Genealogy News Summary for July

Here is the Genealogy News summary for July that we discussed in the CVGS Research Group today (and emailed to the CVGS members):

1. INTERESTING GENEALOGY WEB SITES

a) www.cookcountygenealogy.com -- The Cook County Clerk's Bureau of Vital Records provides non-certified versions of birth, death, and marriage records for the purpose of genealogical research. Records found on the site are for Chicago and Cook County, dating back to 1872, including: Birth certificates that are 75 years or older (before today's date in 1933; Marriage certificates that are 50 years or older (before today's date in 1958); Death certificates that are 20 years or older (before today's date in 1988). Each record costs $15, plus a credit card fee of $1.75 will be charged for your total order. Once you pay for the record(s) you want, you will be able to view the original records (not transcriptions) on your computer screen. You can also save the images to a hard drive or print them on a local printer. You find the records in an index, then can order them online for a fee. There are other methods to obtain these records.

b) http://www.schenectadyhistory.org. - USGenWeb site for Schenectady County, New York Genealogy and History. The site has many digitized books with Hudson and Mohawk Valley ancestors.

c) http://sos.ky.gov/land/ - Kentucky Land Records web site - there is a PowerPoint presentation, with accompanying notes, on this web site that provides historical information about colonial history, colonial land claims, the land patent process in the 1800's, and how to obtain these records.

d) http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/History_Family/State_Genealogy.shtml -- Uncle Sam's Genealogy Resources by State, brought to you by the US Federal government. These are mainly links to state government offices and state historical societies,

e) http://www.tributes.com/ -- Free database of over 82 million obituaries and death notices dating back to 1937.

2. NEW GENEALOGY DATABASES

a) at www.Ancestry.com - subscription site (US = $155.40, World = $299.40) - now available for FREE at San Diego FHC (Institution with World databases) or Chula Vista Public Library (Ancestry Library Edition). Ancestry has over 7 billion names in over 26,200 databases. See new content at http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/recent.aspx. New databases include:

** Many Virginia and West Virginia databases and publications.
** Library of Congress Photo Collection, 1840-2000 updated.
** US School Yearbooks updated
** Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1861-1865

b) www.WorldVitalRecords.com - subscription site (US = $49.95 for 2 years, World = $149.95) -- now available for FREE at the San Diego FHC. Over 9,800 databases, over 1 billion names. Recently added content is at http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/recentcontentlisting.aspx. New items FREE at WVR for 10 days. New databases include:

** More than 500,000 records from hundreds of Jewish cemeteries across the United States, Canada, Germany, and Israel have been indexed and are now searchable at WorldVitalRecords.com through Jewish Data, a new partner of FamilyLink.com, Inc.
** Many databases from Genealogical Publishing Company and Simmons Historical Publications, including immigrant records from the British Isles.
** More than 9,000 passenger lists, containing millions of names from the Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild (ISTG), are now online at WorldVitalRecords.com.

c) www.Footnote.com - subscription site ($59.96 annual retail, $7.95 monthly) - now available for FREE at San Diego FHC, they offer 7-day FREE trial. 392 Titles, over 40 million images, over 1 million free. Content list at http://www.footnote.com/documents.php. Information added this month includes:

** Older City Directories for New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston.
** San Diego Naturalization Index and Records, 1868-195

d) www.GenealogyBank.com - subscription site (trial $9.95 for one month, $69.95 for 12 months). It has archives for over 3,500 U.S. newspapers in all 50 states, from the 1600s to the present day, with over 224 million family history records, over 28 million obituaries, more than 119 million historical newspaper articles, and more than 11,700 historical books.

** Added content from 219 newspapers in 37 states.

e) www.FindMyPast.com - a UK subscription site (30 days 14.95 pounds, 12 months 89.95 pounds, also pay-per-view options) offers England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland databases.

** No new recent databases listed on web site.

f) http://pilot.familysearch.org/ - the LDS FREE site for indexed and browsable databases -- new content includes:

** West Virginia Deaths, 1853-1970
** 1850 US Census indexing is 69% complete and 1860 census is 5% complete.
** 1930 Mexico census indexing is 14% complete.

3. GENEALOGY EDUCATION

a) Midwest Genealogy Center in Kasnsas City, Missouri is now Open. The new Midwest Genealogy Center is one of the nation's largest libraries specifically for people tracing their ancestry. Unlike many similar collections, almost all of the plat maps, census records, marriage licenses and other documents are accessible directly by the public, not locked away in storage. For more information, look at the library's web site at http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/genlh/mgc.htm.

b) Everton’s Genealogical Helper - Online Edition is now available for download. Cost is only $12 per year for the full six issues of the magazine. Traditional magazine subscribers get FREE access. However, for the next week, the Jul-Aug, 2008 issue will be “in the clear,” and available to anyone that wants to check it out. Download your copy of the Jul-Aug, 2008 issue of Everton's Genealogical Helper at:http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/onlinegh/

c) Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills, the definitive guide to the citation and analysis of historical sources, is available for download for $24.95 as a PDF e-Book at http://www.footnote.com/evidenceexplained.php. The hard-copy price is $44.95.

4. SOFTWARE

a) RootsMagic 4 will be released very soon. Read more about this genealogy program for Windows on the RootsMagic blog at: http://blog.rootsmagic.com.

b) The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding is a genealogy program that runs on a web server. TNG has most all the features one expects in any modern genealogy program, including a powerful database, easy methods of adding new data, relationship charts, timelines, and more. Users of version 5 or version 6 may upgrade for $12.99. The standard price of the Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding is $29.99. More information may be found at http://lythgoes.net/genealogy/software.php.

5. ANNOUNCEMENTS

a) Ancestry.com launched a brand-new homepage that logged-in members will see the next time they visit the site. This new page combines the best of the old homepage with all of the personalized features and tools formerly in the MyAncestry tab. Learn more about the new homepage at www.ancestry.com/home/lihp/faq.aspx.