Evidence! Coming in August 2007 to a Bookstore Near You

I love the smell of a new book in the morning! I have it on good authority that the long-awaited update to Elizabeth Shown Mills' bible of source citations will be out in August 2007.

As a self-proclaimed bibliophile, I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy and see for myself what the new additions are. There are bound to be many new entries as the previous addition came out ten years ago! My own copy of Evidence!, dog-eared and lovingly highlighted from my certification days, will still remain on my shelf. (I cannot bear to throw out books.) But I'm excited to have it accompanied by it's updated counterpart.

Manifests on Ancestry.com

Have you ever looked up a ship's manifest on Ancestry.com? If you have, make sure that you check both pages. What's that you say? There's only one page when you click "view original record"? Guess what? There are two. You need to go to the second page manually by clicking the green arrow above the first image.

It is one of the failings of using a database system - one still needs to be aware of the properties of the original record when looking at the computerized version. In the old days B.A. (Before Ancestry.com) when one would have to go to NARA to look for these records, it was obvious that there were two pages. I still have some of my original printouts on extraordinarily large paper from manifests I found relating to my Anderson family.

The moral of the story, boys and girls, is - always look at the original if you can get it. If you can't, don't be lulled into a false sense of security by what you see on your computer screen. Question-question-question everything.

RI Increases Fees for Vital Records

I received the following from Mike Sankey via his Public Record Update Newsletter:

By the end of the Summer, the Rhode Island State Department of Health, Division of Vitals Records, will increase the base fee for birth, death, and marriage records. The record fee will increase from $15.00 for a 2-year search and $.50 each additional year to $20.00 for a 2-year search and $2.00 for each additional year. Divorce records are not available from this agency and must be searched at the four county Family Courts.

For more info on this newsletter see: www.brbpub.com

CDC: Beware Mercury in Antiques

Antique owners beware: your possessions could make you sick. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are warning people who own antique clocks, mirrors, lamps, mirrors, thermometers, and barometers. Mercury was often used in these items for pendulums, mirror backings, and as ballast for lamp bases.

Mercury is considered a hazardous waste and the worst thing you can do is vacuum it up as then it vaporizes and can be an inhalation hazard.

Read the entire article here: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/06/19/cdc_antiques_can_pose_mercury_hazard/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+News

Search is on for Remains of Original Minot Light

This has been the day for cool historical news stories in Massachusetts. Once again, Boston.com is reporting on a Coast Guard expedition to search for the original lighthouse that was felled by an ocean storm in 1851. The lighthouse was replaced in 1860 with the current structure. According to stories, those on land heard the bell clanging in the lighthouse and then it went silent. A note was found in a bottle washed up on shore from one of the lighthouse keepers. Both keepers died in the storm.

To read the entire article: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/06/19/a_beacon_on_the_past/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+News

Update on Secty. Galvin Bills at Hearing

This just in from the State House Newswire regarding yesterday's public records hearing on H-3241 and H-3245 [Editor's Note: Much of the hearing was about the open meeting laws in Massachusetts, therefore the brief has been truncated to include only the relevant sentence below]:

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JUNE 19, 2007:
Cote also wrote testimony in support of two bills Galvin submitted giving the supervisor the ability to enforce the public records law.

Interested in Writing a Book About Geronimo?

The website Boston.com reports today that the grandson of famed Indian fighter, Geronimo, is seeing to return his remains to his place of birth. The remains, allegedly stolen in 1918 by members of Yale University's Skull and Bones Society, are purported to be in the Society's secret tomb meeting place. Harlyn Geronimo, the grandson, has written to President Bush to try to obtain his help to return the remains.

Interestingly enough, the grandson also would like someone to write a book on his grandfather using all the unpublished oral history and documents that are still available from the family.

How about it? Interested? See http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/06/19/geronimo_great_grandson_wants_bones_back/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+News

WWII MIA POW DATABASE ON-LINE

This just in: there is now available a database of soldiers missing in action or prisoners of war on-line. Here's the link: http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/WWII_MIA/INDEX.HTM

The database also includes civilians. On this page is a separate link to personnel buried at sea. The informtion is arranged alphabetically and includes all four branches of the armed services.

It is definitely worth a look if you have research interests in this area.

National Geographic Map Collection On-Line

Interesting map collection from National Geographic is now on-line at www.ngmapcollection.com. The collection is world-wide and able to be seen up close via a zoom mechanism. I particularly liked the Boston to Washington map 1830. The maps are available for purchase as well.

AFRICAN AMERICAN TOPICS AT MGC MEETING

The MGC Annual Meeting and Seminar is shaping up to be a great program. In addition to Marcia Melnyk, we have several presentations by AAHGS members. One in particular, given by Irving Smith:

"describes Civil War military correspondence documenting the capture of prisoners-of-war, subsequent enslavement, and Post-war emancipation of two African-American union army volunteers from Massachusetts." It tells the story of the efforts of Free Women of Color to influence white citizens of Boston to seek the recovery of their offspring.

I'll be writing about more presentations in the weeks leading up to the conference. For more information see MGC's website at www.massgencouncil.org

Mass School of Law Library

Located in Andover, this little gem had me wanting to set up a cot and stay the weekend. What caught my eye was the shelves of books on old Boston laws circa 1600s. Wow! Wish I had the time to peruse those books at length. Of course, taking a Legal Research Methods course this semester means that I'll be spending a lot more time there and perhaps I'll even fit in some research into those old books while I'm there. I'll let you know what I find if I do.

The library is free to use, you don't have to be a student of MSL or even a college student. It is open seven days a week until late in the evening most nights.

Gathering Social History

Note taking has always been a strong suit of mine. Lately though, with the amount of books I'm reading for a variety of courses and projects I'm involved in, I need a way to expedite my note taking. I've tried the "by hand" method (too time consuming, my handwriting is atrocious), I've also tried the "index card" method (too many index cards, not enough room to write even with the 4x6 ones, and again that darn handwriting problem, not to mention what do you do with them once you're done - they don't store easily). I've come upon a method that works for me...

I type the complete source information at the top of a page in Word (or your wordprocessing software of choice) and then I indicate on which pages that I've found the information followed by whatever I want to note.

Ex: p. 4, Donatello was known for his technique of rilievo schiacciato during the Quattracento of the Italian Renaissance.

I separate the different sources by a line of asterisks. Then, once I'm done note taking, I can print out the entire thing and put it in my folder for the next time I might need that information. Of course, I haven't entirely given up writing in my notebooks. There's something satisfying about a good pen and a college-ruled notebook. In addition, it's a bit distracting to a speaker to be sitting in a meeting or lecture with someone madly typing on their laptop. Since I used to take depositions and dictation this way, I can go pretty quickly. If you're a lawyer, it doesn't bother you, but if you're a speaker my experience has been that it does tend to flip people out a bit.

Try it and see what you think. I'd be interested in knowing what works for you?

NEHGR Article on Massachusetts Research

I have always talked about the importance of checking your bookshelf for information before running off to do research and this time I actually listened to myself!

In Marcia Melnyk's book Genealogist's Handbook for New England Research, fourth edition, there is a reference to an article in the NEHGR from 1981 entitled "Genealogical Research in Massachusetts: A Survey and Bibliographical Guide," NEHGR, 135[1981]: 163-198. The article includes all you ever wanted to know about Massachusetts records and more.

Of course, I immediately went to the HistGen website and downloaded the article which has been very helpful for information and the whereabouts of records that I am having problems finding. There are many other references to source and bibliographic materials on pp. 140-141. I love this book!

I'm excited to meet Marcia Melnyk this summer at the MGC Annual Meeting and Seminar on July 14th in Marlborough (www.massgencouncil.blogspot.com).

NEHGS Puts Register in PDF for Download

Hooray! The New England Historic Genealogical Society, fondly known as the HistGen, has placed their 2007 issues (January & April) of the Register on-line for members to download as PDFs! Although I am a member and can access the NEHGR on-line it's nice to be able to download a copy and flip at my leisure.

See www.newenglandancestors.org under the Research tab for instructions on downloading the January 2007 and April 2007 issues.

Enjoy!