Wordless Wednesday

Membership Meeting with Jean-François de Buren

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Photographs courtesy of Tim Cox, Oakland, California.


Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Internet Workshop with Lisa B. Lee - Saturday, March 26, 2011

Saturday, March 26, 2011
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

California Genealogical Society and Library
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2
Oakland, California

Join CGS member Lisa Lee for two lectures to help you harness the power of the internet.

Internet Security will explore various ways that your computer, PDA and cellphone may be vulnerable to attack by computer viruses or unscrupulous persons intent on stealing your personal data. Lisa will explain what all those terms mean – phishing, denial of service, firewall, malware, etc. – and tell what you need to do to protect yourself and the precautions you need to take while traveling. Is that hotel wi-fi really safe? Whether you're a Mac or PC user, this workshop will take the mystery out of internet security and help you prepare yourself for safe surfing.

Lisa's second presentation is Finding Your Unfindables.

What do you do when Soundex and wild cards don't work? This workshop will show you some common ways that records are either mis-transcribed or poorly indexed, and steps you can take to find your missing relatives. Regardless of which online databases you use, you WILL find errors. How you deal with them may make the difference in your ability to break through that brick wall. Lisa will show you some of the amazing errors she's found and teach you HOW to get around them. No more excuses – you're gonna find your unfindables.

This workshop is limited to forty participants and is a free benefit of membership. Non-members fee is $20.00 (non-refundable) and can be applied towards membership on the day of the workshop.

Preregistration is required. Walk-ins will not be admitted. Registration confirmations will be sent to the first forty participants to register. Additional names will be collected and placed on a waiting list in case of cancellations.

Register online.

Lisa B. Lee is a professional genealogist and owner of GotGenealogy.com where she publishes the monthly Got Genealogy Gazette which provides timely information to help genealogists make the most of their online searches. She is a graduate of the National Institute for Genealogical Studies (University of Toronto), where she obtained her PLCGS (Professional Learning Certificate in Genealogical Studies) with certificates in U.S., Canadian and Irish genealogy and methodology. Ms. Lee speaks and conducts workshops at genealogical societies and conferences in the U.S. and Canada where her animated style, infinite knowledge of everything internet, wit and perverted humor ensure that attendees will not only learn a lot but will have fun doing so.


Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

The California Genealogical Society and FamilySearch on YouTube

I was disappointed not to have been able to attend the first RootsTech Conference this past weekend in Salt Lake City. Congratulations to FamilySearch.org and to the presenters and participants. I've been following the #rootstech tweets and blog posts.

One thing caught my eye on Facebook – a reference to familysearch.org on YouTube. (Thank you, Linda Herrick Swisher.) There was something I'd been waiting to see and had no idea it was posted online.

I shared some photos last August from the interviews with Jane Lindsey and Nancy Peterson and the filming FamilySearch did at the library. Now you can see the entire film on YouTube!

California Genealogical Society and Library works with FamilySearch to provide free online access to the records of funeral homes in the San Francisco area. These records are among the few collections that date back prior to 1906 and the San Francisco earthquake and are great substitutes for death records for that time period.

Thanks very much FamilySearch!

Update 3/1/11: the California Genealogical Society and Library is starting our next collaboration with FamilySearch Indexing: the 1852 California State Census Project.


Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Happy Birthday to Us! - 113 years

 

On Saturday, February 12, 1898, at 2:00 p.m., the California Genealogical Society was founded in San Francisco.

A half dozen or so San Franciscans interested in genealogy gathered at Dr. Edward Stephen Clark's office at 16 Geary. They pooled their knowledge of family history research and shared the materials they'd separately gathered. In fact, they held the first meeting of what would become the California Genealogical Society, the state's first organization of family history researchers.

Well over a century after the events described by the late Dorothy Fowler in A Brief History of CGS, more than 1000 members continue to share a common zeal for all things genealogical.

Congratulations to our members and volunteers as we celebrate 113 years of helping people find their roots!


Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Wordless Wednesday

Microsoft Excel Workshop with Tim Cox

Saturday, November 6, 2010  

Photographs courtesy of Carl Mueller and Kathryn Doyle, Oakland, California.


Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library