Watching the comments posted to this newsletter's web site prompts many questions: Just how private are the facts that we record? Can we really "protect" our genealogy data? Should I copyright my data? Is my data automatically under copyright protection when I publish? Should I keep my data secret? Is it a good idea to do so? Or should I publish my genealogy data for all to see?

I do not know all the answers, but perhaps I can offer a few thoughts for your digestion.

First of all, there is one major issue that we all need to recognize: facts are not protected by copyright laws in the United States. A collection of facts is public domain information. We might be able to claim a copyright on the originality used in arranging of those facts, and we might be able to claim a compilation copyright on large collections of facts; but each individual fact remains in the public domain.

Next, there is the question of exactly what is “my data.” The genealogy data that I have collected consists of a collection of facts. As already stated, facts are not “owned” or copyrighted by anyone. I don’t own that information, at least not in the legal sense.

Next, most of the genealogy data we collect is obtained from public domain sources. I know that I obtained most of my information from birth records, marriage records, census records, military pension applications, and more. All of these are public domain sources of information and are already available to others, should they wish to look. In no way is the data to be considered "my private data" as I have no ownership over it. I simply transcribed data that is already in the public domain. I copied the information for my personal use, the same way anyone else can do by spending the same effort that I did to find the original (public) records. Therefore, it is not "my" data, it is everyone's public domain data that I happened to transcribe.

In a few cases, I may have supplemented those public facts with even more information that I obtained from family members or other non-public sources. Indeed, I did obtain a few pieces of information from a family Bible in my possession, information that has never been published before. However, the U.S. laws still insist that facts cannot be copyrighted. I interpret this to mean that facts are facts, regardless of the source of information. Whether I obtain a fact from a public record or from a private conversation or from an ancestor's Bible, it is still a fact, is not subject to copyright, and is not owned by me. A family relationship that I learned from a cousin is also a fact, not my "private" bit of information.

Next, what is the purpose of my hiding the information? Am I protecting anybody or any facts? As already mentioned, the facts are mostly public already. Most facts are readily available in public domain census records, birth records, death records and other locations.

I cannot "protect" those facts. In the case of deceased people, I don't see how I am protecting anyone. I never publicize information about living people; so, whether I publish my data online or not, I am not protecting anyone.

I have seen arguments that "Other people may take my data and republish it." In my mind, that's a good thing. If I have done a good job of research, wouldn't I want the correct information to be available to other descendants of these people, my distant cousins?

Next, I have seen arguments that "Other people publish inaccurate information, so I don't trust them and I will not publish my information." This strikes me as self-defeating: you are allowing their inaccurate information to remain unchallenged and uncorrected. When others search the web, they will find incorrect information and will probably perpetuate it by republishing those errors themselves. If you have correct information, it seems to me that you could do more good by publishing the correct information and thereby refuting the errors.

If you collect stories about the family and retell them in narrative form, you may be able to claim copyrights and “ownership” of those stories. However, that ownership excludes the facts buried within the stories. Facts are still facts and are not protected by copyrights or by any other legal protections in the United States.

Again, I do not have all the answers; but there is one thing that I am certain of: private individuals do not own “facts.”

WARNING: This article contains personal opinions.

It seems that every two or three months, I publish sad news about important records and artifacts being lost forever. Sometimes fires damage or destroy library or archive buildings and all the contents: including records, books, family histories, cemetery records, plat maps, military uniforms, and more. In other articles, I have written about similar losses caused by floods, hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, burst water pipes, leaky roofs, and even about buildings collapsing. Genealogists, historians, art lovers, and others often lose irreplaceable items.

With a little bit of planning, the worst of these tragedies could be averted or at least minimized.

I would suggest that copies be made of everything that is valuable to today's genealogists and historians as well as to future generations. Items such as church records, school yearbooks, family histories, wartime scrapbooks, cemetery records, and plat maps should be scanned NOW and have multiple copies stored in different locations. No single future fire or flood or other disaster should ever be able to destroy the only copy of such treasures.

I would not limit the digitization efforts to paper documents and photographs. I would suggest that museums also should be digitizing high-resolution pictures of paintings, sculptures, handicrafts, military uniforms, and much, much more.

Of course, looking at a digital image is never as satisfying as holding the original item in your hands. Digitizing is not a perfect solution for all purposes. Nonetheless, using a digital image is still much better than holding a few charred remnants of a valuable document or a priceless painting.

Of course, once an item has been digitized, it is easily shared, at the organization's discretion. Such images can be shared with distant patrons who may never have the opportunity to visit in person. Access can be made free or kept behind a "pay wall," at the option of the organization. Many museums and libraries find they now serve many more patrons online than they could ever accommodate in person.

Creating high-resolution digital images of art objects is also valuable when filing a claim with an insurance company.

Digitizing documents is easy. Making true copies of statues, military uniforms, farm machinery, and other physical objects is more or less impossible. Even so, I would suggest that high-resolution, color pictures of these items should be digitized and stored off-site. That's an imperfect solution, of course, but is still better than looking at a mass of molten metal or burnt cloth and trying to imagine what it used to be.

I have read numerous articles about various art museums' efforts to digitize the great art treasures of the world. A digital copy will never approach the experience of standing in front of a painting or a sculpture created by one of the Old Masters, but a digital image is still a better substitute than a destroyed or stolen painting or statue. A digital image still provides at least some value to art students and aficionados worldwide.

I don't think anyone would ever recommend making a single copy of documents on microfilm or even on computer disks and then storing that single copy in the same building with the collection. By digitizing the images, multiple copies can be made and easily stored in many locations at minimal expense. If that is done, the odds of any one disaster having an impact on future research are minimized. Of course, those copies need to be updated every few years, copied to new storage media as the technology changes. Luckily, this is easy to do, too. Through occasional “data maintenance,” scanned images of our treasures can be preserved for centuries.

Do you belong to a historical society, a genealogical society, a library, or some other organization that holds a unique and valuable collection? If so, what is that organization doing to ensure that their priceless possessions will be available for examination by future generations?

NOTE: This article isn't about genealogy, DNA, or any of the other topics of this newsletter. However, it describes how to save money while using your computer to perform additional tasks you could not do previously:

You can read 8 Calling Apps to Make Free Phone Calls From Anywhere by Crystal Crowder at https://www.maketecheasier.com/free-phone-call-apps/.

NOTE: Notice the first question in the Frequently-Asked-Questions (FAQs) near the end of the article:

Question: Are calls on free call apps private?

Answer: There is no guarantee that your calls are private when using free calling apps. Check the privacy policy of any app before you use it.

If you want privacy, check out Signal at https://signal.org/. Signal is very private as all conversations (including 2-way video) are encrypted. It is also available free of charge. 

I use Signal frequently. I found it easy to install and easy to use.

The major drawback of Signal is that everyone in the conversation must have Signal software installed on their cell phone or desktop computer or tablet computer or iPad touch in order to communicate.

MyHeritage.com is proud to announce that the company added 22 record collections with 12.8 million historical records from across the globe, including the U.S., Canada, Belgium, France, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Ukraine. Many of the collections include images and contain vital records such as birth, baptism, marriage, death, cemetery, emigration, and census records. Some of the collections go back as early as the 16th century. If you have roots in any of these countries, you may find valuable discoveries about your ancestors.

Searching the new collections on MyHeritage is free. To view the records or to save records to your family tree, you’ll need a Data or Complete plan.

If you have a family tree on MyHeritage, our Record Matching technologies will notify you automatically if records from these collections match your relatives. You’ll then be able to review the record and decide if you’d like to add the new information to your tree.

Enjoy the new collections!

A list of the new collections may be found in the MyHeritage Blog at: https://blog.myheritage.com/2022/07/22-historical-record-collections-added-in-june-2022/.

Do you have an old Windows or Macintosh system that you have since replaced? For instance, how about that older computer that is now simply sitting in a closet gathering dust? Here's a suggestion: simply convert it to a Chromebook.

I say "simply" because that is what it is: a very simple conversion. All you need is the old computer plus a flashdrive (that is only used during the conversion).

This works well especially if the older, no-longer-used computer is a laptop. However, the conversion also works well for desktop systems. You can then use the newly-converted system as a traveling laptop (assuming it is a laptop) or as a second system for use at home or at the vacation cottage or for a gift to a non-computer-literate senior citizen or to an adolescent or for most any reason you might want a second (or third or fourth or ???) computer. Best of all, it is FREE (if you already have an older, working computer).

For the reasons why you might want to have a Chromebook, see A Google Chromebook Should Be Your Next Laptop And Here's Why by Ian Morris published in Forbes at https://bit.ly/3B0cd0W.

I travel a lot and usually take only a Chromebook with me on trips simply because a Chromebook is cheap. I won't feel too bad if the (cheap) Chromebook gets stolen or damaged. That would be much less of a financial loss than having the same thing happen to my (much more expensive) MacBook Pro system.

Chromebooks work well for about 95% of why most people use computers. It reads and writes email, surfs the web, plays games, reads the news and sports, accesses social media sites, and much more. You probably won't want to use it for editing videos but, then again, that is something for which you probably want to use a $1,000+ Mac or Windows system anyway.

Google has officially released ChromeOS Flex, a method of replacing the operating system on older PCs and Macs that essentially turns them into Chromebooks.

The idea is that if you have an aging Windows (or Mac that can't run macOS 12 Monterey), then you can install ChromeOS Flex on it using a bootable USB stick and then try out what Google's cloud-first operating system has to offer.

If you're not yet ready to install ChromeOS Flex on devices, you can temporarily run it using the USB installer. That way, you can test and verify that device functionality works as expected. For more help on the installation and configuration process, consult the ChromeOS Flex installation guide at. https://bit.ly/3odSyD6.

Google claims that ChromeOS Flex (as used on Chromebooks) will allow you to "easily try modern computing with cloud-based management" while extending the lifespan of older devices, thereby reducing e-waste.

I agree with Google's claims. (I love my Chromebook.)

Want to spend an hour or so breathing new life and useful productivity into an old and no-longer-used laptop or desktop? To learn more, go to https://chromeenterprise.google/os/chromeosflex/.

Families come in all shapes and sizes. MyHeritage users can now specify up to three sets of parents for any individual in the online family tree: biological, adoptive, and foster. For example, if an individual was adopted and his or her biological parents are known, both relationships can now be accommodated in the family tree in a few simple steps.

You can read a lot more in the MyHeritage Blog at: https://bit.ly/3yOKkGf

Reference archivist Cara Griggs leads a webinar exploring the changes in the naturalization process and related records such as passenger lists from the late 19th century through 1952. She will describe records in the holdings of the Library of Virginia as well as records that may be found in courthouses, online, and from the National Archives and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Bureau and place them in their historical contexts. Contact Ashley Ramey Craig at ashley.ramey@lva.virginia.gov or 804.692.3001 for more information.

$15 ($10 for Library of Virginia members). Registration required.

You can read more at: https://bit.ly/3O9aZDu.

The State Historical Society of Missouri has released a series of 12 workshop videos aimed at teaching basic genealogy techniques. Hosted by Bill Eddleman, a professional genealogist and associate director of the SHSMO Cape Girardeau Research Center, each episode explores a different resource used to locate ancestor information and trace family history.

Earlier this year, the U.S. National Archives released the latest census records allowed by law–those from 1950. Census records are an important tool in family history research, and Eddleman discusses the census, its history and its use in genealogy.

“The census is really the workhorse for many genealogists,” Eddleman said in part three of the series. “We learn a lot from the census, and it’s generally pretty accessible.”

Basic Genealogy is free and available online. The series explains how to use land, court, probate, and vital records to find and follow the chronicles of an ancestor’s life.

You can learn more in an article in the Hannibal Courier-Post web site at: https://bit.ly/3Oa5ynJ.

The following announcement was written by the folks at TheGenealogist:

All English Tithe Maps are now georeferenced to modern and historic maps

Family historians can now search the complete National Tithe Record Collection for England and view their ancestors’ land and homes plotted through the ages on Victorian Tithe maps, as well as on today's Modern Street and Satellite maps.

TheGenealogist’s powerful Map Explorer™, which has seen a number of records added in recent months, will now also benefit from the inclusion of Tithe Maps and Records for five extra counties of England. With Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Nottinghamshire and Sussex joining those that had previously been released means that TheGenealogist now has all of the English counties’ Tithe Records and Maps available to its Diamond subscribers on Map Explorer™.

Map Explorer™ georeferences a Tithe Plot to various historical and modern maps

Tithe records cover the majority of the country and were created by the 1836 Tithe Commutation Act which required tithes in kind to be converted to monetary payments called tithe rentcharge. The Tithe Survey was established to find out which areas were subject to tithes, who owned them, who occupied the various parcels of land, the usage of the land, how much was payable and to whom and so generated these maps and apportionment books.

With Map Explorer™ researchers have the ability to pinpoint a record to the exact same coordinates on various historical and modern maps. Family and house historians are therefore able to see where an ancestor’s land plot was throughout the eras, even when the landscape has completely changed over the years.

• Total number of maps in this release is 1,310
• Total pins on georeferenced plots added in this release is 673,352
• Map Explorer™ now has a total number of 11,804 georeferenced Tithe maps to view
• 5,202,983 georeferenced parcels of tithable land are now on Map Explorer™, indicated by map pins
• Tithes usefully record all levels of society from large estate owners to occupiers of small plots, such as a homestead or similar, as we discover in this weeks’ case study.

See TheGenealogist’s article: Plotting A Victorian Farmer’s Home Over Time

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2022/plotting-a-victorian-farmers-home-over-time-1587/

Find out more at TheGenealogist.co.uk/maps/

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!

The following announcement was written by Findmypast:

Here’s a rundown of our five new US collections released by Findmypast this week – ideal for those tracing their US ancestry.

Pennsylvania, List of British Prisoners in the War of Revolution

Within this collection, you'll find British and German Hessian soldiers who were captured during the war, giving you an insight into their military experience. Information you may find alongside an ancestor's name includes their ship or unit, where and when they were captured, and occasionally extra remarks such as whether or not they were being considered for a military exchange.

Pennsylvania, Episcopalian Births and Baptisms

If you're looking into more recent US history, this collection contains over 117,000 Episcopalian births and baptisms from the late 1600s to the mid 1900s. The Episcopalian Church were of Protestant faith, and though they were governed separately, were considered to work in full cooperation with the Church of England. It is also possible that you may find those born outside of the US in parish records across England, Scotland and Wales. The information in this collection varies record to record, but will include a combination of event year (birth or baptism), full name, parents' names and parish, meaning you could discover more than one generation to add to your family tree.

Pennsylvania, Episcopalian Marriages

If you've found an ancestor in the previous collection, there's a high chance you'll trace them through our Episcopalian marriages, comprising an immense 153,000 records. These records will give you date of marriage, spouse's name, any witnesses to the marriage and often the person who officiated the ceremony.

Pennsylvania, Episcopalian Deaths and Burials

If you've traced your Episcopalian ancestors this far, don't stop now. Close their journey with a death or burial record. There are over 135,000 records in this collection, and you could find information ranging from place, parish, and death or burial year.

Pennsylvania, Episcopalian Congregational Records

You've discovered entire lifetimes in our new Episcopalian records, but what about their activity within the church? Have a browse through these congregational records to see what you can discover. The original Anglican congregations in Pennsylvania included Christ Church, Philadelphia (est. 1695), Trinity Church, Oxford (est. 1698), St David’s, Radnor (Est 1700) and St. Thomas, Whitemarsh (est. 1702). Originally, there was only one diocese throughout the entirety of Pennsylvania, but in 1865, the Diocese of Pittsburgh was established to encompass every parish west of the Allegheny Mountains. By 1910, there were several dioceses spanning across the state, and by the 1920s these dioceses saw a vastly increasing growth in population. The type of records will differ per collection, but you may be able to find registers of communion, vestry minutes, membership lists and administrative records.

Newspapers

Findmypast is offering nearly 132,000 new pages for you this week, including new London title the Lewisham Borough News. Have a read through the full list of new and updated titles below.

New titles:

• • Lewisham Borough News

Updated titles:

• • Aris’s Birmingham Gazette, 1741, 1746, 1761, 1772, 1791, 1798, 1800-1801, 1803-1804, 1808-1809, 1813, 1817
  • Black & White, 1901, 1903-1904
  • Bromley Chronicle, 1893
  • Bromley Journal and West Kent Herald, 1903-1904
  • Bucks Advertiser & Aylesbury News, 1836-1837, 1839-1840, 1843-1844, 1846-1850, 1852, 1856, 1866-1868, 1870-1871, 1873, 1875-1889, 1891-1895, 1898-1910, 1913-1919, 1922, 1925-1926, 1928, 1930, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1940, 1947-1950, 1952-1953
  • Chelsea News and General Advertiser, 1991
  • Derbyshire Times, 1910, 1913, 1916, 1918, 1927
  • East Galway Democrat, 1937
  • Munster Tribune, 1960
  • Ottawa Free Press, 1905, 1916
  • Sunday Sun (Newcastle), 1939, 1990
  • Wallington & Carshalton Herald, 1881