Sunday, February 26, 2012

Indexing the 1940 census

As previously posted San Diego Genealogical Society is a participating society in the 1940 census project.

Today I logged into the indexing software to get some general practice. When I downloaded a batch of records to work on I noticed there were some 1940 practice batches. Since the census will not be released until 2 April these may have been dummy records. That doesn't matter because it gave me a chance to see what will be expected.

The main thing I noticed was that there will be 40 lines per page. That means 40 records per batch which is entirely manageable. It should take less than an hour to index a full page.

The information that the indexer will be required to enter are the Sheet number and side number. That only has to be entered one time.

From the "guts" of the page the following fields are entered.

Line nr, household number, last name, first name, title, position in household, sex, marital status, age, birth city, residence city, res county and res state. The last three fields are for the year 1935.

If you are ready to volunteer go to The 1940 Census webpage and sign up. When you are filling out the registration make sure you select San Diego Genealogical Society as your favored group.

This Week at the Library 26 Feb - 3 Mar

Tuesday 28 February 10 a.m. - Noon: Legacy Users Group

Thursday 1 March 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.: Open to the public

Saturday 3 March 10 a.m. - Noon: Family Tree Maker Users Group

Sunday, February 19, 2012

San Diego Genealogical Society Joins the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project

San Diego Genealogical Society has joined forces with genealogy societies and organizations around the country as part of the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project. The initiative aims to publish a free, online searchable name index of the 1940 U.S. Federal Census after images of the census are released to the public in April 2012. This online index will be free forever, offering family history researchers a rich genealogical data set for their ongoing use. Three leading genealogy organizations, Archives.com, FamilySearch International, and findmypast.com, launched the initiative at the end of last year, and the project is already engaging volunteers to help provide this invaluable resource to family historians around the world as soon as possible.

The index created by the project will allow the public to easily search every person found in the census and view digital images of the original census pages where he or she is listed. The highly anticipated 1940 U.S. Census is expected to be the most popular U.S. record collection released to date.

“The 1940 Census is attractive to both new and experienced researchers because most people in the United States can remember a relative that was living in 1940. It will do more to connect living memory with historical records and families than any other collection previously made available,” said David Rencher, Chief Genealogical Officer for FamilySearch.

The 1940 U.S. Census Community Project is also receiving support from leading societal organizations like the Federation of Genealogical Societies, National Genealogical Society, and Ohio Genealogical Society, as well as other societies around the United States.

Go to www.the1940census.com/society and register to participate with our society. Simply select San Diego Genealogical Society on the profile screen when creating your account. Every new person indexing with our society gets us closer to milestones that qualify us for incentives provided by the sponsors of the project, so sign up today!

Chris Christensen is the SDGS point of contact.

This Week at the Library 19 - 25 February 2012

Monday February 20 10 a.m. to Noon - SDGS Writer's Group

Wednesday February 22 10 a.m. to Noon - Brick Walls - If your up against that brick wall in your research, you might get some clues for different resources to check.

Thursday 23 February 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. - Library open to the public.

Friday 24 February 10 a.m. to Noon - San Diego County Ancestry SIG. Visit the La Mesa Historical Society. Advance reservation is required. (858)279-7347.

Saturday 25 February 10 a.m. to Noon - RootsMagic users group.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

"Who Do You Think You Are"

"Who Do You Think You Are"

The next episode of "Who Do You Think You Are" will feature Blair Underwood.
Ancestry is having a sweepstakes. The following was copied and pasted from Ancestry.com
Enter for a chance to uncover your roots.

For a third season, Ancestry.com and NBC are teaming up to help celebrities discover their families' roots on Who Do You Think You Are? Their stories are so compelling that Ancestry.com wants to help you discover your own amazing story.

Enter the Ultimate Family History Journey™ Sweepstakes for the chance to win great prizes that will help you uncover your roots. Three people will win the trip of a lifetime to visit their home countries, while 20 others will win 6-month memberships to Ancestry.com.

Enter your email address to begin. Sign back in every day until May 18, 2012 to improve your chances of winning, and don't forget to watch an all-new season of Who Do You Think You Are? starting February 3, 2012.

You do not have to have a subscription to Ancestry.com to enter.
For details see Ancestry.com

This week at the library

13 February - 18 February 2012
14 February 6 P.M. -Reunion User Group - SDGS Library
15 February 10 A.M. - Wednesday at the Library Presented by June Hanson
England and Wales - SDGS Library
16 February 10 A.M. - 3 P.M. - Library Open to the Public

Saturday, February 11, 2012

FamilySearch to raise microfilm rental by 50%

Dick Eastman has an article on his blog about FamilySearch raising the price of microfilm rental. The fee increase will be on 15 February. The short term rental fee is increasing from $5.00 to $7.50.

You can read his blog article at Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter.

He has a link to FamilySearch.org/films that offers further information.

Monday, February 6, 2012

This week at the library 5 February - 11 February 2012

6 February 10 A.M. - SDGS Writer's Group - SDGS Library

8 February 10 A.M. - Computer Basics Class - SDGS Library
1 P.M. - Lost Treasures Committee Meeting - SDGS Library
6:30 P.M. - Board of Directors Meeting - SDGS Library

9 February 10 A.M. - 3 P.M. - Library Open to the Public

11 February 9 A.M. - Basic Genealogy Class - St. Andrew's Lutheran Church
10 A.M. - Monthly Meeting - St. Andrew's Lutheran Church
Hal Horricks 1. British Research: Parish Registers and Census
2. Beyond the Census