This and That: Bits of News and Information

If you were thinking about attending the workshop this weekend but hadn't made a reservation yet, don't bother calling. The Hints on Publishing Your Family History workshop is sold out. Maybe we can convince Shirley, Matt and Jane to do a repeat performance next year. Or better yet, is there someone out there who could help the society get set up to do podcasts?

***

Speaking of podcasts, Susan Goss Johnston, one of the speakers at the upcoming L-AGS American Military Research Seminar was a guest on Dear Myrtle's Family History Hour August 5, 2008 podcast. Ol' Myrt wanted the interview when she learned that Susan will be discussing known surviving military record groups -- what is online and what is not. DearMyrtle's detailed show notes includes links to the sites discussed and this:

Susan has advised students to print out and bring with them, An Overview of Records at the National Archives Relating to Military Service by Trevor K. Plante (Prologue Fall 20002, Vol. 34, No. 3). Susan feels this article is an excellent starting point for researchers.

***

As predicted by Rose Pierson of FamilySearch Indexing, the first portion of the San Francisco Mortuary Records project is complete. Rose reports that they are working hard to get the second set of images from twenty-nine rolls of microfilmed registers ready to be indexed. These are a bit more complicated to set up but they include the eagerly anticipated early ledgers from the 1860s.

***

The San Luis Obispo Tribune ran an article last Saturday about Camp Roberts, named for San Francisco native and Medal of Honor winner, Corporal Harold Roberts. The California Genealogical Society and Library got a mention in the paper's August 2, 2008 article, Camp Roberts Mystery: Who's the Man Behind Post's Name?

Wordless Wednesday - Then and Now

California Genealogical Society President Jane Lindsey is "big sister" to five younger brothers. It's where she got her training to be CGS "Mother Hen."

Photographs courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey.

Tuesday Tales From the Road - Indiana

CGS member Mary Mettler is still on the road. This is her second installment:

The trip is going great! I'm in Fremont, Indiana tonight and will get my first rain and maybe big hail, according to the forecast. My car won't like "big hail" or even "little hail" for that matter. I'll be staying with my sisters in Akron and seeing my niece and grandniece and having lunch with some high school friends over the 4th of July weekend.

Cynthia, I forgot the name of your little hometown in Iowa, so I waved at all the towns! I didn't see a lot of flood damage - just low parts of fields and runoff channels down the hills of corn.

Yesterday, I drove 20 miles along the Mississippi from Rock Island, Illinois to Cordova, Illinois where my 2nd great grandparents are buried. It was a gorgeous cemetery with trees and was very well maintained. Quite a number of the graves had flowers on them. To my complete surprise, there was a potted plant beside my ancestors. I asked the maintenance man about it, and he said he found the pot very close to them and put it right beside them only 15 minutes before I arrived - pretty spooky!

This morning I ran across the Mississippi from Rock Island, IL to Davenport, Iowa and back. Can't say as I have ever run in two states in the same run! I crossed next to an island with an arsenal, where Confederate soldiers had been held during the Civil War and Germans and Italians in WWII. Yesterday, I'd been searching in the 1860's newspapers, and every day they listed the names of the Confederate soldiers who died there the day before. Quite often it was pneumonia, since blankets were a rare commodity. Then, there was a horrific small pox epidemic. We hear about Andersonville and the poor treatment of our Northern soldiers, but the winners write the history books. Thus, there is nothing about Rock Island and the poor confederates!

Please don't forget me! I'm homesick already!

From Your Roving Reporter,
Mary

Read the entire series:
Part One: Salt Lake City
Part Two: Indiana
Part Three: Pennsylvania
Part Four: More From Pennsylvania
Part Five: Washington D.C.
Part Six: Suffield, Connecticut
Part Seven: Vermont
Part Eight: Dorset, Vermont
Part Nine: West Point and Back to Pennsylvania
Part Ten: Some Final Thoughts From Home

Workshop: Hints on Publishing Your Family History

Saturday, August 9, 2008
10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
CGS Library, 2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland, California

There are still a few spaces left in this Saturday's workshop - "Hints on Publishing Your Family History" at the CGS Library.

At some point, it is time to put a stop to the research (at least temporarily) and create something tangible that can be passed down to the next generation.

Shirley Pugh Thomson, Matt Berry and Jane Knowles Lindsey are ready to share their experience and help you explore the options available, including newer non-traditional, online methods, such as blogs. The CGS Library collection has scores of examples of traditionally published histories for you to peruse. Our panelists will choose a few so workshop attendees can see some prime examples.

Shirley Thompson, retired owner of Indices Publishing, will present two talks, "Skills Needed to Publish Your History" and "Mistakes to Avoid." Matt Berry will discuss his experience self-publishing using Lulu.com.

The workshop day will include a lunch break so bring a brown bag. There is a nearby deli if you prefer buy a sandwich and bring it back to the library.

The workshop is free for CGS members but is limited to fifteen people. There will be a sign-up fee of $10 for non-members. (This fee can be applied toward membership on the day of the workshop.) There is a sign-up sheet at the CGS Library desk. Please call CGS at 510-663-1358 to reserve a space.

Photograph courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey.

Update on San Francisco Mortuary Records Indexing

If you are interested in participating in the San Francisco Mortuary Records Indexing Project and you haven't signed up yet, you better get started because things are moving faster than anyone anticipated!

Rose Pierson of FamilySearch Indexing sent some updated statistics.

The project now has 3,975 batches (39,750 images). Each batch is indexed twice - "A" and "B" - an arbitrator will look again at a batch if the two indexers don't agree.

As of yesterday,

3,362 "A" batches complete - 84.58%
3,157 "B" batches complete - 79.42%
2042 Arbitrations complete - 51.37%

Rose thinks that at this rate, this portion of the project should be fully indexed sometime in August.

Next to be processed are the images from twenty-nine rolls of microfilmed mortuary registers. Included in these rolls are the records dating from the mid-1800s. These are a bit more complicated to set up for the indexing project since some of them are accounting records.

The bottom line is, if you want to participate, don't delay.

Arbitrators Needed: A Request from FamilySearch Indexing

We need your help! The number of batches being arbitrated is out of balance compared with the number of batches being indexed. Please spend as much time as possible doing arbitration, especially for the Washington State Deaths and Louisiana 1850-1954 Death Certificates projects. If the gap between the number of batches indexed and the number of batches arbitrated grows too large, indexing batches will not be assigned (even though they are available) until the arbitration numbers come back into balance. If you notice that a project is on the Download From… list, but the system states that there are no batches available to index, please download and submit arbitration batches as soon as possible for the same project. Arbitration is a vital step in ensuring a constant flow of data through the indexing pipeline. We sincerely appreciate your efforts.