A series of archive based workshops has been announced by Hampshire Record Office for February and March, including topics such as house history, conservation, family history, and more.
For more information visit the Salisbury Journal's story at www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/10194428.Delve_into_your_family_history_at_workshops/.
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Scottish Highlander Photo Archive update
I've just had word from Adrian Harvey that the Scottish Highlander Photo Archive at www.scottishhighlanderphotoarchive.co.uk has been updated, and now contains historic photographic portraits of some 6000 people taken in Inverness. Most of the photographs were taken by Andrew Paterson, who set up his studio in Inverness aged 19 in 1896. The site provides watermarked images online, and he option to purchase copies of prints that may be of interest. Not all images are portraits, there are some street images also from Inverness and elsewhere in the region. When completed the site will host some 40,000 images.
(With thanks to Adrian)
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
(With thanks to Adrian)
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
Saturday, 2 February 2013
TNA podcast - Tracing Battalions and Regiment of WW1
The latest podcast from the National Archives at Kew is a 41 minute lecture from David Langrish entitled Tracing Battalions or Regiments of the British Army during the Great War.
It can be listened to at http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/tracing-battalions-or-regiments-of-the-british-army-during-the-great-war/ or downloaded for free from iTunes.
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
It can be listened to at http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/tracing-battalions-or-regiments-of-the-british-army-during-the-great-war/ or downloaded for free from iTunes.
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
Sheffield 1900-1918 armaments guide
Sheffield Archives and Local Studies has created a guide on the city's armaments industry from 1900-1918, listing all of the resources available in the facility for research into the industry.
To access the guide, available in Word or PDF format, visit www.sheffield.gov.uk/libraries/archives-and-local-studies/research-guides/armaments.html.
(With thanks to @SheffLibraries)
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
To access the guide, available in Word or PDF format, visit www.sheffield.gov.uk/libraries/archives-and-local-studies/research-guides/armaments.html.
(With thanks to @SheffLibraries)
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
Sanity returns to RootsIreland
It's not often that I get angry within the world of genealogy. Occasionally I get a tad exasperated, a bit frustrated, sometimes mildly bemused, and very often delighted. But rarely angry. Last year, however, I got seriously angry. The source of the anger, as has occasionally been the case in the past, was the Irish based RootsIreland website at www.rootsireland.ie. On this occasion, the anger came from the sudden implementation of the most ludicrous payment system I had ever seen on an online records portal, and one that I assumed they had implemented for a laugh.
It used to be so easy - €5 per record, but discounts for records if more than one child was born to a couple. Dead easy - so much so, that even a muppet like me could get it. Then last March came Geneageddon. The site suddenly announced that to see records you now required to pay for credits. Records would cost 25 credits each to view, and to view a search result in the indexes one extra credit. So far, interesting - until they then announced the payment tiers. The cheapest number of credits you could buy was 35 credits at €5 - but this would only allow you to look at one record and one index search with 9 credits left over, not enough to look at another full record. The next tier was €10 for 73 credits.
It was absolutely insane, so much so that I happily pointed out the utter absurdity of it at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/rootsireland-makes-search-and-payment.html - not only pointing out the mathematical absurdities of what they had implemented, but also outlining what they were not announcing, such as the inability to do parent searches at parish level any more, and so on.
The site was stung by many similar comments from many other commentators. A few weeks later, it announced a temporary trial of free search credits - only for you to do free searches on the site, but not to view images. I used my free searches up, and at that point, I decided to hell with it, life was too short, and since then I have not commented on the site at all, other than to be professional in telling people through articles etc that the site does exist, but citing its existence with an "unusual credit based system". Biting my lip each time I wrote that of course...
However, today I have gone back to have a look for the first times in many months, with the intention of possibly paying to see a record for a member of my family that cannot be found in the civil indexes online, but which does seem to be in its database. I was surprised to note that some common sense has now seemingly crept into the payment system. Forget purchases of 35, 73, 150, 320 or 750 credits, numbers that could not be divided easily by 26 - here's the new set up:
€5.00 - (25 credits plus 25 free pages of search results)
€10.00 - (50 credits plus 50 free pages of search results)
€25.00 - (175 credits plus 175 free pages of search results) - Bulk Saving
€45.00 - (350 credits plus 350 free pages of search results) - Bulk Saving
€50.00 - (450 credits plus 450 free pages of search results) - Bulk Saving
So €5 for one record; €10 for two; and discounts thereafter by bulk purchase the more you pay in advance. Searches no longer cost a credit, and all the credit package numbers easily divide by 25 - I no longer need a calculator or to contact someone at the Vulcan Embassy to work it out, I can now clearly see the discounts.
There is still some absurdity. If you buy 450 credits you can see eighteen fully transcribed results. Quite why you might need 450 free index searches on top is anyone's guess, but I guess they are free. But this is finally bordering at long last on a trajectory back towards common sense.
I had decided to no longer carry news on this blog about RootsIreland after last March's debacle, as I did not want to promote a site that I did not see as fit for purpose. However, this is an improvement that will make it easier for people to see what they are paying for. Whether the cost per transcript is too high is still a question for those wishing to use it, particularly with the advent of online Northern Irish civil records in the not too distant future, and copies of the original civil records at GRO Ireland at only €4 each - but at least RootsIreland now seems to work. I don't know how long this set up has been running, I haven't been able to find a news announcement anywhere about it, but this is probably something RootsIreland should shout louder about - and perhaps what they should have implemented in the first place.
UPDATE: Just to add, RootsIreland still has some issues. The record I wished to look up was for the birth of the sister of my two times great grandmother in January 1883. In trying the civil indexes on Ancestry, FindmyPast.com and Familysearch, no record for a registered birth in Raphoe, Donegal, could be found. RootsIreland did find her though, with a 'civil record' from Raphoe. The transcript for this 'civil record' however, notes both a baptism and birth date - but I'm not aware baptism dates were recorded on civil records. So this seems to be a consolidated database that the relevant IFHF centre in Donegal calls 'civil records', but which seems to contain information from more than one source. As with all of RootsIreland's transcribed records, no source information is given to show where the information has been extracted from in the record they supply. And just for good measure, I have now found a registration for what I think is probably her civil birth record - but in Strabane, just down the road from Raphoe, but not in Donegal (and where some of her siblings births' were registered). So it always pays to question what the records are that you are actually looking at.
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
It used to be so easy - €5 per record, but discounts for records if more than one child was born to a couple. Dead easy - so much so, that even a muppet like me could get it. Then last March came Geneageddon. The site suddenly announced that to see records you now required to pay for credits. Records would cost 25 credits each to view, and to view a search result in the indexes one extra credit. So far, interesting - until they then announced the payment tiers. The cheapest number of credits you could buy was 35 credits at €5 - but this would only allow you to look at one record and one index search with 9 credits left over, not enough to look at another full record. The next tier was €10 for 73 credits.
It was absolutely insane, so much so that I happily pointed out the utter absurdity of it at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/rootsireland-makes-search-and-payment.html - not only pointing out the mathematical absurdities of what they had implemented, but also outlining what they were not announcing, such as the inability to do parent searches at parish level any more, and so on.
The site was stung by many similar comments from many other commentators. A few weeks later, it announced a temporary trial of free search credits - only for you to do free searches on the site, but not to view images. I used my free searches up, and at that point, I decided to hell with it, life was too short, and since then I have not commented on the site at all, other than to be professional in telling people through articles etc that the site does exist, but citing its existence with an "unusual credit based system". Biting my lip each time I wrote that of course...
However, today I have gone back to have a look for the first times in many months, with the intention of possibly paying to see a record for a member of my family that cannot be found in the civil indexes online, but which does seem to be in its database. I was surprised to note that some common sense has now seemingly crept into the payment system. Forget purchases of 35, 73, 150, 320 or 750 credits, numbers that could not be divided easily by 26 - here's the new set up:
€5.00 - (25 credits plus 25 free pages of search results)
€10.00 - (50 credits plus 50 free pages of search results)
€25.00 - (175 credits plus 175 free pages of search results) - Bulk Saving
€45.00 - (350 credits plus 350 free pages of search results) - Bulk Saving
€50.00 - (450 credits plus 450 free pages of search results) - Bulk Saving
So €5 for one record; €10 for two; and discounts thereafter by bulk purchase the more you pay in advance. Searches no longer cost a credit, and all the credit package numbers easily divide by 25 - I no longer need a calculator or to contact someone at the Vulcan Embassy to work it out, I can now clearly see the discounts.
There is still some absurdity. If you buy 450 credits you can see eighteen fully transcribed results. Quite why you might need 450 free index searches on top is anyone's guess, but I guess they are free. But this is finally bordering at long last on a trajectory back towards common sense.
I had decided to no longer carry news on this blog about RootsIreland after last March's debacle, as I did not want to promote a site that I did not see as fit for purpose. However, this is an improvement that will make it easier for people to see what they are paying for. Whether the cost per transcript is too high is still a question for those wishing to use it, particularly with the advent of online Northern Irish civil records in the not too distant future, and copies of the original civil records at GRO Ireland at only €4 each - but at least RootsIreland now seems to work. I don't know how long this set up has been running, I haven't been able to find a news announcement anywhere about it, but this is probably something RootsIreland should shout louder about - and perhaps what they should have implemented in the first place.
UPDATE: Just to add, RootsIreland still has some issues. The record I wished to look up was for the birth of the sister of my two times great grandmother in January 1883. In trying the civil indexes on Ancestry, FindmyPast.com and Familysearch, no record for a registered birth in Raphoe, Donegal, could be found. RootsIreland did find her though, with a 'civil record' from Raphoe. The transcript for this 'civil record' however, notes both a baptism and birth date - but I'm not aware baptism dates were recorded on civil records. So this seems to be a consolidated database that the relevant IFHF centre in Donegal calls 'civil records', but which seems to contain information from more than one source. As with all of RootsIreland's transcribed records, no source information is given to show where the information has been extracted from in the record they supply. And just for good measure, I have now found a registration for what I think is probably her civil birth record - but in Strabane, just down the road from Raphoe, but not in Donegal (and where some of her siblings births' were registered). So it always pays to question what the records are that you are actually looking at.
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
Friday, 1 February 2013
Scottish, Wills, Testaments and Land Records webinar
A webinar from Marie Dougan looking at Scottish Wills, Testaments and Land Records is available online for a short time free of charge at http://news.legacyfamilytree.com/legacy_news/2013/01/scottish-wills-testaments-and-land-records-free-webinar-by-marie-dougan-now-online-for-a-limited-tim.html.
Well worth a listen!
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
Well worth a listen!
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
Irish Genealogy Seminar in Arizona
A two day Irish Genealogy Seminar, run by the Irish Cultural Centre in Phoenix, Arizona, will be taking place on March 17th and 18th - full details at www.azirish.org/article.php?story=2013GENEALOGYSEMINARMARCH17AND18
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
FindmyPast Ireland updates petty session records
FindmyPast Ireland (www.findmypast.ie) has updated its petty session records collection with material from an additonal 25 courts - there are further details at https://www.findmypast.ie/articles/news/petty-sessions-updated-with-25-new-courts
(With thanks to FindmyPast Ireland on Facebook)
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
(With thanks to FindmyPast Ireland on Facebook)
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
The Original Record update
Newly added to the Original Record platform (www.theoriginalrecord.com):
1457
Ablemen of Norwich
The Old Free Book of the city of Norwich includes this muster roll of about 1457. Able-bodied men are listed subleet by subleet, with a note of the armour furnished or sum of money raised towards buying armour. About 600 persons are assessed, 80 of whom assessed for money only appear to be additions to the original list. A total of 480 jacks were assigned: a 'jack' being a jacket similar to a gambeson or doublet.
1602-1604
Essex Feet of Fines: Easter 44 Elizabeth to Hilary 1 James I
Abstracts of Essex pedes finium - law suits, or pretended suits, putting on record the ownership of land.
1787
Cheshire Merchants
William Tunnicliff's 'Topographical Survey of the Counties of Stafford, Chester, and Lancaster' included directories of the principal merchants and manufacturers in each county. For Cheshire, there are lists of traders in Chester, Congleton, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Middlewich, Nantwich, Northwich, and Stockport and neighbourhood.
1803
Subscribers to 'Poetical Scraps'
'Poetical Scraps' by Thomas Clio Rickman of Upper Marylebone Street (author of 'The Evening Walk', 'Letter to Mr Pitt', 'To the Bishop of Landaff', &c. was published by the author, in London, in 1803, and sold also by Mr Symonds, Paternoster Row; Mr Fisher, at his Library, on the Steyne, Brighton; Mr Lee, Lewes; Mr Claris, Canterbury; Mr Flower, Cambridge; Mr Watts, Gosport; Messrs Gore and Son, Liverpool; Mr Cowdroy, Manchester; and Mr Rackham, Bury St Edmunds.
1810
Naval Pensioners: Superannuated, Wounded and Meritorious Conduct
'An Account of Pensions payable on the Ordinary Estimate of the Navy, and of those granted by his Majesty's Sign Manual, out of the Money arisen by the Sale of Old Naval Stores'. The lists give full name, rate of pension, and date of award, and are arranged by rank - administrative staff, admirals, boatswains, captains (including some captains' children and mothers), carpenters, cooks, dockyard staff, gunners, lieutenants, masters, pursers, rear admirals, sea officers, surgeons, as well as widows of commissioners of the navy, French pilots (for meritorious conduct) and lieutenants in the Royal Marines.
1815
The Scotch Greys at Waterloo
The muster roll of the officers and men of the 2nd or Royal North British Regiment of Dragoons who fought at Waterloo, 18 June 1815, and survived. Those wounded have 'w.' placed after their name. The 1st, 2nd and 6th Dragoons formed the second brigade of cavalry under Major-General Sir William Ponsonby (killed in action); the cavalry as a whole being commanded by Lieutenant-General the Earl of Uxbridge (wounded). The 2nd Dragoons (Scotch Greys) amounted to 391 men, under Lieutenant-Colonel J. I. Hamilton (killed in action). 'The Royal Dragoons, the Scotch Greys, and Inniskillings, General Ponsonby at their head, dispersed the enemy to a great distance, and precipitated themselves with unexampled boldness on the batteries at the right of the 1 corps, put the cannoneers to the sword and dismounted 30 pieces. But the cuirassiers of Lt. Gen. Milhaud, having advanced towards the chaussee to support the attack of infantry which had failed, the brigade of G. M. Travere from one side, and the 4th regiment of Lancers coming from the other, fell at the same time on these brave dragoons, who, not being able to resist this terrible shock, were cut to pieces and repulsed with considerable loss. The brave General Ponsonby was killed by the Lancers, boldly attempting to join the greater body of his brigade, from which he found himself separated.'
1915
Naval Ratings Killed in 1915
The monthly lists of Royal Navy ratings killed from the start of the Great War from January to December 1915 are arranged alphabetically by surname and christian names, with rank, and official number. The lists include marines, merchant navy, reservists, and a few civilian canteen staff also killed in the conflict. Full names are given, except for a few cases where a middle name is represented only by an initial.
(With thanks to The Original Record)
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
1457
Ablemen of Norwich
The Old Free Book of the city of Norwich includes this muster roll of about 1457. Able-bodied men are listed subleet by subleet, with a note of the armour furnished or sum of money raised towards buying armour. About 600 persons are assessed, 80 of whom assessed for money only appear to be additions to the original list. A total of 480 jacks were assigned: a 'jack' being a jacket similar to a gambeson or doublet.
1602-1604
Essex Feet of Fines: Easter 44 Elizabeth to Hilary 1 James I
Abstracts of Essex pedes finium - law suits, or pretended suits, putting on record the ownership of land.
1787
Cheshire Merchants
William Tunnicliff's 'Topographical Survey of the Counties of Stafford, Chester, and Lancaster' included directories of the principal merchants and manufacturers in each county. For Cheshire, there are lists of traders in Chester, Congleton, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Middlewich, Nantwich, Northwich, and Stockport and neighbourhood.
1803
Subscribers to 'Poetical Scraps'
'Poetical Scraps' by Thomas Clio Rickman of Upper Marylebone Street (author of 'The Evening Walk', 'Letter to Mr Pitt', 'To the Bishop of Landaff', &c. was published by the author, in London, in 1803, and sold also by Mr Symonds, Paternoster Row; Mr Fisher, at his Library, on the Steyne, Brighton; Mr Lee, Lewes; Mr Claris, Canterbury; Mr Flower, Cambridge; Mr Watts, Gosport; Messrs Gore and Son, Liverpool; Mr Cowdroy, Manchester; and Mr Rackham, Bury St Edmunds.
1810
Naval Pensioners: Superannuated, Wounded and Meritorious Conduct
'An Account of Pensions payable on the Ordinary Estimate of the Navy, and of those granted by his Majesty's Sign Manual, out of the Money arisen by the Sale of Old Naval Stores'. The lists give full name, rate of pension, and date of award, and are arranged by rank - administrative staff, admirals, boatswains, captains (including some captains' children and mothers), carpenters, cooks, dockyard staff, gunners, lieutenants, masters, pursers, rear admirals, sea officers, surgeons, as well as widows of commissioners of the navy, French pilots (for meritorious conduct) and lieutenants in the Royal Marines.
1815
The Scotch Greys at Waterloo
The muster roll of the officers and men of the 2nd or Royal North British Regiment of Dragoons who fought at Waterloo, 18 June 1815, and survived. Those wounded have 'w.' placed after their name. The 1st, 2nd and 6th Dragoons formed the second brigade of cavalry under Major-General Sir William Ponsonby (killed in action); the cavalry as a whole being commanded by Lieutenant-General the Earl of Uxbridge (wounded). The 2nd Dragoons (Scotch Greys) amounted to 391 men, under Lieutenant-Colonel J. I. Hamilton (killed in action). 'The Royal Dragoons, the Scotch Greys, and Inniskillings, General Ponsonby at their head, dispersed the enemy to a great distance, and precipitated themselves with unexampled boldness on the batteries at the right of the 1 corps, put the cannoneers to the sword and dismounted 30 pieces. But the cuirassiers of Lt. Gen. Milhaud, having advanced towards the chaussee to support the attack of infantry which had failed, the brigade of G. M. Travere from one side, and the 4th regiment of Lancers coming from the other, fell at the same time on these brave dragoons, who, not being able to resist this terrible shock, were cut to pieces and repulsed with considerable loss. The brave General Ponsonby was killed by the Lancers, boldly attempting to join the greater body of his brigade, from which he found himself separated.'
1915
Naval Ratings Killed in 1915
The monthly lists of Royal Navy ratings killed from the start of the Great War from January to December 1915 are arranged alphabetically by surname and christian names, with rank, and official number. The lists include marines, merchant navy, reservists, and a few civilian canteen staff also killed in the conflict. Full names are given, except for a few cases where a middle name is represented only by an initial.
(With thanks to The Original Record)
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
WorldCat to include FamilySearch resources
OCLC (Online Computer Library Centre), the company behind the highly useful WorldCat catalogue, and FamilySearch are joining forces - here's the press release:
DUBLIN, Ohio, January 31, 2013 — OCLC and FamilySearch International, the largest genealogy organization in the world, have signed an agreement that will enrich WorldCat and FamilySearch services with data from both organizations to provide users with more resources for improved genealogy research.
Under this new partnership, OCLC will incorporate data from FamilySearch’s catalog of genealogical materials into WorldCat, and FamilySearch will use OCLC cataloging services to continue to catalog its collections in WorldCat. FamilySearch will also use the WorldCat Search API to incorporate WorldCat results into search results returned by FamilySearch genealogy services.
“We’re excited to see information about FamilySearch holdings more broadly circulated, and to inform our own patrons about genealogical holdings available outside our network,” said Jake Gehring, FamilySearch’s Director of Data Operations.
“This combination of genealogical and bibliographic resources will be of enormous benefit to librarians and library users as well as genealogists,” said Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO. “OCLC and FamilySearch are organizations with similar goals—to connect people to knowledge and information through cooperation. We look forward to working with FamilySearch.”
FamilySearch, historically known as the Genealogical Society of Utah, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the discovery and preservation of family histories and stories, introducing individuals to their ancestors through the widespread access to records, and collaborating with others who share this vision.
The collections of FamilySearch include historic documents of genealogical value such as civil registration records; church records; and probate, census, land, tax and military records. The collection also contains compiled sources such as family histories, clan and lineage genealogies, oral pedigrees and local histories. FamilySearch has also been a pioneer in the use of technology and processes for image capture, digital conversion, preservation, online indexing and online access. FamilySearch has operated on OCLC’s OLIB library management system since 1996 to manage the vast metadata in its catalog.
FamilySearch offers a unique service to users around the world through its network of more than 4,600 family history centers. In each center, trained FamilySearch volunteers provide individualized help for family history patrons seeking access to records and the information they contain.
WorldCat is the world’s most comprehensive database of library materials. Updated at a rate of nearly one new record every second, WorldCat is a cooperatively-created catalog of items held in thousands of libraries worldwide, including public, academic, state and national libraries; archives; and historical societies. These libraries have cataloged their regular collections as well as many special collections—including digitized materials—devoted to local history. This makes WorldCat an indispensible tool for genealogy research.
Find more about FamilySearch or search its resources online at www.FamilySearch.org. More about WorldCat is on the OCLC website. Search WorldCat.org on the Web at www.worldcat.org.
(With thanks to FamilySearch)
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
DUBLIN, Ohio, January 31, 2013 — OCLC and FamilySearch International, the largest genealogy organization in the world, have signed an agreement that will enrich WorldCat and FamilySearch services with data from both organizations to provide users with more resources for improved genealogy research.
Under this new partnership, OCLC will incorporate data from FamilySearch’s catalog of genealogical materials into WorldCat, and FamilySearch will use OCLC cataloging services to continue to catalog its collections in WorldCat. FamilySearch will also use the WorldCat Search API to incorporate WorldCat results into search results returned by FamilySearch genealogy services.
“We’re excited to see information about FamilySearch holdings more broadly circulated, and to inform our own patrons about genealogical holdings available outside our network,” said Jake Gehring, FamilySearch’s Director of Data Operations.
“This combination of genealogical and bibliographic resources will be of enormous benefit to librarians and library users as well as genealogists,” said Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO. “OCLC and FamilySearch are organizations with similar goals—to connect people to knowledge and information through cooperation. We look forward to working with FamilySearch.”
FamilySearch, historically known as the Genealogical Society of Utah, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the discovery and preservation of family histories and stories, introducing individuals to their ancestors through the widespread access to records, and collaborating with others who share this vision.
The collections of FamilySearch include historic documents of genealogical value such as civil registration records; church records; and probate, census, land, tax and military records. The collection also contains compiled sources such as family histories, clan and lineage genealogies, oral pedigrees and local histories. FamilySearch has also been a pioneer in the use of technology and processes for image capture, digital conversion, preservation, online indexing and online access. FamilySearch has operated on OCLC’s OLIB library management system since 1996 to manage the vast metadata in its catalog.
FamilySearch offers a unique service to users around the world through its network of more than 4,600 family history centers. In each center, trained FamilySearch volunteers provide individualized help for family history patrons seeking access to records and the information they contain.
WorldCat is the world’s most comprehensive database of library materials. Updated at a rate of nearly one new record every second, WorldCat is a cooperatively-created catalog of items held in thousands of libraries worldwide, including public, academic, state and national libraries; archives; and historical societies. These libraries have cataloged their regular collections as well as many special collections—including digitized materials—devoted to local history. This makes WorldCat an indispensible tool for genealogy research.
Find more about FamilySearch or search its resources online at www.FamilySearch.org. More about WorldCat is on the OCLC website. Search WorldCat.org on the Web at www.worldcat.org.
(With thanks to FamilySearch)
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
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