Some good news for researchers and history buffs in Kamloops – the archives at the Kamloops Museum and Archives are set to reopen next month.

Shut down since September due to a lack of a resident archivist, Museum Supervisor Julia Cyr says the archives are likely to reopen sometime in mid-to-late April. Cyr says they’re able to reopen now that a new archivist from Montreal has arrived.

The Kamloops Museum and Archives includes a wide range of materials that describe, depict, and interpret life in Kamloops through the years, including photographs, books, papers, maps, architectural drawings, and newspapers.

Some of the materials included in the archives date back to the 19th century and the formation of Kamloops as a settlement.

“Maternal Threads Unwoven: Identifying Margareta’s Mother in 18^th Century Sweden” 

by Jill Morelli, CG, CGL

Tuesday, March 19, 2024, 8:00 p.m. (EDT)

In spite of birth entries for Margareta's five siblings in Hishult, there was no record of her birth in the parish. Tax records quickly identified the father and revealed multiple moves within a narrow span of time; however, identification of the mother remained elusive. No witnesses to the births of the children provided clues; no household examinations existed. Coupling the understanding of broad context (naming patterns, inheritance laws, the calendar shift, etc.) with mtDNA and documentary evidence, the mother was identified and the lack of records was explained.

Jill Morelli, CG, CGL is a “Roots” genealogist, becoming interested in family history in the 1970s with the Alex Haley show. At that time, she just collected “stuff.” After a hiatus during which she had a family and volunteered in her community, Jill came back to genealogy with a vengeance in February 2002 and a total commitment to “doing it right.” She is the founder of the Certification Discussion Group which shares tips and strategies for BCG portfolio building, and a co-founder of Applied Genealogy Institute, whose motto is “Learn by Doing”. She has been published in a variety of publications including NGSQ, Swedish American Genealogist, and others. Jill is past president of Seattle GS and is co-chair of the SGS Centennial 2023.

BCG’s next free monthly webinar in conjunction with Legacy Family Tree Webinars is “Maternal Threads Unwoven: Identifying Margareta’s Mother in 18^th Century Sweden” by Jill Morelli, CG, CGL. This webinar airs Tuesday, March 19, 2024, at 8:00 p.m. EDT. 

When you register before March 19 with our partner Legacy Family Tree Webinars(http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=9010) you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Anyone with schedule conflicts may access the webinar at no charge for one week after the broadcast on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.

“Education is one of the most significant ways of achieving BCG’s mission for promoting public confidence in genealogy through uniform standards of competence,” said President Faye Jenkins Stallings, CG. “We appreciate this opportunity to provide these webinars that focus on the standards that help family historians of all levels practice good genealogy.”

Following the free period for this webinar, BCG receives a small commission if you view this or any BCG webinar by clicking our affiliate link: http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=2619.

To see the full list of BCG-sponsored webinars for 2024, visit the BCG blog SpringBoard athttps://bcgcertification.org/bcg-2024-free-webinars. For additional resources for genealogical education, please visit the BCG Learning Center (https://bcgcertification.org/learning).

The Augusta Genealogical Society has issued a press release that is visible here.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a widely debated and controversial topic, with fears and concerns surrounding its potential impact on various aspects of society. While some see it as a groundbreaking technology that can revolutionize our world, others view it as a threat to humanity itself.

One area where AI is already making a significant impact is in genealogy. Genealogists can now benefit from the use of AI in various ways, from DNA matches to document scanning and transcription. It is changing the way we explore our family history and providing innovative tools to assist in the research process.

So, what exactly is AI? It refers to the creation of programs that mimic human intelligence by teaching software to learn on its own. This allows AI to gather and analyze vast amounts of data, enabling it to imitate human thinking and decision-making processes. AI is being used extensively in genealogical research, providing faster and more accurate results than ever before.

DNA testing has become increasingly popular in genealogy, and AI plays a vital role in this field. AI algorithms can identify matches between individuals who share common DNA, helping genealogists discover previously unknown relatives. The speed and accuracy of these matches would be nearly impossible to achieve manually, as AI can process enormous amounts of data in a short period.

Popular genealogy websites like Ancestry.com and My Heritage also employ AI technology to assist users in their search for ancestors. AI tries to match the information provided by users with the database records, providing potential connections and clues to lineage. Although there are still some improvements needed in these AI-powered search engines, the technology continues to evolve and learn to provide better results over time.

You can read more in an article by Lidia Perska published in the elblog.pl web site at: https://tinyurl.com/2ukr2v89.

VERO BEACH, Fla. — The Indian River County Sheriff's Office said it has used genetic genealogy to identify a woman whose body was found in a canal beside a state road more than 40 years ago.

"For 42 years the Indian River County Sheriff's Office has referred to her as 'Jane Doe.' We don't know who she is, but every year we memorialize her," Sheriff Eric Flowers said Tuesday during a news conference. "Folks, we gave her her name back. We did it. Her name isn't Jane Doe anymore."

Flowers said deputies have identified Evelyn Lois Horne Townsend, of Perry, as the woman who was found shot to death on Sept. 1, 1982, along west State Road 60.

Flowers said his office used genetic testing to identify a half-sibling who confirmed that Townsend, born on May 9, 1939, was indeed the missing relative.

You can read more in an article by Aja Dorsainvil published in the wptv.com web site at: https://tinyurl.com/yeyvhkbs.

Here is an article that should interest most everyone, including genealogists:

There are some tests that can measure heart risk factors that aren't a part of standard care. Knowing whether you could benefit from them, starts with assessing your family history of heart health. 

You can do that by using free online tools. For example, Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center has a family health risk calculatorthat measures hereditary risk. You just enter your information, and it will suggest things like speaking with your doctor or a genetic counselor. There are a few tests professionals like that could suggest, depending on your results. 

One is a blood test to check for high levels of lipoprotein(a), which is a form of bad cholesterol that increases the risk for heart attack and stroke. It's mostly inherited, but can also impact people with a personal history of heart disease.

"So it's kind of a special form of bad cholesterol, and it really is determined much more by genetics than lifestyle and is not even really modified by statin therapy, which is the most widely used medications that we know lower bad cholesterol," said Dr. Wesley Milks, a cardiologist with Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center.

There's only one FDA approved treatment for lowering Lp(a). It's similar to dialysis in that a machine removes the cholesterol from the blood. There are clinical trials underway testing less complicated methods.

Another test that doctors could recommend for people with genetic heart disease risk factors is a coronary calcium scan, which is a CT scan for your heart. This can detect calcium levels and help spot coronary artery disease at its earliest stages. This test is mostly for people over 40 years old. Coronary artery calcification is uncommon before then.

You can read more in an article by Kaylyn Izzo published in the wcpo.com web site at: https://tinyurl.com/8ww96rkk.

There’s a common misconception that public libraries in America are dying, with the majority of naysayers basing a library’s successful operation on physical visits and loans of materials — books, journals and maps. It’s an easy mistake to make: In 2019, the average number of physical library visits dropped to fewer than four per year and material loans declined by 25%.

However, a 2023 report by the American Library Association found that Gen Z and millennials are changing the way public libraries serve their communities, especially as libraries expand their digital collections and services. It found Gen Z and millennials make up the largest cohort of library users across the United States.

The study found that 54% of people aged 13-40 visited physical libraries within the past year and 37% said they had used their library’s digital collection.

“We know that millennials, for example, are the most avid in terms of digital borrowing,” Rachel Noorda, the director of the book publishing program at Portland State University and one of authors of the ALA report, told StateScoop. “So they’re engaging with print books, which is actually their favorite format, but also digitally as well.”

You can read more in an article by Sophia Fox-Sowell published in the statescoop.com web site at: https://tinyurl.com/bdhps4ma.

Here is an article that is not about any of the "normal" topics of this newsletter: genealogy, history, current affairs, DNA, and related topics. However, I suspect that many (or most?) all computer owners will be interested:

From an article by Peter Ray Allison  published in the livescience.com web site:

Scientists have developed a new type of optical disc that can increase information storage capacity to the "petabit" level — 125 terabytes of data, or the combined storage capacity of about 15,000 DVDs. 

Optical discs, such as DVDs and Blu-ray discs, are durable and inexpensive. A standard single-layer Blu-ray disc can store 25 gigabytes. By comparison, some USB flash drives can store 1TB, and hard disk drives (HDDs) can hold up to 16TB.

But a team of scientists has created a new type of material, called "dye-doped photoresist with aggregation-induced emission luminogens" (AIE-DDPR) with a high areal density (the amount of data that can be stored in a given area) that can offer far denser storage capacity than typical HDDs). 

Given the increasing amount of data we generate each day, from instant messages to streaming video, AIE-DDPR optical discs have the potential to revolutionize data storage. Optical discs take up less space than current storage methods, be more environmentally friendly and could become less expensive than data storage arrays.

They described the details in a paper published Feb. 21 in the journal Nature.

You can read more at: https://tinyurl.com/mvfxvyvv.

The Washington State Legislature approved a budget request for $500,000 to fund genetic genealogy and DNA testing for unidentified remains in Washington.

Washington currently has 163 unidentified with the new funding the state will help these bodies to be identified more quickly. 

“Timely DNA testing can bring a measure of closure and help solve more cold cases,” Washington Attorney General Ferguson said. “Families should never have to endure unnecessary delays when seeking answers about their missing loved ones. I am thankful to our partners in the Legislature — Rep. Lekanoff, Rep. Stearns and Sen. Kauffman and many others — who continue to fight to ensure the missing and murdered Indigenous people crisis gets the attention and resources it deserves.

You can read more in an article by Daniel Fortin published in the khq.com web site at: https://tinyurl.com/4dw7zm7t.

CTVNews.ca is looking to speak to Canadians about their experience with genealogical DNA tests from companies such as 23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage DNA, Living DNA, Vitagene, LetsGetChecked and Futura Genetics. In short, the search appears to be looking for "unpleasant" surprises.

An article in the CTVNews.ca web site asks:

"What was your experience with the test and the results?

"What were you surprised by? What did the test uncover?

"Did you discover something you didn't know, or were wrong about? Did a test prompt further research, leading to any discoveries?

"Did your results help solve a cold case or something similar?

"What impact, if any, did your results have on your family?"

You can read the full article at: https://tinyurl.com/55catx8e.