Webinar — Learn how to use Google Earth historic maps for your research

Posted on January 18, 2017 by Gail Dever

It must be webinar week because this is the third free genealogy webinar being offered.

Join Lisa Louise Cooke today, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time, for her webinar, Create a Free Google Earth Historic Map Collection for Your Research, which is hosted by Legacy Family Tree.

Learn how to find free digital maps for your ancestral locations, add them as permanent overlays to Google Earth, and then organize them into your personal map reference collection. You’ll learn best practices for keeping them organized and enriching your research.

Register here to watch the live webinar. The recorded version will likely be available within a couple of hours after the live presentation that you will be able to watch for free for about seven days.

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U of Michigan digitizes 134 years of student newspapers

Posted on January 18, 2017 by Gail Dever

The University of Michigan has created a digital archive of its student newspaper, The Michigan Daily, from 1890 to 2014, but this is no ordinary student publication. In addition to campus news, the newspaper has covered state, national, and international news.

It is easy to narrow down the search results in 'The Michigan Daily' newspaper by decade and year.

It is easy to narrow down the search results in ‘The Michigan Daily’ newspaper by decade and year.

While the original purpose of  the Daily was to record the lives of students, it later expanded its coverage to national and international news, becoming a competitor in the Michigan newspaper market. The Daily joined the Associated Press (AP) in 1916 and installed a teletype, bringing the AP news of the nation and world to the Daily newsroom in 1936.

This search function is very good and it is easy to narrow down the search by decade and then by year. Equally good is how simple it is to download an image or an entire issue. It will make you wish every newspaper archive was this easy to use.

Michigan’s close proximity to Canada, especially Ontario, means that a number of Canadians migrated to there at some point. It’s worth a shot to search for elusive ancestors in this collection.

The plan is to update the newspaper database annually.

Start your search here.

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Two genealogy webinars tonight and Wednesday

Posted on January 17, 2017 by Gail Dever

Despite double-checking the dates twice, I still managed to misread the date of tonight’s webinar. Thanks to Kathryn, I have corrected it and republished the blog post as follows.

  *   *   *   *   *

Legacy Family Tree and the Southern California Genealogical Society are both offering free webinars this week and, fortunately, they take place on different evenings.

Tuesday, January 17, 8:00 p.m. Eastern time
Legacy Family Tree will host the webinar, Writing Up Your Research, presented by Michael J. Leclerc. It is sponsored by the Board for Certification of Genealogists.

Writing up our research is the best way to preserve it. We will examine different ways of writing and publishing, from blogs to books. Register here.

Wednesday, January 18, 9:00 p.m. Eastern time
The Southern California Genealogical Society will host the webinar, Who Lived Next Door? Using the FAN Club in Your Research, presented by Cari Taplin. A handout will be available shortly before the webinar begins.

Untangle individuals of the same name and solve genealogical mysteries using the “FAN Club” principle. This class will discuss methods for identifying FAN Club members and demonstrate the technique using case studies. Register here.

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Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies launches digital archive collection

Posted on January 17, 2017 by Gail Dever

The University of Alberta’s Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) has launched a website that provides free access to a number of digitized publications about Ukrainians in Canada.

Screen shot of the Home page of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies' new digital archive collection.

Screen shot of the Home page of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies’ new digital archive collection.

The online resources on the website that will interest genealogists include:

• 33 books published by CIUS Press, consisting mainly of out-of-print books and books on Ukrainians in Canada. One of the publications is a collection of essays, Loyalists in Conflict: Ukrainians in Canada during the Great War.

• 65 research reports, consisting largely of descriptions of archival collections, rare bibliographies, and other guides to researchers, and including British Foreign Office Files on Ukraine and Ukrainians.

• All of the back issues of the Journal of Ukrainian Studies, CIUS’ academic journal.

According to The Ukrainian Weekly, “Plans are also being made to digitize collections of important historical documents that have never been previously available in digital format, including British Foreign Office documents relating to Ukraine from the years 1917-1948.”

The Digital Archive Project of the CIUS was developed in close cooperation with the University of Alberta Libraries and the Arts Resource Centre. The goal of the initiative is to digitize, systematize, and describe the core publications of the institute that have been produced over the last 40 years, since the founding of CIUS in 1976.

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January update on CEF service files digitization

Posted on January 17, 2017 by Gail Dever

We’re at the midway point of the month, which means Library and Archives Canada has announced its update on the digitization of the Canadian Expeditionary Force personnel service files. If you’re waiting for them to reach the files with last names starting with N, you won’t have much longer to wait. They’re almost there.

As of yesterday, LAC had digitized 387,710 of the 640,000 service files, reaching the last name Murray. The number of files scanned during the past month was lower than average, most likely because of the holidays.

The digitized service files are available on LAC’s website in the Personnel Records of the First World War database.

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Why do Canadians say, “eh”? Blame it on our ancestors

Posted on January 16, 2017 by Gail Dever

Americans tell us Canadians say, “eh,” more often than we realize. This linguistic tic seems to be part of our DNA.

According to linguists interviewed for the Atlas Obscura article, Why Do Canadians Say ‘Eh’?, we can partly blame our habit of saying, “eh,” on our ancestors and, in large part, because we just want to be nice.

canada-159585_640Our Scots-Irish immigrants
It is possible “eh” originally came from some population of Scots-Irish immigrants, a major early group in Canada. Elaine Gold, the founder of the Canadian Language Museum and a recently retired lecturer at the University of Toronto, said, “eh” is still used in Scotland and in Northern England, but it’s used in a much more limited way, primarily to indicate that the listener hasn’t heard the speaker. It means “what?” or “pardon?”

We want to be polite
Jack Chambers, a linguist at the University of Toronto, wrote in a 2014 paper that “eh” has one pragmatic purpose: it shows politeness. Atlas Obscura reports, “Using ‘eh’ to end the statement of an opinion or an explanation is a way for the speaker to express solidarity with the listener. …  (T)he speaker is basically saying, hey, we’re on the same page here, we agree on this.”

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OGS branch presentation about ‘Quebec research from afar’

Posted on January 15, 2017 by Gail Dever

To kick off the Halton-Peel Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society’s year-long series of Canada 150 genealogy topics, Coral Harkies will deliver the presentation, Quebec Research from Afar, on Sunday, January 22, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. She will focus on what Quebec genealogical information is available online and what researchers need to be aware of when conducting research in Quebec.

Ms. Harkies is the Branch secretary and publications coordinator, and the administrative coordinator of OGS.

The presentation will take place at the Brampton Public Library, Four Corners Branch, at 65 Queen Street East in Brampton.  For further information, call Jane Watt at 905-281-1701.

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Global Genealogy reaches 25-year milestone

Posted on January 15, 2017 by Gail Dever

Global Genealogy logoThis is turning out to be a good year in Canada. The country is celebrating its 150th anniversary, Montreal its 375th, several genealogy societies are holding major conferences — and now we learn Global Genealogy will celebrate its 25th anniversary.

Since 1992, Rick and Sandra Roberts, the owners of Global Genealogy, have been helping genealogists break down brick walls with the books and products they sell. They can be seen often at are their always-popular large booth at genealogy conferences and events across Canada.

Global Genealogy began as a part-time, home-based mail order operation. In 1995, Rick and Sandra launched their internet store, and two years later they started publishing books. Before they went completely online in 2008, they tried their hand at retail, opening two stores in 1998 and 2002.

In his latest e-newsletter, Rick said, “After 25 years we still wake up very morning with fire in our belies and looking forward to another day of doing what we love to do.”

Rick and Sandra expect 2017 to to be their biggest publishing year yet.

In the first quarter, they will publish more than 90 new genealogy and history titles. Topics range from Ontario vital records, cemetery records, transcriptions of newspaper birth marriage and death announcements (Eastern Ontario and Central Ontario), to United Empire Loyalist/American Revolutionary War subjects, Lanark Society Settlers descendants migration, genealogy how to guides, and settlement history.

Rick said, “We will continue to add new genealogy and history titles to our catalogue that are sourced from other publishers in Canada, UK, Ireland, and Australia.”

Congratulations, Rick and Sandra!

Visit Global Genealogy’s website to look at the many books, archival products, magnifiers and other goods they offer.

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This week’s crème de la crème — January 14, 2016

Posted on January 14, 2017 by Gail Dever

Some of the bijoux I discovered this week.

Crème de la crème of genealogy blogs

Blogs
Digitized Canadian Trench Newspapers: Part 2 of 3 by Steve Clifford on Doing Our Bit.

Genealogical interest materials online through DHCP Round 1 by John D. Reid on Canada’s Anglo-Celtic Connections.

Canada 150 and Other Celebrations by Dianne Nolin on Genealogy: Beyond the BMD.

Marrying of Cousins by Wayne Shepheard on Discover Genealogy.

U.K. War Office Records Available Online by Lorine McGinnis Schulze on Olive Tree Genealogy.

Connect with Archives by James Tanner on Genealogy’s Star.

An historic collaboration by Ryan Woods on Vita Brevis.

Who’s Victorine’s mother? Using Siblings to Solve a Problem by Candice McDonald on Finding Your Canadian Stories.

Going to the dogs by Jacqi Stevens on A Family Tapestry.

What to do When Your @FamilyTreeDNA Autosomal Results Come In by Louis Kessler on Behold Genealogy.

Finding William Small Howe (part 1) and (part 2) by Ken McKinlay on Family Tree Knots.

Robert Stobo Jr: Phantom Ancestor by Janice Hamilton on Writing Up the Ancestors.

Have I finally smashed my own Brick Wall – Missing Great Grandmother! by Simon Last on Charnwoodgenealogy.

The Myth of Wearing White Gloves by Dick Eastman on Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter.

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Lisa Louise Cooke interviews LAC’s Claire Banton

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Gail Dever

Genealogy Gems podcastIn this week’s Genealogy Gems podcast, Lisa Louise Cooke speaks to Claire Banton, chief of Orientation Services at Library and Archives Canada (LAC), and you can listen to the interview for free.

Ms. Banton is a good spokesperson. She speaks with enthusiasm about her job, the people she works with, and the resources and services LAC provides to genealogists. She talks about the immigrant groups who came to Canada, what a genealogist will find at LAC and on its website, how to schedule a Skype conversation with an LAC expert, and how to find an ancestor who may have crossed into Canada from the US after 1908.  She also touches on LAC’s plans for Canada’s 150th anniversary this year.

The 20-minute interview begins at the 38-minute mark of the podcast. You can easily listen to its from your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

The podcast is here. To find the show notes mentioned in the podcast, scroll down just past the midway point of the page.

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