Nuit Blanche Ottawa-Gatineau

The Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa has announced its first-time partnership with Nuit Blanche Ottawa-Gatineau.

It will be held this weekend on September 21, from 6:21 p.m. to 4:22 a.m., and it is Free!

Come enjoy the pop-up lounge, a temporary art installation and special exhibitions.

Too see what available, go to http://www.civilization.ca/event/nuit-blanche

OGS Webinars for Members Only

American genealogist blogger and speaker Judy G. Russell, the Legal Genealogist, will give the first OGS Webinar - Genealogy in Your Genes on Saturday October 5, 2013 at 4:00 pm EDT via Adobe Connect. This Webinar is for Members Only.

They say that “The key to so many genealogical secrets may be locked inside your genes -- but today those secrets can be unlocked through DNA testing. Learn about the three major test types -- YDNA, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the new autosomal DNA testing -- and what each offers to the genealogist.

The Legal Genealogist Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL, is a lecturer, educator and writer who enjoys helping others understand a wide variety of genealogical issues, ranging from the interplay between genealogy and the law to the way DNA tests can be used in genealogy.

She is a trustee of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, a member of the National Genealogical Society, the Association of Professional Genealogists and numerous state societies, and on the faculty of the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University, and the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh.

OGS Webinars allow you to expand your genealogy knowledge from the comfort of your own home.

This event is open to OGS members only and is free as a benefit of your membership. For more information about Webinars, visit the Webinars link in the OGS Members Only area.

The OGS website is www.ogs.on.ca

Canadian Week in Review 16 September 2013

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

Websites
No new websites this week.

Blogs
It has been since 1775 that the ship, the Hector arrived at Brown's Point, near Pictou, N.S. carrying 178 Scottish immigrants to Canada.

The first large wave of immigration that made Scots the predominant ethnic group in Nova Scotia. A replica ship was later built to commemorate the voyage and is on display in Pictou harbour.

You can read about the trip that Phil Neville took to The Hector Exhibit Centre & Archives in Pictou at http://www.novascotiablogs.com/2011/11/the-hector-exhibit-centre-archives-in-pictou.html.

Facebook, Videos, You Tube
Terry Copp Presents “Italy: Normandy’s Long Left Flank” A Video Lecture http://www.canadianmilitaryhistory.ca/terry-copp-presents-italy-normandys-long-left-flank-a-video-lecture If you are interested in Canadian military history, this video will interest you.

Newspapers Articles of the Week
Historical Nameshttp://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Historical+Names/8912481/story.html The Star Phoenix of Saskatoon has a Op-Ed piece in which are discussed the new names that the city council has for streets in the city. The writer wonders if they are dismissing the city’s past?

Banff pavilion highlights WWI internment camps http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/banff-pavilion-highlights-wwi-internment-camps-1.1829468 Did you know the Canada had internment camps during the First World War? Parks Canada unveiled a new pavilion Friday in Banff that hopes to shed light on internment camps built across Canada during the First World War.

New Initiative to Document History of Canada’s Greek Immigrants http://canada.greekreporter.com/2013/09/13/new-initiative-to-document-history-of-canadas-greek-immigrants The Greek Reporter has an article in which they report that the Canadian Greek community will be setting up the Greek Canadian History Project (GCHP). It will be “an initiative designed and committed to identifying, acquiring, digitizing, preserving, and providing access to primary source materials which reflect the experiences of Canada’s Greek immigrants and their descendants. The collected sources, currently in the hands of private individuals and organizations in the Greek-Canadian community, will be placed in the care of the Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections of York University Libraries in Toronto.”

Sarnia man searches for roots – in his genes http://www.sarniathisweek.com/2013/07/25/sarnia-man-searches-for-roots--in-his-genes Thanks to Gail Dever in bringing this newspaper article to my attention. It is the story about Alan Campbell, of the Lambton County Branch of the OGS, and the many hours he has spent in tracing his own family.

Canadian Army Commemorates the 20th Anniversary of the Battle of Medak Pockethttp://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1466825#ixzz2eyFx88TTIt has been 20 years since Canada sent peacekeepers over the Bosnia. The Battle of Medak Pocket, which occurred in September 1993, which Canadian and French peacekeepers defended their position against Croatian forces, making it possible to stop the escalation of violence in the region.

Story of the Week
More Powerful Free Genealogy Search
Word has been received from GenealogyInTime Magazine, an Ottawa business, that they have enhanced their search engine.

The press release reads that “the world’s most popular online genealogy magazine, and one of the world’s largest free genealogy websites, is announcing a very significant upgrade to our free Genealogy Search Engine. It continues to become even more powerful:

• An additional 532 million free genealogy records from around the world are now searchable. In total, the Genealogy Search Engine indexes 2.7 billion records from over 1,000 websites.

• In a first for a genealogy website, the entire Google Newspaper Archive can now be searched by the Genealogy Search Engine. This extremely valuable archive covers over 2,000 historic newspapers going back as far as the 1700s.

• The massive Australian Trove archive can now be completely searched with the Genealogy Search Engine.
To learn more about the latest upgrades to the free Genealogy Search Engine, read http://www.genealogyintime.com
I use their news service at the end of every day, just to see what has happened during the day. It is at http://www.genealogyintime.com/genealogy-news.html
Reminder: Check out Canadian Week in Review every Monday for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada. It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in country! The next post will be on 23 September, 2013

Common Mistakes Often Made With Family Tree Data

Do you use the Family Tree option of FamilySearch?

If you do, you may be interested in this blog post by Kristi Etherington.

It answers some of the questions that have been asked over the past couple of months about Family Tree. Is it helpful?

Te post is at http://www.sarniathisweek.com/2013/07/25/sarnia-man-searches-for-roots--in-his-genes

The Future of Canada's Libraries and Archives

The Royal Society of Canada has establishing an Expert Panel on “The Status and Future of Canada’s Libraries and Archives" to help Canadian institutions find their way through the 21st century.

These are the founding principles of the Expert Panel of the Royal Society of Canada, which has as its mandate

1. To investigate what services Canadians, including Aboriginal Canadians and new Canadians, are currently receiving from libraries and archives.

2. To explore what Canadian society expects of libraries and archives in the 21st century.

3. To identify the necessary changes in resources, structures, and competencies to ensure libraries and archives serve the Canadian public good in the 21st century.

4. To listen to and consult the multiple voices that contribute to community building and memory building.

5. To demonstrate how deeply the knowledge universe has been and will continue to be revolutionized by digital technology.

6. To conceptualize the integration of the physical and the digital in library and archive spaces.
Public consultations are being planned to take place in: Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary/Edmonton, Vancouver, and Yellowknife in the coming months.

To read more about the The Status and Future of Canada's Libraries and Archives go to http://rsc-src.ca/en/expert-panels/rsc-reports/status-and-future-canadas-libraries-and-archives

Join Italians and Italian Fans for a Record-Setting Weekend!

We have received this exciting news from FamilySearch

“FamilySearch International, Salt Lake City Italian natives and those with Italian language skills, Italian ancestors, or a love of all things Italian are invited to help index (transcribe) historic Italian records this weekend (Sept. 13-15) to make them freely searchable on FamilySearch.org.

The event, part of the ongoing Italian Ancestors Project sponsored by the National Archives of Italy and FamilySearch, will unite participants from around the world in an attempt to set a new two-day volunteer mark of 35,000 records (approximately 100,000 ancestor names) indexed.

The event will start Friday, September 13 at 6:00 p.m. (MDT) and end Sunday, September 15, at 6:00 p.m. (MDT). To volunteer, or for details and status updates throughout the event, visit the Italian Ancestors Facebook event page.

About the Italian Ancestors Project

The Italian Ancestors Project, jointly sponsored by the National Archives of Italy and FamilySearch, is the largest historic Italian records preservation and access initiative ever.

Through this unprecedented effort, more than 115 million historic birth, marriage, and death records from Italy’s civil registration (1802 to 1942) containing some 500 million names of Italian ancestors, will be digitized, indexed (transcribed) and made freely searchable online.
Indexing of these valuable records is being provided by thousands of volunteers worldwide. Working from their homes at their own pace, volunteers have already made more than two million records available. Thousands more volunteers are needed”.

For more information or to volunteer, visit www.familysearch.org/italian-ancestors.

The BCGS Bring-A-Friend Membership Contest

I read about the Bring-A-Friend Membership Contest this morning, and think it’s a really good idea. What do you think?

The notice says that “All current BCGS members are eligible for one entry for each full membership (not associate memberships) they sign up from August 2013 to January 9, 2014.

Three Prize Baskets will be awarded at the June 2014 meeting by draw.

New memberships taken out now will run from September 2013 to December 2014 so this is a nice bonus for the new members too!”

Go to http://www.bcgs.ca/?page_id=1885 for the Contest Membership Application Form.