunch.  The registration for the conference begins at 8:00 am with the classes starting at 9:00 and going until 3:00 pm.  Judy is brilliant, entertaining a master storyteller and lecturer that travels far and wide with her classes.   She just won first place and the Gold Metal in a contest where 150 people had been nominated at the best genealogist of the year.

The lectures are a series of 4 classes is entitled:

"A Day In Court With The Legal Genealogist"

Where There Is --Or Isn't A Will
The Fair Court--Records of Chancery Courts
POlls Personality and Property--Making sense of Tax Lists
From Blackstone to Statutes At Large--How Knowing the Law Makes Us Better Genealogists

 Check out a sampling of her posts on her blog and decided if you'd like to go.  A one day conference is one the best way to learn about something.  There is something about the time invested that makes it stick longer in your mind so you can actually use the information.  Think about it.  Check it out.
The following text and the two photos are from Judy's Blog.

Welcome to The Legal Genealogist!


AboutMy name is Judy Russell. I’m a genealogist with a law degree, and my purpose here at The Legal Genealogist is, in part, to help folks understand the often arcane and even impenetrable legal concepts and terminology that are so very important to those of us studying family history. Without understanding the context in which events took place and records were created, we miss so much of both the significance and the flavor of what happened.

I hope you’ll find your questions answered here, and invite you to send along any question you have that you’d like answered. There’s a link at the top of every page (“Ask TLG”).

My personal background is, well, eclectic. I have a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a political science minor from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and a law degree from Rutgers School of Law-Newark.

I’ve worked as a newspaper reporter, trade association writer, legal investigator, defense attorney, federal prosecutor, law editor and, for more than 20 years, I've been an adjunct member of the faculty at Rutgers Law School.

I’m a Colorado native with roots deep in the American south on my mother’s side (from Virginia to Texas and just about everywhere in between!) and entirely in Germany on my father’s side. It's an odd mix, finding records of my ancestors from 1680 Virginia on one side to being a first-generation American on the other.

I’ve spent the last decade learning my trade as a genealogist, and hold credentials as a Certified GenealogistSM and Certified Genealogical LecturerSM from the Board for Certification of Genealogists® where I currently serve as a member of the Board of Trustees. I’m a member of the National Genealogical Society, the Association of Professional Genealogists, and, among others, the state genealogical societies of New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Texas and Illinois.

I’ve attended the National Institute on Genealogical Research (NIGR) at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and completed Elizabeth Shown Mills’ course in Advanced Methodology and Evidence Analysis and Thomas W. Jones’ course in Writing and Publishing for Genealogists at the Institute of Genealogy & Historical Research (IGHR) at Samford University. I'm privileged now to serve on the faculty at IGHR, at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP), and at Boston University’s Center for Professional Education.

I’ve written for both the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (see Judy G. Russell, “`Don’t Stop There!’ Connecting Josias Baker to His Burke County, North Carolina, Parents,” National Genealogical Society Quarterly, March 2011, 25-41) and the National Genealogical Society Magazine (see Judy G. Russell, “Autosomal DNA testing,” National Genealogical Society Magazine, October-December 2011, 38-43, and “Fifty years of credentialing,” National Genealogical Society Magazine, January-March 2014, 15-19).

I lecture on a wide variety of genealogical topics, ranging from using court records in our family history to understanding DNA testing. My current lecture list is in the Lecture link above, and I’d be happy to discuss new topics with any group interested in having me speak. Feel free to contact me about your particular needs.

Dewey Decimal Classification System - Library Orientation


For all you feline lovers..

In an attempt to keep the books in the library in the place they belong we have been asked to review the Dewey Decimal Classification System.  Patrons should be asked place a yellow plastic place holder where the book was but not to replace them on the shelves when they are finished with a book. The books should be placed on the cart in the near the resource desk to be filed by staff.

The Dewey Decimal Classification System was created by Melvil Dewey in 1876.   It has been updated in 23 editions to date.  Today it is used in 200,000 libraries in at least 200 countries.  The major competing library classification system was developed by the Library of Congress.  We use the Dewey Decimal Classification System in this library.  here are a few of the main ideas from the lesson.

The Call Numbers are the various numbers you see on the bottom of the binding of each book. The Dewey Decimal Classification numbers are 3 digit number and comes first on the label.  That number give the main classification of the book.  For further specificity fractions are used.  Example 251.548

The Cutter Number is found below the DDC number in the label.  The first letter may be the first letter of the author's last name.  It is followed by some numbers or a subject code such as X2 for cemeteries, or K2 for church records.

The most basic thing to remember is to read the coding digit by digit, left to right, and then put the smallest number first. Numbers to the right of the decimal are valued just like they are in mathematics. 

See the lesson for information specific to this library. 

The lesson includes information about the filing system and and there is an answer key to the questions I'll be passing out in class.  It can also be found in the orientation binder on the library.

Steve Danko photo

The Lesson Link

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n3wjo3655coz1ij/9%20-%204%20Reception%20Desk.doc?dl=0

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Relative Finder


James Tanner does it again.  This man is amazing.  How he keeps up with everything so well is a mystery.  Please access his blog at Genealogy's Star.  Link below.

Here is a portion of his post from yesterday.  You want to have some fun with your FS/FT then definitely check out Relative Finder!  Relative Finder is a third party beta site at present.  Check it out.

James Tanner: Posted: 08 Sep 2014 05:37 AM PDT

Relative Finder is a beta test program from the Brigham Young University (BYU) Family History Technology Lab that enables you to find relatives, famous or otherwise, from your FamilySearch.org Family Tree. These programs are not intended to be completed projects. They are works in progress. 

The Relative Finder program works well if your Family Tree ancestors are accurately displayed. There are presently some limitations in the way the people in Family Tree are handled due to it continued connection with the old program, New.FamilySearch.org. As a result of these limitations in Family Tree, Relative Finder may not be as complete or accurate as it would otherwise be. As the program explains:
To get started, try finding some famous relatives. Use the 'relatives' page to select which groups of people to find people in.  To continue reading this post click here.

Name Removal Of Recently Selected People In Your Tree



Removing Names from the Search History Name List

Updates_FamilyTree
Within Family Tree, when you do a search, the names you search are kept in a queue called the search history list. This search history list allows you to quickly and easily go back to a search you previously did. This is a great feature, especially if you find it hard to remember which names you were working on in a previous search session.
The problem with this feature has been that the list of names can become long and a bit cumbersome. This is especially true if you do a lot of searching through the tree.
FamilySearch has made a slight change to this feature to provide you with a way to weed out names from your search history list.
To remove names from this list:
  1. From the menu bar, click the down arrow on the right side of the Person link. A drop down menu will appear showing a list of names you’ve recently searched in Family Tree.
  2. Hoover your cursor over the name you want remove. You will notice that the background behind the name turns a slightly different color and an X appears on the right of the field.
  3. Click on the X.
  4. Once you’ve clicked on the X, the name will disappear from your search history list.
Name List Remove Name

Monday, September 8, 2014

Tree Updates From The Family Search Blog



Updates_FamilySearch
For anyone using the FamilySearch Help Center, there’s a new Getting Started link that provides some useful instructions on how to get started using some of the most used FamilySearch features. To find and use the Getting Started link, do the following:
  1. From the FamilySearch home page, click Get Help located in the upper right corner of the page.
  2. From the drop down box, click the blue Help Center link. This will take you to the Help Center landing page.
  3. In the upper left corner of the page, click the black triangle that is part of the Help Center link.
Help Center Home Page






  1. A drop down menu will appear with several FamilySearch features to choose from. Click the feature you want to learn more about. For example, if you click the Memories link, the Memories landing page will appear.
Memories







  1. Click the Getting Started link.
Memories Getting Started Link







For most features on the drop down menus there will be a getting started link. When you click on the link a PDF file of instructions will appear and you can read 1 or more pages of information about using that specific feature. Each document can be printed if you want a printed copy.
In addition to the help documents that can be found in the Help Center on FamilySearch.org/ask, there is a new addition of Getting Started guides.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Using The Family Search Catalog


Seek and Find
Steve Zeisler

Since it is estimated that only 7 to 9 percent of the world's vital records are online now, it is essential to learn how to use library catalogs to locate genealogical records.  It seems we get rather impatient with so many records left to be digitized and indexed.  The more we can help with indexing the quicker more records will be available.  The more missionaries we have digitizing records the more quickly the work will progress.  Millions of records are being added monthly to the FS record collections.

To learn more about Indexing records so they can be searched by surname, go to this link http://familysearch.org and click Indexing on the home page.  The more we get done the better the online resources will be.  In the meantime we can still search billions of records and books and other materials in the catalog on microfilms, etc.  Rolls of film can be ordered online and you can read them on films readers here in the library.  We also have 2 Scan Pro 2000 Scanners that are digital film readers with editing capabilities.   They can copy the records to your flash drive and will also print directly to the Resource Desk copier.

The lesson linked below is very informative and includes an exercise section that allows you to "put your hands on it " for a more complete introduction to how the Family Search Catalog works.  Like most things in genealogy this cannot be learned by simply reading it.  Practice is required.  Read and follow along with the suggestions in the exercises for best results.  For better retention of what you have learned, teach it to another person.

Currently in Oakland we need to use both Athena and the FS Catalog as Athena is being integrated into the Salt Lake FS Catalog.  Athena is the place where you can find the Oakland FamilySearch Library holdings along with those of the various Church Family History Centers in our region.  This project was started in 2013 and once everything has been integrated, Athena will disappear.  To review how to use Athena look at Lesson #4 or look for the Label "Athena"on the sidebar of this blog.

This is the link to the Lesson:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cnqfzk2lxok7ilq/35%20FSL%20catalog%20%281%29.pdf?dl=0




Coming Soon!

Including this beautiful photo of trees...
Because this blog is all about our family trees!

Family Search Catalog Current Information Page

This information is from Family Search Search page>Catalog> Learn About also on Wiki

Introduction to the FamilySearch Catalog     

From FamilySearch Wiki


What Is the FamilySearch Catalog?

Contents

[hide]
The FamilySearch Catalog (formerly Family History Library Catalog) describes the genealogical resources held by FamilySearch.org, the Family History Library, selected FamilySearch Centers, and selected partner libraries.

The Catalog is a guide to family histories; birth, marriage, and death records; census records; church registers; books, periodicals and many other records that may contain genealogical information. These records may be in a book, on microfiche or microfilm, searchable online or in a computer file.
Most microfilm and microfiche records can be sent to your nearest FamilySearch Center. If a particular item is available at another FamilySearch Center besides the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah,
 then a pull-down menu will indicate the locations where the item is available.

Where Is It Found?

FamilySearch Logo.jpg
The FamilySearch Catalog is available on the Internet at the
FamilySearch.org splash page under the Search tab. Previous
versions of the catalog were released on compact disc and on
 microfiche, but those versions are significantly outdated, and
do not list films acquired after the publication date on the disc
 or microfiche.

Logo wcmasthead en.png
Also, the FamilySearch Catalog has been made available
via OCLC WorldCat[1] since 2014. OCLC WorldCat is an online
 union catalog of over 2 billion titles at 72,000 libraries[2]
 in 172 countries and territories. Although it is the world’s
largest bibliographic database for materials held around the
world, OCLC WorldCat does not list sources housed in repositories
 outside their consortium.

Preparation

Before you use the FamilySearch Catalog, it helps to
 choose a person about whom you want to find more information,
 and decide what you want to learn about him or her. For example
, you may want to find your great-grandmother's death date and place.
To do this, you need to
 decide what types of records are likely to contain that information.

Which Catalog Search Should I Try?

FamilySearch Catalog Search Buttons.jpg

The type of search you should do is determined by the kind of catalog entries or records you want to find.  There are eight kinds of possible Family Search Catalog searches. In the catalog clicking on the name of the search will open or close that search.  The table below briefly describes each of the eight types of searches.  Fro further details  about each type of search, click on name of the search in the table.

Do This Type of Search:
 Find the Following Types of Catalog Entries:
Places Search Look for a record by the name of a place
 (locality) where an ancestor lived.
 
Surnames Search Find family histories (and more) by a
particular family name.
Titles Search Find a record by its title.
Authors Search
To find the works of an author by his name
 (individual or corporate).
Subjects Search To discover works based on the topics they cover.
 
Keywords Search Get a record using any words or phrases in
 significant parts of its catalog entry.
  
Call Number Search See catalog entries by finding their book,
 compact disc, or pedigree call number.
Film/Fiche Number Search See catalog details by finding the Library's
 microfilm or microfiche number. 
When you want to change to a new kind of search it helps to close
 the old search first. Close the old search by clicking the "X" in the
 upper right corner of the area around the search box. Then click on
 the new search type to open that kind of search.
Another way to close an old search is to click on the name of that
 type of search, for example, Places.

Combined Searches


You can also combine two or more FamilySearch Catalog searches if a single search alone yields too many results to be practical. For example, you could combine aSurnames Search and a Keywords Search. First close all the other search types. Then click the Surnames  and the Keywords  searches. A search for "Smith" in the Surnames Search  yields over 4,000 results. But combined with the Keywords Search  for the phrase
 "Philadelphia cave" this combination returns only one result.

Combining Surnames  and Keywords  searches for a family name and a state
where they lived is often a successful strategy. "Smith" in the Surnames 
 field and combined with "Hawaii" in the Keywords  field will yield a manageable 52 results.

[edit]When It's Not in the Catalog

Before concluding it is not in the FamilySearch Catalog try the following strategies:

FSC Combined Search.png
  • Look again in Surnames Search for variations of the family name.
  • Change the jurisdiction in a Places Search. For example, if it is not at the county level,
  •  try again under the town, state, or national levels, or in neighboring counties and towns.
  • Try a variety of searches. Use a Keywords Search, Subjects Search,
  •  Authors Search, or Titles Search.
  • Try again later. FamilySearch is constantly acquiring new materials.
Try other repositories. Many other libraries and archives have information about
ancestors. Try their online catalogs to see if they have what you need.
 For example, try catalogs like the WorldCat (world's largest network
 of online content and services), or the Daughters of the American Revolution
 Online Library Catalog.
If a repository's catalog is not online, try contacting them by phone or mail to
 learn if they have records about an ancestor. For a directory of U.S. historical
 genealogical societies see http://www.obitlinkspage.com/hs/index.html
 For a list of various kinds of libraries and archives trydir.yahoo.com/
Reference/Libraries/
Search the Internet. Many records are being digitized and put on the Internet.
 In FamilySearch's Historical Records Collections you will find billions of
 names across hundreds of Family History Library collections including birth,
 marriage, death, probate, land, military, Ancestral File, and the International
Genealogical Index. Also, search engines like Google, or Yahoo can help
 locate many other historical sources available on the Internet.

[edit]Related Content

FamilySearch Catalog Overview (11 minute online video)

[edit]References

  1. ↑ Official website of OCLC WorldCat.
  2. ↑ For list of the small portion of those libraries which have a descriptive page in
  3.  this Wiki, see the Category:WorldCat libraries.