From an article on the Valdosta State University web site:

Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections has received a $22,205 grant from the Lyrasis Catalyst Fund to kickstart an effort to make South Georgia history more accessible to everyone.  

Through a five-year Community Archives Digitization, Access, and Preservation Partnership project, VSU plans to document and preserve some of the more important holdings of small historical societies and community archives across the university’s 41-county service region. This project involves digitization; metadata creation; making items accessible across multiple platforms locally, regionally, statewide, and nationally; and digitally preserving the materials within VSU’s state-of-the-art digital preservation system.

Deborah Davis, certified archivist and director of Archives and Special Collections at VSU, said the Community Archives Digitization, Access, and Preservation Partnership project is essential because community archives in rural South Georgia lack the resources to make their holdings available to researchers outside their local areas. They also need guidance on best practices for sustainably preserving their historical materials.

“When you do searches for South Georgia history and culture, there’s not a whole lot that comes up,” she shared. “This project will allow community leaders and historians across our region to partner with VSU and use digitization as a method of historic preservation to collect and record the stories, images, and documents of their cities and towns — and expand access to information that was previously restricted to a physical location.

“There is a demand for digitized historical content, and there are a lot of interesting things to discover about South Georgia. We want to do our part to encourage an appreciation for and understanding of local Southern history and make learning about that history more accessible.”

Work on the Community Archives Digitization, Access, and Preservation Partnership project started over the summer. VSU is currently partnering with the Lowndes County Historical Society, Thomas County Historical Society, Brooks County Historical Society, Grady County Historical Society, Pinevale Alumni Association, Snake Nation Press, and local independent researchers to select important and imperiled collections for scanning, access, and preservation and to share archival best practices.

VSU is also collaborating with the Digital Library of Georgia.  

Because Archives and Special Collections provides an exploratory environment designed to promote active learning, Davis said this project will provide internship opportunities for VSU students from various fields of study. This type of hands-on, inquiry-based experiential learning can help students learn to think critically and with purpose, while also allowing them to engage with the public and transform historical research for future generations.

Davis will retire from VSU after three decades of service in December. She plans to return to the Community Archives Digitization, Access, and Preservation Partnership project as a volunteer and looks forward to having more time to build and nurture relationships with community leaders and historians across South Georgia. 

“I’m excited about my changing role with the university and the impact that will allow me to have on our region,” she added. “I look forward to becoming more of a consultant, matching the expertise and resources of VSU Archives and Special Collections to possible projects with community-based archives across rural South Georgia.”

Douglas Carlson, a certified archivist who currently serves as technical assistant for Archives and Special Collections, is projected to succeed Davis. As principal investigator for the Lyrasis Catalyst Fund grant, he will be supported by Davis and Dallas Suttles, a certified archivist and computer technology expert who will oversee the project’s digitization and digital preservation workflow. VSU’s Information Technology team will maintain the server space needed for the project.

VSU Archives and Special Collections is located on the fourth floor of Odum Library.

The Catalyst Fund provides support for new ideas and innovative projects, particularly projects with community impact.

VSU was one of five institutions of higher education across the United States selected by Lyrasis for a Catalyst Fund award.

While VSU’s project focuses primarily on South Georgia, Davis said that it has the potential to serve as a model for similar historical preservation initiatives across the United States, especially in rural areas served by regional university archives.

Lyrasis is a community-supported nonprofit committed to ensuring a lifetime of access to shared academic, scientific, and cultural heritage archives, libraries, museums, and research communities.

From a press release by the Smithsonian:

The Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum has launched a new digital campaign on its website to gather stories from the public that will help shape the future of the museum. The campaign will ask contributors to share a story of a woman from their family, community or past who has inspired them to think differently. Submitted stories will feed into the museum’s first digital exhibition to launch during Women’s History Month in March 2024.  

Women have contributed to America’s most defining moments—moments that shaped constitutional rights, yielded scientific breakthroughs and created the symbols of the nation. Yet a diversity of women’s stories has not been widely told. The Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum will expand the story of America through the often-untold accounts and accomplishments of women—individually and collectively—to better understand the past and inspire the future.

“We are excited to see what the stories that people share will uncover,” said Melanie Adams, interim director of the museum. “This campaign is one of our first steps toward increasing the visibility of women in American history and recognizing the women who have shaped this country—in large and small ways. We look forward to sharing these stories with the world online and eventually in person, hopefully on the National Mall alongside other Smithsonian museums, which together create a rich and diverse picture of America’s past, present and future.”

Approved by Congress in 2020, the museum is now seeking a physical location on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to place women’s history at the center of the American story. The storytelling campaign is one of several upcoming digital initiatives from the museum to engage with audiences and share inspiring content in the lead up to the opening of the physical building.

P.S.  The link is: https://womenshistory.si.edu/story 

"Look Back to Look Forward: 50 Years of the Irish in Britain" is an oral history project telling the stories of Irish people who have emigrated to Britain over the past half-century. 

The free exhibition opened at the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith on Wednesday, November 1, and will travel to spots in Liverpool, Leeds, and Birmingham later in the month.

"Look Back to Look Forward: 50 Years of the Irish in Britain" is also available to view as an online exhibition. 

The exhibition, which is organized by the Irish in Britain charity in celebration of its 50th year, helps to document and preserve the life stories of people of Irish heritage living in Britain over the past 50 years. 

The project aims to educate the public on migration and the modern history of Britain and Ireland and additionally aims to allow future generations to learn about the experience of the Irish in Britain. 

It also charts the progress of the Irish in Britain, highlighting how the Irish went from a widely discriminated-against group in the 1960s and 1970s to the highest earning of all ethnic groups in the UK in 2021. 

You can read more in an article in the irishcentral web site at: https://www.irishcentral.com/news/community/irish-in-britain-oral-history. 

FamilySearch has launched a new initiative to digitally preserve and make accessible records of peoples whose history was entwined with the Ottoman Empire.

The announcement came as FamilySearch representatives participated in the International Council of Archives’ ICA Congress in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Oct. 9–13, according to a news release.

During the event, FamilySearch specialists assisted guests from 140 countries worldwide to learn creative ways to explore their family heritage and roots. More than 3,300 participants attended the congress.

You can read more in an article by Trent Toone published in thechurchnews.com at: https://tinyurl.com/hheztwbh 

Pharmaceutical giant GSK Plc has announced an investment of $20 million in 23andMe Holding Co., marking an extension of their five-year collaboration. The investment grants GSK a year's access to 23andMe’s comprehensive consumer DNA data, which includes anonymized genetic information from roughly 80% of customers who have consented to share their data for research purposes. In addition to providing the data, 23andMe will also offer data analysis services to GSK.

The DNA collected by 23andMe through its testing kits, which deliver ancestral and health information to customers, is considered a crucial resource for scientific research. With a database of over 14 million customers, only Ancestry.com and the Chinese government surpass 23andMe.

GSK plans to utilize this extensive genetic data to uncover disease-related genetic pathways, with the goal of accelerating the traditionally lengthy drug development process. A significant achievement of the GSK-23andMe partnership is a potential cancer drug that targets CD96, an immune response-modulating protein. This drug reached clinical trials within four years, a substantial reduction from the industry average of seven years. The collaboration has also identified over 50 new potential drug targets.

Under the revised terms of the agreement, GSK will retain exclusive ownership of any discoveries made using the 23andMe data. However, in a departure from their previous joint venture arrangement, 23andMe is set to earn royalties on some projects.

You can read more in an article published in Investing.com at: https://tinyurl.com/2e7szkyp.

The following is a press release written by the Pennsylvania Department of Education:

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) today announced new online resources are available through POWER Library, Pennsylvania’s electronic library. These additions, joining a collection of more than 25 online resources, include a genealogy database, a language learning platform, and much more.

“These outstanding resources will serve the educational, entertainment, and personal needs of Pennsylvanians of all ages,” said Deputy Secretary and State Librarian Susan Banks. “These are resources that residents, libraries, and schools have been asking for – and we are excited to announce they are now available.”

POWER Library is the online portal to all that Pennsylvania libraries offer. Administered by PDE’s Office of Commonwealth Libraries, it provides access to books, newspapers, historical archives, and more, including trustworthy information on career guidance and personal finances. It also provides a 24/7 live chat service with experienced librarians.

These resources are available to any Pennsylvania resident with a public library card or an eCard issued by POWER Library. Below are descriptions of each new resource:

MyHeritage Library Edition

This multilingual family history research database includes billions of historical documents from 48 countries, millions of historical photos, public records, indexes, and additional resources that span the past five centuries.

Transparent Language Online

Whether you’re a true language learning beginner, dusting off your old high school Spanish, or eager to tackle your tenth language, Transparent Language Online will help you get started and stick with it. With Transparent Language Online, you can learn 120+ languages, including American Sign Language, and English (ESL/ELL) learning content for speakers of over 30 languages.

Britannica School Elementary

Britannica School Elementary is a comprehensive source of information for learners in pre-K to grade 5. The Early Elementary (PreK–2) edition is the ideal launchpad for the youngest scholars.  This platform sets the tone for exploration with a vibrant environment filled with curriculum-aligned games, puzzles, and interactive activities, along with read-aloud options for beginning readers. The edition for elementary school learners from grades 3 to 5 is designed to build foundational knowledge and stimulate curiosity with a child-friendly platform that features simplified articles, engaging multimedia, and interactive games that make complex topics accessible and enjoyable while enhancing reading and comprehension abilities.

Cricket Media Collection

The Cricket Media Collection includes hundreds of e-books from renowned family publisher Cricket Media. It helps build strong literacy skills in students from pre-K to grade 8 by offering access to award-winning, short-form fiction and nonfiction titles. This unique e-book collection explores a wide range of subjects to help young readers explore and expand their worlds.

ProQuest SIRS Discoverer

SIRS Discoverer provides coverage in areas including history, health, language arts, math, science, social studies, and technology. All newspaper, magazine, and reference book content is 100% full text, editorially-selected and indexed from over 2,200 reliable, high-quality global sources, including 400 full-text nonfiction books and around 300 full-text book chapters from publishers such as Britannica, World Book, Rosen Publishing Group, Enslow, and ReferencePoint Press.

A state attorney general is questioning what really happened when a leading genetic testing company had a data breach last month.

As 23andMe continues to investigate a data breach within its customers' accounts, a state politician is pressing the genetic testing company about what exactly was exposed in the leak and what the hackers wanted out of it.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong issued an inquiry letter to 23andMe Tuesday expressing concern about the breach, which he says targeted more than 5 million users, specifically those of Ashkenazi Jewish and Chinese heritage.

Tong notes that the breach resulted in at least 1 million user data profiles of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage and hundreds of thousands of user profiles listing Chinese heritage being targeted and sold on the black market.

"The increased frequency of antisemitic and anti-Asian rhetoric and violence in recent years means that this may be a particularly dangerous time for such targeted genetic information to be released to the public," Tong said in a statement.

You can read more in an article by Alex Arger published in the Scripps News web site at: https://tinyurl.com/4b84urzr.

The following book review was written by Bobbi King:

Generation by Generation
A Modern Approach to the Basics of Genealogy
by Drew Smith. Published by Genealogical Publishing. 2023. 170 pages.

Years ago, (actually, it’s been decades ago, where has the time gone..) “computer genealogists” were relegated to the dark back corner of the genealogy conference exhibit hall, and researchers who published their genealogies citing computer records as their sources were roundly scorned, disdained, and fighting a battle for acceptance and approval within the authoritative community. Eventually, Cyndi with her personal charm and indispensable List, and Dick with his internet savvy and Newsletter popularity, and Family Tree Maker with software that made data input quick and easy, computers, technology, and the internet nudged genealogy into an emerging new world.

Generation to Generation is a how-to book for researching your family roots, books you don’t often see published nowadays. This book works by offering a look at resources via technology, that is, nearly all records that are online and in digital form. Records are discoverable as you’re just sitting at your desk, firing up a capable computer, connected to, most desirably, two full-sized monitors, with a number-pad keyboard at your fingertips and an ergonomic mouse that won’t maim your wrist.

The author begins with a chapter on Names, Places, and Dates. Overview descriptions and a plentitude of illustrations clarify the points. Every chapter is like that: an introduction describing the records, then information on where to find the relevant records via internet resources, then information on how to organize and present your genealogy via software.

Chapters that follow cover relationships, the genealogical research process, tools and methods for keeping organized, DNA testing, and how to look for previous research done on your family.

This is not to say that traditional methods of genealogy have been ignored. They have not. The author shares information about the time-honored process of finding repositories that hold your records, evaluating the records that you do find, and the many types of records to look for: newspapers, burial records, city directories; the gamut of records that are out there awaiting discovery.

This is an updated genealogy research how-to book, meeting technologically savvy researchers where they are today, and helping them move forward.

Generation by Generation may be purchased from Genealogical Publishing Company at: https://genealogical.com/store/generation-by-generation/ as well as from Amazon.

With only 53 shopping days until Christmas 2023, it’s the perfect time to think outside the box for your holiday gifts. Surprise your loved ones with something more than just a traditional present; give them a journey into their roots with our Early Holiday DNA Sale.

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Kenneth H. Thomas Jr. has published an article that I might suggest should be required reading for everyone interested in learning about their ancestry: "Why join a genealogical society?"

You can find the article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution at: https://tinyurl.com/56md3j5x.