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





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/canadian-week-in-review-23-february-2013.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 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/




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/canadian-week-in-review-23-february-2013.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.
 

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




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/canadian-week-in-review-23-february-2013.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!



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/canadian-week-in-review-23-february-2013.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.
 

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.


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/canadian-week-in-review-23-february-2013.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.
 

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-


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/canadian-week-in-review-23-february-2013.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.
 
 
 
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