Piedmont Adult School Offers Genealogy Basics

CGS member Craig Siulinski will be the instructor of a new genealogy class offered for the first time through the Piedmont Adult School. The ten session course, Genealogy Basics, will meet on Wednesday evenings, 7:30 - 9:00 p.m., from January 6 through March 10, 2010. Class enrollment is limited to fifteen.

Students will learn specific strategies for uncovering information about their ancestors. Areas to include: key factors for beginners, importance of organization and documentation, conducting searches on free websites and selected reports to locate one's ancestors. Class includes one field trip to be announced.

Piedmont Adult School
800 Magnolia Ave, Piedmont, CA 94611
Phone: 510-594-2655

Happy (Belated) Second Blogiversary!

I'm a bit behind since the holiday and I haven't yet acknowledged last week's milestone. On November 28, 2007, the California Genealogical Society Board of Directors voted to approve the CGSL blog. It was a venture started rather hastily, with great enthusiasm but little planning. I admit to losing a few nights' sleep the first week wondering how I would ever sustain it. Now I can't believe it's been two years.

Since that time CGS and I have discovered a whole new Web 2.0 world of wikis and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter where I've made many new friends in the GeneaBlogger community. My colleagues are a prolific bunch who fill my blog reader with an endless stream of all things genealogical and who offer a font of inspirational ideas which I gladly co-opt for the benefit of CGS.

During this last year the CGSL blog has become a kind of internet centerpiece for the society. Blog articles link back and forth to the CGS website, to the eNews and to social networking sites and calendars where our events are posted.

Recently Amy Coffin of We Tree featured the CGSL blog in her article Should Your Genealogical Society Have a Blog? She summed up the blog-website relationship perfectly:

Blogs are websites. Websites aren't always blogs. A genealogy society's web page is like a store window. It highlights the group's value, hopefully enticing visitors to walk through the virtual door and explore the site. A blog is like a genealogy society's in-store sale circular. It is a good communication tool for the latest information and quickly changing details. A genealogy society's web page serves one purpose and a blog another.

Now that the whole blog-website-internet dynamic is working well for us, CGS is ready to pretty things up a little. Several members of the Pub/Mark and Website Committees have been working on the CGS "brand" and we will be rolling things out over the next couple of months.

Today Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings very graciously recommended the CGSL blog in his Follow Friday post. Nothing gets past Randy and he made note of the fact that this blog has a new URL: http://blog.californiaancestors.org/. This is the first peek into the branding project which will involve a major redecorating overhaul of the CGSL blog.

Stay tuned.

Wordless Wednesday

Working on the Judge Project

Photograph by Kathryn M. Doyle, October 5, 2009, Oakland, California.

CGS e-News, December 2009

The December 1, 2009 issue of the CGS e-News, volume 3, number 12 has been published and emailed to members and friends. As always, the e-News features timely information about the California Genealogical Society and our upcoming events. Each edition also includes Suggested Links From the Blogosphere and a photo feature: CGS Ancestors. This month's photograph is of Job Daniel Joseph SEMLER and his family on their homestead near Sargent, Nebraska. Member Mary Hunt found this photograph of her ancestor on the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog on the Library of Congress website.

All past issues of the CGS e-News are available for viewing at the e-News ARCHIVE. The January 2010 issue will be e-mailed on 12/31/2009. To receive a copy, please join our mailing list.

Gold Rush Records: Clues Amidst Chaos, by Nancy Peterson

The Fall 2009 issue of New England Ancestors magazine is out and it's all about the California Gold Rush. The feature article is Gold Rush Records: Clues Amidst Chaos, by CGS Research Director Nancy Peterson.

The magazine's Managing Editor, Lynn Betlock, sums up Nancy's article like this:

Nancy Peterson’s informative and detailed survey of gold rush era records forms the centerpiece of the issue. The comprehensive source listings serve as an invaluable checklist for researchers. And by describing the context in which records were created — or not created — Peterson offers a stark contrast between life in orderly New England and unruly California.

New England Ancestors is a benefit of membership in the New England Historic and Genealogical Society. The current issue is available online to NEHGS members.