Saturday, February 16, 2013

FamilySearch Adds 18 New Collections Including Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and the United States

Included in this week's records update are 18 new collections; seven from Napoli, Italy, seven from the United States, four from Germany, and one from Netherlands. Among these collections are the United States Draper Manuscript Collection from 1740-1960 (more information can be found here), the Germany, Brandenburg, Bernau bei Berlin Jewish Records from 1688-1872, and the United States Revolutionary War Rolls from 1775-1783. See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org.
Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world's historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Collection        Indexed Records  Digital Images
Germany, Brandenburg, Bernau bei Berlin, Jewish Records, 1688-1872 0 2,058
Germany, Prussia, Saxony, Various Protestant Church Records, 1594-1936 0 4,056
Germany, Westfalen, Minden, Index to Funeral Sermons, 1580-1740  0 33,073
Germany, Württemberg, Schwäbisch Hall, Probate Records, 1803-1925 0 36,814
Hungary, Civil Registration, 1895-1980     0  1,811
Italy, Napoli, Fontana, Parocchia di Santa Maria della Mercede - La Sacra, Catholic Church Records, 1641-1929         0  2,660
Italy, Napoli, Grumo Nevano, Civil Registration (Comune), 1809-1929 0  18,810
Italy, Napoli, Lacco Ameno, Parrocchia di SS. Annunziata in Santa Maria delle Grazie, Catholic Church Records, 1630-1929   0  3,193
Italy, Napoli, Marano di Napoli, Civil Registration (Comune), 1839-1929 0  18,199
Italy, Napoli, Sant'Angelo, Parocchia di San Michele Arcangelo, Catholic Church Records, 1905-1929   0  77
Italy, Napoli, Sant'Antimo, Civil Registration (Comune), 1809-1929 0  24,177
Italy, Napoli, Serrara, Parocchia di Santa Maria del Carmine, Catholic Church Records, 1659-1929
         0  2,714
Netherlands, Noord-Holland Province, Church Records, 1553-1909  0  672,330
Spain, Cádiz, Civil Registration Records, 1870-1960   0  37,980
Spain, Province of Sevilla, Municipal Records, 1903-1918  0  159,510
Ukraine, Kyiv Orthodox Consistory Church Book Duplicates, 1840-1845 520,550  146,178
U.S., California, Cemetery Transcriptions    0  17,138
U.S., Georgia, Elbert County Records, 1790-2002    0  63,290
U.S., Mississippi, Confederate Records, 1889-1942   0  2,740
U.S., Ohio, Cleveland Cemetery Interment Records, 1824-2001  346,248  10,585
U.S., Ohio, County Records, 1841-2003     0  92
U.S., Vermont, Orange County, Bradford District Estate Files, 1780-1915 0  75,694
United States, Draper Manuscript Collection, 1740-1960   0  84,177
United States, Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914  0  41,172
United States, Remarried Widows Index to Pension Applications, 1887-1942 52,939  0
United States, Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers, 1818-1872  0  8,955
United States, Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783    0  93,048
United States, Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933 852,027  0

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Comparing Admixture Test Results Across Companies (otherwise known as "ethnic" breakdowns): FTDNA, AncestryDNA, 23andMe and Geno 2.0 - A Review

Ethnic ancestry results has been an ongoing discussion I've been having with some of my students since my DNA workshop I conducted late last year. I have mentioned several times in our discussions that none of the biogeographical ancestry (BGA) results from any of the major DNA testing companies are entirely accurate.

For the first time the BGA results from several major DNA testing companies are now available for one person CeCe Moore. She has posted up an interesting review of her various ethnic ancestry reports on the Your Genetic Genealogist blog.

CeCe Moore shares her ethnic ancestry reports from Family Finder, 23andMe, AncestryDNA, and Geno 2.0. If you haven't used any of these tools, this is a good way to see what the reports look like and how they might differ. Your results, of course, would be unique to you. You can see CeCe's results by clicking here.

OCLC and FamilySearch partnership will combine resources for richer genealogy research experience

DUBLIN, Ohio—OCLC and FamilySearch International, the largest genealogy organization in the world, have signed an agreement that will enrich WorldCat and FamilySearch services with data from both organizations to provide users with more resources for improved genealogy research.

Under this new partnership, OCLC will incorporate data from FamilySearch’s catalog of genealogical materials into WorldCat, and FamilySearch will use OCLC cataloging services to continue to catalog its collections in WorldCat. FamilySearch will also use the WorldCat Search API to incorporate WorldCat results into search results returned by FamilySearch genealogy services.

"We're excited to see information about FamilySearch holdings more broadly circulated, and to inform our own patrons about genealogical holdings available outside our network," said Jake Gehring, FamilySearch’s Director of Data Operations.

"This combination of genealogical and bibliographic resources will be of enormous benefit to librarians and library users as well as genealogists," said Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO. "OCLC and FamilySearch are organizations with similar goals—to connect people to knowledge and information through cooperation. We look forward to working with FamilySearch."

FamilySearch, historically known as the Genealogical Society of Utah, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the discovery and preservation of family histories and stories, introducing individuals to their ancestors through the widespread access to records, and collaborating with others who share this vision.

The collections of FamilySearch include historic documents of genealogical value such as civil registration records; church records; and probate, census, land, tax and military records. The collection also contains compiled sources such as family histories, clan and lineage genealogies, oral pedigrees and local histories. FamilySearch has also been a pioneer in the use of technology and processes for image capture, digital conversion, preservation, online indexing and online access. FamilySearch has operated on OCLC’s OLIB library management system since 1996 to manage the vast metadata in its catalog.

FamilySearch offers a unique service to users around the world through its network of more than 4,600 family history centers. In each center, trained FamilySearch volunteers provide individualized help for family history patrons seeking access to records and the information they contain.
WorldCat is the world’s most comprehensive database of library materials. Updated at a rate of nearly one new record every second, WorldCat is a cooperatively-created catalog of items held in thousands of libraries worldwide, including public, academic, state and national libraries; archives; and historical societies. These libraries have cataloged their regular collections as well as many special collections—including digitized materials—devoted to local history. This makes WorldCat an indispensible tool for genealogy research.

Find more about FamilySearch or search its resources online at FamilySearch.org. More about WorldCat is on the OCLC website. Search WorldCat.org on the Web at www.worldcat.org.

About FamilySearchFamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

About OCLCFounded in 1967, OCLC is a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing library costs. More than 74,000 libraries in 170 countries have used OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalog, lend, preserve and manage library materials. Researchers, students, faculty, scholars, professional librarians and other information seekers use OCLC services to obtain bibliographic, abstract and full-text information when and where they need it. OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the world’s largest online database for discovery of library resources. Search WorldCat on the Web at www.worldcat.org. For more information, visit www.oclc.org.
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OCLC, WorldCat and WorldCat.org are trademarks/service marks of OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. Third-party product, service and business names are trademarks/service marks of their respective owners.