The following is a press release written by Accenture:

A team of volunteers from Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has built an artificial intelligence (AI)-based solution that helps extract information on victims of Nazi persecution from documents in the Arolsen Archives 40 times faster than previous efforts.

The Arolsen Archives preserve the world’s largest collection of documents on Nazi persecution — 110 million documents and digital objects, a portion of which are part of UNESCO’s Memory of the World program — to keep the memory of the crimes of the German terror regime alive. An essential part of the Archives’ work is to make these documents accessible to all who wish to search for traces of Holocaust victims and survivors, persecution of minorities and forced labor.

Every document maintained in the archives needs to be reviewed and its information (e.g., the family name and birth date on a prisoner registration form) put into a database. To facilitate this process, the Arolsen Archives established “#everynamecounts,” a crowdsourcing project for volunteers to extract information from documents manually.

Translating, reading, transcribing, cataloging and validating these documents by hand could take decades. Each document is indexed independently by three volunteers and, if the entries don’t match, reviewed for accuracy by an Arolsen Archives employee. In effect, it can take up to four people to index and validate four documents in one hour.

Ian Lever, an Accenture volunteer and a member of the company’s Jewish Employee Resource Group, quickly realized that AI could accelerate this process significantly. Within 10 weeks, he and other Accenture volunteers set up an AI solution to index the documents. Because the AI captures the information faster and increases its accuracy, four volunteers can now validate approximately 160 documents in one hour, a 40-fold increase in productivity.

Working with Accenture’s Solutions.AI team, the volunteers configured an existing Accenture AI solution, which uses optical character recognition and machine learning technology. It indexes documents that are particularly difficult and tedious to extract for humans. These include prisoner and transfer lists with dozens of rows, concentration camp records, and tracing documents, which are inquiries about the locations and fates of family members and loved ones.

Even though the AI does the heavy lifting, human oversight of the process remains important not just to ensure accuracy but also to keep the AI solution learning. By reviewing and correcting information, volunteers “teach” the solution to recognize handwriting characters and abbreviations that were typical for the time. Thanks to their inputs, the AI has gradually improved its precision by 10% within the form field of “mother’s last name.” For the “religion” field, the AI is now operating at 99% confidence.

Since Accenture implemented the AI solution in December 2021, the solution has indexed more than 160,000 names of Nazi persecution victims, extracted information from more than 18,000 documents, and clustered more than 60,000 documents into similar groups to improve identification and analysis.

More than 950 Accenture people have volunteered for the project to date, with Accenture also supporting maintenance and further development of the AI solution.

“We are proud of our people’s efforts to help keep alive the memories of those who endured unimaginable pain and suffering, at a time when antisemitism, racism and ultra-nationalism are rearing their ugly heads again,” said David Metnick, a managing director and executive sponsor of the project at Accenture. “We saw a problem and, in it, an opportunity to live our values and use digital technology for good.”

“We are overwhelmed by how many volunteers support digitizing our archive,” said Floriane Azoulay, director of the Arolsen Archives. “Our collaboration with the Accenture team stands out. It is fantastic that there is now a digital solution to capture the content of documents faster, which helps make more important information about the fates of Nazi persecution victims findable in our online archive.”

Learn more about how Accenture volunteers have helped #everynamecounts.

About Accenture
Accenture is a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries, we offer Strategy and Consulting, Interactive, Technology and Operations services — all powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. Our 699,000 people deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity every day, serving clients in more than 120 countries. We embrace the power of change to create value and shared success for our clients, people, shareholders, partners, and communities. Visit us at accenture.com.

About Arolsen Archives
The Arolsen Archives are the international center on Nazi persecution with the world's most comprehensive archive on the victims and survivors of National Socialism. The collection has information on about 17.5 million people and belongs to UNESCO's Memory of the World. It contains documents on the various victim groups targeted by the Nazi regime and is an important source of knowledge for society today.

Copyright © 2022 Accenture. All rights reserved. Accenture and its logo are trademarks of Accenture.

This document is produced by consultants at Accenture as general guidance. It is not intended to provide specific advice on your circumstances. If you require advice or further details on any matters referred to, please contact your Accenture representative.

Accenture provides the information on an “as-is” basis without representation or warranty and accepts no liability for any action or failure to act taken in response to the information contained or referenced in this publication.

Were your ancestors European immigrants? It is estimated that 85% of immigrants in the century starting in 1820 arrived in New York City, which progressively displaced Boston as the chief port of entry to the United States. Some families arrived from the old country and headed west right away, joining relatives already established, or enticed by amazing claims about land made by the American railroads. However, many others arrived young, found work, married someone from their home country (or not), and started families. Germans, Irish, English, Italian, Polish, Eastern Europeans… their stories are told in the vital records — the civil registrations — begun in the cities of New York and Brooklyn in 1866, and in all 5 boroughs of NYC — New York County or Manhattan, the Bronx, Kings County or Brooklyn, Queens County, and Richmond County or Staten Island — by the time of “consolidation” in 1898. Note that because of its huge volume, New York City vital records are kept in the city; all other New York State vital records are in the local town records and in the central repository in Albany.

9 million certificates online!

Last month, New York’s Department of Records & Information Services (DORIS) which manages the Municipal Archives suddenly opened online to the public — without charge — 9.3 million digitized birth, marriage, and death certificates, some 70% of the total 13.3 million records. You can read more about the collection here. Unfortunately, it is not as easy as it should be to find a certificate with a name search. Let’s look at why.

You can read much more in the Geneanet web site at: https://bit.ly/39jVyJJ.

As an archivist on the Muslims in Canada Archives (MiCA) project, Moska Rokay doesn't just preserve the past – she unearths it. 

Rokay, a graduate of the University of Toronto's master of information program in the Faculty of Information, speaks to Canadians across the country to collect stories, documents and images that bring the rich history of Muslims in Canada to life.

“For instance, many people I have spoken to recall attending a co-ed Muslim youth summer camp in the 1980s and 90s, pre 9/11,” she says. “It’s been fascinating to speak to so many different people who each have fond memories of this time, like playing sports, learning how to canoe, doing arts and crafts, and, of course, participating in lectures on Islam.”

Although it's changed names and locations over the years, the camp still exists as Ontario's Camp Deen. Rokay has spoken to many Muslims across Ontario who has attended what's now known as Camp Deen, as first step toward piecing together the camp's history. 

That's just one example of the kinds of stories in the MiCA project that illuminates how Muslim Canadians fit within Canada's broader historical narrative, says Institute of Islamic Studies Director Anver Emon. 

You can read more in an article published in the University Of Toronto New web site at: https://bit.ly/38Nw3k0

Creators at Crossword Solver have made a database linked with Goodreads.com that will allow searchers to find the top books in the categories of historical, mystery, romance, thriller, sci-fi and fantasy in the setting of their choice.

Information also shows which cities and states are the top in each respective category and how many books are based in those locations.

You can read more in an article written by Dominic Genetti and published in the Edwardsville Intelligencer at https://bit.ly/3KE0o1o.

The deadline for completing Scotland's census has been extended until the end of May because of low completion rates.

Just under a quarter of households have still to send a response to the survey.

The Scottish government said it would keep it open for an extra four weeks, until 31 May.

Scotland's constitution secretary, Angus Robertson, told Holyrood it was important for the government to hear the voices of the households still to return their surveys.

Census letters were sent to 2.7 million homes, representing 5.5 million people.

Two million households have filled in their survey responses, equating to 77.2%, but an estimated 604,000 had still to submit them last week.

You can read more in an article in the BBC News web site at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-61255699.

The following announcement was written by the Augusta Genealogical Society:

Using Maps for Genealogy Research

Using Maps for Genealogy Research

When: Saturday, May 21, 2022 Time: 1:00 - 2:00 pm EST

Where: On Line - Register at www.augustagensociety.org

Registration deadline is May 14

Price: Free to AGS members and $10.00 for nonmembers Speaker:

Phillip Sutton, MSLIS

This presentation will describe how maps in the collections of The New York Public Library and elsewhere can be used in genealogical research. We'll look at fire insurance maps and atlases, military and topographical maps, county maps and atlases, and other types of maps to locate records, discover where our ancestors lived, and what their lives were like.

Philip Sutton is a reference librarian at New York Public Library's Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History, and Genealogy, where he also teaches and writes about genealogy and building history research. Sutton is a visiting Assistant Professor at the Pratt Institute, where he teaches a class in Genealogy and Local History.

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

If you are feeling a bit peckish do you enjoy a bit of scran or docky? Perhaps if you have a sweet tooth then a bag of cooshies or jumbles might hit the spot.

Since the 1950s, the University of Leeds has been home to an extensive library of English dialects – and now the historic archive is accessible to the public. You can learn how your ancestors sounded when they spoke.

During the 1950s and 60s, fieldworkers from the University travelled across the country to record the language and lifestyles of speakers across England, known as the Survey of English Dialects. It remains the most famous and complete survey of dialects in England and the findings have been preserved in the University’s Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture, a unique and nationally important multi-media archive.

Now, the recordings can be heard by the public with the launch of the University’s Dialect and Heritage ‘In Your Words’ Project, led by the School of English and supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

You can read more at the University of Leeds web site at: https://www.leeds.ac.uk/main-index/news/article/5072/historic-dialect-recordings-archive-digitised-for-the-public.

The Vivid-Pix Blog has an interesting story telling how the company installed the Vivid-Pix Memory Station photo digitizing and restoration system to help seniors reminisce and reconnect with loved ones through photography to help reduce dementia. This is especially interesting because the city (Rochester, New York) is the birthplace of modern photography.

The same article briefly describes Memory Station, a one-click scanner/software bundle from Vivid-Pix that helps people digitize, restore, and save precious print images without sending them to a scanning service.

Here is a quote from the article that I consider to be especially relevant:

“By engaging with residents and listening to their insights, we create content that helps them learn and use technology,” described Rick Voight, CEO, Vivid-Pix. “Computers are intimidating. By listening to users, creating clear instructions and motivation, we engage residents to do something they want to do – pull photos from the closet and relive cherished memories. We also get to hear wonderful stories!”

You can read Vivid-Pix Helps Seniors “Tell Your Story” in Rochester, NY at: https://www.vivid-pix.com/blog/vivid-pix-helps-seniors-tell-your-story-in-rochester-ny-the-city-that-brought-photography-to-the-world/

The following announcement was written by Findmypast:

Findmypast adds new UK electoral registers and the 1950 US Census Image Browse 

UK Electoral Registers & Companies House Directors 

Nearly 125 million new records have been added into this existing record set, mostly from the year 2021. An ideal resource for discovering cousins and distant relations, the records can give names, estimated ages and addresses. 

1950 US Census Image Browse 

Entirely free to browse, this once-in-a-decade glimpse into US history could help researchers find relatives’ names, addresses, places of birth, occupations and more. It’s brand new to Findmypast this week, and could be used to trace pond-hopping UK relatives. 

Newspapers 

Five new newspaper titles have been added to the British Newspaper Archive this week, with updates to a further three. 

New titles:

• • City Life Record, 1921
  • Forest Hill & Sydenham Examiner, 1895-1933
  • Insurance Opinion, 1919
  • Managing Engineer, 1918
  • Vigilance Record, 1916

Updated titles:

• • Cheltenham News, 1987
  • Edinburgh Evening News, 1925, 1927-1928, 1930
  • Sydenham, Forest Hill & Penge Gazette, 1882-1894, 1905-1939, 1946-1949, 1951-1962

The following announcement was written by the organizers of the Family History Show:

Saturday 25th June 2022 & Saturday 24th September

The Family History Show is returning to York and London!

After surveying previous attendees, over 81% were looking forward to attending a show in person. With nearly two years of not having the freedom and interaction of a physical show, we found that people were looking forward to enjoying a great day out again, listening to live talks and asking questions face-to-face to experts and exhibitors. We have had many requests to hold another show and we are only too pleased to welcome everyone back!

Help ensure the future of family history events like this by voting with your feet today.

We have the great pleasure of announcing that The Family History Show – York is making a welcome return to the Racecourse at York on Saturday 25th June 2022 and The Family History Show – London to Kempton Park on Saturday 24th September.

Packed with exhibitors attending from all over the UK, plus family history societies and genealogy supplies companies returning at last to a physical show, this long-awaited chance to talk face-to-face with stall holders is a must for your diary.

These events are not just for those who have Yorkshire or London Ancestors – these family history shows will appeal to all visitors. Everyone is very welcome and there will be so much to see throughout the day at both events. There will be plenty of parking, refreshments will be available all day, you can talk with experts who can help with your research queries and watch FREE talks held throughout the day.

These events are organised by family historians for family historians. Do you really know who you are? Come and find out - you may be surprised!

The Knavesmire Exhibition Centre, The Racecourse, York

Each show features:

• Free talks held throughout the day in two large lecture areas
• Book a free personal 1-2-1 session with an expert, or visit our special Expert Panel at the end of the day where our experts combine to give a talk full of handy research tips and answer your questions in a Q&A session.
• Free Parking and Local Train Station
• All Day Refreshments
• Wheelchair Friendly Venue

Early-bird Ticket Offer

Get your tickets now and save, Only £6 (£8 on the day) and you’ll also get a goody bag on entry worth over £17.

Save 50% by getting two tickets for £8 for the York show here: https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/york/tickets/

Talks you can look forward to at the York show include:

Nick Barratt - The Future of Family History

Looking at the ways family history research is changing as a result of technology and the media, with some opportunities that this may present for the future. A timely warning that the excitement around new digital releases should prompt us to think about how we use the wealth of data available.

Mia Bennett - Using DNA to Support Family History Research

This talk is aimed at people who want to practically apply DNA insights to their family history research. DNA is the new tool in our toolkit for helping us take our family history further. It looks at some of the methods and techniques you can use when working with your DNA results. In addition, little tips will be given along with a few practical examples to help you visualise what you need to do to progress your family history research.

Jackie Depelle - Writing Your Family History

Have you done all your family history research and now wondering what to do with it?

Learn how to organise and develop your hard work and research into a framework that can be shared with others, in a variety of different ways. Move on from record sheets and charts.

Keith Gregson - Genealogy Hints and Tips

This talk explores how with research and the right tools you can step back in time looking at where your ancestors lived, worked and spent their leisure time. Following the routes they may have taken, on old maps and looking at the views they may have seen.

Mark Bayley - Breaking Down Brick Walls

Mark shows techniques and data sets that can remove those obstacles to completing your family history.

Mark Bayley - Mapping Your Ancestors

Mark discusses how to get the most out of map-based record sets, what’s available online and demonstrates a fantastic tool for viewing them.

Early-bird Ticket Offer

Get two tickets for £8 for the York show here: https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/york/tickets/

Check out Family History TV on YouTube with their free short videos. These how-to-guides are by leading experts covering a variety of topics. Their speakers specialise in subjects from the world of British Genealogy, Military History, DNA, House History and Social History and many of them are past and present speakers from The Family History Show. Watch a short video now at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMnBEpCg-QwVzkq-zU4GDGg

Find Out More at: https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/