Saturday, February 28, 2015

Crowd sourcing transcription - is it useful?

Everyone knows that people have been busy at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) digitizing the service files of the men and women who enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) during the First World War.

Now, it is disclosed that 1,000 files (which is a small sample) of the medical records section of the service files - the form of temperature charts, dental records and medical case sheets has been transcribed and given to the public.

Read about it at http://blog.muninn-project.org/node/79

The press release says that “The transcribed data generated has value for researchers in handwriting recognition, and archival and medical institutions’. What about genealogists – we use these papers in our research too!

So how useful is this form of transcription? Is crowd sourcing transcription a good way to do it? How accurate will it be? They say it will be verified by computer.

Kingston Penitentiary inmate mug shots

The Kingston Penitentiary was located in Kingston, Ontario, and the penitentiary produced a series of Kingston Penitentiary Inmate History Description Ledgers from 1913 to 1916 in which there is detailed informant on each of the prisoners.

The ledger includes frontal and profile mug shots, the inmate’s name, alias, age, place of birth, height, weight, complexion, eye colour, hair colour, distinctive physical marks, occupation, sentence, date of sentence, place of sentence, crime committed, and remarks of authorities.

The ledger books are held by the Library and Archives Canada.

The ledger books are now on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/lac-bac/sets/72157649959725467/#

Information on The Kingston Penitentiary is at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Penitentiary

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since

April 23, 2012.

Friday, February 27, 2015

Day-long seminar at the BCGS

On Saturday, May 9, 2015, Jill Morelli, an sole proprietor of Cascade Research Services, will present talks at a day-long meeting of the 2015 British Columbia Genealogical Society (BSGS) Genealogy & Family History Seminar.

She will be giving talks on The “Push” and the “Pull”: Emigration Decision-Making in the 19th Century and From Scandinavia to the United States in the mid 1800’s: two case studies – one Norwegian and one Swedish – but interesting for anyone with European roots.

Another talk will be I Found My Family on the Internet! Now what do I do? – explore four major Internet locations and learn what to look for to determine whether it is worth using, and analyzing the records.

Doors open at 10:00 am / Seminar 10:30 am to 4:30 pm, and it will take place at South Arm United Church, 11051 No. 3 Road (corner of No. 3 Road & Steveston Highway) Richmond, BC.

Refreshments and lunch will be included with your tickets.

Early Bird Prices until April 15, 2015 – Tickets $44.00 for BCGS & Affiliate [Society] Members; $55.00 for non-members.

After April 15th, the prices increase to $55.00 for BCGS & Affiliate (Society) Members;
$65.00 for non-members.

To register, please contact Susan Snalam at 604-273-8209, email domers4@shaw.ca OR Eunice Robinson at 604-596-2811, email eunice@dccnet.com, and then send your cheque, made out to the BCGS, at PO Box 88054, Lansdowne Mall, Richmond, BC V6X 3T6 or pay at BCGS meetings.

The BCGS Boutique will be there too! You can vist the Boutique is at http://www.bcgs.ca/?page_id=23

The website of the BCGS is at http://www.bcgs.ca/

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Do you have Yukon ancestors?

If you have Yukon ancestors, and wonder if there are records to research. There are, and they are at the Yukon Archives in Whitehorse.

They hold manuscript collections that include diaries, correspondence, draft articles or books of persons engaged in exploration, transportation, the arts, politics, and etc.

Plus there are photographs, slides, postcards, stereocards and negatives, as well as movies and sound recordings onsite.

To go to the archives, go to http://www.tc.gov.yk.ca/archives.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Nova Scotia Archives - New vital statistics will be added

Good news from Nova Scotia Archives in Halifax! They are preparing to put on new vital statistics records on the Internet. The vital statistics was released on 31 December 2014 and is now being prepared for www.novascotiagenealogy.com.

They say that ‘The records are currently being digitized at the Nova Scotia Archives, electronic indexes are being constructed or improved upon, and quality control testing is underway. We anticipate uploading in July, with further information to be posted as we approach launch date’.

This year, the records include births registered in 1914 (including delayed registrations); marriages registered in 1939; and deaths registered in 1964.

Over 25,000 records will be added!

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

OGS eWeekly Update is FREE!

The Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) has many in-house publications, for instance, their journal Families, their regular newsletter NewsLEAF, and e-Announce which is available to their members. But they also have OGS eWeekly Update which is also available to the general public, and it is made available every Saturday.

It includes news on OGS matters, updates on genealogy initiatives and events, and heritage information from across the province.

The OGS eWeekly Update is available to anyone with an email address and you do not need to be an OGS member to subscribe.

You can subscribe to receive the OGS eWeekly Update by filling in the subscription form at http://multibriefs.com/optin.php?ogs (Hint, for the Company field, type “OGS.”), or if you can contribute content to the OGS eWeekly Update please contact ed@ogs.on.ca.

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

So how is your genealogy?

For genealogists, these are words to live by - Don't let the internet be your first stop when researching your family history. And the words are written by someone who should know - the former executive director of the Ontario Genealogical Society Dr. Fraser Dunford. These thoughts are in a column for the Peterborough This Week online newspaper published 23 February 2015.

He goes on to say that If you use only the internet, you will have a rather pathetic family history. And a confused one, I might add.

The first objective in genealogy is to properly identify the people involved, and this means that you have to have the correct people. And this means you must do more genealogy than that offered by online databases.

H ends his column with these words of wisdom - Remember that oral information has to be verified. It will tell you what to look for but does not excuse you from looking.

So how is your genealogy? Have you done all that you can to make sure that you have put the correct person in your genealogy? Did you check those family stories against the historical record in the library and archives?

The full article is here http://www.mykawartha.com/opinion-story/5443963-don-t-let-the-internet-be-your-first-stop-when-researching-your-family-

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Need help in finding your Canadian Ancestors?

Michael D. from Florida says that“

'Ms. Elizabeth Lapointe is an experienced professional with a broad-based detailed knowledge of the available genealogical documentary resources, together with an understanding of the colonial and modern history, economy, and sociology of the French and English aspects of Canada. For a client, she is both a teacher and a guide into the field of genealogy'.

If you do, go to Elizabeth Lapointe Research Services and see how I can help you find that elusive Canadian ancestor.

Great service. Reasonably priced. Website: www.elrs.biz

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Glossary of Newfoundland terms

Ever wonder what bye-boats are? What a fishing room is? Or a Planter?

You may have come across these terms when you were doing Newfoundland and Labrador genealogy, and were unfamiliar with them, but these are words that have been used in Newfoundland speech over the years.

Now there is a glossary of terms on the Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage site at http://www.heritage.nf.ca/glossary.html which can help you.

Of course, you should also visit Newfoundland’s Grand Banks at http://ngb.chebucto.org/, and Family History of Society of Newfoundland and Labrador at http://www.fhsnl.ca/

By the way, a bye-boat is an inshore fishing boats owned and operated by fishers annually migrating as passengers from England, a Fishing room is the waterfront area from which a fishery was conducted (and each family had their own 'room' as soon as they arrived from the British Isles or Europe in the spring), and a Planter was a settler in Newfoundland, rather than a migratory fisherman, who supported himself through the inshore boat fishery.

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Ancestry.ca update: Canada Quaker Yearly Meeting Minutes, 1836-1988

This message has come in from Ancestry -

'Today, Ancestry has launched a fascinating new collection of Canadian Quaker records, the Canada Quaker Yearly Meeting Minutes, 1836-1988, VI collection, a database containing records form Quaker meetings in Canada.

The Quakers, a longstanding religious society of friends that believed in a strong, personal experience with God, would hold yearly meetings with the top members of the society. This database is made up of more than 184,000 records from several Quaker meetings that took place in Canada. The records come from the Canadian Yearly Meeting Archives in Newmarket, Ontario.

The collection contains a large assortment of records including membership registers, marriage records, meeting minutes, removal certificates, death records and disciplinary records. Details within the records include name, date of birth, date of death, names of parents and spouses, event dates, witnesses and more. A large majority of these records come from Ontario, however there are records from other provinces and even a few from areas in the United States as some of these areas fell under Canada’s jurisdiction at the time.

I spent sometime today going through the records, and I agree, they do appear to be very inclusive and detailed. Even if you don’t know if your ancestor was a Quaker, you should check the records to see if he/she is there – because he/she might be, or he/she may have had ties to the Quaker community'.

The website is at http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=60521&geo_a=r&geo_s=us&geo_t=ca&o_iid=41015&o_lid=41015&o_sch=Web+Property

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Monday, February 23, 2015

Canadian Week in Review 23 February 2013

I have come across the following Canadian websites, social media websites, and newspaper articles this past week that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too.

This Week in Canadian History

In 1932, following a 48-day manhunt, Albert Johnson, known as the Mad Trapper of Rat River, was shot dead by the RCMP in the northern Yukon.

For more information, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Johnson_(criminal)

In 1881, the Canadian Pacific Railway was incorporated.

The Ontario Genealogical Society is celebrating the CPR this year with their conference held in Barrie. The CPR was the not only operated a railraod in Canada, but operated ship’s that transvered the Atlantic Ocean 1884-1915 and they brought immigrants to Canada.

For more information, go to http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-pacific-railway/

Social Media

PHOTOS: Grain elevator moves down Manitoba back roads to museum
http://globalnews.ca/news/1839539/photos-grain-elevator-moves-down-manitoba-back-roads-to-museum/
The grain elevator was moved from a family farm to the Pembina Threshermen’s Museum.

Video: From the CBC archives: Festival du Voyageur in the '70s
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/from-the-cbc-archives-festival-du-voyageur-in-the-70s-1.2956898
With the 2015 Festival du Voyageur underway in St. Boniface last weekend, the CBC looked back at the annual Franco-Manitoban celebration in the early 1970s.

Newfoundland

Stephenville to mark U.S. heritage with 50th anniversary festivities

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/stephenville-to-mark-u-s-heritage-with-50th-anniversary-festivities-1.2956197
The U.S. pulled out of Stephenville in 1966, but the legacy of the Ernest Harmon Air Force Base is still present through the culture, architecture and landmarks of the town.

New Brunswick

Exhibit celebrates 50-year history of provincial and national flags

http://www.sackvilletribunepost.com/News/2015-02-14/article-4044366/Exhibit-celebrates-50-year-history-of-provincial-and-national-flags/1
50 Years of Our Flags: Canada & New Brunswick, on display starting on Sunday, Feb. 15, at Government House in Fredericton. from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and each weekday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until March 27.

Ontario

Tree shows how my family has evolved over 300-year period
http://www.insidehalton.com/opinion-story/5334548-tree-shows-how-my-family-has-evolved-over-300-year-period/
A keen interest in family tree research among local residents is evident to me based on the number of inquiries I have received about how my tree has progressed.

Snowbirds, including first flag seamstress, party in Florida for 50th birthday

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/news/national/snowbirds-including-first-flag-seamstress-party-in-florida-for-50th-birthday-1.1760386#sthash.VtBdXtIr.dpuf

Five decades ago, a young Joan O'Malley was summoned by her father one snowy November night to sew Canada's first Maple Leaf flag.

Manitoba

Legislative Library receives collection of rare books

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/legislative-library-receives-collection-of-rare-books-291634241.html
Manitoba Heritage Minister Ron Lemieux has announced the donation of 27 books, a gift of the Manitoba Historical Society, at the downtown Manitoba Archives.

Saskatchewan

Knock ‘Em Down

http://www.planetsmag.com/story.php?id=1825
The historic Farnam Block in Saskatoon is headed towards being torn down, as a filed demolition permit suggests at least the possibility of the buildings coming down.

Alberta

Grande Prairie’s francophone heritage gets spotlight

http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/2015/02/12/grande-prairies-francophone-heritage-gets-spotlight Along with the mayors from Moncton, New Brunswick and Lafayette, Louisiana, Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume is on a mission to shine a spotlight on cities that are historically, culturally and linguistically connected to French North America.

British Columbia

Opposition mounts to block new B.C. mine as town shuns its coal-mining heritage

http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/13/opposition-mounts-to-block-new-b-c-mine-as-town-shuns-its-coal-mining-heritage/
Built in the 1890s atop one of the richest coalfields in coastal British Columbia, the ground below the village’s downtown is criss-crossed with hundreds of now-flooded mining tunnels.

News Stories of the Week

Cliff Seibel of CanadianHeadstones.com is looking for Cemetery Photos!

He has put various Canadian Facebook queries out there this week, and if you or anyone has headstone photos that they would like to share with Canadian Headstones, but you don't have the time to upload and transcribe them, let the people at Canadian Headstones know. Although they would prefer complete cemeteries, any contributions would be appreciated. Cliff also accepts photos of churches – new and old.

RootsTech, like last year, was about stories, and Dennis Brimhall, Chief Executive Officer, FamilySearch International debuted the Museum of Me, which is all based on the story of you. Apparently, it is a big hit in Salt Lake City at the Family Search Library. They plan to expand the facilitary to other cities.

One way to do this too is through the excellent exhibits put on by Canadian libraries. archives, and museums.

For example, the Fredericton Region Museum is now hosting the travelling exhibit, “New Brunswickers and the Great War”. The exhibit commemorates the contributions of New Brunswickers during the First World War and will travel for the next two years.

If you go to visit the exhabit, you learn more about the contributions of their province to the First World War.

The news of the exhibit can be viewed at https://frederictonregionmuseum.wordpress.com/

And they have a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/FrederictonRegionMuseum

And a new exhibit at Conrad Grebel University College (on the campus of the university of Waterloo, Ontario), showcases the work of David Hunsberger, a St. Jacobs photographer well-known for his portraits of the Old Order Mennonite community.

The exhibit, Taking Community From the Farm to the World, features photographs of barn raisings, suppers and candid portraits of Ontario Mennonite communities from the 1950s and 1960s.

The exhibit will close at the end of April. You can go to the Grebel Gallery at Conrad Grebel University College at https://uwaterloo.ca/grebel/mscu-centre-peace-advancement/grebel-gallery

That was the Canadian genealogy, history and heritage news in Canada this past week!

=====

Need help in finding your Canadian Ancestors?

Michael D. from Florida says that “
Ms. Elizabeth Lapointe is an experienced professional with a broad-based detailed knowledge of the available genealogical documentary resources, together with an understanding of the colonial and modern history, economy, and sociology of the French and English aspects of Canada. For a client, she is both a teacher and a guide into the field of genealogy.

If you do, go to Elizabeth Lapointe Research Services and see how I can help you find that elusive Canadian ancestor.

Great service. Reasonably priced.

Website: www.elrs.biz

The next Canadian Week in Review will be posted 02 March 2015.

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy - Session 6

As I promised in my blog on 06 January 2014 at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/beginning-genealogy-study-group.html, I am reporting on Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy study group as it proceeds. I watched Session 6 yesterday, and the top two things that were discussed were -

Software – This time, each of the people gave the name of the software that they use, and it looks like they use multiple programs to organize their genealogy. Dear Myrt said that it all depends on "personal preference".

The second part of the class was devoted to the Research Records, and she briefly touched on immigration and emigration. She said this is usually the first question that a person asks when they go to a Family History Centre, because they know that they have come from somewhere.

One thing that was discussed was the ancestors who went to Canada first, and then migrated to the United States because, for one reason, it was cheaper to go to Canada than to the United States.

The website is at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/United_States_Emigration_and_Immigration

Session 1 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-1.html

Session 2 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-2.html

Session 3 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-3.html

Session 4 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-4.html

Session 5 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-5.html

Remember to make yourself a member of Dear Myrt’s Genealogy Community before watching the YouTube Google+ Hangout on Air at https://plus.google.com/communities/104382659430904043232

Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/canadfian-news-in-review-16-february.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Saturday, February 21, 2015

UPDATE: OGS Conference – Interview No 3

Patti Mordasewicz, Conference Chair of the OGS Conference in Barrie, Ontario interviews Kirsty Gray, known to many people around the world as one of the founder of The Surname Society, and as a founder member and Chair (now Secretary) of the Society for One-Place Studies.

She will be holding a workshop at the conference (plus two lectures), and will be the keynote speaker.

Her workshop will be on surname studies, and the keynote address on Friday evening will be entitled If I Could Turn Back Time.

To view the YouTube interview, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGnIGx8xkVk

And to review the other interviews on this blog, you can go to the following websites -

Interview No 1 with Thomas MacEntee and Dr. Janet Few at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/update-ogs-conference-interviews.html

Interview No 2 with Dr. Maurice Gleeson at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/another-ogs-interview.html

The OGS website is at http://www.ogs.on.ca/

The Conference Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/OntarioGenealogicalSocietyConference?ref=hl

Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/canadfian-news-in-review-16-february.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since

.. April 23, 2012.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Want to see Canadian industrial artwork?

Today I came across some beautiful Canadian artwork that was put out there in form of posters from the Empire Marketing Board (EMB) that existed in the county from 1926 to 1933.

It was set up by the government to promote intra-Empire trade and to persuade consumers to 'Buy Empire'. It was later replaced by the Imperial Preference which was a proposed system of tariffs ot free-trade agreements between the countries of the British Empire.

There were more than 800 poster designs produced and displayed in train stations, schools, shops and factories. The EMB visited schools, managed a library, produced around 100 films, as well as organized lectures, radio broadcasts and exhibitions.

Now some of the poster has been put online at the LAC Flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/lac-bac/sets/72157649863392650/#

Milo, Alberta Library Archives

The Milo Library Archives in Alberta has been working to put online their inventory of all historical documents.

There are plenty of descriptions of what has been done in the village over the years, including background information on groups like the Milo and District Agricultural Society, the Milo Ice Committee and the village newspaper called the Canopener.

News is that the efforts to continue digitizing and cataloguing the Milo and area history are ongoing. There are hopes to next tackle Milo area community organizations from Queenstown to Majorville, as well as schools and Lake McGregor.

You can visit www.albertaonrecord.ca/milo-library-archives to look through all the material that has been uploaded so far.

Congratulations to Milo for taking this iniatitive, and good luck in seeing this project through to the end.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Another OGS society joins Facebook

The Lambton County Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) has joined Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/918188561527694/

There is a survey for you to take at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=vsBJxXy2ulbJTTdms0frNfOuvrJ1CvjHYqEjNI9LRPI%3d to help the Society plan its website to get the needs of the people who have ancestors in Lambton County.

The website for the Society is at http://www.lambton.ogs.on.ca/

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

LAC Update: Digitization of First World War Service Files

As of today, 125,954 of 640,000 files are available online at the Soldiers of the First World War website at Library and Archives Canada. So they are s-l-o-w-l-y making progress.

You can go to http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/first-world-war-1914-1918-cef/Pages/canadian-expeditionary-force.aspx to see if your ancestor is there.

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Crowd sourcing transcription - is it useful?

Kingston Penitentiary inmate mug shots

Friday, February 27, 2015

Day-long seminar at the BCGS

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Do you have Yukon ancestors?

Nova Scotia Archives - New vital statistics will be added

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

OGS eWeekly Update is FREE!

So how is your genealogy?

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Glossary of Newfoundland terms

Ancestry.ca update: Canada Quaker Yearly Meeting Minutes, 1836-1988

Monday, February 23, 2015

Canadian Week in Review 23 February 2013

Legislative Library receives collection of rare books

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy - Session 6

Saturday, February 21, 2015

UPDATE: OGS Conference – Interview No 3

Friday, February 20, 2015

Want to see Canadian industrial artwork?

Milo, Alberta Library Archives

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Another OGS society joins Facebook

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

LAC Update: Digitization of First World War Service Files

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