For librarians, archivists, . . .

Genealogy & Local History for All:
Services to Multicultural Communities

Welcome!
Librarians, archivists and those who provide library services to the genealogy and local history public are invited to join us in
Ottawa on August 6 & 7
for a conference that highlights the products and techniques required to accommodate their special needs.
In association and with the support of Library and Archives Canada, the Genealogy and Local History (GENLOC) and the Reference and Information Services (RISS) sections of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) have organized an overview of specific organizations and specialty topics.

Over two days, this conference will explore aspects of genealogical research relating to specific ethnic and cultural communities, such as African-American, First Nations, French-Canadian, Caribbean, Chinese and Continental European.

Library and Archives Canada

New Series of Seven Courses - Fall 2008

Computer Programs for Genealogy
Genealogical Holdings at the Archives of Ontario

Basic Genealogy and Family History
Research in Colonial America
Beyond the Basics
Multimedia Scrapbooking and Digital Imaging
Hands-on Early Ontario Land Records

http://torontofamilyhistory.org/courses.html

Central Dutch Office for Genealogy

The Dutch Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie sends out its newsletters with an option to receive them in English. Today’s newsletter, available at http://194.171.109.12:80/news/305/CBG-Newsletter-June-26th,-2008---English-summary , announces that “the CBG is digitalizing and indexing its so-called 'German records', i.e. excerpts of German birth, marriage and death certificates regarding Dutch citizens who lived in Germany during the Second World War”. Researchers interested in the Netherlands may wish to subscribe to this newsletter.

Free Credits for ScotlandsPeople

Ancestral Scotland (http://www.ancestralscotland.com/), the official genealogy website of the Scottish Tourism Agency, is offering ten free credits on ScotlandsPeople if you register to receive their quarterly newsletter (http://www.ancestralscotland.com:80/signup/register/). When you register, they send you an e-mail with a code. After you sign in on to Scotlands People, click on “buy more credits”. Cut and paste the code in the space marked voucher code.

Blog Postings Directly to Your E-mail Box

The fastest way to receive each new posting to this blog? Request that your e-mail address be added to our group list.

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Send requests to: durhamogs@hotmail.com

You will see new postings moments after they appear on the blog.

If you prefer instead to obtain new posts with an RSS feed reader, the direct URL is:

http://durham-branch.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

A more complete explanation about RSS feeds is available here.

Free Access to Ancestry Historical Newspaper Collection until June 19th

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Ancestry has added 20 million images to its Historical Newspaper Collection—doubling the collection in size! And to celebrate, they’re offering free access to the entire collection through 19 June 2008. Click here to start searching now.

More information on this huge launch is also available on the Ancestry blog.

Death of Muriel Davidson, 1924-2008

Muriel was the co-chair of the Canada Census Committee and worked tirelessly to gain access to the post-1901 historic censuses. After the campaign was won, she continued to work on the www.automatedgenealogy.com initiative to index the censuses.

An online book of condolences can be signed on www.scott-brampton.ca

Transcribing Errors on Drouin Collection at Ancestry.ca

Cooperation between the French-language University of Montreal and Ancestry.ca was called a “significant accomplishment” by U of M senior researcher Bertrand Desjardins. However, Ancestry.ca outsourced the indexing of the Drouin collection to China and the results are as you might expect. The Chinese workers, it seems, have made numerous errors in transcribing the baptism, marriage and burial records.
See:
http://www.foreveryoungnews.com/article/11044

Ancestry Offering Free Online Seminars

Ancestry.com is offering free online ethnic seminars (called webinars) on the next 4 Tuesday evenings. You do not need to have an Ancestry subscription to participate.
You can go to this page to get more information and register for these classes. Links will be immediately e-mailed to you so that you can access the webinars on the days of their showings. You should click on one of the links ahead of time to test your computer's audio and video capabilities.

June 17, 2008 8:00 PM EDT - Irish Ancestry
June 24, 2008 8:00 PM EDT - Polish Ancestry
July 1, 2008 8:00 PM EDT - Italian Ancestry
July 8, 2008 8:00 PM EDT - German Ancestry

Halvor Moorshead Presentation Links

At the Ontario Genealogical Society - Durham Region Branch monthly meeting on Tuesday June 3, 2008 Halvor Moorshead, during an informative, interesting, and entertaining presentation referred to many web sites. We asked him for a ‘link to the links’. That very night after returning home he very kindly sent us the requested URL.
Halvor, thank you again for speaking in Durham and sharing your presentation links.

Brian W. Hutchison Scholarship Award

Brian W. Hutchison Scholarship Award
The Alberta Family Histories Society is pleased to announce the availability of the Brian W. Hutchison Genealogical Scholarship of up to $500. The scholarship is to be awarded annually to a Canadian resident, toward the cost of tuition and books, for the recipient to study the field of genealogy and family history in a recognized educational or accreditation/certification program.
The Brian W. Hutchison Scholarship is funded by an endowment to the Alberta Family Histories Society from Brian W. Hutchison, CG, FSA (Scot), principal of GEN-FIND Research Associates, Inc.
It is Mr. Hutchison's wish to encourage Canadians to pursue formal study of genealogical analysis, research, evaluation, and documentation methodologies and standards.

The deadline for applications is 31 December 2008
The Scholarship will be awarded in May 2009
All residents of Canada are eligible,
except for current members of the Scholarship Committee.
The application must be completed in full and submitted before the deadline.
Candidates will be judged on their responses to the application questions and on the quality of a four-generation genealogy and a short essay, as judged by the Scholarship Committee. The Alberta Family Histories Society reserves the right to publish the genealogy and/or essay of the winning candidate.

Writing a Narrative Family History

Writing a Narrative Family History: A Seminar with John Colletta
When: Saturday, September 27th, 2008
Time: 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM
Where: North York Central Library Auditorium, 5120 Yonge Street, Toronto
(at the North York Centre subway station)
Cost:
CA $45.00 NON-MEMBER OCAPG
CA $20.00 MEMBER OCAPG
Along with the Canadiana Department of the North York Central Library, we are having a day-long seminar on Saturday, September 27th, 2008 in Toronto with John Colletta, popular speaker, educator and author. This is a day to inspire writing your family history.
Register online to reserve your seat today. To register go to: www.genealogystore.com, choose the country in which you reside and click on “Services & Trips” (on the left). Click on “OCAPG” and then click on “Writing Seminar”. (Please note that you will be directed to The National Institute for Genealogical Studies website for the registration process.)

Whitby Library and Archives - Photographs Digital Project

Whitby Library and Archives - Photographs Digital Project
Old Whitby Photographs Available Online
A number of old photographs of downtown Whitby, Brooklin, Ashburn, Myrtle and Myrtle Station have now been made available online. Currently there are over 600 photographs and postcards digitized from the Archives collection - please check back as more content is added each week. Http://images.ourontario.ca/whitby is a collaborative project among several heritage organizations to make cultural heritage and community information available and searchable online.

African Roots in Canada

African Roots in Canada:
Saturday, August 9, 2008
North York Central Library Auditorium
5120 Yonge Street, Toronto
(North York Centre subway station)
The workshop, “African Roots in Canada”, will appeal to the many Canadians, both recent immigrants and many-generation residents, who can trace their ancestry to the African Diaspora in Canada, the US, West Indies, and throughout the world.
Whether you're a seasoned family history researcher or just starting to investigate your ancestors, and whether your family has lived in Canada for 20 or 200 years, you'll enjoy this informal, late-summer day of shared stories and new insights into researching ancestors with African roots, and the opportunity to meet others who share your interests.

Celebrate your Anglo-Celtic Roots

14th Annual BIFHSGO Fall Conference. Celebrate your Anglo-Celtic Roots
19 to 21 September 2008.
This year registration can be performed on-line using a credit card over a secure connection or by mail using the registration form. On-line Membership renewal is also available.
Keynote Speaker - Sherry Irvine, CG, FSA Scot, Past President, US Association of Professional Genealogists, author and specialist in English, Irish and Scottish family history.

The Grey Highlands Digitization Project

The Grey Highlands Digitization Project is a collaboration between the Grey Highlands Public Library and local newspapers, archives, museums, their collections, and the community. Working closely with host site OurOntario.ca, the project aims to do two things:
* create a website and an accompanying digital collection to act as an entertaining and informative resource about Agnes Campbell Macphail,
* and upload and index the Markdale Standard and the Flesherton Advance newspapers for online discovery.

Toronto Anglican Archives Closes for Renovation

From the Toronto Branch e-newsletter:

Toronto Anglican Archives closed for renovation
Janice Nickerson has just notified me that the archives of the Toronto Anglican diocese closed down today for renovations. Apparently they won’t reopen until October.