Monday, April 29, 2013

Canadian Week in Review

29 April 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 websites this past week.

Blog

CanadaGenealogy, or, 'Jane's Your Aunt' http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com Read Diane’s comments on the release of the 1921 Canada Census by Library and Archives Canada.

Using Maps in Genealogy http://brantcountyogs.blogspot.com/2013/04/using-maps-in-genealogy.html Christine Woodcock tells us about a meeting she went to recently, where the topic of the talk was Using Maps in Genealogy. It was given by Denise Kirk of the Genealogy Club at the Brantford Public Library.

Facebook - Video – You Tube

Selkirk Settlers: A Rich Collection of Records http://canadashistory.ca/Magazine/Trading-Post/Trading-Post-List/Articles/Selkirk-Settlers-A-Rich-Collection-of-Records Anna Shumilak of The Hudson's Bay Company Archives, writes about the records available to the public at the Archives of Manitoba, and they are explained in an accommodating video.

Newspaper Articles

Learning about Canada’s Irish settlers http://www.haliburtonecho.ca/2013/04/23/learning-about-canadas-irish-settlers Grosse Ile, located in the middle of St. Lawrence River, Quebec, is known as Canada’s Quarantine Station, but according to Ellie MacNeil, it is not known well enough by the public.

Read what she had to say about Grosse Ile, and Irish immigration to Canada, at the Friends of the Haliburton County Public Library’s Lunch and Learn event on April 17th, 2013.

You can go to htto://www.collectionscanada.ca/grosse-ile to see the databases, which are online at Library and Archives Canada.

Historic P.E.I. resort lost to fire www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2013/04/25/pei-f-stanhope-fire-history-584.html When Stanhope Beach Resort burned to the ground on Tuesday, Prince Edward Island lost an historical landmark. It opened as a hotel in 1855, making it the oldest on the Island.

New Brunswick students participating in regional heritage fairs www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/news/news_release.2013.04.0363.html Eleven regional heritage fairs are taking place throughout New Brunswick in April and May.

Genealogical conference coming in May www.oshawaexpress.ca/viewposting.php?view=4657 The Oshawa Express covers the OGS Conference which will be held in the city at the end of May.

Pictures and Story of the Week

Doors Open

Doors Open started in Glasgow, Scotland, and has been in Canada since 2000. It is a national program by Heritage Canada Foundation, based on the Doors Open Days concept. It welcomes everyone to come out to visit those hidden historical, architectural and cultural gems in their area. These buildings are normally closed to the public, or which charge an entrance fee, welcome visitors to look around for free.

The event which started it all off was Doors Open Ontario, which has run continuously since 2000. Other provinces having since been joined them, including Newfoundland and Labrador (2003), and Yukon and Saskatchewan (2005), for instance.

“Communities across the province open the doors to hundreds of historic buildings, places of worship, museums, private homes, industrial areas, green buildings, heritage gardens and other interesting venues,” said Liane Nowosielski of the sponsoring Ontario Heritage Trust.

This year, the theme is Cultural Expressions, recognizing the “relationship between heritage and the arts.”

Venues for the arts, including theatres, opera houses, art galleries, artist studios, recital halls and recording studios, are open for tours.

Trails and natural heritage sites are also included with walking, hiking and cycling trails, many of which feature special tours and activities.

Go to www.heritagecanada.org/en/visit-discover/doors-open-canada

The next Canadian Week in Review will be issued Monday May 6, 2013

Sunday, April 28, 2013

LAC issues a report on itself

Late Friday afternoon, on April the 26th, the LAC put on its website a report entitled Library and Archives Canada makes Canada’s documentary heritage more accessible than ever.

Through this report, it expresses how the LAC is helping Canadians to access their heritage through different programs that have been instituted by the LAC.

For instance, it says that “To this end, LAC has developed a suite of tools that have efficiently contributed to this unparalleled access to Canada’s heritage. In fact, Canadians showed great interest in accessing LAC’s collections on their computer screens and handheld devices, as observed by the popularity of its Flickr sets (over 350,000 views), its podcasts (over 149,000 listens) and the size of the readership of its blog (over 63,000 views). In addition to these new tools, LAC’s website receives an average of 500,000 visits monthly. The popularity of these channels, enabled by modern technology, demonstrates how promising LAC’s approach is in reaching Canadians, regardless of where they live”.

So what do you think? Is the LAC fulfilling its mandate?

To read the full report, go to http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/news/news_releases/Pages/2013/documentary-heritage-more-accessible.aspx

UPDATE: FamilySearch Answers Questions

Yesterday, FamilySearch put 6 questions that they have been asked during the past week as people are getting use to a new way of doing things at the FamilySearch website.

Remember to read the comments also, because sometime they can be helpful too.

So are these the questions that people should be asking? Have you run into things which are missing, or could be better explained?

Go to https://familysearch.org/blog/en to read the questions.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Celebrating the Heritage of Cascapedia Bay, Quebec

This is a press release from The Chaleur Bay Military Museum, the Cascapedia River Museum and the Gaspesian British Heritage Village telling us of a video project which they are undertaking -

'The Chaleur Bay Military Museum, the Cascapedia River Museum and the Gaspesian British Heritage Village are working together to produce a series of videos focusing on the history of the Cascapedia Bay area. These videos will tell the story of the community and the magnificent countryside, and will be available as four downloadable video podcasts.

Each bilingual “vodcast” will take the viewer on a drive through the modern-day landscape while highlighting important sites and events from the past. Photos and descriptions of former landmarks will take the viewer back in time - the Dimock Creek ferry, logging and fishing on the Cascapedia River, one-room schoolhouses, inns and hotels, sawmills, blacksmith shops and military history, cemeteries and residences - will all be showcased. In addition, interviews previously carried out with community members will be included.

The project is financially supported by the Fonds de soutien à la mise en valeur du patrimoine culturel, a partnership between the Conférence régionale des élus Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine and the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications.

It is part of the ongoing work that the Military Museum, River Museum and Gaspesian Village carry out to ensure that the important heritage and history of the community is preserved, shared and celebrated. The three partners are very excited about this initiative and are looking forward to increased collaboration in the future.

It is anticipated that these vodcasts will be available for viewing in October 2013. If you have any photos or videos you feel should be included, please bring them by the Cascapedia River Museum or the Gaspesian British Heritage Village during opening hours".

The website of the Cascapedia River Museum is at www.cascapediariver.com/museum.shtml and the email is cascapedia_museum@globetrotter.net.

The website of the Gaspesian British Heritage Village is at www.gaspesianvillage.org, and the email is info@gaspesianvillage.org

The website of the Chaleur Bay Military Museum is at
 www.chaleurmilitarymuseum.com

Friday, April 26, 2013

Alberta Family History Society

There will be a meeting of the Alberta Family History Society at the River Park Church, 3818 - 14A Street SW in Calgary Monday, May 6, 7-9 p.m. at which Frances Swendsen will speak about Family Tree, a new feature at the FamilySearch.org website.

If you would like to view the new website before going to the meeting, you can watch a webinar on the Legacy FamilyTrees website which has given by Devin Ashby at www.familytreewebinars.com/presenter_details.php?presenter_id=39. Although one has to pay to view these webinars, this one will always be FREE because it is sponsored by FamilySearch. (I watched it Wednesday and it is very good.)

Alberta Family History Blog is at http://afhs.ab.ca/blog

Alberta Family History Facebook page is at http://www.facebook.com/AlbertaFHS

And their website is at www.afhs.ab.ca

UPDATE: CanadaGenWeb - Yukon Cemeteries


The following updates have been put online –

Dawson City

Bet Chaim Jewish Cemetery

St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery

Hillside Cemetery (Old Public)

Hillside Cemetery (New Public)

Whitehorse

Grey Mountain Cemetery

Our thanks go to Rod Carty for his volunteer work on the Yukon cemeteries, and for his work at "Find A Grave"!

You can go http://canadacems.blogspot.com/2013/04/yukon-update.html

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Saskatchewan Archives Changes Their Hours

On April 1, 2013, Saskatchewan Archives changed its public hours at their reading room locations in both Regina and Saskatoon. The reading rooms will now be open from 10 am to 4 pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Both the Regina and Saskatoon reading rooms will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

So the hours are –

Monday - CLOSED

Tuesday, CLOSED

Wednesday, 10 am to 4 pm, no retrievals from 12-1 pm or after 3:45 pm

Thursday, 10 am to 4 pm, no retrievals from 12-1 pm or after 3:45 pm

Friday, 10 am to 4 pm, no retrievals from 12-1 pm or after 3:45 pm

If you require clarification about their current hours, please contact either the Saskatoon or Regina reference offices at:

Saskatoon reference office

Phone: (306) 933-5832

Regina reference office

Phone: (306) 787-4068

Email: info@archives.gov.sk.ca

For more information, go to www.saskarchives.com/using-archives