Quick Tip: How I Keep Up in Genealogy News, Trends, and Sources

I just discovered that the Library of Congress has a slew of blogs.  Here is one just on maps.  How can I keep up with all this stuff??  It's like a never ending candy store.

There is always something new in the genealogy world, and I personally do not have the time to keep up.  Thankfully there are many others who do this already so I don't have to!

Here are the few blogs that I normally check out to see what's new and interesting:

Genea-Musings by Randy Seaver -- Best of the Genea-Blogs

Empty Branches on the Family Tree by Linda Stufflebean -- Recommended Reads

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog -- Fab Finds



BTW There is much more to each blog than the "best of" links I give.  I find they give me all kinds of ideas on methodology and even just how to present and think about genealogical problems.





© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Getting a Handle on "Old Fulton NY Post Cards"

"Old Fulton NY Post Cards" is so awesome, but it uses frames??  And I'm not sure what to make of the Joker...

"Old Fulton NY Post Cards," run by Tom Tryniski, is a great site for free access to New York state newspapers**, but it can be a little jarring when you first try to use it.  Fortunately, quite a few people have posted information and tips:

• FamilySearch Wiki: "Old Fulton NY Post Cards"
• Wikipedia: "Fultonhistory.com"
• Poughkeepsie Public Library District: "Tuesday’s Tip — Historical Newspapers from Old Fulton, NY Post Cards Site" (PDF)
• Family Tree Magazine: "Genealogy Insider: "Somebody Stop Me! Finding New York Family History in Newspapers"

I like to browse sites to get an overview of what is available.  You can browse the newspapers here and browse "Main Album" here (the main album includes, among other things, Oswego County Probate Records, O'Hearn's Histories Auburn NY, various class photos, and an aerial view and stereographic photos of Fulton NY).



**Miriam J. Robbins of Online Historical Newspapers blog keeps on ongoing list of newspapers available online from a number of different providers, including Old Fulton NY Postcards, NYS Historic Newspapers, and Library of Congress (among others).  Here is her New York newspapers page.






© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Tip: Age Calculator on Ancestry's Search Form

I'm trying to get smarter and faster with my searches, so that I have more time for analysis.  The following is an example of one of the many time-saving tools that are right there that I have not been using, or even acknowledging.

How have I missed this for the past 5 years??

You'd think I would have clicked on that little calculator icon at least once this whole time, but no.

Whenever I have to figure out someone's birth year in relation to another year, I always open a new tab, type in the date minus the age, and Google shows figures it out.  Talk about an unnecessary step!  Ancestry can do it all for me right there on the search page.

Duh!






© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.