Friday Finds – 05/25/12 (A Day Late)

Weekly column sharing genealogy-related things that I’ve found.

Note:  Life has been chaotic lately, so this post is includes stuff from the last few weeks.

New-to-Me Blogs

• FamilyTree.com
• The eLuceydator
• Abbie and Eveline
• New Hartford Historical Society (they are also on Facebook)
• 45 Minute Genealogist: Genealogy for Busy People
• Hunting Down History
• The Amateur Family Historian
• Branch By Branch
• Room at the Table

Online Articles/Posts

• Filling in the Gaps - Finding an Ancestor Arriving Canada Before 1865, Lorine McGinnis Schulze
• 6 Cool Interactive Sites To Learn More About American History, Ryan Dube
• Why We Don’t Write, Harold Henderson
• Using OneNote to Help Me Track My Research Problems, Caroline Pointer
• More OneNote Features to Rock Your Researching World, Caroline Pointer
• Storage Wars: Texas Man Returns Family Heirlooms Retrieved from a Self-Storage Facility, Dick Eastman
• Press Release for From the Family Kitchen, Gena Philibert-Ortega
• Two Cousins, Heather Rojo
• Free of Charge?, James Tanner
• The New Abraham Lincoln Penny of 1909
• Index to Michigan Masonic Deaths, Kris Rzepczynski
• Writing Tools for Genealogists, Kimberly Powell
• Response to “What is Forensic Genealogy?”, Barbara J Matthews
• Barcode Everyone at Birth?, Dick Eastman
• Confusing the Beginner or  Dumbing Down Genealogy?, James Tanner

Print Articles

• “’Don’t Stop There!’  Connecting Josias Baker to His Burke County, North Carolina, Parents,” by Judy G. Russell, NGS Quarterly, March 2011.
• “Stop, thief! A Plagiarism Primer,” by Debbie Mieszala, NGS Magazine, April-June 2012.
• “Targeted Research Plans,” by Patricia Walls Stamm, NGS Magazine, April-June 2012.

Websites

• Colonial Albany Social History Project
• Newspapers in Microform
• Washington State Archives - Digital Archives (thanks, Drew)

German Engagement Customs

While doing research in a local newspaper for my ancestors in Harvard, Illinois, I found this interesting tidbit published in a 1904.

Transcription:

German Betrothal Customs.

When a maiden is betrothed in Germany she is called “bride” by her sweetheart, who addresses her thus until it becomes time to call her “wife.”  Immediately upon betrothal the lovers exchange rings, which, if the course of true love runs smooth, are to be worn ever afterward until death parts them.  The woman wears her betrothal ring on the third finger of her left hand until she is married, and then it is transferred to the third finger of her right hand.  The husband continues to wear the ring just as the wife wore hers when she was a “bride,” so that one can easily tell at a glance if a man be or be not mortgaged as to his affections.

Source:  "German Betrothal Customs," (Harvard) Herald, 6 October 1904, p. 8, col. 4.

Friday Finds – 05/04/12

Weekly column sharing genealogy-related things that I’ve found.

New-to-Me Blogs

• Cashman and Clark, Elizabeth Banas

Online Articles/Posts

• The Easiest & Most Inexpensive Way To Scan Slides With A Flatbed Scanner
• Behind the Scenes of the “Who Do You Think You Are?” Filming
• Unknown No More: Identifying a Civil War Soldier

Print Articles

• “Women’s Manuscript Collections,” by Gena Philibert-Ortega, APG Quarterly, March 2012.
• “Genealogy and the Legal Community,” by Alvie L. Davidson, APG Quarterly, March 2012.
• “Michigan Pioneers: 125 Years of History,” by Diane Dittgen, Family Chronicle, May/June 2012.
• “Finding Grandfather’s Farm: A Case Study,” by Evann Wilcosky, Family Chronicle, May/June 2012.

Websites

• Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections: Research Guides & Digitized Volumes

Why I Became an Arbitrator

Yesterday I contacted my Group Administrator for FamilySearch Indexing and asked to become an arbitrator for the 1940 census indexing project.  There are a few reasons I decided to take the plunge and I thought I’d share them.  Perhaps you will be inspired to become an arbitrator as well.

Reason #1 – Message from the Group Administrator

I believe it was last week, I received an email from the Group Administrator giving us an update on the 1940 indexing project.  At the end of the email was a gentle plea for arbitrators.  I made a mental note and moved on with my day.

Reason #2 – Arbitrator Series of Blog Posts

Over the last week, I had seen several blog posts on the FamilySearch Blog on the topic of arbitration.  In one of those posts they explained that they had a backlog of keyed material awaiting arbitration.  Basically, there was plenty of indexing going on, but not enough arbitration.  The way I took the message was, keep indexing (sincerely appreciated and keep up the good work!!), but also think about arbitrating.  So, I thought about it.

Reason #3 – Curiosity

I’ve never arbitrated any of the indexing projects, in part because, truth be told, I wasn’t doing much in the way of indexing (just a few batches here and there).  So I really didn’t know what it was like for the person on the other side of the coin, being presented with two sets of keyed entries and trying to determine which, if either, was right.  The only way I was going to know this, and understand the job of an arbitrator, was to become one. 

Last night, after taking all three reasons into account, I decided to take a break from indexing and review the information on arbitration and becoming an arbitrator.  I viewed the tutorial and made the decision to become an arbitrator.

For those who are considering becoming an arbitrator, I found the following blog posts helpful, mainly because they were more conversational as opposed to instructional, and therefore, a little less intimidating.

• Now is Not the Time to Get Cold Feet About Arbitration!
• Ten Commandments for Arbitrators
• What “Final” Really Means

This morning, I received an email back from the Group Administrator saying that I am now an arbitrator.  I immediately logged in and checked it out.  I arbitrated six batches in about thirty minutes.  Fortunately there weren’t any record match issues (that is, the records were lined up and in the correct order), so it was really just a matter of “fixing” the differences between the keyed entries.  Most were easy, but there were a few zingers in there where I had to stop and really look at and study the handwriting (which is no different when I index) and then make a decision.  I believe there were two instances were I felt neither was correct and therefore added my own value.

I of course will continue to index, but when I need a change of pace, or need to give my wrists a break, I can arbitrate as well.

To learn more about indexing and arbitration, plan to attend an upcoming webinar from FamilySearch.

Friday Finds – 04/27/12

Weekly column sharing genealogy-related things that I’ve found.

New-to-Me Blogs

• Sarah Leigh’s Connections, Sarah Cloward
• The In-Depth Genealogist
• Ancestor Soup, Karen Seeman

Online Articles/Posts

• GENEii Family History Writers Contest Winner Announced
• Old Maps Online
• 1940 Census Indexing & Arbitration Webinars

Print Articles

• Nothing this week.

Websites

• Newspaper Abstracts:  Finding Our Ancestors in the News!
• Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States (thanks for this resource, Judy!!)
• Historical Map Archive (thanks Bryna for posting about the Iowa collection)