The following announcement was written by Findmypast:

Researching your family history has just got a little easier as six million historic records spanning 457 years is now available online.

This is the first time the entire Sussex Parish Registers collection has been digitised and brought online, in an exclusive collaboration with Ancestry, allowing people to discover information about baptisms, confirmations, marriages, deaths and burials within the historical county of Sussex.

The 125,700 records in this collection can range in date from the early 1500s to the mid- to late-1800s.

Working with the East and West Sussex Record Offices, the records on Ancestry hold detailed information about the ancestors of many of the counties families and will be searchable by parish on the Ancestry website.

You can read more in an article by Charlotte Harding published in the SussexExpress.co.uk web site at: https://bit.ly/3BtHsS7.

This is for advanced DNA experts only:

Opening and processing gene expression data files in Excel runs into the inadvertent risk of converting gene names to dates. As pathway analysis tools rely on gene symbols to query against pathway databases, the genes that are converted to dates will not be recognized, potentially causing voids in pathway analysis. Molecular pathways related to cell division, exocytosis, cilium assembly, protein ubiquitination and nitric oxide biosynthesis were found to be most affected by Excel auto-conversion. A plausible solution is hence to update these genes and dates to the newly approved gene names as recommended by the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC), which are resilient to Excel auto-conversion. Herein, we developed a web tool with Streamlit that can convert old gene names and dates back into the new gene names recommended by HGNC. The web app is named Gene Updater, which is open source and can be either hosted locally or at https://share.streamlit.io/kuanrongchan/date-to-gene-converter/main/date_gene_tool.py. Additionally, as Mar-01 and Mar-02 can each be potentially mapped to 2 different gene names, users can assign the date terms to the appropriate gene names within the Gene Updater web tool. This user-friendly web tool ensures that the accuracy and integrity of gene expression data is preserved by minimizing errors in labelling gene names due to Excel auto-conversions.

See https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-17104-3 for all the details.

The following announcement was written by TheGenealogist:

The Crystal Palace, Penge, in the Bromley Valuation Office records

More than 109,000 new IR58 Valuation Office land tax records for owners and occupiers have been added by TheGenealogist to its Lloyd George Domesday Survey records.

Researchers can now discover all types of interesting details about the homes of their ancestors from the Lewisham and Bromley areas. Diamond subscribers of TheGenealogist can find what their forebears' property was like in the years before WWI using the scanned images of the field books. These documents reveal what the surveyor from the years between 1910 and 1915 recorded about the size, state of repair and value of the house.

Detail from a Field Book from Lewisham Valuation Office area

As all the records are linked to the large scale Ordnance Survey maps that were used at the time, each property is shown plotted on detailed mapping on TheGenealogist’s Map Explorer™. This exceptionally useful tool, with its ability to show the same point on a variety of modern and historical maps, allows the house or family historian to see how the area may have changed over time and to explore their ancestors' locality.

In the case of this release we can see how in Bromley the Crystal Palace was still standing in fine parkland with fountains and other features. The Palace, having burnt down in the 1930s, its footprint is today given over to trees and grass on the modern map views. Across the road from its entrance had been a railway station in 1910 which today has subsequently been completely built over with new homes.

Lloyd George Domesday Survey linked map on Map Explorer™

• • TheGenealogist’s Lloyd George Domesday records link individual properties to extremely detailed maps used in 1910-1915 viewed on the powerful Map Explorer™

• • Fully search the records by person’s name, county, parish and street

• • Maps zoom down to show individual properties where they were plotted in the 1910s

• • Georeferenced to a modern street map or satellite map underlay to more clearly understand what the area looks like today

Total number of Owners and Occupiers in the current release: 109,177

Areas covered in Lewisham (63,451 Owners and Occupiers): Blackheath, Brockley, Catford, Deptford North, Deptford South, Forest Hill, Hatcham, Lee, Lewisham, Lower Sydenham and Upper Sydenham.

Areas released for Bromley (45,726 Owners and Occupiers): Beckenham, Bromley, Chelsfield, Chislehurst, Mottingham, Orpington, Penge, St Mary Cray

Read TheGenealogist’s article: From a Crystal Palace to the home of a Lord Mayor embroiled in scandal https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2022/from-a-crystal-palace-to-the-home-of-a-lord-mayor-embroiled-in-scandal-1593/

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 the Augusta (Georgia) Genealogical Society:

Annual Symposium

2022
Virtual Genealogical Program

Presented by the Augusta Genealogical Society

Augusta, Georgia

When:    Saturday, August 27, 2022

Time:      9:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m  EST

Where:    Online - Register at https://www.augustagensociety.org/

                Registration deadline is August 26, 2022

Price:      $35.00 for AGS members and $45.00 for non-members

Session 1: Guide to the 1950 US Federal Census

Speaker:  Lisa Louise Cooke

Guide to the 1950 U. S. Census. How to find your family in the newly released census by using census tract maps, initially available limited indexes, and what the 1950 Census tells us about our families.

Lisa Louise Cooke is the author of several books including The Genealogist's Google Toolbox.  She produces and hosts the popular Genealogy Gems Podcast and weekly videos at the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel.  She offers a Premium Membership service at her website at https://lisalouisecooke.com featuring exclusive on-demand genealogy education. Lisa also writes a regular column for Family Tree Magazine and produces the Family Tree Magazine Podcast.

Sessions 2, 3 and 4:  Genealogy and DNA

Speaker:  Diane Southard

Session 2: DNA Questions Answered. Understanding the basics of DNA and the terminology that is used.

Session 3: Using YDNA and mtDNA in Your Family History. Learn how both YDNA (thedirect male line), and Mitochondrial DNA (the direct female line) can enliven your familyhistory research.
Session 4: Connecting DNA Matches. How to identify and organize the cousin connections among those in your Autosomal DNA matches. Work together to determine how you are related to your matches and how to use that information to find ancestors.

Diahan Southard is a leading voice for consumer DNA testing, one of the world’s most fascinating, dynamic and socially-transformative new hobbies. As Founder of Your DNA Guide, Diahan teaches internationally, writes for popular magazines, and consults with leading testing companies. She authored Your DNA Guide–The Book and produced Your DNA Guide–the Academy, an online learning experience.

JOIN AGS NOW and enjoy the benefits of several programs, which will be free to members in 2022.

The Augusta Genealogical Society is a non profit organization founded in Augusta, Georgia in September 1979.

NOTE: This article has nothing to do with genealogy. If you are looking for genealogy-related information, I suggest you skip this article.

If you have been reading this newsletter for a while, you probably already know that I am a fanatic for going paperless. Life without paper is good! Also, life without paper can save a lot of time and frustration when later trying to locate and retrieve items.

For instance, a few months ago, I traveled and stayed in a hotel room in Anchorage, Alaska. If I wanted a document or some other bit of information I saved in an earlier week or even in an earlier year, I could quickly retrieve it from my paperless filing system, even from Alaska. Try doing that with paper! To retrieve anything from paper files when needed, I would need to carry a 4-drawer or larger filing cabinet as my carry-on luggage on the plane!

Aaron Couch published an article on the MakeUseOf web site several years ago that describes the easier ways to convert to a paperless existence. Admittedly, I only found the article recently and am impressed with it.

Aaron writes:

"Paperless – a term that is used quite often now days. But what does it mean? And to what extent does it apply? Certainly we all still use paper to some degree despite the advancements in technology, so how can we go completely paperless?

"Well, the truth is, there will likely always be some form of paper, but the problem doesn’t lie in using paper itself, but instead having awareness for the amount used and methods of which it is being used for."

He then describes:

• Alternatives To Printing & Paper Notes
• Print To PDF
• Save As WWF, Save A Tree
• Electronically Sign Documents
• Use Your Smartphone For Notes
• Clip Webpages Instead Of Printing Them
• Cutting Down On [Snail] Mail
• Get Your Bank Statements Via Email
• Fill Out Forms Online
• Email Invoices (For Businesses)
• Get Your News & Information Online
• Unsubscribe From Mailing Lists
• Pay Your Bills Online
• Scan Existing & New Documents
• Use A File Organizer, Preferably With OCR
• Sync Your Documents Across All Devices
• Conclusion: Helpful Methods To Adopt

If you would like to simplify your life, start by reading The Future Is Here – Your Guide to Having a Paperless Life Today by Aaron Couch at http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/future-guide-paperless-life-today/. A related video, How to go Paperless with a Digital Filing System, can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7VJopCHem0.

Also see my earlier article, Possibly the Best (?) Document Scanner for Home and Office Use, at: https://www.eogn.com/page-18080/12284742.

One of the more famous unsolved murder mysteries is that of JonBenet Ramsey, the 6-year-old American child beauty queen who was killed in her family's home in Boulder, Colorado. You can read more about the case in Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_JonBen%C3%A9t_Ramsey.

Now Cece Moore, chief genetic genealogist at Parabon and a well-known person within the genealogy community, has volunteered to become involved.

Moore said Tuesday that it’s possible that Boulder police are working behind the scenes on similar research that doesn’t involve her.

"I’m not involved in it, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t trying," she said. Police often do not discuss genetic genealogy until a case has been solved, in order to avoid tipping off potential suspects, she said.

Boulder police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

You can read a lot more about the latest proposals at: https://fxn.ws/3PE5y0B.

If you own a Google tablet (which primarily means Android devices), you will be interested in the new announcement from the company:

Google announced that it’s updating some of its apps to work better on tablets.

Google introduced Android 12L earlier this year to make tablets easier to use, and at I/O, the company announced plans to update more than 20 Google apps on tablets to optimize them for larger screens. Google said it’s adding several new features for Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Keep to get started on this promise.

The most notable feature announced today is the ability to drag text or images between two Workspace apps when you have them open side-by-side. Google notes that you can now drag text or images from apps, such as Chrome or Sheets, and drop that content right into an existing document or spreadsheet cell. In Google Drive, you’ll be able to quickly upload files by dragging and dropping them into the app. You can also add links to Drive files by dragging the file into an open app like Keep.

Google also announced that you can now open two Drive windows side-by-side to get better insight into your files. To do this, you need to select the three-dot menu on any Drive file and tap on the “Open in new window” option. Google notes that this helps you get the information you need without having to hit the back button multiple times.

You can read more at: https://tcrn.ch/3PZNkGU.

The following is a press release issued by the Tennessee Secretary of State:

James Ritter (Image via TN Sec. of State)

Secretary of State Tre Hargett announces James Ritter has been selected as the next Tennessee State Librarian and Archivist. Ritter, who served as the State Librarian of Maine for the last eight years, started his new position on July 25, 2022.

The State Librarian and Archivist directs operations at the Tennessee State Library & Archives, a division of the Department of State. To preserve Tennessee’s history for current and future generations, the Library & Archives collects and preserves books, records and other documents of historical and reference value, focusing on items about Tennessee and Tennesseans.

The Library & Archives also operates the Tennessee Regional Library System, which provides training and support for public libraries across Tennessee and oversees the Library for Accessible Books & Media, which offers free library services for Tennesseans with disabilities.

“I am proud to welcome Mr. Ritter as our new State Librarian and Archivist,” said Secretary Hargett. “We are fortunate to have someone with his extensive skill set and admirable background to fill this position. I am confident that Mr. Ritter will provide a clear vision and leadership for the State Library & Archives, and he will build on the solid foundation laid by his predecessors.”

Ritter joined the Maine State Library in 2012 and was selected to be the State Librarian of Maine in 2014. Prior to that, he served as the Deputy Director of the Camden Public Library in Camden, Maine. Ritter currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) and has worked extensively with the Maine Library Commission to develop and advocate for legislation to improve Maine’s public libraries. Ritter earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Delaware and a Master of Science in Library and Information Science and a Master of Science in Organizational Creativity and Innovation from Drexel University.

“I am excited to join the incredible team at the Tennessee State Library & Archives, and it’s an honor to be part of a wonderful organization that serves all Tennesseans,” said Ritter. “The investment and the trust that has been placed in the Library & Archives is evident, and I look forward to contributing to the tradition of providing great library and archival services to the people of Tennessee.”

Ritter will replace Charles Sherrill, who retired from the post after 12 years as State Librarian and Archivist.

Kathleen Miller has written an article about an issue that many of us will someday face: when moving into assisted living and if you have years and years of genealogy research, projects and documents, what is the best method of preserving the information and keeping it available to both yourself and to anyone else who may be interested?

Kathleen writes:

"Genealogy is by nature a paper-heavy endeavor. Making good use of storage options will enable your sister-in-law to take her most treasured items with her into her new living space and efficiently store the rest in an accessible way for future generations who may become interested in her research."

You can read Kathleen Miller's suggestions at: https://bit.ly/3cHtamp.