Archive for February, 2010

Announcing the first edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies!

Jasia of Creative Gene generously allowed me to introduce this idea back in October with the 82nd edition of the COG, Breaking Into Society. In case you are new to the concept, the Carnival of Genealogy (COG) is a bimonthly blog event invented by Jasia in 2006. Individual genealogy bloggers write about an assigned topic and post the articles on their blogs. Each carnival edition has a host who gathers the submissions and publishes a round-up of links to the articles.

Regular readers know I am a firm believer in genealogical society membership and that this blog has been a wonderful way to showcase the good work of the dedicated volunteers at the California Genealogical Society. It is my hope that a carnival devoted exclusively to writing about societies will broaden awareness of what a great resource a society can be and provide a venue for gen-blogging groups to share ideas and perhaps solve problems.

Society blogs are becoming more commonplace – Thomas MacEntee has 37 Genealogy Society blogs listed on Geneabloggers and Chris Dunham’s Genealogy Blog Finder now lists 85 Association and Society blogs. But this is a drop in the bucket when compared to the 500 societies represented by the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS). From their website:

FGS links the genealogical community by helping genealogical societies strengthen and grow. To do this, FGS publishes FORUM magazine, filled with articles pertaining to society management and genealogical news. FGS also publishes an extensive series of Society Strategy 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.

I think that a blog carnival can create a gen-society subset within the larger, existing geneablogger community. Although they don’t always write about it, many gen-bloggers are active members and officers of their local societies and hold membership in distant societies where their forebears lived. Here are some great articles I’ve noticed in the past few months that are worthwhile reading for anyone involved in the running of a society:

Genealogy Societies by Karen

Promoting Genealogical Societies by Tina Sansone

Blog Presentation at my Society Meeting by Granny Pam

Should Your Genealogy Society Have a Blog? by Amy Coffin

Amy Coffin’s 25 Great Topics for Genealogical Society Blogs

And now for a few specifics. For the first few months I will plan to host the Carnival of Genealogical Societies here at the CGSL blog but my intention is that hosting will rotate to other gen-society blogs. However, any individual blogger is welcome to write an article for the carnival and submit it – as long as it is on topic. The GenSo Carnival will run every other month with entries due on the 7th. I look forward to receiving your entries by March 7, 2010 and I will publish the first edition on March 10, 2010. Even if you’ve never participated in a blog carnival before, please consider joining us. I welcome your feedback about this new venture.

Call for Submissions! The topic for this inaugural edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies is: Doin’ Things Right! Shine a spotlight on a specific program, project, or publication at a genealogical society and tell us why it worked. Tell an anecdote about how you benefited from a particular genealogical society service. Share a success story and be specific! The deadline for submissions is March 7, 2010.

Please do indicate in your article that you are writing for the First Edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies. Submit your blog article using the the submission form provided by Blog Carnival. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any article you plan to submit and/or write a brief introduction to your articles in the “remarks” section of the form.

See you at the Carnival!

CGS member Ron Arons has announced the release of his second book, Wanted! U.S. Criminal Records: Sources and Research Methodology.

Following up on the success of The Jews of Sing-Sing, Ron shares the knowledge he gleaned while investigating his great-grandfather’s time in the slammer. He’s bundled his experience collecting source documents for his first book into a unique resource for genealogists and historians. As he tells it, the first book was about putting the pieces of his family puzzle together. This new work tells us “how to find the pieces.”

WANTED! is a 388-page reference that lists archives, libraries, courts and online sites with the information you need to track down the black sheep in your family: prison, court, parole and pardon records, execution information, and investigative and police reports.

George Morgan gave Ron’s book a great recommendedation during the Janurary 27, 2010 Genealogy Guys Podcast #195 and summed it up by saying, “Every public library ought to have a copy of this book.” I hope Ron will be donating one to the California Genealogical Society Library. What do you say, Ron?

Ron’s book can be purchased through his website.

The February 2010 issue of the eNews, volume 4, number 2, has been published and emailed to members and friends, and it’s sporting our new look. As always, the eNews features timely information about the California Genealogical Society and our upcoming events. Each edition also includes Suggested Links From the Blogosphere and a photo feature: CGS Ancestors.

This month we pay tribute to the Jonathan Johnson family of Jeffersontown, Jefferson County, Kentucky – photograph and story submitted by Jane Hufft.

Jonathan Johnson family of Jeffersontown, Kentucky

All past issues of the eNews are available for viewing at the eNews ARCHIVE. The March 2010 issue will be emailed on February 28, 2010. To receive a copy, please join our mailing list.

Copyright © 2010 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Whew! It’s taken almost two years but the dust has settled and I’ve just checked a big “to-do” off my list. Welcome to the new and improved California Genealogical Society and Library blog. Do, please, let me know what you think!

First, you should know that this is more than just a blog remodel. Our new look extends to all of the locations that the California Genealogical Society sponsors across the web. We’ve come a long way since 2000 when the society put up its first web page. I was able to find an image thanks to the wonders of the Wayback Machine.

 

Some call it a “logo” but our former recording secretary, Shirley Thomson, set me straight. It is a seal and the library is still in possession of the hand crimper that is used to emboss the image onto paper. The digital image has been cleaned up a bit as evidenced by this photo I took of the front page of The California Register, Vol. 1, No. 1, April 1900. As you can see, the original seal was quite a bit more detailed. It has been prominently used by the society since our earliest days.

Lois has been a patient and tireless artist, taking in MANY suggestions, and tinkering with colors and fonts to come up with what we now proudly display as our new masthead. (I especially love the outline of the state and yes, the blue field on the far left IS the ocean!)

So now you know the backstory of our new look. We aren’t Coke™ or Nike™ so there won’t be any Superbowl ads. We did this on a shoestring budget thanks to an army of society volunteers. And we are putting our best face forward in time for what we hope will be a surge in interest in genealogy with the premier of Faces of America on February 10 (PBS) and Who Do You Think You Are? (NBC) on March 5, 2010.