Thursday, August 30, 2007

Google Book Search

Are Your Ancestors in Google Book Search?
Copyright fights aside, a favorite search tools is Google's Book Search, at
books.google.com. By typing in keywords just like in a normal Google search, you get results from all sorts of out-of-print and hard-to-find books.
Use it to research the histories of areas that aren't well-represented online.
Some books show up in the results as full page scans with searchable text. Other books are restricted to just showing a few preview pages or a few paragraphs of excerpts. Some are downloadable as PDF documents. (Even if you can't see all of the information, Google gives you the publisher's information that gives you a head start on finding it at your library.)

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Research comment

He who cares nothing about his ancestors will rarely achieve anything worthy of being remembered by his descendants. —author unknown

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Civil War pension Files

Civil War Pension files are an amazing source for information. I sent away for my great-greatgrandfather's file and received 97 pages of genealogy and copies of handwritten decuments.

NARA Record Request Fees Go Up Oct.
We’ve known it was coming since the
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) proposed last February to raise its reproduction fees for records you order. The good news is, it could’ve been worse.
Effective Oct. 1, NARA will charge $75 for a Civil War pension file of up to 100 pages, plus $.65 per additional page (for longer files, staff will contact the requestor with a price quote before filling the order).
NARA will charge $50 for pre-Civil War pension files regardless of page count, and $.75 per page to copy other records. While still a steep increase from the current $37 for a Civil War pension file, these fees are less than the $125 and $60 NARA originally proposed for Civil War and pre-Civil War pensions, respectively. (Still, save some cash by sending your request before October.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Genealogy Blogs

Here is an incredible list of genealogy blogs! You will find just about any topic.
http://blogfinder.genealogue.com/

Recently Updated
Genealogy blogs with fresh content
Genealogy News
The latest developments in the genealogical world
Tips, Resources & Reviews
Tips for building skills and finding resources
Personal Research
Family historians share their personal stories
Single Surname
Blogs focusing on one surname
Technology
Using technology to aid research
Preservation
Tips on preserving your family's history
Locality Specific
Regional and local news and resources
Documentary
Digitized and transcribed documents
Photography
Family history told with photographs
Cemeteries
Cemetery and gravestone research tools
Genetic Genealogy
On the use of DNA in genealogy
Podcasts
Listen online to genealogy news and advice
Libraries
Librarians offer tips on finding resources
What's New
The latest blogs added to the directory
Associations & Societies
Family association and genealogical society blogs
African-American
Blogs devoted to African-American research
Jewish
Blogs for those with Jewish roots
International
Bloggers beyond the United States
Conferences
Official blogs of genealogical conferences
Queries
Questions asked and answered
Professional Genealogists
The pros weigh in
Obituaries
Blogs featuring death notices
Community
Blogs for online communities
Humor
The lighter side of genealogy
Vlogs
Blogs with genealogy video clips
Corporate
Blogs published by businesses and non-profits
Aggregators
Sites that draw content from multiple blogs