Long Island University's Palmer School of Library and Information Science announced the publication of "Digitizing Local History Sources," a groundbreaking five-year project and website offering the public access to more than 65,000 pages of historical materials from 45 participating historical societies across Long Island. The endeavor was funded by a $1.5 million grant from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation.

One of the highlights of the project is the Bert Morgan Collection, which contains more than 600 images digitized from negatives held by the Southampton History Museum. Morgan, a prominent high society photographer, documented the "social set" and events in Southampton from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Among the locations are the Shinnecock Hills Golf Course, the Southampton Bathing Corporation ("Beach Club"), and the Meadow Club of Southampton. The Bert Morgan collection can be viewed here: [https://liu.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/SO_3ad937de-be29-4001-9633-11a91e29a789/]

Ranked among the "Best Archival Science Programs" in the country by U.S. News & World Report, the Palmer School has offered 105 master's and doctoral students the ability to digitize the documents since the project launched in 2017.

"Students of the Palmer School have become world-renowned archivists, historians and librarians," said Long Island University President Kimberly R. Cline. "I am proud that LIU can offer them a unique experiential learning opportunity that will forever preserve the history of Long Island."

You can access the collection online at https://liu.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/SO_3ad937de-be29-4001-9633-11a91e29a789/.

Family Tree Magazine has published an article that will interest many genealogists: "Genealogy Blogs from Around the World (and Why They’re Valuable)."

“Starting family history research in another country is like traveling there for the first time. You don’t know the nuances of record-keeping, the ins and outs of repositories, or even how to read the country’s records. It can help to have a friendly local as your guide. Where can you find such a guide? Try the international geneablogging scene. Amateurs and experts from Argentina to Australia, British Columbia to the British Isles note their successes, tips and techniques in genealogy weblogs, or ‘geneablogs.’ In this whirlwind world tour, we’ll introduce you to 40 fantastic international blogs, and help you find, read and use them in your research.”

You can find the article written by Sunny Jane Morton at https://www.familytreemagazine.com/websites/genealogy-blogs/.

Here is something that perhaps most genealogists never considered: how to catch a violent criminal by using the genealogist's own blood sample.

Genetic genealogists like CeCe Moore are cracking cold cases and transforming policing. As DNA analysis redefines ancestry and anonymity, what knowledge should we be permitted to unlock?

You can read an interesting article about all this written by Raffi Khatchadourian and published in The New Yorker at: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/11/22/how-your-family-tree-could-catch-a-killer.

Here is a notice I received from MyHeritage today (and I am ready to travel):

The following is a message posted to the IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee's mailing list and is republished here with permission. Please note the reference to the "Death Master File (LADMF)." That is something that genealogists usually refer to as the "United States Social Security Death Index (SSDI)":

The National Technical Information Service (NTIS), part of the US Department of Commerce,  posted a notice on limited access to the Death Master File (LADMF).  The NTIS established a certification program for those seeking access to the Limited Access Death Master File (LADMF) pursuant to Section 203 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 (Pub. L. 113-67). Section 203 authorizes NTIS to charge fees sufficient to cover the costs associated with the certification program. The associated regulations can be found at 15 C.F.R Part 1110 et seq.

The certification program limits access to LADMF information to those persons certified under the program. Certified persons, also called Subscribers, must have a legitimate fraud prevention interest, or have a legitimate business purpose pursuant to a law, governmental rule, regulation, or fiduciary duty in order to be certified under the program.  The requirements are such that it makes it extremely difficult for individuals to meet the requirements.

To access the LADMF go to: https://www.ntis.gov/ladmf/ladmf.xhtml and follow the steps for review, paying for certification which includes certification, attestation and firewall and submit forms.

To read the previous postings about the 2013 Omnibus Reconciliation Act and the Department of Commerce regulations  go to the archives of the IAJGS Records Access Alert at:  http://lists.iajgs.org/mailman/private/records-access-alerts/. Note the archives are listed by date and the historical postings are in late 2013-2015.   You must be registered to access the archives.  To register go to: http://lists.iajgs.org/mailman/listinfo/records-access-alerts  and follow the instructions to enter your email address, full name and which genealogical  organization with whom you are affiliated. You will receive an email response that you have to reply to or the subscription will not be finalized.

Jan Meisels AllenChairperson
IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

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

Let's say you are at a county courthouse looking at old land records, and you find what you have been looking for: the transcription of your ancestor's deed showing his purchase of property. Of course, you need a copy; but the only available copy machine doesn't handle oversized documents. Even more important, you always prefer a digital image whenever possible as it is easier to store, copy, and include in your reports. However, there is no scanner available. What to do?

Use your cell phone's camera!

Most modern-day cell phones include cameras of 5 megapixels resolution or more. In fact, the current iPhone includes an 12-megapixel camera while most of today's Android cameras include the same or even higher resolution. (Beware of cameras claiming 20 or more megapixels. Those claims are technically correct, but those cameras take pictures that are usually “digitally enhanced” with the result being an 8- or 12-megapixel image.)

A 12-megapixel image—assuming it was created by properly-focused lenses and a high-quality sensor—will produce a BETTER image than does the typical photocopy machine. Cameras also easily handle oversized documents. Finally, a digital image can easily be saved anywhere, copied, sent by email, or used in almost any imaginable manner. You won't be required to insert quarters into a machine, either.

To be sure, my favorite method of digitizing paper is to use the desktop scanner I have at home. However, that isn't very useful when I am someplace else.

One drawback of the tablet computer and stage stand is that I do not carry them with me everywhere. If I find myself in need of a digital copy at other times, I revert to my second-favorite method: use my cell phone's camera.

With appropriate software installed, a smartphone becomes a pocket photocopier and scanner. Of course, you can always take a picture of any document at any time without using any extra software. However, if you take hundreds or even thousands of such pictures, you may find some difficulty when searching for the one image you need months later. Use of a document management program will make those images more useful and easier to find and retrieve.

I digitize most everything worth keeping. I digitize copies of ancestors' deeds, my insurance papers, prescriptions, bills, vegan recipes, magazine articles, motor vehicle registrations, my driver's license, my passport, receipts for income tax purposes, receipts from the automobile's last oil change, and anything else that I wish to keep. I typically use my Android camera several times a day to digitize various pieces of paper. Once digitized, I throw away about 99.9% of the paper. I store all my documents in the cloud as well as copies on the desktop and laptop computers. In addition, I can quickly retrieve any document at any time, even on my cell phone, wherever I am, as long as I have a decent cell phone signal. That can be handy when at the doctor's office, the motor vehicle department, or most anyplace else.

At this time I have digitized more than 3,000 documents, and all of them are available to me within seconds as long as I have my cell phone with me. I would hate to travel with all those documents on paper as the briefcase would be very heavy! Using digitized documents is faster and easier than using paper. Using proper backup techniques, digitized images also will last much longer than paper copies. That is especially true of those cash register receipts that seem to start fading away within weeks after being printed. Electronic images of the same documents, however, can remain readable for centuries. Assuming you have multiple digital copies stored in multiple locations, you no longer have to worry about fading ink, fire, flood, burst water pipes, mold, mildew, rodent damage, or any of the other things that easily destroy paper.

As soon as you start using a cell phone camera regularly to digitize documents, you will run into a document management issue: how do you quickly and easily find the one document you seek from the thousands you have stored?

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/12123000.

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 announcement was written by Findmypast:

Commemorate the sacrifices made by our military ancestors with this week’s latest Findmypast Friday update.

Indian Army Service Records, 1900-1947

Did your ancestor serve in the Indian Army in the first half of the twentieth century? If so, this small but fascinating collection held at the British Library could shed new light on their story.

Spanning five decades and both world wars, these newly-released Indian Army records contain detailed service information for more than 12,000 personnel. From captains to conductors, colonels to cooks, these transcripts could provide invaluable insights into the careers of those that served. 

Each transcript also includes the corresponding British Library reference which means that having identified your soldier in this index, you can arrange to have the papers copied at the British Library.

Greater Burnley Roll of Honour

Search these records to uncover details of over 4,000 men who gave their lives for King and country in a book compiled and published by The Burnley Express 'to the memory of the fallen heroes of Greater Burnley' in Lancashire.

This poignant tally of casualties shows how many Burnley families lost numerous loved ones, such as the Hall family of Padiham who lost four sons and the Bolton family of Newchurch had two officer sons killed at Gallipoli and a third officer son who died of wounds as a PoW in a German hospital in 1918.

Each entry provides a variety of details such as ranks, regiments, honours & awards, home address, date & location of death and, in some cases, even cause of death.

Free access to all military records

Findmypast’s entire collection of world military records free to search and explore from now until 10:00am GMT Monday 15 November. Commemorate the sacrifices of your military ancestors by discovering their stories with over 106 million free records from the UK, Ireland, North America, Australia, New Zealand, British India and beyond.

From service records, pensions and rolls of honour to medals, casualties, personnel lists, burials and much more, explore documents spanning more than three centuries and covering a wide variety of conflicts ranging from the Napoleonic, American Revolutionary, Crimean and Boar Wars to both World Wars and beyond.

The above title obviously is not true. There are many obvious fairy tales published online and sites containing claims of genealogy records seem to have more inaccuracies than most other types of web site.

Here is an example of one that I received in an email message today from a newsletter reader:

"I really appreciated you article a while back about peer reviewed work and including all assertions.

"I just discovered two separate examples, one on FamilySearch FamilyTree and the other on an Ancestry public tree. On the FamilySearch FamilyTree, someone added a new wife and her six children. The Ancestry tree had five additional children born and added to a young mother after her death."

Reminder: Just because you read it online doesn't make it true.  Keep that in mind as you search for information online.

The Internet Archive is a valuable research tool for genealogists. I know that I have used it thousands of times and suspect others have done the same. Now two items concerning the Internet Archive are in the news:

1. The organization is 25 years old
2. The non-profit Internet Archive needs money

The following is an extract from an article by Tom Foremski  published in the ZD Net web site:

The San Francisco-based Internet Archive celebrates 25 years preserving the history of the internet, TV, and radio broadcasts. It is currently storing 475 billion web pages, 28 million scans of books and texts, and 14 million audio recordings -- adding up to 30 petabytes of data and beyond.

The Internet Archive has collected writings from more than one hundred million people so far. Brewster Kale, the Internet Archive's founder, says the organization's goal is to reach one billion individuals. 

"Now more than ever before, we need your help to continue collecting, preserving, and sharing our digital cultural artifacts," writes Kale. "We can have platforms and systems that are driven by altruism, not advertising models. We can have a world with many winners, where people participate, learn, and find new communities."

You can read more at: https://zd.net/3wHCxc4. 

The following is the press release from 23andme discussing the company's latest financial results:

Second quarter revenue of $55 million

Recent addition of telemedicine platform further advances vision of individualized primary care that empowers consumers to live healthier lives

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov. 10, 2021 -- 23andMe Holding Co. (ME) (“23andMe”), a leading consumer genetics and research company, today reported its financial results for the second quarter (“Q2”) of its fiscal year 2022 (“FY2022”), which ended September 30, 2021.

“With the addition of telemedicine and pharmacy services to our Personal Genome Service products and services, we significantly advance our efforts to provide consumers with convenient access to personalized, proactive and genetically-based health services,” said Anne Wojcicki, CEO and Co-Founder of 23andMe. “We are also pleased with the progress of our therapeutics pipeline. Our partner, GSK, expects to report clinical data from the CD96 program in 2022. In addition, we expect to start a clinical trial with our wholly owned P006 program by the end of fiscal year 2022.”

Recent Highlights

• • Completed the acquisition of Lemonaid Health, Inc (“Lemonaid Health”), an on-demand platform for accessing medical care and pharmacy services online
  • Expanded customer database to 11.9 million genotyped customers
  • Launched three new reports for customers subscribed to 23andMe+, a membership service that offers insights and features to give members even more actionable information to live healthier lives. These new reports use machine learning to create a statistical model that estimates a person’s likelihood of developing a specific condition. The new reports released in the second quarter were:
    • A gallstones report that uses 6,950 genetic markers, along with a customer’s ethnicity and sex, to estimate a person’s likelihood of developing gallstones
    • An HDL cholesterol report that uses 15,825 genetic markers, along with a customer’s ethnicity and sex, to estimate the likelihood of an individual having low HDL (or “good”) cholesterol
    • A gestational diabetes report that uses a person’s ethnicity and more than 6,000 genetic variants associated with developing gestational diabetes mellitus to estimate a person’s likelihood of developing this condition.
  • Reported on key genetic research findings in Q2, including findings regarding COVID-19 vaccines reactions, health implications of e-cigarette use and genes associated with longer reproductive lifespan in women
  • Added a new ancestry analysis, which offers additional insights into some customers’ indigenous genetic ancestry from North America.
  • Added a new board member: Sandra R. Hernández, President and CEO of the California Health Care Foundation

“We made good progress on advancing our consumer health services segment with product enhancements, such as new genetic health risk reports and the acquisition of Lemonaid Health. These additions are aimed at extending our personalized and customer-centric philosophy to help people live healthier lives,” said Steve Schoch, Chief Financial Officer of 23andMe. “While we will be updating guidance next quarter to include the effects of the Lemonaid Health acquisition, currently, our prior full-year guidance for 23andMe, excluding the consolidation of Lemonaid Health, is consistent with our current view of expected performance.”

FY2022 Second Quarter Financial Results
Total revenue for the three- and six-months ended September 30, 2021, was $55 million and $114 million, respectively, representing increases of 7% and 15%, respectively, for the same periods in the prior year. This revenue growth was primarily due to higher Personal Genome Service (“PGS”) kit sales and subscriptions, a service that is still in its first year post launch.

Consumer services revenue represented approximately 81% of total revenue for the three and six months ended September 30, 2021, and research services revenue, substantially all derived from the collaboration with GSK, accounted for approximately 19% of total revenue.

Operating expenses for the three- and six-months ended September 30, 2021 were $74 million and $147 million, respectively, compared to $61 million and $120 million for the same periods in the prior year. The increase in operating expenses was primarily attributable to the increase in research and development expenses related to our therapeutics programs along with sales and marketing expenses intended to grow the consumer business.

Net loss for the three- and six-months ended September 30, 2021 was $17 million and $59 million, respectively, compared to net losses of $36 million and $72 million for the same periods in the prior year. The improvement in net loss was primarily driven by changes in fair value of warrant liabilities of $30 million and $29 million, respectively, for the three and six months ended September 30, 2021. It is anticipated that there could be significant changes in the fair value of the warrant liabilities from quarter to quarter.

Total Adjusted EBITDA (as defined below) for the three and six months ended September 30, 2021 was $(30) million and $(57) million, respectively, compared to $(20) million and $(40) million for the same periods in the prior year. The decrease in total Adjusted EBITDA was driven primarily by an increase in research and development expenses related to our therapeutics programs and sales and marketing expenses designed to grow the consumer business. Adjusted EBITDA for the three- and six-months ended September 30, 2021 for the Consumer & Research Services segment was $(0.8) million and $(1.3) million, respectively, compared to $1.8 million and $(2.5) million for the same periods in the prior year.

Balance Sheet
23andMe ended Q2 FY2022 with cash of $701 million, compared to $282 million as of March 31, 2021. The increase was attributable to the $560 million in gross proceeds from the completion of the business combination during the first quarter of FY2022. Subsequent to the end of Q2 FY2022, 23andMe paid approximately $102 million in cash consideration for the acquisition of Lemonaid Health, of which approximately $13 million was placed in escrow to cover a potential purchase price adjustment and to secure the indemnification obligations of the former equity holders of Lemonaid Health.

FY2022 Financial Guidance
Our previous full-year FY2022 guidance, excluding the effects of the Lemonaid Health acquisition, is unchanged. Updated FY2022 guidance, including the effects of the Lemonaid Health acquisition, will be provided with our third quarter update. For purposes of our net loss guidance, due to the unpredictable nature of market-driven changes, we have assumed no net change in the fair value of warrant liability for the year.

Conference Call Webcast Information
23andMe will host a conference call at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, November 10, 2021 to discuss the financial results for Q2 FY2022 and report on business progress. The webcast can be accessed on the day of the event at https://investors.23andme.com/news-events/events-presentations. A webcast replay will be available at the same address for a limited time within 24 hours after the event.

About 23andMe
23andMe, headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, is a leading consumer genetics and research company. Founded in 2006, the company’s mission is to help people access, understand, and benefit from the human genome. 23andMe has pioneered direct access to genetic information as the only company with multiple FDA authorizations for genetic health risk reports. The company has created the world’s largest crowdsourced platform for genetic research, with approximately 80 percent of its customers electing to participate. The 23andMe research platform has generated more than 180 publications on the genetic underpinnings of a wide range of diseases, conditions, and traits. The platform also powers the 23andMe Therapeutics group, currently pursuing drug discovery programs rooted in human genetics across a spectrum of disease areas, including oncology, respiratory, and cardiovascular diseases, in addition to other therapeutic areas. More information is available at www.23andMe.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including, without limitation, statements regarding the future performance of 23andMe’s businesses in consumer genetics and therapeutics and the growth and potential of its proprietary research platform. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included or incorporated in this press release, including statements regarding 23andMe’s strategy, financial position, funding for continued operations, cash reserves, projected costs, plans, and objectives of management, are forward-looking statements. The words "believes," "anticipates," "estimates," "plans," "expects," "intends," "may," "could," "should," "potential," "likely," "projects," “predicts,” "continue," "will," “schedule,” and "would" or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology, are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These forward-looking statements are predictions based on 23andMe’s current expectations and projections about future events and various assumptions. 23andMe cannot guarantee that it will actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in its forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on 23andMe’s forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (many of which are beyond the control of 23andMe), or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein are also subject to other risks and uncertainties that are described in 23andMe’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2021 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on August 13, 2021 and in the reports subsequently filed by 23andMe with the SEC. The statements made herein are made as of the date of this press release and, except as may be required by law, 23andMe undertakes no obligation to update them, whether as a result of new information, developments, or otherwise.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measure

To supplement the 23andMe’s unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations and unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets, which are prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”), this press release also includes references to Adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP financial measure that 23andMe defines as net income before net interest expense (income), net other expense (income), changes in fair value of warrant liabilities, depreciation and amortization of fixed assets, amortization of internal use software, non-cash stock-based compensation expense, acquisition-related costs, and expenses related to restructuring and other charges, if applicable for the period. 23andMe has provided a reconciliation of net loss, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, to Adjusted EBITDA at the end of this press release.

Adjusted EBITDA is a key measure used by 23andMe’s management and the board of directors to understand and evaluate operating performance and trends, to prepare and approve 23andMe’s annual budget and to develop short- and long-term operating plans. 23andMe provides Adjusted EBITDA because 23andMe believes it is frequently used by analysts, investors and other interested parties to evaluate companies in its industry and it facilitates comparisons on a consistent basis across reporting periods. Further, 23andMe believes it is helpful in highlighting trends in its operating results because it excludes items that are not indicative of 23andMe’s core operating performance. In particular, 23andMe believes that the exclusion of the items eliminated in calculating Adjusted EBITDA provides useful measures for period-to-period comparisons of 23andMe’s business. Accordingly, 23andMe believes that Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information in understanding and evaluating operating results in the same manner as 23andMe’s management and board of directors.

In evaluating Adjusted EBITDA, you should be aware that in the future 23andMe will incur expenses similar to the adjustments in this presentation. 23andMe’s presentation of Adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as an inference that future results will be unaffected by these expenses or any unusual or non-recurring items. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation of, or as an alternative to, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. Other companies, including companies in the same industry, may calculate similarly-titled non-GAAP financial measures differently or may use other measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of Adjusted EBITDA as a tool for comparison. There are a number of limitations related to the use of these non-GAAP financial measures rather than net loss, which is the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP. Some of the limitations of Adjusted EBITDA include (i) Adjusted EBITDA does not properly reflect capital commitments to be paid in the future, and (ii) although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the underlying assets may need to be replaced and Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect these capital expenditures. When evaluating 23andMe’s performance, you should consider Adjusted EBITDA alongside other financial performance measures, including net loss and other GAAP results.