Illinois State Genealogical Society Announces Its 2013 Webinar Series

Earlier today, the Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) announced that registration is now open for the 2013 Webinar series!  This year’s lineup has something for everyone, from beginners to experts, and everyone in between.

Webinars are a fantastic way for genealogists to learn more about research, methodology, records, and more.  ISGS offers the live broadcast of their webinars to the public for free on the second Tuesday of each month at 8:00 PM Central.  ISGS members have access to all the webinar recordings after they’re presented live.

As the Education Committee Chair for ISGS, I will be attending all of the webinars.  I’m looking forward to each and every one, but I am especially excited about a few in particular.

Timelines: Placing Your Heritage in Historical Perspective with Laura Prescott on May 14.  I love Laura, she’s a fantastic speaker and I always learn a lot from her presentations.  And, I love timelines, so any new tips I can pick up is a bonus.

The Research Calendar: A Resource You Cannot Live Without with Luana Darby on June 11.  Many people have requested this topic and I can understand why.  This is definitely something I struggle with, so I look forward to Luana’s tips.

“To the Honorable, the General Assembly” - The Treasure Trove in Legislative Petitions with Judy G. Russell on September 10.  Judy is a wonderful speaker and I am so glad she agreed to do a webinar for ISGS.  It’s an interesting topic and I think it will open people up to a source that may be unfamiliar to them.

Visit Upcoming Webinars to see the entire 2013 schedule and sign up.  Don’t delay!  Get them on your calendar right away!  (LOL, that rhymed)

$40,000 Raised for the War of 1812 Preserve the Pensions Project

Big announcement today from the Illinois Genealogical Society (ISGS).  In less than six months, ISGS received $10,000 in contributions from individuals and organizations, which ISGS then matched, making it $20,000.  Ancestry.com will then match that amount, making it a total of $40,000.  What an amazing job!

If you’d like to contribute to the Preserve the Pensions project, you can do so by visiting http://www.preservethepensions.org.

Below is the full press release from ISGS:

December 11, 2012 – Springfield, IL. The Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) is
proud to announce that it has completed its recently launched $10,000 War of 1812
Pension Match Challenge with strong support from ISGS members as well as the
genealogical community.

On June 18, 2012, the 200th anniversary of the declaration of the War of 1812, ISGS
announced its $10,000 War of 1812 Pension Match Challenge. ISGS made a
commitment to match any contribution (up to the first $10,000) made to the Preserve
the Pensions project before December 31, 2012. In addition, Ancestry.com announced
that it would also match all monies donated during the campaign, resulting in all
contributions being quadrupled. A total of $40,000 to be donated to the Preserve the
Pensions project will result in 88,888 additional pages of the War of 1812 Pension and
Bounty Land Warrant Application Files being digitized over the next few months.

The Preserve the Pensions campaign (http://www.preservethepensions.org),
sponsored by the Federation of Genealogical Societies (http://www.fgs.org) along
with Ancestry.com, Fold3 and the National Archives, seeks to raise over $3.7 Million
needed to digitize the War of 1812 pension files that are currently stored in the National
Archives and make them freely available online. With over 180,000 Pension files in this
historic record set and over 7.2 million pages, access to these records will benefit not
only genealogists and family historians, but a variety of researchers. In addition, the
digitization project will help preserve and halt further damage to these historical
documents. The files are being digitized as funds become available and many files are
already viewable by visiting http://go.fold3.com/1812pensions.

ISGS President Jane Haldeman notes: “The ISGS board made a strong commitment to
the preservation of the War of 1812 Pension Records when it issued the fundraising
challenge earlier this year. ISGS thanks all who contributed, especially those members
of the genealogy community who are not members of ISGS. Digitizing these records will benefit ALL genealogists and hopefully result in more people locating information about their ancestors.”

About Illinois State Genealogical Society

The Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) was formed in 1968 through the
cooperative effort and forward thinking of Illinois genealogical society representatives,
who envisioned a statewide genealogical organization. ISGS is a not-for-profit,
nonsectarian, educational organization. ISGS was established for the following
purposes:

• To stimulate an interest in the people who contributed to the establishment and
  development of the State of Illinois.
• To seek, preserve, and make available data pertaining to individuals, families,
  and groups who lived in Illinois and to events which took place therein.
• To inform people of the value of, and need for, preserving family and local history
  for posterity.
• To encourage the formation of local genealogical societies and to coordinate and
  disseminate information.

Follow us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/ILgensoc), Twitter
(http://www.twitter.com/ILgensoc) and on our blog at http://ilgensoc.blogspot.com.

John Philip Colletta, PhD, Featured Speaker at Illinois State Genealogical Society Conference

This year’s Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) conference promises to be big, with a variety of speakers and topics over a day and a half, a banquet dinner, and a youth workshop!  The conference will be held Friday and Saturday, October 19 and 20, 2012 at the Best Western Clock Tower Resort & Conference Center in Rockford, Illinois.

John Philip Colletta, PhD, is the featured speaker and has some great presentations in store for conference attendees:

• Is Any Body There? – Tracking Ancestral Remains (presented at dinner on Friday)
• Breaking Through Brick Walls: Use Your HEAD!
• Our National Archives: The Astounding Institution & How to Use It
• Discovering the REAL Stories of Your Immigrant Ancestors

Other speakers include:  Thomas MacEntee, Dr. Daniel Hubbard, Jeanne Larzalere Bloom, Dr. Gary K. Hargin, Oriene Springstroh, Larry Pepper, David McDonald, and Kathy Carey.

The conference begins on Friday, October 19, at 12pm, with two sets of lectures in the afternoon, time to browse the exhibit hall, and enjoy dinner with fellow genealogists.  Activities resume on Saturday, October 20, at 8am with four blocks of lectures throughout the day and lunch.  You have the option to attend one or both days.  Registration is as follows:

ISGS Members
Friday, October 19 – Sessions/dinner/speaker	$43
Friday, October 19 – Dinner/speaker ONLY (no Friday sessions)	$28
Saturday, October 20 – Sessions/lunch	$40

 

Non-Members
Friday, October 19 – Sessions/dinner/speaker	$50
Friday, October 19 – Dinner/speaker ONLY (no Friday sessions)	$30
Saturday, October 20 – Sessions/lunch	$50

To learn more about the lectures, presenters, or to register, visit the conference page at the ISGS website.

In addition, ISGS is hosting its second annual youth workshop on Saturday, October 20.  The workshop for children, grades 1st-4th will be held from 9:30am to 11am; children grades 5th-12th will be held from 1pm to 4pm.  For more information or to register, visit the youth workshop page at the ISGS website.

Findmypast.com Announces Partnership with Federation of Genealogical Societies

I received a copy of this press release earlier today and thought I’d share it with my readers.

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Findmypast.com Announces Partnership with
Federation of Genealogical Societies
Partnership makes records available to findmypast.com and
creates a vital source of revenue for local societies

LOS ANGELES, August 30, 2012 – Findmypast.com, an international leader in online family history research, today announced a national partnership with Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) to preserve, digitize and provide access to local records from genealogical societies across the country.

The collaborative initiative will help preserve genealogical records and provide a vital revenue stream for the societies. Throughout the remainder of 2012, findmypast.com will release records from the following pilot partners:

• New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, the most authoritative source for research on New York familie
• Illinois State Genealogical Society
• Williamson County (Texas) Genealogical Society

“As we aggressively grow our business in the U.S., we are looking to form partnerships that benefit both the genealogical community and findmypast.com,” said Chris van der Kuyl, CEO of brightsolid, the parent company for findmypast. “This partnership will benefit our customers by giving them access to records that can’t be found anywhere else and participating societies will receive royalties for record images viewed.”

The records are a fantastic addition to a growing collection of US records on findmypast.com. FGS members who participate will reach new audiences as each society and their collection will be promoted by findmypast.com. 

The society collection complements the new US and international records that will be made available on findmypast.com and could include:

• Newspapers and obituaries
• Bible records
• Cemetery records
• Birth, marriage and death records
• Land records
• Court records

“Through its partnership with findmypast.com, the Federation of Genealogical Societies is pleased to offer a way for its member societies to engage with content providers and publishers,” said Pat Oxley, President of FGS. “Currently, one of the biggest challenges for societies is the pressure to provide online content, while also growing their membership and operating budgets. Through this partnership, societies will generate income and entice new audiences.”

About findmypast.com
Findmypast.com (owned by brightsolid) is the U.S. site of findmypast, an international leader in online family history with over 18 million registered members worldwide. Findmypast connects people to core and unique U.S., English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, Australian and New Zealand records dating back as far as 1200. 

About brightsolid
Findmypast.com is owned by brightsolid online publishing, a British-owned world leader in online genealogy, with over 45 years’ experience in family history and a record of online innovation in the field of family history nearly two decades long. With nearly 18 million registered users across its family of online genealogy brands, brightsolid hosts over a billion genealogical records from across the globe. The company reported a 75 percent growth in turnover and a 47 percent growth in gross profits in its most recent published accounts and was voted Best Genealogy Organization in the Online Gene Awards.

About the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS)
The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) was founded in 1976 and represents the members of hundreds of genealogical societies. FGS links the genealogical community by helping genealogical societies strengthen and grow through resources available online, FGS Forum magazine (filled with articles pertaining to society management and genealogical news), and Society Strategy Series papers, covering topics about effectively operating a genealogical society. FGS also links the genealogical community through its annual conference -- four days of excellent lectures, including one full day devoted to society management topics. To learn more visit http://www.fgs.org.