The following is from Newberry Library.
The Newberry Library is pleased to announce the completion and release of its Digital Atlas of Historical County Boundaries, a dataset that covers every day-to-day change in the size, shape, location, name, organization, and attachment of each U.S. county and state from the creation of the first county in 1634 through 2000.
Nearly every aspect of American life can be described, analyzed, and illuminated through data gathered and organized by county or available in county records, and knowing how and when boundaries changed is often the key to finding and understanding great quantities of historical data. For example, a farm may have been in one family for many generations, but over the decades changes in county lines may have effectively moved that farm from one county to another. When looking for old family records, how does the modern genealogist know which county seat will hold great-grandmother’s marriage certificate? How does an attorney know which county seat recorded the deed to great-great-grandfather’s farm?
In addition, population figures are commonly aggregated at the county level, but comparing statistics from one enumeration to the next may not accurately reveal actual change. Was a change in the figures from census to census due to population movement or to a change in the boundaries of the reporting counties, or to a combination of both?
With the Newberry’s Atlas of Historical County Boundaries, genealogists, geographers, historians, political scientists, attorneys, demographers, and many more now can find accurate county data that will greatly assist them in their research.
The data are organized by state and are available online in four versions:
* Viewable, interactive maps (electronic analogues to printed maps) on which the historical lines have been plotted against a background of the modern county network
* Downloadable shapefiles for use in geographic information systems (GIS)
* Downloadable KMZ files for use with Google Earth
* Downloadable and printable PDF files (each full-page frame shows a map of a different version of each county, with the historical boundaries displayed against a background of the modern county network)
Supplementing the polygons and maps for each state are chronologies, commentary on historical problems, long and short metadata documents, and a bibliography.
The project began in 1988, with principal funding provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency. Additional support came from the Newberry Library, which also served as headquarters, and from other foundations and individuals. The Newberry Library is the copyright holder; all files of the Digital Atlas of Historical County Boundaries are free for use under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Creative Commons License. Queries should be addressed to scholl@newberry.org. The Website for the Atlas is publications.newberry.org/ahcbp.
Douglas Knox
Director of Publication and Digital Initiatives
The Newberry Library
60 West Walton Street
Chicago, IL 60610
knoxd@newberry.org
Monday, July 19, 2010
Family Tree Magazine Names 101 Best Free Web Sites for 2010
The following is from Family Tree Magazine.
People hoping to learn more about their roots - without busting their budgets - need look no further than the newly released 2010 edition of Family Tree Magazine's 101 Best Websites. This year's list honors the top free sites for genealogical resources, records and historical data. These stellar sites are spotlighted in the September 2010 issue, which hits newsstands Tuesday, July 20. Genealogy buffs also can view the full list - for free, of course - on the Family Tree Magazine website http://familytreemagazine.com/article/101-Best-Websites-2010, and get a PDF of the complete magazine article when they sign up for the magazine's free e-mail newsletter.
All 101 winning sites can give genealogists the power to bust through their research brick walls and find real answers about their ancestors. "With literally millions of genealogy sites on the internet, it's hard for family researchers to know which ones are worth visiting," says Family Tree Magazine publisher/editorial director Allison Stacy. "The goal of our '101 Best' list is to point readers to websites that will make their research faster, easier and more productive - and to recognize those outstanding sites for the valuable resources they provide."
In addition to the 101 Best Free Websites, Family Tree Magazine's September issue features step-by-step advice on navigating the USGenWeb Project, discovering Finnish roots and an in-depth look at DNA surname studies - all with recommended web links.
Family Tree Magazine is part of the Genealogy Community at F+W Media, Inc. http://www.fwmedia.com , which also encompasses Family Tree University online courses and webinars http://www.familytreeuniversity.com, the Family Tree Books imprint and the ShopFamilyTree.com http://www.shopfamilytree.com online store. These publications and products are devoted to providing engaging, easy-to-understand instruction that makes genealogy a hobby anyone can do.
People hoping to learn more about their roots - without busting their budgets - need look no further than the newly released 2010 edition of Family Tree Magazine's 101 Best Websites. This year's list honors the top free sites for genealogical resources, records and historical data. These stellar sites are spotlighted in the September 2010 issue, which hits newsstands Tuesday, July 20. Genealogy buffs also can view the full list - for free, of course - on the Family Tree Magazine website http://familytreemagazine.com/article/101-Best-Websites-2010, and get a PDF of the complete magazine article when they sign up for the magazine's free e-mail newsletter.
All 101 winning sites can give genealogists the power to bust through their research brick walls and find real answers about their ancestors. "With literally millions of genealogy sites on the internet, it's hard for family researchers to know which ones are worth visiting," says Family Tree Magazine publisher/editorial director Allison Stacy. "The goal of our '101 Best' list is to point readers to websites that will make their research faster, easier and more productive - and to recognize those outstanding sites for the valuable resources they provide."
In addition to the 101 Best Free Websites, Family Tree Magazine's September issue features step-by-step advice on navigating the USGenWeb Project, discovering Finnish roots and an in-depth look at DNA surname studies - all with recommended web links.
Family Tree Magazine is part of the Genealogy Community at F+W Media, Inc. http://www.fwmedia.com , which also encompasses Family Tree University online courses and webinars http://www.familytreeuniversity.com, the Family Tree Books imprint and the ShopFamilyTree.com http://www.shopfamilytree.com online store. These publications and products are devoted to providing engaging, easy-to-understand instruction that makes genealogy a hobby anyone can do.
JewishGen and MyHeritage.com collaborate to build the Family Tree of the Jewish People
The following is from JewishGen and MyHeritage.com
Tel Aviv, Israel; London, UK and Los Angeles, US – July 10, 2010 – MyHeritage.com and JewishGen.org are now working together to invigorate the Family Tree of the Jewish People (FTJP) project.
Under this collaboration, family trees built with a special version of MyHeritage.com available at http://www.myheritage.com/jewishgen, with the consent of the tree creators, will be transferred periodically to the FTJP for digital safekeeping. Privacy controls, using the MyHeritage.com tools, can be set according to the wishes of the tree creator. Data of existing MyHeritage.com users will not be transferred.
Under this collaboration, family trees built with a special version of MyHeritage.com available at http://www.myheritage.com/jewishgen, with the consent of the tree creators, will be transferred periodically to the FTJP for digital safekeeping. Privacy controls, using the MyHeritage.com tools, can be set according to the wishes of the tree creator. Data of existing MyHeritage.com users will not be transferred.
JewishGen is a non-profit organization created to help researchers interested in Jewish genealogy around the world connect to each other, research their families and ancestral geographic locations, participate in research projects and store Jewish family trees safely. The mission of JewishGen is to obtain records and information that will be valuable to those with Jewish ancestry and place them on the JewishGen website, at no cost, in an easy to understand and searchable format.
The Family Tree of the Jewish People is a project of JewishGen to bring together family historians around the world who research Jewish family branches. The project offers a central resource for Jewish family trees and helps re-connect Jewish families.
MyHeritage.com is a genealogical social networking site with more than 50 million members and 590 million profiles worldwide. It currently holds some 15 million family trees. It operates in 36 languages including English and Hebrew, making it ideal for Jewish families around the world to connect, as it offers easy and fun tools to enable sharing of information, photos, documents and videos among far-flung relatives, with complete and secure privacy controls that can be set by tree creators.
“JewishGen is committed to ensuring Jewish continuity for present generations and generations yet to come,” says JewishGen managing director Warren Blatt. “Our free, easy-to-use website features thousands of databases, research tools and other resources to help those with Jewish ancestry research and find family members. The vision of JewishGen is to connect Jews throughout the world with their relatives and provide them with the ability to learn about their family history and heritage.”
“MyHeritage.com – a site used all over the world and by all religions – is among the most popular genealogy websites in the Jewish world, making it a natural partner for JewishGen”, said Blatt. “The benefit of this partnership is to offer the free website tools from MyHeritage.com to create and research family trees, with the option to share those trees with the thousands of JewishGen users via the FTJP. Under the new partnership, the FTJP will be invigorated and constantly updated, resulting in an accurate, up-to-date and constantly growing Jewish family tree database for JewishGen.”
“We are excited to join forces with JewishGen,” said Gilad Japhet, founder and CEO of MyHeritage.com, himself an avid genealogist and a member of JewishGen since August 2000. “We see it as a privilege to cooperate with JewishGen and help it preserve family trees of people who wish to discover, and be discovered by, fellow researchers and relatives," Japhet added. "Our Smart Matching technology will provide genealogists the added benefit of discovering additional relatives through the large databases on MyHeritage.com. This will fulfill the mutual objective of MyHeritage.com and JewishGen to reunite families whose ties have been lost through time and fate."
About MyHeritage.com:
MyHeritage.com was founded by a team of people who combine their passion for family history with the development of innovative technology. Since launching in November 2005 MyHeritage.com has become the world’s leading international online network for families and the second largest family history website. The fastest growth rates in the industry combined with the acquisitions of Pearl Street Software (2007), Kindo.com (2008) and OSN (2009) have made MyHeritage.com the home for 50 million family members and 590 million profiles. The company has offices in London, UK; Hamburg, Germany; Boulder, Colorado, USA and Tel Aviv, Israel. MyHeritage.com has received funding by Accel Partners and Index Ventures. For more information, visit http://www.myheritage.com/jewishgen
About JewishGen:
JewishGen, a non-profit organization affiliated with the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, was founded in 1987 as a bulletin board with only 150 users who were interested in Jewish genealogy. Primarily driven by volunteers, there are over 700 active volunteers throughout the world who actively contribute to its ever growing collection of databases, resources and search tools. Currently, JewishGen hosts more than 14 million records, and provides a myriad of resources and search tools designed to assist those researching their Jewish ancestry. JewishGen provides its resources online as a public service.
The Family Tree of the Jewish People is a project of JewishGen to bring together family historians around the world who research Jewish family branches. The project offers a central resource for Jewish family trees and helps re-connect Jewish families.
MyHeritage.com is a genealogical social networking site with more than 50 million members and 590 million profiles worldwide. It currently holds some 15 million family trees. It operates in 36 languages including English and Hebrew, making it ideal for Jewish families around the world to connect, as it offers easy and fun tools to enable sharing of information, photos, documents and videos among far-flung relatives, with complete and secure privacy controls that can be set by tree creators.
“JewishGen is committed to ensuring Jewish continuity for present generations and generations yet to come,” says JewishGen managing director Warren Blatt. “Our free, easy-to-use website features thousands of databases, research tools and other resources to help those with Jewish ancestry research and find family members. The vision of JewishGen is to connect Jews throughout the world with their relatives and provide them with the ability to learn about their family history and heritage.”
“MyHeritage.com – a site used all over the world and by all religions – is among the most popular genealogy websites in the Jewish world, making it a natural partner for JewishGen”, said Blatt. “The benefit of this partnership is to offer the free website tools from MyHeritage.com to create and research family trees, with the option to share those trees with the thousands of JewishGen users via the FTJP. Under the new partnership, the FTJP will be invigorated and constantly updated, resulting in an accurate, up-to-date and constantly growing Jewish family tree database for JewishGen.”
“We are excited to join forces with JewishGen,” said Gilad Japhet, founder and CEO of MyHeritage.com, himself an avid genealogist and a member of JewishGen since August 2000. “We see it as a privilege to cooperate with JewishGen and help it preserve family trees of people who wish to discover, and be discovered by, fellow researchers and relatives," Japhet added. "Our Smart Matching technology will provide genealogists the added benefit of discovering additional relatives through the large databases on MyHeritage.com. This will fulfill the mutual objective of MyHeritage.com and JewishGen to reunite families whose ties have been lost through time and fate."
About MyHeritage.com:
MyHeritage.com was founded by a team of people who combine their passion for family history with the development of innovative technology. Since launching in November 2005 MyHeritage.com has become the world’s leading international online network for families and the second largest family history website. The fastest growth rates in the industry combined with the acquisitions of Pearl Street Software (2007), Kindo.com (2008) and OSN (2009) have made MyHeritage.com the home for 50 million family members and 590 million profiles. The company has offices in London, UK; Hamburg, Germany; Boulder, Colorado, USA and Tel Aviv, Israel. MyHeritage.com has received funding by Accel Partners and Index Ventures. For more information, visit http://www.myheritage.com/jewishgen
About JewishGen:
JewishGen, a non-profit organization affiliated with the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, was founded in 1987 as a bulletin board with only 150 users who were interested in Jewish genealogy. Primarily driven by volunteers, there are over 700 active volunteers throughout the world who actively contribute to its ever growing collection of databases, resources and search tools. Currently, JewishGen hosts more than 14 million records, and provides a myriad of resources and search tools designed to assist those researching their Jewish ancestry. JewishGen provides its resources online as a public service.
Findmypast.co.uk launches fully indexed birth records
The following is from FindMyPast.com
FINDMYPAST.CO.UK MAKES BIRTH RECORDS EVEN EASIER TO SEARCH
o 100 million fully indexed birth records from 1837 – 2006
o Ronaldo Maradona and Fish Fish Fish are names found within the records
Leading UK family history website, findmypast.co.uk has today launched an easier way to find the births of English and Welsh ancestors online. The company has reindexed over 100 million birth records, as a first instalment of a completely new version of the England and Wales Birth, Marriage and Death (BMD) records on its website. Fully indexing these records involved rescanning 170 years of records and transcribing the quarter of a billion names within them. Over 1,000 people have worked on this exciting two-year project.
The fully indexed births make finding ancestors much simpler as the revamped records will provide you with a number of new benefits;
- Your search results will be in the form of a list of individual names, so you won't have to check through pages of records to find your ancestors
- You can search the complete 1837-2006 set of birth records in one go or by one or more counties at a time
- The images of the index pages are completely new and very high quality
- We've added smart search features including name variants
- There are clever search results to get around the quirks of the records, including the GRO's procedure of initialising second names, and records of children unnamed at registration (very common in the Victorian period)
- You can now search by mother's and father's name at the same time to help find those elusive births
With this new resource now available, findmypast.co.uk has uncovered some interesting facts about the births that were registered between 1837 and 2006.
· 10 babies named Fish Fish born between 1840 and 1883, bizarrely, all in Lancashire. The list includes one Fish Fish Fish born in Blackburn in 1864.
· Just five Ringos were registered in 1964 and 1965, compared with 2,414 Georges, 36,877 Johns and 56,170 Pauls.
· Six Dick Turpins were registered between 1854 and 1916 – a highwayman from the 1700s.
· Four Maradonas were registered in 1986, the year of the infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal. Eight more were registered between 1999 and 2006, including two Diego Maradonas and two Ronaldo Maradonas.
· Eight Peles were registered between 1970 and 1972, following the footballer’s 1000th goal in 1969.
· Eight babies have been given the forename Hercules, with a further 51 bearing it as a middle name.
Debra Chatfield, Marketing Manager at findmypast.co.uk, said, “As the first company to publish birth, marriage and death records online, findmypast.co.uk is committed to making family history research more accessible. Findmypast’s brand new birth indexes now provide an easier route into our families’ pasts than ever before.
We are currently working on reindexing the marriage and death records and once complete, findmypast.co.uk will have digitised over a quarter of a billion records. Thanks to initiatives like this, family history is more popular than ever and the amount of historical records that are now available to search and view online will help even more people to start to uncover their own family tree.”
Findmypast.co.uk was the first company in the world to put the complete Birth, Marriage and Death indexes (BMDs) for England and Wales online on 1 April 2003. Previously these were only available offline on microfiche or in registry books, at a selected number of locations. This landmark achievement was recognised in 2007, when findmypast.co.uk won the Queen’s Award for Innovation.
For more information log on to www.findmypast.co.uk
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