(OK, so we are one number off, the meaning is the same.)
Image courtesy of New York Public Library website (http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/)
Question #1, “What did you learn last year in Genealogy Daddy?”
To be followed by Question #2, “What do you expect to learn in 2008?”
Well in 2007 on the “Upstate New York Genealogy” website and Blog you have learned the following.
From the Blog in January you were informed of an excellent website for Maps of all kinds at www.historicmapworks.com, and had an explanation of the free access to wondrous materials in the “Making of America” series through Cornell University.
In February you were taught how to use www.books.google.com for free downloads of millions of books of all types. You were told about the best historical and genealogical reference book for New York State researchers, “French’s Gazetteer of 1860,” and told how to get a free copy of it in digital format. You learned a new word, “Genealogaholic,” (there is a twelve step cure, but no one has ever taken it yet.) You were told where to look for a capsule genealogy of the “CHASE Family,” founders of the NECCO Candy Company. You were told about a very nice free on-line newspaper collection at www.paperofrecord.com. You learned just about all you needed to know about the New York State Censuses that were taken in-between the years of the Federal Census, and how to access them. You learned about a great new company that has many unique databases named genealogybank, and you also were shocked at how all of our readers and others scrambled to take advantage of a free test ride, and clogged the gen bank servers to full overload and shut down. Eventually everything settled down and systems got back to normal, but we will no longer be telling you how to rush into anything like that melee again. GenealogyBank is one of our often recommended research subscription sites.
In March, you learned more about Google Books and how to download them for free, and also about “Librivox” a very nice site for downloading audio books that are in the public domain.
In May a good description of Worldcat.org was presented. Worldcat is an on-line master catalog to just about any book of importance, (as well as other media also.)
In July, (Where did April and June go?) the Yates County Historian’s website was emphasized for its importance and the amount of on-line data available. You learned more about the Rochester NY Public Library “City Directories” and “Newspaper Index” project. You were reminded about the Central New York Genealogical Society and their publication “Tree Talks,” and how to obtain batches of all of the articles for individual counties by ordering “County Packets.” You then were saddened to hear about the firing of all of the membership of the NYG&B Society, and had to endure my rants against the action.
August brought some old time images of Baldwinsville, NY, from our friend Dave Rowell, and learned about a fabulous collection of many old Baldwinsville High School Year Books (1870-1926,) that were donated to the Onondaga County Public Library (OCPL,) again by Dave Rowell. There was also a bit more on historicmapworks and an update on CNYGS “Tree Talks” County Packets.
September you read about the NYG&B book collection that will be leaving. And you heard that the excellent Genealogy Speaker, Dick Hillenbrand, would be entertaining at the Capital District Genealogical Society in the Albany area.
October you saw a transcription of an 1870 publication that named the Deaths of many early Onondaga Pioneers that had died in the previous 1869 and 1870. There was a bit about Ellis Island and more about GenealogyBank. There also was a lesson in how to keep your genealogical research log on the Internet. You read about the new digital library catalog at OCPL. Dear Myrtle explained some happenings at NARA. You learned about the special discount rate that you could get from Ancestry.com if you were a member of the New England Genealogical and Historical Society (NEHGS.) (Note: we received many comments about this rather unadvertised fact.) There was a review about Dick Eastman presenting a day long seminar in Syracuse for the CNYGS. There was a call for the use of GPS devices in recording the co-ordinates of all cemeteries. You were told about the New York State Library Newspaper Project. You found a place to locate and record unusual terms often found in genealogical research at Eastman’s “Encyclopedia of Genealogy.” You also read about a request by NARA to receive and consider your input to help them formulate their ongoing digitization project.
November was one of our most popular Blogs, regarding the seldom used collection of original Western New York church record books on microfilm at Cornell University. These books are not in the LDS FHL collection. We announced the excellent collection of research links that Kip Sperry of Utah is providing free of charge to researchers.
Finally, December. We bragged about the Seneca County Historians fabulous website.
You found a newspaper article about some scammers selling certified deed copies for outrageous prices.
You learned about some of the earliest Madison County manuscript records that were located after having thought to have been burned by the Loomis Gang.
Another very popular Blog was the explanation of Bien’s 1895 New York State Atlas, and how to access it for free.
A short explanation about the facts of life, we installed some product announcements to our website and Blog. Website building, maintenance and bandwidth had become too costly to bear alone. We told you about some new features at footnote.com.
Our webhosts, s-go.net, were featured and we hope you will look at what they have to offer if you ever have a need for any website building ideas.
We told you about a very nice 150 year retrospective of the “Albany Times Union.”
You received a tremendous amount of information on some of the 595 Revolutionary War Soldiers that were buried in Onondaga County. A great many of you interacted with this one and we appreciate it greatly! Feedback is the fuel that makes Bloggers energized!
Then you read the 411 about our website. The information on what you will find and how to access it was helpful to many of you.
We told you about DIGG, a way that you can say you “Digg it,” and a way to help us gain new readers. Please continue to DIGG us if you see something you like.
Coming towards the end of the year we gave a good description of what you might find that is new on Ancestry, and what is coming in the New Year.
Recently a description of what Ephemera is and why you might want to use it for family history research and where you might find it.
Then the most recent posting was in regard to using DNA, either Y-DNA or mtDNA, to possibly consider using it in addition to your genealogical research.
Lastly, this review, and our heartfelt THANK YOU! We love Blogging and putting ideas out that just might help you in your Family History Research. Mostly we love hearing from YOU! Did you know that having children has been discovered to be hereditary?
Well that was then., and now we might hear “So what are you going to do for us next unyg.com?”
Here is a partial list:
We will be reviewing more Upstate New York County resources.
You will learn about some excellent collections at a local level.
We will be rooting out some obscure items for you to research that do not often get used.
There will be announcements about upcoming events, meetings, lectures, and happenings.
We will be reviewing new research books, as well as some old standbys that need to be emphasized.
We will be telling you about some of the things you might expect if you were to add genetic DNA testing into your genealogy research.
We will be describing in great detail many of the on-line genealogical data providers, both of the subscription and the free type.
We will have more photographs, more discussions of maps, land records, estate records, and court house research.
There will be much more on Revolutionary War Veterans in “Upstate New York.”
We will most likely learn where the books and manuscripts collection of the NYG&B Society shall be dispersed to. Stay tuned to find out if this treasure trove will be sold, given away, or inserted into a collection where the public, or former members, will not be able to wander the stacks and covet them.
There will always be something about Old Stuff that is New! All of the data that you will obtain on unyg.com or the UNYG Blog, is certainly worth the price and has a double your money back guarantee!
To all our friends, the “Happiest of New Year’s Greetings!”
May you all prosper greatly in 2008 and tear down at least one brick wall!
Dick Hillenbrand – Upstate New York Genealogy – www.unyg.com
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