GENCOM – Genealogy Research Utilizing Computer Technology

We are a genealogy computer group, and all of our meetings focus on genealogy topics. A distinction of  our group is that we emphasize use of computers in genealogy.  The meetings are informational and the topics are relative to genealogy/and or computer research associated with genealogy research.

Our GENCOM group has a wide mixture of those who are newcomers and experts, both in the use of computers and genealogical   research.  If you are new to computers, or if you are new to genealogy, or both, do not be intimidated about our group. Come to one of our meetings  as a visitor with no obligation to join. Come and be a part of one of the fastest growing hobbies of our time.

Come and join us as we share the skills that we have learned in genealogical research and computer technology. We learn from each other and others learn by each one of us sharing our knowledge.

GENCOM MAY 2012 MEETING INFORMATION!

1940 FIRST INDEXER AWARD

The displayer of this badge certifies that he or she is a proud indexer of the 1940 Census.
1. Name: James G “Jim” Jones
2. First Indexed: April 2012
3. First Batch: New Castle County Delaware – Now concentrating entirely on Louisiana
4. Favorite experiences: Learning to read some of the Cajun names from South Louisiana
5. I learned about this award from the blog of: The Ancestry Insider (http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com/2012/04/1940-first-indexer-award.html)
If you want to help index, visit http://indexing.familysearch.org.

UPDATE ON DNS CHANGER VIRUS

At the GENCOM meeting last Sunday we discussed a new virus that is going to effect infected computers on July 9, 2012.  I have done some serious investigating since that time and have determined that this is not a hoax and is real.  Here are some websites that you can look at if you have any doubts about the virus:
http://goo.gl/y88kt
http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/november/malware_110911/DNS-changer-malware.pdf
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2401227,00.asp

To determine if your computer is infected with the virus go to www.dcwg.org and follow the instructions.  A green background means you are OK and a red background means your computer is infected.  If your computer is infected, there is a fix on this site to remove the virus.  Again, just follow the instructions.  I have checked all of my computers and they are OK.  I hope that yours checks out OK.

Jim Jones

GENEALOGICAL MILITARY RESEARCH AT THE LIBRARY

Several people at our GENCOM April meeting asked for a copy of the list of library resources that were listed in the presentation – the following is a copy of this list:

Happy ancestor hunting!

Jim Jones

1940 CENSUS INDEXING UPDATE

WHEN WILL THE STATE I AM INTERESTED IN BE INDEXED?

Most of us know that the 1940 census has been released and is available for viewing, searching and downloading to everyone.  However, these images are indexed by enumeration district only, which makes it difficult to find the ancestors you are searching for.  The images will be indexed by names “real soon” we are told.  Several organization, including FamilySearch, are busy with these indexing efforts.

Of course, our real question is:  “When will the state I am interested in be finished?”  No one can tell you the exact date but you can look at the progress report of the efforts at FamilySearch.org.  Go to https://www.familysearch.org/1940census/ and move your mouse over the state that you are interested in.  A pop-up will then appear showing you the percentage of records that have been indexed so far by FamilySearch.

Louisiana, at this time shows 5% of the indexing is complete, but with a little help from our Shreveport/Bossier City genealogy friends we can help get that number to 100% in no time.  If you have not signed up for helping with the indexing, go to “Indexing for the 1940 U. S. Census” for detailed instructions on how to sign up and start indexing.  Join with us and let us get the Louisiana images indexed!

GENCOM APRIL MEETING INFORMATION!!!!!!!

UPDATE ON 1940 CENSUS IMAGES AND INDEXING

I hope that everyone is having success in searching the 1940 census.  After a rough start last week the census images and indexing are beginning to take shape.  The National Archives,  http://1940census.archives.gov,has all of the images online but they are only indexed by enumeration district.  FamilySearch, http://familysearch.org, has images available for 16 states with two states (Delaware and Colorado) indexed by names.  Ancestry, http://www.ancestry.com, has all state images available online and two states (Delaware and Nevada) indexed by names.  Access to the images on Ancestry will be free until 4/10/2012 and access to the images on FamilySearch will be free forever.

I started at 8:10 A.M. last Monday trying to search the images on the National Archives but was unable to access the records until late Tuesday night because of the vast number of people trying to access the website.  With the help of Steve Morse’s One Step Website, http://stevemorse.org, I was able to find my parents and both sets of my grandparents within two hours.  It took a bit longer to find Esther’s parents because they moved between 1930 and 1940.  But, with the help of Steve Morse’s Website and the enumeration maps we were able to find her parents after searching line by line through four enumeration districts.  We are both having a ball searching the census records for people that we knew while we were growing up.

If you haven’t volunteered to help with indexing the 1940 Census for the Community Project, give it a try.  It is not too late!  I have indexed four pages so far and am really enjoying it.  Louisiana images are available and who knows, you may actually be able to index some people that you knew back then.  I am attaching details on how to sign up for the indexing project.

The following are instructions for signing up for indexing with our Society:

INDEXING THE 1940 UNITED STATES CENSUS

DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL FAMILYSEARCH INDEXING SOFTWARE
Go to the http://the1940census.com
Click get started
Click download indexing software
Click download now
Click run
On set-up page click next
Check run FamilySearch indexing
Click finish

If you have account sign in with username and password
If you do not have account go to “Register for new account”

REGISTER FOR NEW ACCOUNT (Skip if you already have account)
On registration screen
Choose FamilySearch account (for general public)
Enter requested information
Click register
Go to email and activate account
Go to http://indexing.familysearch.org
Select sign-in located in upper right corner of screen
Sign in with username and password
Verify that information is correct
Select sign-out located in upper right corner of screen

START INDEXING PROGRAM AND ASSIGN YOURSELF TO GROUP
Double click FamilySearch Indexing icon on desktop
Sign in
Select another group
Select GENCOM as your group
Enter phone number
Click OK
Download batch and start indexing

HAPPY INDEXING!

WE ARE PART OF THE 1940 U.S. CENSUS COMMUNITY PROJECT

GENCOM Joins the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project

 GENCOM Genealogical Computer Society of North Louisiana has joined forces with genealogy societies and organizations around the country as part of the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project. The initiative aims to publish a free, online searchable name index of the 1940 U.S. Federal Census after images of the census are released to the public in April 2012.   This online index will be free forever, offering family history researchers a rich genealogical data set for their ongoing use. Three leading genealogy organizations, Archives.com, FamilySearch International, and findmypast.com, launched the initiative at the end of last year, and the project is already engaging volunteers to help provide this invaluable resource to family historians around the world as soon as possible.

The index created by the project will allow the public to easily search every person found in the census and view digital images of the original census pages where he or she is listed. The highly anticipated 1940 U.S. Census is expected to be the most popular U.S. record collection released to date.

“The 1940 Census is attractive to both new and experienced researchers because most people in the United States can remember a relative that was living in 1940. It will do more to connect living memory with historical records and families than any other collection previously made available,” said David Rencher, Chief Genealogical Officer for FamilySearch.

The 1940 U.S. Census Community Project is also receiving support from leading societal organizations like the Federation of Genealogical Societies, National Genealogical Society, and Ohio Genealogical Society, as well as other societies around the United States.

Go to www.the1940census.com/society and register to participate with our society.  Simply select GENCOM Genealogy Computer Society of North Louisiana on the profile screen when creating your account. Every new person indexing with our society gets us closer to milestones that qualify us for incentives provided by the sponsors of the project, so sign up today!

GENCOM MARCH MEETING INFORMATION!!!!!!!!!!!!

In March our program will be “Are You Ready For The Release Of The 1940 Census?”  This program will present a brief history of the U.S. Census Records and provide information on what to expect in the 1940 census.  On April 2, 2012, National Archives and Records Administration will provide access to the images of the 1940 United Federal Census for the first time.  The 1940 U.S. Federal Census is the largest, most comprehensive, and most recent record set available that records the names of those 132 million people who were living in the United States at the time the census was taken.

Unlike previous census years, images of the 1940 U.S. Federal Census will be made available as free digital images.  Although the census records will be available as digital images as soon as they are release there will not be any searchable index for some time.  We, as individual genealogists and genealogy groups, have an opportunity to help index these records to make them available to the entire genealogical research community.  The 1940 Census Community Project, a joint initiative between Archives.com, FamilySearch, findmypast.com, and other leading genealogy organizations, will coordinate efforts to provide quick access to these digital images and immediately start indexing these records to make them searchable with free and open access. 

How can we help?  By volunteering to help index this census starting as soon as it is released.  Go to this website and find out how:  Help Index The 1940 U.S. Federal Census .  Register now and start indexing other records for FamilySearch.org so that you will be ready to start when the census is released on April 2^nd.  When registering to participate in the indexing project be sure and designate “GENCOM Genealogy Computer Society of North Louisiana” on the profile screen as the volunteer group you wish to be affiliated with when creating your account.  In our March meeting we will learn more about indexing and investigate how to search for our ancestors before the indexing is complete.

Mocavo Plus – The Next Generation of Genealogy Search Engine – Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter

This is a website that I talked about at one of your meetings and also reviewed it in our newsletter some time ago.  It is one of Esther and my favorite sites.  Give it a try – it will find information that you would never uncover using Google search.  Note that there is also a new subscription service that costs but the free service has all of the features that were there at the start.

Mocavo Plus – The Next Generation of Genealogy Search Engine – Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter.