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

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is calling on Federal agencies to consider dedicating more resources to IT solutions that can automate the records retention of their social media records.  

In a recent report that assessed ten agencies’ social media policies, NARA explained that while all agencies are required to capture social media (SM) records, the agencies assessed did not have processes in place to verify the capture of these records.

NARA found that most records management (RM) programs reported that they needed more staff, technological know-how, or technological tools to ensure the consistent capture and management of social media records.

The report recommended that agencies “should consider using digital archiving applications to centralize and automate the capture of SM records across the agency.”

Additionally, the report found that some agencies used third-party applications to capture their social media records for retention and disposition.

However, NARA said some of these applications did not offer “sufficient” electronic records management (ERM) capabilities “or required users to separately elect and pay for a la carte services to get ERM features, but most agencies did not pay for such services.”

For this reason, NARA recommended that agencies that rely on a third-party application to capture their social media records “must assess and confirm that the service provider offers ERM functionalities that sufficiently captures, preserves, and maintains its SM records per Federal recordkeeping requirements.”

NARA also said that these records “must be managed throughout their lifecycle and ensure that the application can maintain and export its SM records in file formats that meet NARA’s format guidance for transferring permanent electronic records.”

Overall, NARA recommended that agencies should dedicate more resources to IT solutions that can help agencies to automate their social media records-keeping duties.

The following announcement was written by Findmypast:

Newspapers 

Did your ancestors make the news? One new title, updates to a further three, and 106,898 new pages make up this week’s newspaper release. Plus, our newspaper search has had a makeover, with some handy new tools to try. It's now even easier to add richness to your family stories.  

New titles: 

·         Commercial Daily List (London), 1869-1870  

Updated titles: 

·         Belfast News-Letter, 1977-1978, 1988-1989 

·         Derry Journal, 1990, 1992 

·         Lurgan Mail, 1897-1914, 1916-1925, 1927-1984  

Ireland, Dublin Church of Ireland Baptisms 

There are 23,914 images and transcriptions to explore in this brand-new collection, spanning 1619 to 1865. You can typically expect to find a name, baptism place and date, parents’ names and father’s address. 

Ireland, Dublin Church of Ireland Marriages 

Also new, there are 23,101 marriages to delve into, covering 1619 to 1800. You’ll normally find both spouses’ names, occupations, the marriage date, place and the groom’s residence. 

Ireland, Dublin Church of Ireland Burials 

Lastly, there are 44,175 burial records in this new collection. They cover the years 1618 to 1800, and you may uncover an ancestor’s name burial date and residence.

When the Cold War grew chillier around 1950, the U.S. military worried about a communist land invasion of the United States. So pilots were employed – many of them veterans of World War II – to photograph the entire country using aircraft.

This 70-year-old archive of overlapping photos was taken at different angles, providing topographic information for artillery in the event the Soviets rolled onto American soil. Such a “Red Dawn” never happened, but those pilots created an invaluable historical snapshot that predates useful satellite imagery by decades.

The collection was stored away and eventually digitized by the U.S. Geological Survey. Now the University of Montana and its partners have created a new tool, Landscape Explorer, which combines those 1950s photos with modern satellite imagery. It can be found online at https://www.landscapeexplorer.org/.

Visit the site and type in a city, location or your own address, and a slider can be pulled back and forth across the resulting image, allowing people to easily visualize the changes that have taken place during the past seven decades. At present the tool covers the American West, from the Pacific Ocean to North Dakota and down to Texas.

You can read more in an article by Cary Shimek published in the University of Montana web site at: https://www.umt.edu/news/2023/10/101723expl.php 

The same hacker who leaked a trove of user data stolen from the genetic testing company 23andMe two weeks ago has now leaked millions of new user records. On Tuesday, a hacker who goes by Golem published a new dataset of 23andMe user information containing records of four million users on the known cybercrime forum BreachForums. TechCrunch has found that some of the newly leaked stolen data matches known and public 23andMe user and genetic information. Golem claimed the dataset contains information on people who come from Great Britain, including data from "the wealthiest people living in the U.S. and Western Europe on this list." 

On October 6, 23andMe announced that hackers had obtained some user data, claiming that to amass the stolen data the hackers used credential stuffing -- a common technique where hackers try combinations of usernames or emails and corresponding passwords that are already public from other data breaches. In response to the incident, 23andMe prompted users to change their passwords and encouraged switching on multi-factor authentication. On its official page addressing the incident, 23andMe said it has launched an investigation with help from "third-party forensic experts." 23andMe blamed the incident on its customers for reusing passwords, and an opt-in feature called DNA Relatives, which allows users to see the data of other opted-in users whose genetic data matches theirs. If a user had this feature turned on, in theory it would allow hackers to scrape data on more than one user by breaking into a single user's account.

Within the intricate tapestry of Latino heritage, genealogy research explores the culture, migration and history that embodies the resilience and diversity of the global community celebrated throughout Hispanic Heritage Month.

Why it matters: Tracing lineage is crucial for cultural connection and historical preservation, particularly for minority communities that are often overlooked in history.

• "Particularly with Latinos, so much of our history was left out of the mainstream historical narratives," Colleen Robledo Greene, a California-based genealogist specializing in Mexican research, tells Axios.

Reality check: The percentage of Americans with Hispanic ancestry who do not identify as Hispanic is rising across generations, according to 2018 Pew Research Center data.

• More than half of U.S.-born young adults with Hispanic ancestry, whose parents and grandparents are also U.S.-born, do not strongly identify with their Hispanic ties as they assimilate into American culture.

You can read more in an article by Madalyn Mendoza published in the Axios web site at: https://www.axios.com/local/san-antonio/2023/10/13/hispanic-heritage-month-latino-ancestry-genealogy.

The employees at MyHeritage are overcome with grief at the tragic deaths of Ron Shemer and Ilay Nachman, two members of the MyHeritage employee family. Ron and Ilay were murdered in the early morning of October 7, 2023 while attending the Nova music festival, at the onset of the Hamas attack on Israel. Ron was 23 years old, and Ilay was almost 24. Ron and Ilay exemplified the values that we hold dear at MyHeritage: compassion, dedication, leadership, and above all, family. To honor their memory, please take a moment to read this tribute. 

The Jefferson County Genealogical Society has announced plans to disband and end family history research assistance by the end of the year or early in 2024.

“It has been challenging to attract society members to take on officer and board member positions in recent years,” JCGS President Christine Merseal said in a written statement. “The society held on to hope during the last several meetings that a member would step forward. However, that is not the case.”

A group of Jefferson County Library employees and patrons established the JCGS in 1996 to help Jefferson County residents research their family history. Every month, the JCGS has held meetings and speaking events at the Northwest Branch of the Jefferson County Library, 5680 Hwy. PP.

“I’m incredibly proud of the Jefferson County Genealogical Society’s work to promote and encourage family history research,” Merseal said. “Our members have worked hard over the years. Genealogy is a passion we all enjoy.”

Merseal is a charter member of the organization. Throughout the history of JCGS, she has served as president for five non-consecutive terms, for a total of 10 years. She said the society will likely disband sometime between Dec. 31 and mid-January 2024.

You can read more in an article by Abby Stetina published in the myleaderpaper web site at: https://www.myleaderpaper.com/news/jcgs-to-disband/article_a3f280d0-690f-11ee-bf25-678957adabaa.html 

The Royal Albert Hall's archive has been saved from flooding and preserved in a £1m rescue operation.

The South Kensington venue's collection includes a trumpet from the opening ceremony 152 years ago and a programme designed by Pablo Picasso.

The archive spans the venue's history since its inception in the 1850s and consists of tens of thousands of items.

Chief executive James Ainscough said the collection brought "extraordinary events to life".

"This famous building has been a crucible of debate, a place of cultural and social transformation, and a prism through which to see a changing Britain," he said.

"No other venue on earth has played host to the Suffragettes, Albert Einstein and Muhammed Ali, as well as Ella Fitzgerald, The Beatles and Adele."

The archive had been stored in four different locations across the building, with the basement store repeatedly flooding and threatening to destroy some of the artefacts.

The collection is now housed in a fireproof climate-controlled studio in the building with a new reading room, and is open to historians, researchers and the public by appointment. 

It will allow the Royal Albert Hall's archivists to conduct tours of its contents for the first time.

You can read more in an article written by Jess Warren and published in the BBC web site at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-67099592 

DNA is the key to a person’s most sacred hidden links.

Through a tiny sample of saliva you can unlock the door to one’s genetic traits, health risks, familial relationships and even ancestral roots. This most confidential information is now at risk of no longer being confidential after hackers stole genetic data from millions through popular DNA testing firm 23andMe. 

About 1 in 5 adults in America have taken at-home genetic tests. Companies that offer these tests such as 23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage and others blew up in popularity in 2017 after successful advertising campaigns and end-of-the-year price cuts made them even more accessible to consumers. The popularity of at-home DNA tests has remained ever since.

However, privacy concerns have recently come to light after 23andMe, one of the first companies to offer direct-to-consumer genetic testing, had a data breachearlier this month. Hackers performed a credential stuffing attack where cyber criminals use stolen usernames and passwords from a previous hack to gain access to accounts in the system. 

Data from profiles — which included DNA ancestry and other personal information — was compromised in the 23andMe data breach. The information was put up for sale by hackers, raising concerns and questions as to why on earth would hackers be interested in obtaining information pulled from DNA samples.

Apparently DNA data is a hot commodity on the black market, and here are a few reasons why it can be valuable to malicious actors.

However, privacy concerns have recently come to light after 23andMe, one of the first companies to offer direct-to-consumer genetic testing, had a data breach earlier this month. Hackers performed a credential stuffing attack where cyber criminals use stolen usernames and passwords from a previous hack to gain access to accounts in the system. 

Data from profiles — which included DNA ancestry and other personal information — was compromised in the 23andMe data breach. The information was put up for sale by hackers, raising concerns and questions as to why on earth would hackers be interested in obtaining information pulled from DNA samples.

You can read more, including information on how hackers can use the stolen DNA information, in an article by U-Jin Lee published in thestreet web site at: https://www.thestreet.com/technology/hackers-could-use-your-stolen-dna-data-as-a-weapon.