January Goals Review

Categories: Accountability, Genealogy, Goals

Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 57 seconds

2 February 2012 Banai Lynn Feldstein

What were my goals for this year? I think I’ve already forgotten some.

1. Haven’t gone to Europe yet.

2. I got back into re-organizing all my documents. Scanfest kick-started that at the end of the month and then I did a little more.

3. Didn’t add the pictures yet to my new family web site.

4. I don’t know if I blogged more, but I blogged a few times. I think that counts.

And then the ones that aren’t numbered the same, just to make these reviews more complicated. Thus, I’m re-numbering for these goal reviews.

5. My inbox count is still in the 30s. The only emails being procrastinated on are the really, really old ones. Well, mostly.

6. I invoiced my web development clients. I haven’t had a lot of genealogy work this month, so I’m not really behind on that by much.

7. I started the indexing of the pages I’ve had for months. I don’t think these particular pages are good for me, but the person in charge hasn’t responded yet. They look almost like Russian language revision lists, but there is so much in the comments that I won’t even pretend to be able to read, that maybe someone else should do them.

I think that’s not a bad month on my goals. I spent a lot of the time writing a new program for the RootsTech developer’s challenge. The rules said to come up with something new, but the finalists look like they’ve all been around for a while. One is based on a web site that’s a few years old; at least two were already on the schedule to speak about their programs. From the others that I was able to find something about, I wouldn’t be surprised if all of the entries were pre-programmed. Seems that I read a rule that no one else followed. Looking back, it was kind of vague that it had to be newly written. But between that and the official blogger incident (being asked to be one during the last conference, but then not asked for this year, and not even the courtesy of a return email), I’m still annoyed at them. At least I already know that I attend genealogy conferences more for the people than the conference itself, and had a good time yesterday with some of them already. On to another month.

The Insider’s Guide to the Family History Library and SLC

Categories: Family History Library, Genealogy

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes, 54 seconds

11 January 2012 Banai Lynn Feldstein 10 Comments

Salt Lake City is about to be descended upon my a few thousand genealogists and technologists. As I see people posing questions and writing comments on various blogs, I have answered a few. Thus, I’ve decided to write this blog post.

If it’s your first time to the Family History Library, or you just haven’t been back in a while, you may feel overwhelmed when you first enter the library. There is an orientation you can try, but you still won’t be sure of yourself until you get started. There are lots of volunteers to help you. If they try to give you research advice, be wary. Many missionaries try to help, but you might know far more about doing research. If they help you with finding films/books or using readers/scanners, that part they should be good at.

Five Floors

Upon entering the FHL, you are on the Main floor. This floor has computers, histories, and a junk food room. I spend little time on this floor myself, except when I need a break and a chocolate bar. They have several machines ranging from drinks (soda, milk, juices, water), chocolate and chips and snack foods, microwaveable meals, and one ice cream machine.

All floors have restrooms and water fountains in the same place, rows of computers, at least a few extra tables, microfilm readers and scanners (except for the third floor), printers/scanners, an information desk, and a library access services office. (Note that the information desk on the main floor rarely has any of the kind of information I try to ask them for. Other floors are more useful for specific research questions.)

Upstairs is US and Canada research. The second floor has microfilm and microfiche. The third floor has books. If you need to see any books, make sure you check them because they can’t be ordered to your local Family History Centers (that I’m aware of).

Downstairs is International (B-1) and British Isles/Australia/New Zealand (B-2).

Do your research at the microfilm readers then go to the scanners only to make scans/copies of records you have found. This will keep you from annoying other people by taking time at the scanners while they are waiting. I often go straight to the scanners when copying records that are indexed. Just be sure you are familiar with how to find the page you need if you do that.

The scanners can scan directly to flash drive or you can also print for $.05 per copy (or $.10 for big pages, I believe; I don’t usually print). There are machines from which to buy copy cards. The scanners have a learning curve, so ask for help. There are also instructional pages in the scanner area. The person working next to you might help also.

Can You Avoid Crowds?

Before, during, and after RootsTech, it will probably be crowded. SLIG attendees will also be there the week before. If you find the US/Canada floor too crowded, try the International floor, or the British floor, where there are often fewer people.

How To Prepare -or- Where Are My Films?

Prepare in advance what you want to look at. Don’t just figure out which families you want to research, check the FHL catalog and have film numbers and book call numbers ready to go.

The FHL is a help-yourself facility. You need to find your own films, fiches, and books, and then replace them when you are done. So don’t overdo it when you take films. They recommend up to five at a time, but only take that many if you’ll be quick with them; remember others might want to use the same films too. Microfilm drawers are labeled with the first film number in the drawer. Some people will sometimes mark the drawers with magnetic things or post-its for refiling. Try not to be dyslexic while refiling and double check that you’ve boxed the correct film in the correct box. (I had a scavenger hunt across four boxes once to find a mis-filed film reel.)

If you can’t find your film in the correct drawer (and there’s no gap like someone is using it), you need to check Overflow. At the end of the films (you’ll see the order), some drawers are marked with pink film numbers. Those are the overflow drawers. If you can’t find your film in order or in overflow, and it’s not in the vault, it’s usually in high density. So keep reading.

Fiche are also borrowed and returned to their drawers; there are red marker cards above the drawers to mark your place. Books should be returned to the red shelves, but if I just look at it while standing by the shelf, I often just put it back. Many books are in high density on the International floor. (I don’t know about British books.) Keep in mind that when you grab a book from the shelf, you are in the location/topic, so you might look at what else is there even if you didn’t see the listings in the catalog.

If a film says that it’s in the Vault, order it ahead of time. (Ooh, that’s a form I hadn’t seen before.) It takes only a day or two to get a film from the vault, but they can only do so many per day, so don’t overwork them during the conference for films you know you need before you arrive. If your research leads you to a vault film when you’re still around for another day or two, then go ahead and order it.

Sometimes the catalog will specify High Density or to visit Access Services (or sometimes it won’t and you have to check there anyway). Do not fret! (I’ve seen people panic.) High density is in the building on the B-1 floor. It takes them maybe five minutes to get your film. Access services is a small office with glass windows on every floor near the scanners. If the catalog says access services, it may mean the records are restricted and they will hold your government-issued ID while you have the film/fiche, or it may be in high density. Anything you get from high density or access services should be returned to them; don’t try to put the films into drawers.

Outside There’s A City

You may feel cooped up inside and want to know what’s outside the buildings. Between the conference center and the FHL, JB’s Restaurant is noticeably attached to the lobby of the Plaza hotel. There is a restaurant in the lobby of the Radisson hotel. The Hilton has a couple restaurants, and there are plenty on other streets nearby. The Gateway is an outdoor mall just down the street from all of this and they have lots of restaurants.

You can use Trax to get around a bit. It is our light rail system. There is a convenient station called Temple Square for the Plaza, FHL, Salt Palace convention center, and the Radisson (and Temple Square too). The Arena Station can work for the Radisson also. In downtown, we are in the free fare zone, so Trax and buses won’t cost anything within those boundaries. The Gallivan station is on the street directly behind the Hilton (if your hotel is out that way); you just have to find a path through the buildings and parking lots. (I know for a fact there was a shortcut through to the Hilton in 2007.) The Planetarium station brings you to the front of Gateway, but the next one or two stops might also be good.

Just remember that, if you live by Murphy’s law (like I do), waiting for Trax and walking will often take the same time. Last year, I opted to walk to the Planetarium with a friend instead of waiting. Trax arrived at the same time we did.

What’s In Temple Square?

Temple Square is home to the Mormon Salt Lake Temple and the Tabernacle. (You’ve probably heard of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.) It’s open from 9am-9pm every day. Besides those two buildings, there are several other buildings and gardens. In the south visitor center, they have a model of the Temple; it’s the only way a non-Mormon will ever see the inside. I can’t tell you a whole lot of details, but there’s this web site to read more about it, including info about the four restaurants and choir performances and rehearsals (8pm Thursdays).

How’s The Weather?

SLC is in a drought. We’ve had very, very little snow this year. I see two possibilities. 1. It will stay this way. 2. Murphy will visit and dump a huge snowstorm on us just in time for your visit. One forecast is saying a possibility for rain/snow on the 19th or 20th of January. They don’t predict far enough in advance for February. Either way, bring a jacket, gloves, hat, whatever you like for winter. Even if there’s no snow, it’s cold. I don’t have a heavy coat; I layer instead. And wear comfortable shoes. A block in downtown SLC is probably multiple blocks in your city, and there’s also a good deal of walking just in the convention center.

Anything I missed that I should mention? Let me know and maybe I’ll add a section to this blog post.

Additional FHL Details

Is There Wi-fi?

There is free wi-fi available from the FHL. A quick accepting of the terms in a web browser will get you connected. They block a few things; consider that it’s run by a religious organization and they probably try to block the same things as public libraries and schools. Unfortunately, they block the standard email ports so I can’t get to my regular mail, but I can get to gmail with no problem. (I have my own hosting, so probably very few people will have the email issue I do.) Besides my email, it’s extremely rare for me to find something blocked.

Can I Bring My Own Computer?

Absolutely. I have seen all kinds of computers, tablets, and cameras. Some people leave their computers by the readers and walk away; I suggest doing that only if it’s locked down. There are outlets behind the microfilm readers, but some are harder to reach than others. Some tables have plugs built in, but I don’t think they are all connected.

I already mentioned they have lots of computers that everyone can use to access the catalog, subscription databases, or any web sites. Just don’t forget your flash drive in a computer. As in the real world, I think most people are honest and would turn it in to lost and found, but I forgot one once and never got it back. Also, you might want put your name on the flash drive or the lanyard; the employees will not check the drive to see if there’s a name on it.

Will My Cell Phone Work?

There is average cell phone service in the building, the quality of which depends on your carrier and phone. I never get a signal in the basement. If you’re on Verizon, you’re in luck because there is a repeater in the basement. Try to remember to put your phone on silent and step away to the elevator area if you take any calls so as not to annoy others.

What Else Can I Bring?

I have seen rolling suitcases, binders, charts, even extra tables set up next to film readers. I don’t think anything is restricted, except maybe proselytizing. And no, they won’t try to sell you on their religion while you’re in the FHL. If you want to know more about the LDS church, there’s plenty of other nearby places to go instead.

And since RootsTech is in winter, I’ll mention that there are coat racks on every floor. Or you can just drape your coat over your chair.

The Tech Savvy Genealogists’ Meme

Categories: Genealogy, Technology

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 23 seconds

17 September 2011 Banai Lynn Feldstein 1 Comment

I’d started my post for the 99 things genealogy meme but wasn’t ready to post it. I was still making some adjustments to suit Jewish genealogy when Jill Ball at Geniaus came out with the Tech Savvy Meme. This is one I can do.

The list should be annotated in the following manner:
Things you have already done or found: bold face type
Things you would like to do or find: italicize (colour optional)
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type

Own an Android or Windows tablet or an iPad
Use a tablet or iPad for genealogy related purposes
Have used Skype for genealogy purposes
Have used a camera to capture images in a library/archives/ancestor’s home
Use a genealogy software program on your computer to manage your family tree
Have a Twitter account
Tweet daily
Have a genealogy blog
Have more than one genealogy blog
Have lectured/presented to a genealogy group on a technology topic
Currently an active member of Genealogy Wise
Define “active”. Have a current and “active” account? Yes. Using the site? No.
Have a Facebook Account
Have connected with genealogists via Facebook
Maintain a genealogy related Facebook Page
Maintain a blog or web site for a genealogy society
Have submitted text corrections online to Ancestry, Trove or a similar site
Have registered a domain name
Post regularly to Google+
Have a blog listed on Geneabloggers
Have transcribed/indexed records for FamilySearch or a similar project
Own a Flip-Pal or hand-held scanner
I have a reasonably portable scanner, 1 inch thick. I used to have one that was like a giant mouse, but those are hard to use. I think a Flip-Pal is still in my near future.
Can code a webpage in HTML
Own a smartphone
Shopping for one at the moment, not for the phone, but just to have a more compact Android device.
Have a personal subscription to one or more paid genealogy databases
I can get most of these free at the Family History Library. But I have access to some at home, does it count if I didn’t actually pay? This doesn’t specify. ;-)
Use a digital voice recorder to record genealogy lectures
Have contributed to a genealogy blog carnival
Use Chrome as a web browser
Have participated in a genealogy webinar
Have taken a DNA test for genealogy purposes
Have a personal genealogy web site
Have found mention of an ancestor in an online newspaper archive
I can’t remember anything specific. All my grandparents are immigrants, so finding something would be very recent, or in a foreign language.
Have tweeted during a genealogy lecture
Have scanned your hardcopy genealogy files
Use an RSS Reader to follow genealogy news and blogs
Have uploaded a gedcom file to a site like Geni, MyHeritage, or Ancestry
Own a netbook
Thought about it, but went for a tablet instead, with a portable keyboard. More of a coolness factor with the tablet.
Use a computer/tablet/smartphone to take genealogy lecture notes
Have a profile on LinkedIn that mentions your genealogy habit
Have developed a genealogy software program, app, or widget
I wrote my own program years ago when I couldn’t find one I liked.
Have listened to a genealogy podcast online
Have downloaded genealogy podcasts for later listening
Backup your files to a portable hard drive
Have a copy of your genealogy files stored off-site
Know about RootsTech
Have listened to a Blogtalkradio session about genealogy
Use Dropbox, SugarSync, or other service to save documents in the cloud
Schedule regular email backups
I had SugarSync backing up email, until it sucked up all my bandwidth during vacation and I couldn’t get it to stop. Have to get that back up and running.
Have contributed to the FamilySearch Wiki
Have scanned and tagged your genealogy photographs
Have published a genealogy book in an online/digital format
I started turning my family book to a PDF format. I need to update/rewrite and then I’ll have this done. I do have my family newsletter online.

http://geniaus.blogspot.com/

A Review – Geni.com

Categories: Genealogy

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes, 57 seconds

22 February 2011 Banai Lynn Feldstein

After a conversation at RootsTech with Grant Brunner, the Geni Community Evangelist, and having ended up there from a Google Alerts result, I decided to give Geni.com a try.

With the GEDCOM upload no longer available, I knew there was no way I was going to add all 3000 people from my tree to their web site. I started out with my ancestors. Adding them was pretty simple. I did sometimes click something and end up in a different view, but I could eventually find my way back. There were a few odd glitches along the way, like showing blank boxes where I’d filled in information, or trying to add parents to the top-most person in pedigree view.

Maiden Names, Not Married Names

I was a little disappointed at the site showing married names with maiden names in parentheses. I’m sure they expect a lot of amateurs to be using the site, so the default should have been to show maiden names to teach the proper way to do genealogy.

When I got to the top of one of my lines, I had a couple with no surnames. Geni found me one match for her and 100 for him, but wouldn’t let me see those alleged matches because I had a free account. For a site that wants to connect the entire world, it seems odd that they would limit that to the paying customers. I also wasn’t able to find those matches by searching. Clicking around in my account later, I found another way to see the “matches”, but then it said there were no matches found.

Let’s Merge… Or Not

Continuing back on another day, I decided to add just enough people to try to merge with another tree. I knew of at least three trees that I could merge with already, one added recently, so I headed out in that direction of the family. It didn’t take me long to hit a glitch.

Those cousins happen to come from a line where cousins married. So I added each of the couple under their parents and couldn’t find any way to join them. My only option was to add one of them a second time. I thought Geni might notice two identical people in my own tree, but it didn’t. I found an option to “resolve duplicates”, but that didn’t work. Eventually I tried the option “move this person” and that allowed me to double her up in the tree. Except, I wasn’t actually moving her, so that option is named badly, and minutes later I couldn’t remember why I even tried that option other than sheer curiosity.

I finally added the person who would connect our trees, and nothing showed. There is nowhere to put an alternate spelling for his surname, which changed after moving to the US. I tried searching for him with the alternate surname spelling, but when I finally entered the search information correctly, it told me I had to upgrade to Pro to see the match. When I searched just the surname, I found all kinds of entries from that cousin’s tree, including the person who matched my tree.

Sure, I could do the Pro trial, but then after 14 days, I won’t be able to do anything. Or I could ask Grant for the Pro access, which he offered during RootsTech. But I wanted to see what could be done with the site for free, especially to see what happens after someone’s Pro trial ends and they are stuck with the free account again. Apparently, Geni wants to create one large family tree of the entire world, but only in cooperation with its paying customers.

That last sentence wasn’t meant to be mean. Geni is a company and they obviously want to make money, so they have to charge for something. But if one of their goals is to merge everyone into one big tree, they should let us do that with the free accounts. I’m sure they can find plenty of other things to add to the paid accounts. Like maybe GEDCOM uploads.

No Pro Today

I finally clicked on the Pro free trial, which took me to a subscription page. Of course they want my credit card now, which I’m not giving them. So I clicked “cancel” and got an error page. Whoops.

Trying to find my cousin’s tree in the search again, it didn’t show me the list and instead gave me the Pro sign-up again. And then I tried it again and had the opportunity to sift through 16 pages of the surname. I found a few duplicates just on the search page — obviously people not using paid accounts to be able to merge them. I found the person from my tree on page 11 and couldn’t find anywhere to try to merge the two. I changed the spelling in my tree to match theirs exactly, and it still didn’t find the match. How often does Geni try to find matches? Wasn’t it immediate the first time I saw that? I checked that the merge-able person had a public profile, and still nothing.

Conclusion

I don’t think this is a web site for a serious genealogist to keep their genealogy. It is for connecting to other living cousins, if you have the Pro account.

For one thing, it doesn’t allow GEDCOM uploads anymore, and anyone already working on their genealogy is not going to want to re-enter everything again. They used to have an upload function; I tried it once long ago, but there were some glitches that time and I never tried again.

I don’t like the default setting of showing a woman’s married name. It also assumes she takes her husband’s name and that’s not always true.

Without upgrading to the Pro account, I was never able to merge, even when I altered my data to match someone else’s. There was no way for me to find someone in the Geni database and manually suggest a merge; I probably needed to upgrade to see the option, if there is one.

For those that do use the site, get the Pro account, and figure out how to merge, it is probably useful for finding more living relatives, since you’re likely to be merging your tree with someone’s tree that you’re related to. This was kind of what I was looking to do.

There were several trees that were merge-able when I searched for a single surname, so why weren’t they merged? I suspect there are a lot of orphan trees in their database, possibly people who never upgraded, or didn’t keep the paid account to continue working with it.

So I guess I’m going to leave my pedigree chart in their database, rather than delete the 50 people I entered, with the URLs of my own web sites in my profile, so if someone finds me in that database, they will be able to find me.

Disclaimer: As mentioned above, I was offered a Pro account from Geni during RootsTech, but I was not expecting to use the site and did not take it. Nor did I contact Grant and ask for it afterwards.

WDYTYA – Episode 2×02 – The Nitpicker’s Version

Categories: Genealogy, Genealogy on TV, WDYTYA

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes, 39 seconds

18 February 2011 Banai Lynn Feldstein 2 Comments

I initially watched this episode of Who Do You Think You Are? in a room full of genealogists at the Family History Library during RootsTech. It was fun to laugh out loud with the crowd in a few places. From a few other blogs about this episode, it sounded like there were quite a few people who had never heard of Tim McGraw, a country music artist. I was not one of them.

His Real Father and His Uncle

We started with the story of Tim’s father, how he discovered at age 11 that the man he thought was his father really wasn’t, and eventually reconciling with his real father.

Visiting his uncle, Hank McGraw, Tim began his journey. Hank asked him, “So dude, tell me, why do you want to get involved in something like this, digging up all the stuff from the past?” Tim’s first response was, “You scared of what we might find out?” Some people in families will ask the genealogist such questions, wondering why we want to know about our ancestry. Though Tim was joking, I think some people really are afraid of what a genealogist might find. Family secrets lurk behind every door.

Hank showed Tim some photos, though he was shown walking up to the house not carrying anything. Hank had a picture of his grandparents, Tim’s great-grandparents. Tim was excited to learn her name, Ella May Nave.

The Journey Began in Missouri

In Kansas City, Missouri, Tim met with genealogist Kathleen Brandt at the public library. Kathleen had Ella May’s death certificate. Tim was again excited to learn the names of her parents from that record. This is so normal for a genealogist when they finally find a record with the next bit of information. I prefer this part when it’s preceded by the search — just having the information handed over would take a lot of the fun out of it for me.

Tim joked with Kathleen when she pulled out the computer, then they searched Ancestry for the Chrisman family. In the voiceover, Tim explained how Kathleen was able to take his family tree back eight generations, while the screen showed the family tree chart. Again, the chart went straight back showing now spouses and no siblings, and giving no indication of the records that brought them so far back. Was it all found on Ancestry? Someone watching the show, who didn’t know any better, might believe that it was all found that easily. They might also think that the entire goal is to keep going straight back as far as you can. Sometimes you have to search sideways in order to go back, but there’s no indication of that on the show.

In the voiceover, Tim said he wanted to know more about Isaac Chrisman, the earliest person in his ancestry, and Kathleen had an old document to show him, dated 1772.

He thanked Kathleen with, “You set us in motion.” For someone who apparently took his family back eight generations, I’d say she did more than set him in motion. Many researchers can’t even go eight generations back, let alone further.

To Virginia

To Rye Cove, Virginia, Tim wanted to see the family’s land.

“It was pretty cool to go back so far so quickly into my lineage.” Too bad that only happens on TV shows where months of research was already completed by professionals. Couldn’t they have him mention something like that in the voiceovers?

Meeting with historian Stephen Aron, Tim showed what he already had and asked to know more about Isaac. This was mildly realistic, in that you have to share with a genealogist what you already know in order for them to continue the search. Stephen shared a few maps, and while they drove out to the location of Isaac’s land, the voiceover explained more of the history of the battle over land with the Indians. At the site, Stephen finally showed Tim a document he found that mentioned Isaac’s death.

In Richmond, at the Virginia Historical Society, historian Daniel Blake Smith shared more about the history of the time, and senior archivist E. Lee Shepard brought another document explaining the fate of Isaac.

The Magic Tree

Tim then said he wanted to go back further to find more about Isaac and where he came from. I don’t think they answered that question at all. Instead, Daniel showed him a “simplified family tree”. What exactly was this magical family tree and who compiled the information in it? Why did they not show him any genealogical documentation? What kind of research was done to compile this magic tree? I’m assuming they did some research. I think this was worse than when just tell the celebrity several generations of names without sources. This is almost like trying to show a source where there isn’t one.

Switching from Chrisman to Isaac’s mother’s family, his grandfather was Jost Hite and the show continued to research this individual in Tim’s ancestry.

In the Shenandoah Valley, historian Warren R. Hofstra explained more about the land orders Tim had just seen with Daniel.

To the Capitol

To Washington, DC with Warren, they went to the Library of Congress. How late at night did he visit? It was dark outside and the reading room was empty; I’m betting it was after hours and opened just for the filming. Curator Julie Miller shared the journal of George Washington from 1748, when he visited the home of the Hites, and another mention by GW in a letter he wrote 20 years later.

“Have we answered all your questions?” asked Warren. “What I really want to know now, is I want to know where Jost came from,” Tim replied. Really, he wants to know more? His ancestor was just mentioned by George Washington, one of his idols, but that wasn’t enough? Of course, Warren already had a document, a subsistence list showing the names of people indebted to the English government.

NYC

Warren sent him to New York to find more. At the New York Public Library, Tim showed that subsistence list to historian Philip Otterness, who had another subsistence list from an earlier date, with a description at the top explaining what the list was.

Tim hadn’t suspected any German ancestry, but why? I don’t think he knew anything about his ancestry on his father’s side, so why would he or would he not suspect anything? Philip explained more about the history of those Germans who traveled to the US, including that Elvis Pressley’s ancestor was also on the same boat.

Tim returned home to tell his uncle what he found. Tim had previously compared himself to Jost Hite, and Hank did the same at the end of the episode.

Conclusions

I liked seeing the excitement from Tim upon learning the names and information about some of his ancestors, but I started to think about all the ancestors he didn’t learn about. How interested was he in learning more about the ones whose lives didn’t seem significant enough for TV? Why was he satisfied with knowing about his German-born ancestor and not tracing back even further in the family, when he kept asking to go back further the entire episode?

This also made me wonder about how much the celebrities are coached on what to say when the camera is filming. Many of their questions are added later in voiceovers, but some are asked during the filming. Obviously, the director/producer/whoever wants them to lead into the next documents that the genealogists have already found.

There were a lot of historians in this episode, and fewer genealogists. It felt more like a history lesson, which is not a bad thing. Just like last week, this one went far back into US history where I have never had to research yet, so those details need to be filled in. As usual, it was lacking in many of the genealogy details.

This article continues the Nitpicker’s Series, Season 2.

Episode 1: Vanessa Williams

Unexpected Mail

Categories: Random Musings

Estimated reading time: 0 minutes, 33 seconds

14 February 2011 Banai Lynn Feldstein

I arrived home after the second night of RootsTech to find a FedEx envelope stuck halfway under my front door. I found the label so interesting, I brought it to RootsTech the next day to share with my friends and fellow geneabloggers. I even had permission from someone at Ancestry to post it — not that I needed permission, but I still had it.

Can you see it even in that one? You can if you look closely. But here’s the label zoomed in. (At least one of the bloggers said I should crop out my address, but it’s in my footer…)

You noticed who that was sent from, right?

UJGS – February 2011 – Daniel Horowitz

Categories: Genealogy, UJGS

Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 49 seconds

9 February 2011 Banai Lynn Feldstein

Daniel Horowitz arrived in Salt Lake City direct from Israel for RootsTech. I had previously convinced him to arrive a day earlier than he planned so that he could speak to UJGS on our already scheduled meeting date, instead of moving it for him.

We had a regular sized crowd for our meeting, with a few new faces, but not nearly as many as I’d hoped. I guess the Israeli research didn’t garner the same attention as Do Genealogy in your Sleep, a paraphrase of his previous topic.

Having seen the handout, I thought we were going to get a bit of a lesson in Hebrew, but he just went through a couple of PowerPoint screens of “101 ygolaeneG rof werbeH”.

Daniel reviewed several web sites on which we could find Jewish and Israeli records, not leaving out his own MyHeritage.com site. Then he went into the Israeli sites. Some had English on them but many were entirely in Hebrew. Using Steve Morse’s site to transliterate names into Hebrew — although his sample didn’t result in the Hebrew spelling he used for his own name — he showed us the results of several web sites for a search on his surname. Many of the sites were burial societies in Israel, called Chevra Kadisha. I had clicked on a few from his handout the day before, but even with his translation key, I had trouble finding some of the search pages. His presentation had big, red arrows pointing at the link for the search pages, making them easy to find.

It was possible that only two other people in the room were familiar with the Hebrew alphabet during the session, so the web sites were not entirely foreign to me. To others, they may have looked the way Chinese does to me.

While most of the crowd left before and during our business meeting afterwards, we discussed a few things, including starting a society blog. I can only hope that more of our members will contribute if we do that, to both the blog and the newsletter.

Having dinner afterwards with Daniel and Schelly Dardashti (of Tracing the Tribe) was a nice end to the evening.

The Ginger Jewish Genealogist