Want to try something new? Something that is at the bleeding edge of technology? Read on...

A sleek tool called Andi combines the convenience of a chatbot with the credibility of a standard search setup—and it might just be the answer we need.

Suggestion: to try something that I know works, go to https://andisearch.com/ and enter:

What is eogn.com?

After that, use your own imagination to create search terms for items that interest you.

The following announcement was written by the British Library Board:

Our current exhibition, Alexander the Great: The Making of a Myth (closing soon on 19 February!), displays striking images of Alexander in medieval manuscripts of his legendary life. Many of these are already fully digitised, including high-status works of art like the Talbot-Shrewsbury Book and other superbly-illustrated Alexander legends in the British Library's collections.

Alexander fighting dragons, in the Talbot-Shrewsbury Book (Rouen 1444–1445): Royal 15 E VI, f, 21r

You can read a lot more and view more images at: https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2023/01/three-alexander-the-great-manuscripts-newly-digitised.html. 

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

(+) QR Codes Create Internet-Connected Tombstones – A Good or Bad Idea?

Woman Learns She Unknowingly Married Her Cousin

Heredis Is Launching Its Genealogical Search Service for the Genealogists With French Roots

Illinois State Archives Says Death Certificates Database Updated to 1971

American Ancestors Announces Annual Young Family Historians Essay Contest

Polish State Archives Website is Back Online

New England Quaker Records to Be Digitized

Archives New Zealand in Danger of Running Out of Space

China-Based Firm Signs With Genealogy Society to Help Chinese Singaporeans Trace Roots

Tracing Belgian Family Trees Made Easier by Massive New Archive

The Family History Show Is Back Next Month! February 18th 2023

Grammy-Winning Musician Anthony Hamilton Teams With africanancestry.com to Challenge Fans to Unlock the Power of Their Ancestors

Cancer Blood Test Using DNA Fragments Brings Hope for Earlier Detection, Say Researchers

Findmypast Adds Thousands of New and Exclusive Military Records

The Open Secret of Google Search

NOTE: I know that a few people in Singapore subscribe to this newsletter. This article is for them.

When a Chinese Singaporean in his 50s sought help to find out more about his late father, genealogist Huihan Lie and his team immediately scoured databases of Chinese ancestors and conducted field investigations in China.

They found out that the father was a seaman from Fujian who fought in World War II and that the client had a half-sister in Liverpool, England. 

On Saturday, the company inked a memorandum of understanding with the non-profit Genealogy Society Singapore to work together over three years to help Chinese Singaporeans trace their roots. The services include roots and genealogy research projects focusing on pre-migration family histories in China, China roots trips and the creation of publications.

The society will market the services to potential customers here such as clan associations, private businesses, civic organisations and individuals.

Mr Ng Yew Kang, 82, its president, said: “Many Chinese Singaporeans have little knowledge of their ancestry, where they came from and how their ancestors migrated from China to Singapore. By the time they want to learn more... many elderly family members would have died, taking the memories with them.”

You can read more at: https://tinyurl.com/3956sry9.

The national archive will not have enough space to store vital records even after its new $290 million building is ready in Wellington.

The construction project is also making current storage pressures worse.

Archives NZ said it was "acutely aware" of the pressures.

These have been "compounded" because Wellington was not taking any more physical records until the new Heke Rua Archive opens, due in 2026.

Even then, the new central city building will offer only "a small amount of shelving space" for extra records, Archives told RNZ.

Instead, these records, currently held in the bowels of government agencies and departments, are meant to go into a new storage space at Levin/Taitoko.

But though the land for this was bought with Budget 2020 funding and a design had been done Archives said there was no money for building it, Internal Affairs' director of Tāhuhu Rob Stevens told RNZ.

The goal of opening it in 2025 "was subject to securing Budget 2022 funding for construction which was unsuccessful", he said.

The new aim was 2027. RNZ asked what plan B was, if it did not get funding.

"The business case for the next stages of the project will include analysis for a range of options," Stevens responded.

You can read more in an article by Phil Pennington at https://tinyurl.com/ye5t5p4z.

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

QR Codes have many uses. They are often used on business cards and also in printed advertisements. Now genealogists have recently been finding QR Codes on tombstones and on columbariums

NOTE: A columbarium is is a place for storage of cinerary urns (i.e. urns holding a deceased’s cremated remains). 

A QR Code (abbreviated from Quick Response Code) is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) first designed for the automotive industry. You can see a typical QR Code to the right. You probably have seen similar QR Codes on all sorts of products and advertisements. To use a QR Code, use a smartphone (typically an Apple iPhone or an Android phone) with appropriate software installed to take a close-up picture of the QR Code. The software reads the QR Code and then opens a web browser that displays the web page address that is embedded within the dots of the QR Code.

In effect, the QR Code becomes a "pointer" that points to an Internet web page where you may find more information. The process of displaying that information is automated with little human interaction required, other than snapping the picture. QR Codes are now popular on everything from Coca-Cola advertisements to tombstones.

The QR Code system has become popular due to its fast readability and large storage capacity compared to standard UPC barcodes. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of four standardized kinds ("modes") of data (numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, Kanji), or through supported extensions, virtually any kind of data.

Tombstone manufacturers say that an attached QR Code makes the memorial almost like a form of social media. The QR Code attached to the tombstone points to a web page maintained by the family of the deceased. The web page might contain a biography of the person or it can point to an address where other people can text messages to the family. Family members also can share other stories that they'd like to share as well. It's all up to the family. The QR Code points to one web page but that page could be the "entry page" for many pages of information about the individual and his or her life and family. The pages might include photos, biography, and other information. 

The QR Codes for tombstones are typically made on stainless steel, ceramic, or some other material that will not deteriorate quickly. Adding a QR Code to a tombstone requires a one-time fee that's included in the cost of the headstone. The fee can range from $99 to $400. A web page is also required although the page can exist on any web server. Information on the web page(s) also can be updated from time to time, something that would be difficult to do with traditional memorials and tombstones. 

QR Codes have started to appear on tombstones in the past ten years. Several companies now create QR Codes for tombstones. You can learn more in by starting first in QR Code In Memorials: A Detailed Guide at: https://scanova.io/blog/qrbatch/qr-code-in-memorials/.

QR Codes attached to tombstones are not without controversy, however. One objection to them is that most companies that create QR Codes for tombstones suggest attaching the QR Code by adhesive. When discussing historic tombstones, most tombstone scholars would be aghast at the idea of using adhesives or any other means to attach a new object to an existing tombstone.

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/13075501.

If you are not yet a Plus Edition subscriber, you can learn more about such subscriptions and even upgrade to a Plus Edition subscription immediately at https://eogn.com/page-18077.

The following is a press release written by www.AfricaForeverHome.com:

Free Merch, African Ancestry Testing and a VIP Virtual Reveal & After Party Included in ‘Anthony Hamilton’s Africa Forever Challenge: A Real Love Experience’

Off the heels of holiday home goings, fans across the world are invited to take a transformative journey with GRAMMY award-winning musician Anthony Hamilton that will reconnect them with their original roots in the Motherland. Presented in partnership with AfricanAncestry.com, the pioneers of genetic ancestry tracing for Black people, Anthony Hamilton’s Africa Forever Challenge: A Real Love Experience (AFC) rewards fans for finding their Tribe with the artist and enhancing the way they see themselves. The AFC runs from January 3 through February, kicking off with a chance to win free prizes and exclusive content; and culminating with a VIP Virtual Ancestral Reveal and After Party where Hamilton learns his African roots for the first time.

 “In 2022 I experienced the power of our ancestors during a series of concerts throughout Africa, and I instantly knew it was something I needed to share with my team and my fans,” said Hamilton. “We all can’t go to Africa, but we can bring Africa to us by knowing our roots, honoring our ancestors and creating legacies that propel the culture forward,” Hamilton added.

HOW IT WORKS

From now through February, Anthony Hamilton’s Africa Forever Challenge: A Real Love Experience participants can visit www.AfricaForeverHome.com and follow four easy steps:

1. Click ‘JOIN THE CHALLENGE’ to purchase an AfricanAncestry.com MatriClan® and/or PatriClan® Test Kit and submit your swabs.
2. Be automatically entered to win free Anthony Hamilton merchandise and digital downloads from AfricanAncestry.com.
3. Gain exclusive access to Hamilton’s and his team’s Virtual Ancestral Reveal and After Party.
4. Receive your ancestry results in six to eight weeks and extend the love by sharing your Tribe.

Additionally, people can visit @AnthonyHamiltonOfficial and @AfricanAncestry on social media for daily updates on the challenge and everyone who signs up for Hamilton’s Member Fan Club will get exclusive access to ongoing engagement with Hamilton.

“This partnership gets right at the heart of our mission to transform the way people see themselves and the way they view Africa,” said Dr. Gina Paige, president and co-founder of AfricanAncestry.com. “It is my hope that every participant gains a better understanding of who they are through the powerful lens of their ancestors.”

 Anthony Hamilton’s Africa Forever Challenge: A Real Love Experience is also partnered with Soul Bounce, Music Marketing Magazine, and Your Black News.

For more information on the AFC and to join the challenge, visit www.AfricaForeverHome.com. For AFCmedia inquiries contact ntaylor@africanancestry.com and andre@thepurpleagency.com for all Anthony Hamilton inquiries.     

A small asteroid is flying very close to Earth on Thursday night, less than a week after astronomers discovered the object. The New York Times reports: 

The asteroid, named 2023 BU, was scheduled to pass over the southern tip of South America at 7:27 p.m. Eastern time. The asteroid is fairly small -- less than 30 feet across, about the size of a truck -- and will be best visible in the skies to the west of southern Chile. For space watchers unable to view 2023 BU firsthand, the Virtual Telescope Project will be broadcasting the event on its website and YouTube channel. The asteroid will not hit Earth but will make one of the closest approaches ever by such an object, hurtling past Earth at just 2,200 miles above its surface, according to a news release from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This encounter puts the asteroid "well within the orbit of geosynchronous satellites," the statement noted, but the asteroid is not on track to hit any. 

2023 BU was unknown to NASA, or anyone, until last Saturday. Gennadiy Borisov, an amateur astronomer in Crimea, noticed the asteroid from the MARGO Observatory, a setup of telescopes that he has used to discover other interstellar objects. Astronomers then determined 2023 BU's orbit around the sun and impending trip past Earth using data from the Minor Planet Center, a project sanctioned by the International Astronomical Union. It publishes positions of newly found space objects, including comets and satellites, from information of several observatories worldwide.

The following announcement was written by Findmypast:

British Army, Honourable Artillery Company, Cardew-Rendle Roll Of Members 1537-1908 

This new collection is a directory of biographies for 17,000 members of the Honourable Artillery Company, covering nearly four centuries. As the oldest British Army regiment, it received its royal charter from Henry VIII in 1537. Details you’ll find will vary from entry to entry, from birth year and residence to remarkable events and great deeds.  

British Army, Honourable Artillery Company Journal 1923-2021 

The first issue of this journal was published in 1923, and documented events and activities of the regiment. Make good use of the optional keyword search field here to find mentions of your ancestor, or key events in this regiment’s history. 

British Army, Coldstream Guards 1800-1981 

Another 48,477 records have been added to this existing collection, which includes records for the oldest continuously serving regiment in the British Army. The new records cover attestation books, discharges, casualties and more. You'll normally find a rank, regimental number and an event year for your ancestor.  

Newspapers 

Brush up on local history with even more titles and new pages added to the newspaper archive this week.  

New titles: 

• Bangor, Anglesey Mail, 1993 
  
• Blackpool Times, 1901-1902, 1904, 1918-1919, 1933 
  
• Brackley Advertiser, 1960 
  
• Cannock Advertiser, 1923 
  
• Cobham News and Advertiser, 1970-1971 
  
• Grimsby News, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1916-1917, 1923, 1928-1930, 1935 
  
• Horwich Chronicle, 1889 
  
• Isle of Man Examiner, 1905, 1916 
  
• Lancaster Observer and Morecambe Chronicle, 1919 
  
• Melton Mowbray Times and Vale of Belvoir Gazette, 1918 
  
• North Middlesex Chronicle, 1874, 1880, 1889, 1899 
  
• South Durham Herald & Post, 1999 
  
• St. Helens Newspaper & Advertiser, 1902-1903, 1916, 1918-1919 
  
• Wilmslow Express Advertiser, 1981 

Updated titles: 

• Aldershot News, 1906 
  
• Ayrshire Post, 1993 
  
• Birmingham Mail, 1981 
  
• Bracknell Times, 1995 
  
• Brighton Herald, 1925 
  
• Bristol Evening Post, 1984, 1996 
  
• Burntwood Post, 1998 
  
• Cannock Chase Post, 1998 
  
• Chiswick Times, 1904, 1909, 1911, 1913, 1916 
  
• Croydon Advertiser and East Surrey Reporter, 1967 
  
• Ellesmere Port Pioneer, 1999 
  
• Esher News and Mail, 1994-1995 
  
• Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald, 1998 
  
• Gateshead Post, 1968, 1977, 1982, 1984-1985 
  
• Harrow Gazette, 1907 
  
• Harrow Informer, 1998 
  
• Hertford Mercury and Reformer, 1997 
  
• Herts and Essex Observer, 1997 
  
• Hinckley Herald & Journal, 1999 
  
• Hounslow & Chiswick Informer, 1982 
  
• Huddersfield and Holmfirth Examiner, 1885, 1888 
  
• Hull Daily Mail, 1989, 1992-1993, 1997-1998 
  
• Irvine Herald, 1982 
  
• Isle of Thanet Gazette and Thanet Times, 1989 
  
• Lincolnshire Echo, 1994, 1999 
  
• Liverpool Mercury, 1904 
  
• Llanelli Star, 1996 
  
• Loughborough Mail, 1993 
  
• Macclesfield Express, 1981, 1985 
  
• Manchester Evening Chronicle, 1935 
  
• Nottingham Guardian, 1877 
  
• Rochdale Observer, 1903 
  
• Rugeley Post, 1999 
  
• Salford Advertiser, 1999 
  
• Sandwell Evening Mail, 1998 
  
• South Wales Echo, 1983 
  
• St. Neots Weekly News, 1997 
  
• Sunday Sun (Newcastle), 1967, 1984-1987, 1991, 1994 
  
• Surrey Mirror, 1969 
  
• Wellingborough & Rushden Herald & Post, 1998 
  
• West Hull Advertiser, 1999 
  
• Weston & Worle News, 1999 
  

The following is an announcement from the University of Massachusetts - Amherst:

The New England Yearly Meeting of Friends Records—rich and voluminous materials of Quakers going back to their mid-17th-century beginnings—will be the focus of a new digitization project by the Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center (SCUA), in the UMass Amherst Libraries. When the project is completed, the vital records and meeting minutes heavily consulted by historians and genealogists will be available in SCUA’s digital repository, Credo, on the web, and through the collaborative Massachusetts digital portal, Digital Commonwealth, of which SCUA is a member. 

Thanks to the efforts of Rob Cox, head of SCUA at the time, the records arrived at UMass Amherst in 2016, after having been on deposit at the Rhode Island Historical Society. Almost immediately, SCUA staff began to receive requests for research help in the collection, many from patrons unable to visit in person. Demand for access to the records, along with the age and fragility of many of the materials, have made digitization imperative. 

“The UMass Libraries are proud to be engaged in the preservation of these rare materials, as they are in high demand by researchers all over the world,” said Nandita Mani, Ph.D., dean of University Libraries. “Our work in digitizing these records not only preserves them for the future, but in fact reduces barriers to access and makes them available to all.” 

Beginning in late January 2023, the first group of 283 bound volumes will be sent off-site to be scanned and will be temporarily unavailable. Digitization will be performed by the Internet Archive scan center, part of the Boston Public Library’s Library for the Commonwealth program, which provides digitization services to Digital Commonwealth members. SCUA staff anticipate the process of digitizing each group of bound volumes will take four to six weeks and that all 787 of the record books will be available online by end of summer 2023. 

SCUA maintains an active partnership with the New England Quakers, jointly stewarding the historical records of the organization. The New England Yearly Meeting of Friends Records includes records of most of the Quarterly and Monthly Meetings, in addition to the Yearly Meeting, as well as documentation of a range of committees and programs created and administered by the Quakers. The vital records have historically been kept by the Monthly Meetings and are probably the most frequently consulted.