The National Library of Australia has launched its modernised Catalogue making it easier for patrons to search the Library’s collections.

Director-General of the National Library of Australia, Dr Marie-Louise Ayres FAHA, said: ‘The modernised Catalogue offers new ways to explore the National Library’s collections. For example, the Finding Aids that describe the contents of archival boxes and other collection items are now searchable and linked online. This will allow researchers to uncover new connections between the precious letters, papers and other documents in the National Library’s collections.’

Director of Reader Services, Kathryn Favelle said: ‘Upgrading the Catalogue has been a major project for the Library. I’ve been telling our patrons it’s like moving from having a fax machine to a smartphone. I’m looking forward to helping people learn how to use the Catalogue.’

Project Manager, Terence Ingram said: ‘We have been planning to upgrade our previous Catalogue for many years. Since July 2022, we’ve been building the redeveloped Catalogue with a focus on the experience of discovering, uncovering and requesting the collections.’

The backend system is managed by open-source software platform Folio, and the user interface by Blacklight. These systems have been created by library professionals, vendors and developers working together to create an IT solution that supports core library management functions like cataloguing, circulation, acquisitions and eResource management. Visit: Catalogue Home | National Library of Australia (nla.gov.au)

The Vermont Historical Society is collecting photos, videos and more to memorialize the flood of 2023. In addition to creating this brand new archive V.H.S. is also re-vamping their online gallery of the flood of 1927. Juls Sundberg, the metadata librarian at the Vermont Historical Society says they hope having access to both collections can connect viewers to the past, and for those uploading their experiences -- provide a little bit of catharsis.

“Folks can share what they saw, know that we’re listening to them, see what other people saw and experienced, and it means that in 10-20-50-100 years, people will look at these materials the same way I’m looking at these photos and letters and newspaper clippings now, and you know, feel connected to Vermont’s history.” said Sundberg.

They believe the new online collection will be formatted like their COVID archives. You can view memorabilia from the 1927 Vermont flood, and upload your own videos and photos from the flood this year, on the Vermont historical society’s website soon. 

You can watch a video of this story at: https://www.wcax.com/2023/07/29/vermont-historical-society-creates-flood-archive/.

Scottish Indexes Conference

Glasgow, Scotland  – Genealogists Graham and Emma Maxwell are planning another 16-hour Scottish genealogy extravaganza: the Scottish Indexes Conference will be held on 9 September 2023. As always, this will be free to attend on Zoom and Facebook. To make this a global event it starts at 7 am UK time and keeps going until 11 pm UK time. Each presentation is shown twice, once between 7 am and 3 pm and then again between 3 pm and 11 pm UK time. You can come and go throughout the day and learn how to trace your family history from any timezone. 

Coming up in September:

Chris Paton, genealogist and author will present ‘Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors’.

Emma Maxwell, genealogist and co-founder of scottishindexes.com will present ‘People Lie! How to unravel the truth when you are tracing your family history’.

Alison Spring, genealogist at Scottish Ancestral Research will present “Like All These Country Folks Very Stupid”: Glasgow Highlanders in the Poor Law Applications.

Robert Urquhart of Abbotshall Palaeography will present 'Scottish Tax Records for Genealogy and Local History'. 

Kate Keter, genealogist at Family Tree Tales will present “The People of Cross House”.

Margaret Fox, archivist at Traquair House will present “Crimes of an Heinous Nature” – looking at some Scottish High Court Trials.

Following each presentation there will be a Q&A session with the presenter as well as two longer general Q&A sessions throughout the day. 

This is a free ‘timezone-friendly’ event. Find out more and register at www.scottishindexes.com.

Contact

To learn more, please contact Emma MaxwellEmail: emma@scottishindexes.comFollow us on Twitter: @ScottishIndexesFollow us on Facebook: @scottish.indexes 

Accredited Genealogists Ireland (AGI) are hosting an Open Day and Workshop

in Wynn’s Hotel, 35-39 Abbey Street Lower, North City, Dublin 1, D01C9F8,

on Saturday 7^th October 2023 

10.00am until 5.30pm.

Whether you are already practising as a professional genealogist or just thinking about a future career in genealogical research, this Open Day and Workshop will be relevant to you. It will provide information on credentials for professional genealogists, on the AGI Affiliate programme and on the process of seeking accreditation as a Member of AGI.

AGI is the accrediting and representative body for professional genealogists in Ireland and was founded in 1986. Admission to membership is based on the recommendations of an independent Board of Assessors. The credential for membership of AGI is open to professional genealogists based anywhere on the island of Ireland who primarily research in Irish sources and who are not engaged in full-time work outside of genealogy.

The cost to attend the day-long event is €35 per head which includes Tea/Coffee break, and a light lunch.  Payment must be made at time of registration.

All attendees will receive an AGI Welcome Pack on arrival.

The Itinerary will include talks by AGI members in the morning, with particular emphasis on the importance of report writing in professional genealogy. Following lunch, the Workshop will take place in the afternoon followed by a Fun Table Quiz with prizes.

Please book and make payment by following this link: https://accreditedgenealogists.ie/event/agi-open-day-and-workshop/  or https://shorturl.at/ceoL6

Enquiries about the event should be emailed to:  openday@accreditedgenealogists.ie

Places are limited so put the date in your diary. We look forward to seeing you on the day!

Here is a list of all of this week's articles, all of them available here at https://eogn.com:                       

...or perhaps a computer that is not so distant  

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. 

Remote control software for desktop and laptop computers has been available for years. All systems administrators of large data centers are familiar with these programs, as are many "work from home" individuals who need to control computers at the office on nights and weekends. However, the same technology is available to everyone; you do not need to be a systems professional in order to access the computer on your desk at the office or the one at home when you are traveling. Best of all, many of these remote control products are available free of charge.

Remote control software has a very simple goal: add a second monitor, keyboard and mouse to a computer. The difference is that these secondary items are located some distance away from the computer being controlled, perhaps miles or even thousands of miles away. The secondary monitor, keyboard and mouse are connected to a standard Windows, Macintosh or Linux system or, in some cases, are part of an Android or iOS (iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch) handheld device. That system provides the necessary functionality to connect the video/keyboard/mouse simultaneously to the local and the distant computers. 

Remote control software is very useful. You can use remote control software to access a distant computer in essentially the same way as if you were sitting in front of that system. Another common use is to provide instruction or assistance to a distant student. While the two of you may be many miles apart and are seated in front of different computers, both the student and the teacher see the same things on their screens simultaneously. Either person can type on the keyboard or use the mouse in exactly the same manner as a single user of one computer. Remote control software is perhaps the best tool that a computer instructor or a tech support person can use. 

With remote control software, you can also connect to your home or office system to check your e-mail. You can use a database, word processor, or other program that is installed on your home system but not on your laptop. You can connect to the office to run business applications. You can also send or retrieve files to and from the distant computer. Want to check your genealogy program when traveling? You can do so from many miles away, even if you are using a different operating system. 

More than once, I have been in a hotel room with a laptop computer and realized that the very important file that I need is on the desktop computer at home. One time I was about to deliver a presentation at a genealogy convention. I felt that 15 minutes of set-up time would be sufficient. After all, I simply needed to plug in the laptop, connect it to the overhead projector, and load PowerPoint. I thought I could set up in less than five minutes. With only minutes to spare, I went to the podium, performed the first few steps, and loaded PowerPoint. I then panicked when I realized that I had neglected to copy my presentation's PowerPoint slides to the laptop. Here I was 1,000 miles from home, with about five minutes to the scheduled start of my presentation, and I didn't have the slides!

Luckily, the presentation room had wi-fi Internet access. I connected to the Internet, then to my desktop computer at home – 1,000 miles away – retrieved the file, and started my presentation on time. The audience never knew about my near-panic attack. The only clue was the beads of perspiration that remained on my forehead.

Remote control software is often used to manage unattended servers. For example, one company operates a worldwide control center in an office building not far from my home. They use remote control software to manage all their servers. An employee can sit at his desk and remotely perform all required functions, except for pushing power off or power on or placing a disk into the CD-ROM drive. Some of the servers being managed are in the next room while others are in Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Delhi, and the Bahamas. Location makes no difference; all servers are handled in the same unattended manner. 

My web server is on a Linux server in Toronto. I sit at home and use a Macintosh to connect to it, using it in the same manner as if I was in Toronto. I can do the same from a hotel room in Scotland or in New Zealand or even from a commuter train by using a laptop computer with a wireless Internet connection. 

The same technology is also useful for remote assistance and instruction. More than once I have remotely trained a friend or relative on how to use a particular computer program or web site. Once the remote user gives permission, I can connect to his or her computer and "take over" the mouse and keyboard as we both watch the same display on our two computer screens. I can troubleshoot problems and teach the other person how to use some functionality. This is especially useful when the remote user is not computer-literate. Do you need to train someone on how to use a program or a web site? It makes no difference if the other person is across town or in Australia: the process is easy and very effective.

Remote control software is available for Windows, Macintosh, UNIX, Linux, Apple's iOS, and Android. In fact, such software is already included with Macintosh OS as well as with Windows Pro.  However, programs from other producers often add extra functionality not found in Microsoft's Remote Desktop or in Apple's Remote Desktop programs. Many of these third-party programs also work well on Windows Standard Edition.

Some of today's remote control software is cross-platform compatible. That is, you can control a remote Windows computer while you are using a Macintosh or vice versa. I even control a remote Macintosh from my Android tablet. Not all of the programs available today offer cross-platform functionality, however. If that feature is important to you, read the documentation carefully before committing to a remote control program. 

The remainder of this article is reserved for Plus Edition subscribers only. If you have a Plus Edition subscription, you may read the full article at: https://eogn.com/(*)-Plus-Edition-News-Articles/13234412

In the first half of July 2023, MyHeritage added 11 million historical records by updating 3 existing collections and added 6 new collections from France, Scotland, and the U.S. The collections include obituary, military, and census records. All of the French census records include images.  

You can view the long, long list of newly-added online records in an article in the MyHeritage Blog at: https://blog.myheritage.com/2023/07/historical-record-collections-added-and-updated-in-the-first-half-of-july-2023/.

The following is an announcement written by TheGenealogist:

TheGenealogist has just released a significant batch of The Jewish Chronicles from the First World War and The Jewish Echo (Scotland and Ireland’s only Jewish paper from the time) covering years during the build up to World War 2.

These newspapers offer the opportunity to traverse through time and witness the pivotal moments that shaped the lives of the Jewish community throughout the war. Accompanying this great resource are the seatholders for the Crosby Street Synagogue in New York, with fascinating details of how it came to be. These records join the substantial holdings of Jewish records on TheGenealogist, including Seatholders of London Synagogues between 1920 and 1939, The Jewish Year Books from 1896 to 1939 and the Jewry Book of Honour (1914-1918).

• Researchers can use these resources to find Jewish ancestors in the news

• Learn what was happening from community notifications

• Find Births, Deaths, Engagements, Marriages, Obituaries and Wills

• Unearth dates for Bar Mitzvahs 

• Track down when Tombstones were to be Set

• Discover relatives that contributed to the many charitable funds supporting victims of the War

• Learn about ancestors’ Military Promotions and listings in Casualty Lists

Read TheGenealogist’s article on how we used records in this release to set history straight and discover the truth about a WW1 Aviator, Businessman and Playboy:

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2023/setting-history-straight--discovering-the-truth-about-a-ww1-aviator-businessman-and-playboy-3261/

About TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist is an award-winning online family history website, who put a wealth of information at the fingertips of family historians. Their approach is to bring hard to use physical records to life online with easy to use interfaces such as their Tithe and newly released Lloyd George Domesday collections. 

TheGenealogist’s innovative SmartSearch technology links records together to help you find your ancestors more easily. TheGenealogist is one of the leading providers of online family history records. Along with the standard Birth, Marriage, Death and Census records, they also have significant collections of Parish and Nonconformist records, PCC Will Records, Irish Records, Military records, Occupations, Newspaper record collections amongst many others.

TheGenealogist uses the latest technology to help you bring your family history to life. Use TheGenealogist to find your ancestors today!

An announcement received from the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society (NYG&B):

The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society’s (NYG&B) 2023 New York State Family History Conference will be held in person and virtually Nov. 2–4, 2023. This year’s conference, “Navigating New York: From Queens to the Queen City,” will feature in-person and virtual programs and events in New York City and Buffalo, alongside access to more than 20 on-demand sessions, which can be viewed until December 15, 2023. In addition, all live sessions in New York City and Buffalo will be recorded and also made available on demand until December 15, 2023.  

We will be joined by researchers, genealogists, and all those interested in family history for a deep dive on how to navigate family history in New York State. More details, including full program description and speakers can be foundhere. 

From an article by Russell Contreras published in the Axios web site:

Black Americans born in the early 1960s typically have more than 300 African and 50 European ancestors dating back to when captive Africans arrived in North America in 1619, according to a new study using computational analysis of genetic data.

Why it matters: Many Black Americans who are descended from enslaved Africans have lacked ancestral information spanning several centuries. In a broad sense, the new research by USC and Stanford University could help shed light on their lineage.

Zoom in: The study, recently published in Genetics, estimates that a random Black American born between 1960 and 1965 is descended from, on average, 314 African and 51 European ancestors dating to 1619.