Notes from the December 12, 2002 meeting of the Rochester Genealogical Society, Computer Interest Group. The meeting was held at Brighton High School, room 262, 7-9 P.M. There were 52 members and 2 visitors in attendance.
Roy Thurston, Rochester Genealogical Society/Vice President-Computer Interest Group opened the meeting with a request for visitor introductions. Jim Hall reported that the new Hear Ye will include an updated (December 1, 2002) membership list, including phone and e-mail address where authorized by the members. Paid up Computer Interest Group members get the Computer Interest Group Meeting Announcements. The version 10 video of Family Tree Maker is available for viewing.
Bob Coomber reported that the May 2003 tour to Salt Lake City is almost complete for reservations.
The January 2003 Computer Interest Group meeting was announced as having its subject on scanning and scanning technology, presented by Paul Blake, President of Rochester Genealogical Society.
TECH TALK:
Acronyms: Some acronyms were presented: WWW, HTTP and WSH. (Answers are at the end of these notes.)
CURRENT PROBLEMS/SOLUTIONS:
A need for an ID for RoadRunner setup of a router was answered that the primary and additional ID's, i.e. XXX.rochester.rr.com are on the contract given at the installation of the RoadRunner connection.
A problem with e-mail start-up locking up the computer was suggested as the result of a virus. Continuing, transferring e-mail from one program to another is dependent on the specific format in each program. Some programs have a special import process from other programs.
Trying to read AOL e-mail files was discussed and suggested that they may be .TXT files, readable by the DOS TYPE command,( TYPE file name.TXT for copy filename .TXT PRN). It was also recommended to use the DOS command DDEDIT to view the files. Another question was "how to inspect your AOL file cabinet?" This can be opened before signing on, by just clicking on the file cabinet icon. Off time preparation of mail and downloading mail automatically is a big time saver for AOL users.
A question on an error message from McAfee Virus Scan was discussed and resolved that the program (about 3 years old) may need to be replaced as upgrades are sold about yearly and downloading the .DAT files is probably insufficient to keep the program current. Comp USA, Staples and Office Max seem to be offering upgrades at very reasonable or almost free cost recently.
MAIN PROGRAM:
It is recommended that the reader start the FamilySearch.org website and follow it during these notes.
Larry Naukam began the presentation on using FamilySearch.org site. There are many features that often are not understood. He noted that FamilySearch.org is free, whereas Genealogy.com and Ancestry.com are costly, unless you visit the Ogden Farmers Library in Spencerport where there is free access for the cost of an automobile ride.
As a 15 year Specialist at the Fairport Family History Center, he has extensive background in both the Family History Library and now FamilySearch.org. He noted that Census records for 1880 U.S., 1881 British Isles or 1881 Canadian are on line. This entire census can be searched at once. There are tips on how to search census. On-line searches are also available.
Mentioning the Personal Ancestral File program, he commended it for being FREE. This is especially useful for beginner searchers since the data can be transferred to other programs using GEDCOM (GEnealogical Data COMmunications). The web site will work on IBM compatible and MAC computers.
Larry recited the statistics of usage of the web site since May of 1999 of 9 billion hits, 130 million visitors; 7 million hits/day.
What's New section informs you of any new features added to the Family Search Internet Genealogy Service. What's coming in the near future is also announced. Family Search Questions have information on new features. Besides census data, the International Genealogical Index (IGI) changes are listed (currently updated: Sept. 25, 2002). The Pedigree Resource File contains over 450 million names on-line (discs 1-45). These discs may also be purchased, but you can print many types of charts and reports and also export GEDCOM files from the database. The Family History Library, up through April, 2002, can be purchased on CDs. Going to Family Search Questions, left button clicks will give you a drop down menu to get more options such as bookmarking, copy a link location, etc. He cautioned the audience to be alert to the sources cited, if they are of any value or are just a web site for more research, not necessarily a true or accurate source.
Also, Ancestral File is for linked pedigrees. As he sampled the File, he showed where the submitter can be contacted; if it is a current address (whish is often not the case!) Living person data (no death date given) is suppressed. The data can be printed or downloaded as a GEDCOM (which Larry explained) file. A future Computer Interest Group meeting will delve deeper into GEDCOM. Continuing with Search for Ancestors, Larry input data to display the Search function.
On the 1880 U.S. Census, giving a birth year, for a child in the 1860's, he wanted to show a household, as the persons are enumerated in the census. The next data gives the neighbors which can be helpful if you have that fact. You are not looking at the actual film, but you can browse to get a Family History Center film number.
Another 1880 Census sample was displayed, looking for a specific name. The search for the name was national, or could be by a specific state. Single data collections are often easier to copy, then type, instead of using a GEDCOM file. He warned us to be alert to spelling errors or differences for family names and localities. He displayed how an uncommon family name can really be corrupted and would have been impossible to find without other information or using just a given name. Use of a county is very helpful if it is known. The final solution was to look at the actual census films.
Next, Larry searched and found George Eastman in 1880 as a young man, a bookkeeper at a bank. The film number and page number becomes a great tool to track down the person. The data can be downloaded as a GEDCOM file. He noted that going to a previous or following line can give a clue to the type of neighborhood or if relations are in the same or nearby households. He also did an extended search for a unique surname in Kansas and showed how multiple approaches can find the persons being searched. It can be tedious, but also can be successful.
Going to Search in the Family Library Catalog, he sought another locality in Germany. Church books on hand were listed, both in English and German. (The same books could not be ordered in Germany.) (A Family Book is a compilation of records from earlier collections, and it is not always accurate.) The contents of each film are listed, and give a convenient list to order films. Real document copies can often be obtained from nearby churches, even if they have not been filmed. Churches in Germany are usually about 3 miles apart (for walking distance) and often cover other nearby villages.
A lexicon and gazetteer for Germany will give the name of a church in a village, if there is one. France, Germany and Poland have such finding aids available when looking for a church.
Searching in All Sources requires diligence and care. Tips are presented on how to search.
Continuing, search for Rochester, a collation list containing Rochester was sought and found. There were few items of interest. Comparing results to Roots Web, this listing is meager, where Roots Web is expansive in its global search. RootsWeb will be featured in the February 13 CIG meeting.
Looking at the Web Site section of the Search tab, Larry showed that there are a great variety of links to good research sources. He concluded by observing that the Family Search Web Site has a huge amount of information available for FREE. The site is relatively new and some of its faults are being corrected as users report problems or difficulties in handling.
Larry was given a well-deserved round of applause.
Acronyms:
HTTP= ":Hyper Text Transport HTTProtocol"
The communications protocol used to connect to servers on the World Wide Web. Its primary function is to establish a connection with a web server and transmit HTML pages to the client browser. Addresses of web sites begin with an http:// prefix; however, web browsers typically default to the HTTP protocol. For example, typing www.yahoo.com is the same as typing http://www.yahoo.com.
WWW= "World Wide Web"
The "www-dot" prefix on web addresses is placed in front of the domain name in order to provide a recognizable address for the world at large. Web addresses *URLs) are read from right to left, so that the WWW is the last component of the address. However, the WWW is quite often optional. Try typing in the name of your favorite Web site without the www-dot prefix and you might find it works just as well.
WSH= "Windows Script Host"
A facility within Windows that executes ActiveX scripting languages including Microsoft's own VBScript and Jscript as well as PerlScript, PScript and others. The scripts can be run from the desktop using the WSCRIPT.EXE program or from a command line using CSCRIPT.EXE. Windows supports commands and batch files similar to DOS, but the Windows Script Host enables a much more comprehensive set of scripting languages to be run in the Windows environment. Such languages can gain access to many more internal Windows functions than can the batch commands.
wishes
to recognize and thank Gloria Church for her continued help in keyboarding the hand-scribbled
notes, and Dick Halsey for preparing the notes for addition to the RGS website.
