Genealogy News Summary for December

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Here's the Genealogy News Summary for late November and early December:

1. INTERESTING GENEALOGY WEB SITES

a) http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/index.faces - Trans-Atlantic slave trade voyages database of over 10 million African-American names from 35,000 voyages.

b) http://images.google.com/hosted/life - 110 Years of Life Magazine photographs are online. On many of the photos, you need to click on the link labeled "View Full Size" in order to see the high resolution version.

c) http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/11/online-genealog.html - Links to online genealogy dictionaries and lists.

d) http://www.123people.com/ -- permits the user to input a first name and a second name and see what the web presence is for people with the name combination.

e) http://www.naturalizationrecords.com/ -- part of the Olive Tree Genealogy suite of genealogy and family history web sites specialized in records of Canada and the northeastern United States.

f) One of the additions to the LDS New FamilySearch is the Research Wiki for Family History located at https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Main_Page. This wiki will have information on every state and every county when popluated.

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 San Diego City or County Public Libraries (Ancestry Library Edition). Ancestry has over 7 billion names in over 26,800 databases. See new content at http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/recent.aspx. New databases this month include:

* US Federal Mortality Schedules, 1850-1880
* US City Directories (updated)
* UK Medical Registers 1859-1969 (need UK or World subscription)
* Lots more Canadian books and records (need Canada or World subscription)

b) www.WorldVitalRecords.com - subscription site (US = $39.95 for 1 year, World = $119.95 for 1 year) -- now available for FREE at the San Diego FHC. Over 11,000 databases, over 1.3 billion names. Recently added content is at http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/recentcontentlisting.aspx. New US items are FREE at WVR for 10 days. New databases include:

* More US and Canada newspaper records
* More Australia records from Bloxham collection (need World subscription)
* Queensland Public Service Records (need World subscription)


c) www.Footnote.com - subscription site ($69.96 annual retail, $11.95 monthly) - now available for FREE at San Diego FHC. They offer 7-day FREE trial. 443 Titles, over 47 million images, over 1 million free. Content list at http://www.footnote.com/documents.php. Information added this month includes:

* World War II Databases - Pearl Harbor, Documents, Hero Pages, Photos


d) www.GenealogyBank.com - subscription site (trial $9.95 for 30 days, $69.95 for 12 months). It has archives for over 2,500 U.S. historical newspapers in all 50 states, from the 1600s to the present day, with over 224 million family history records, over 29 million obituaries from more than 1,140 newspapers in more than 130 million historical newspaper articles, and more than 11,700 historical books.

* Added 63 titles from 25 states


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

* 1870 US Census 85% complete
* Cook County, Illinois Marriage Records 1871-1920 65% complete
* Ohio Tax Records 1816-1838 25% Complete
* Ohio Diocese of Toledo Parish Records, 1794-2004, no index


3. GENEALOGY EDUCATION

a) BYU has free online genealogy courses at http://ce.byu.edu/is/site/courses/freecourses.cfm


4. SOFTWARE

a) Incline Software, LC announced the full release of Ancestral Quest 12.1. All of the new features introduced in Ancestral Quest version 12.1 are designed to aid a user in comparing and synchronizing local databases with the Family Tree database of new.FamilySearch.org, a system being developed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). An adjustment has also been made to the way a new user can try Ancestral Quest. AQ 12.1 now provides a 60-day free trial of the program with all features fully unlocked.

b) Family Historian 3, the highest rated family tree software in the U.K. is now available in the United States and Canada. This software is initially being distributed in the nearly 1,500 Target stores nation-wide. Download a free trial at http://familyhistorian3.ning.com/.


5. ANNOUNCEMENTS

a) Familybuilder (http://www.familybuilder.com) announced the release of Familybuilder DNA (https://dna.familybuilder.com), available for a limited time at the special introductory price of $59.95. It offers both paternal (YDNA) and maternal (mtDNA) tests.

b) The official U.K. National Archives site for Non Parochial and Non Conformist records BMDregisters.co.uk has just added over 600,000 records of birth, baptism, marriage and burial. These have not previously been searchable online and again contain images of birth and baptismal records. The records were previously viewable on microfilm as part of the RG8 series.

c) MyHeritage announced a partnership with FamilyTreeDNA. MyHeritage’s members can now use information contained in their DNA to find present-day relatives who share a common ancestor from many hundreds of years ago. FamilyTreeDNA users can take advantage of MyHeritage’s site to not only further research family history, but also stay connected with current family members around the world.

d) Google bought PaperofRecord (www.PaperOfRecord.com), a pioneer in the creation of web-searchable, digitized historical newspaper page images, which has 20 million newspaper page archive, mainly Canadian newspapers.

e) The Generations Network announced that they may go public, and pursue strategic acquisitions of other genealogy content providers.