VGS News & Events: 5 November 2017 through 11 November 2017

Coming Events:
Monday: November 6, 2017

Jewish Genealogy SIG Meeting:
10:00 AM in the MacArthur Room at the Eisenhower Recreation Center

Topic: "My Sephardic Heritage"

Tuesday: November 7, 2017

Italian Genealogy SIG Meeting

1:00 PM in the Atlanta Room in the Savannah Center

Wednesday: November 8, 2017

Irish Genealogy SIG Meeting

10:00 AM in the Osceola Room at the Chula Vista Recreation Center

Wednesday: November 8, 2017

New to Genealogy SIG Meeting

2:30 PM in the Neptune Beach Room at the Sea Breeze Recreation Center

Topic: "Census Records & Immigration"

Thursday: November 9, 2017

German Genealogy SIG Meeting

9:30 AM in the Reliance Room at the Late Miona Recreation Center

Topic: "Research Success Stories" -- presenters: Paul Clark and Anne Berg

Friday: November 10, 2017

Genetic Genealogy SIG Meeting

10:00 AM in the Rhett Butler Room at the Savannah Center

Topic: "Genetic Genealogy News"

Gen News & Announcements:

Continued Commitment to Customer Privacy and Control:

Ancestry
"Customers can now decide if they want to have access to the list of people they may be related to and be shown as a potential family member for other customers with whom they share DNA.  While connecting family is one of the main benefits of our service, we also recognize that not everyone is open to discovering their extended family."
Continue reading...
Editor's Note: Be sure to read the comments...

Genealogy Groups & Community Members Unite to Preserve Access to Records:

NYG&B
"On October 24, members of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society joined dozens of others from the genealogy community to combat an unacceptable proposal that would greatly restrict access to New York City vital records.
If accepted, the proposal would prevent birth records from becoming publicly accessible until 125 years after their creation, and death records wouldn't be available for 75 years after they were made."
Continue reading...

Looking Back on 500 Years: The Protestant Reformation and Why It Matters to Genealogy Research:

FamilySearch
"The Protestant Reformation began 500 years ago, in 1517, when Martin Luther posted his now-famous 95 theses on a church door in Wittenberg, Germany. With that small act, Luther set off a chain reaction that changed the course of history. For genealogists, that event in 1517 has particular significance. The Protestant Reformation also changed the course of record keeping. Here, we take a look at the movement Martin Luther started 500 years ago and how it affected the world in general—and genealogy research in particular."
Continue reading...

Spread that DNA around:

Judy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist
"Whether we’re dealing with investing for retirement, or making other kinds of plans for the future, having all our hopes rise or fall with a single choice is rarely a good idea.
And nowhere is that more true, for us as genealogists, than when it comes to DNA testing."
Continue reading...

Free Family History Library Classes and Webinars for November 2017:

FamilySearch
"The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, has announced its free family history classes and webinars for November 2017. Participants can attend in person or online."
Continue reading...

New Historic Records on FamilySearch: Week of October 16, 2017:

FamilySearch
"Over 40 million new records this week from Finland, Italy, and the Netherlands. Additional records were published from Argentina, Australia, Austria, BillionGraves, Chile, China, Denmark, England, France, Hungary, Massachusetts, South Africa, Spain, and West Virginia. Search these new free records at FamilySearch"
Continue reading...

What’s New: Logged-in Home Page

FamilySearch
"Last year, FamilySearch updated the home page to make it a more personalized experience. These changes put your family memories and recommended tasks front and center, making it easier for you to connect with your ancestors.
We’ve created a video to highlight the new features. You can watch HERE...

2017 Worldwide Indexing Event Results:

FamilySearch
"Over seven million new family history records will now be available on FamilySearch.org thanks to volunteers around the world who participated in the 2017 Worldwide Indexing Event on October 20–22."
Continue reading...

5 Things to Know About Your Ancestor’s Probate:

Amy Johnson Crow
"Probate records are created to settle a person's estate after they die. They can have tremendous amounts of information in them. However, there are some misconceptions about what some of them mean. Here are 5 things you need to know when looking at your ancestor's probate records."
Continue reading...

Family History Center Information:

Leesburg Library
Even though many films have been digitized, some films can only be viewed online from a Family History Center.  Affiliate lending libraries have been reclassified as Family History Centers.  The Leesburg Library is one of them and they have announced that FHC films can now be viewed from computers in their library.
Editor's Note: Thanks to Pat Rand for this information.

Technology:

What Does CCleaner Do, and Should You Use It?

How-to-Geek
"These days, it seems like every Windows user has heard about CCleaner. It’s widely recommended, online and offline—but this week, it acted as a piggyback for malware. The real question we should be asking is: do you really need CCleaner in the first place?"
Continue reading...

Importing Google Photos to FamilySearch:

FamilySearch
"Google Photos, an online photo sharing and storage service, is a good place to store your high-resolution images. Its facial-recognition feature allows you to quickly search your photos for a specific person. And now, you can easily import photos from Google Photos to your FamilySearch family tree."
Continue reading...

Education:

What are Railroad Records?

Ancestral Findings

"Did your ancestor work for the railroad? If so, you'll want to explore railroad records to find out more about them on today’s episode of the Ancestral Findings Podcast."
Listen now... 5.40 minutes

Webinars:

New York City Genealogical Research: Navigating Through The Five Boroughs
Legacy Family Tree Webinars

"Many persons can trace their origins to the Empire State. New York City being one of the largest urban center offers many genealogical resources. Between the American Revolution and the Civil War-several key urban cities along the eastern seaboard populations increased strikingly. In 1790 New York's population was about 33,000 persons, and by 1860 more than 1 million persons lived in the metropolitan area. This lecture offer a unique prospective into the various genealogical sources and historical records that are New York City."
Wednesday, November 8, 2017 at 8:00 p.m.
Presenter: Michael L. Strauss, AG
Learn more or Register for this webinar...

Using Non-Population Schedules for Context and Evidence:

Legacy Family Tree Webinars
"We are familiar with the decennial censuses, but the non-population schedules can also provide evidence and context for your family history. Using basic analytical skills and correlating tools, we will investigate five different records sets which shed light on many aspects of our ancestors lives and enrich our stories of them."
Friday, November 10, 2017 at 2:00 p.m.
Presenter: Jill Morelli, CG
Learn more or Register for this webinar...