Blog | California Genealogical Society

Third Edition: Carnival of Genealogical Societies

by Kathryn Doyle (7/10/2010)

Welcome to the Third Edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies.

First, kudos to the footnoteMaven for creating the carnival badge and description:

The key to all good genealogical research starts with the society of other genealogists and in turn genealogy societies.

Next, I must apologize for my tardiness and the lack of time and attention I have given to the GenSo Carnival. I promise to do a better job of promoting the carnival and gathering submissions starting with the next edition.

The topic for this edition is: Uniquely Us!

How is your society unique?
Tell us about something one-of-a-kind. Is it a program, project, or publication? A record set or archival holding? A certain procedure or way you handle meetings? This is your opportunity to tell why and how your society is special!

This edition has three submissions:

Thomas MacEntee is the new Publicity Chair and the social media agent for the Illinois State Genealogical Society based in Springfield, Illinois. Thomas describes some of the special genealogy programs and services available at the society in Uniquely Illinois posted at Illinois State Genealogical Society Blog.

Charles Hansen shares a special type of city directory resource in Third Carnival Of Genealogical Societies: Uniquely EWGS posted at Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Blog. Charles commented: “I don’t know how EWGS got these Postal Forwarding books, but as a resource for genealogists they are amazing.”

Kathryn Doyle discusses a valuable CGS database in Uniquely Ours: The California Names Index posted here at the California Genealogical Society and Library blog. “Take a chance and search our index!”

This concludes the third edition.

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies originated with a request from Robert Larson, President and Newsletter Editor of the Larimer County Genealogical Society. The society recently put up a Facebook Page and Bob had some questions that are timely.

Call for Submissions!

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies is: Gen Societies on Facebook.

Does your society have a Facebook Page? What are the benefits? Are you an administrator or a regular contributor? Does it help your members or attract new visitors and members?

The deadline for submissions is September 7, 2010.

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

Past posts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

See you at the Carnival!

Uniquely Ours: The California Names Index

by Kathryn Doyle (7/8/2010)

Member volunteers have donated thousands of hours painstakingly indexing and abstracting records held by the society to create the California Names Index – an enormous and unique database on our website. Currently there are more than 350,000 names in the index from state, county, and local references. It is an ongoing project and names are added regularly.

Surname searches of the index are free. Search results yield a full name and an Index Code which identifies the type of source material we have for that individual. If your ancestors or relatives appear in the Names Index, you can order copies of the original records from our Lookups Committee. (Members receive a discount for this service.)

Are you missing a nineteenth century ancestor? During the Gold Rush years, the population of a place called California exploded as immigrants poured into the territory from around the world. Take a chance and search the California Names Index. Be sure to leave a comment if you get a hit!

–Written for the Third Edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies: Uniquely Us.

Workshop: Using Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 for Your Genealogy Presentations

by Kathryn Doyle (7/7/2010)

Saturday, August 7, 2010
1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

California Genealogical Society Library
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2
Oakland, California 94612

PowerPoint 2007 is a powerful presentation tool that allows you to create professional looking presentations and have fun doing it!

In this workshop, Kathy Watson will show you how to:

navigate around the ribbon and know where things are located
create and save presentations
work with tabs and tools to insert elements and style them as you want
choose a theme

and more!

You will get hands-on practice by working on some instructor-created exercises. If you don’t bring your laptop to class you can partner with someone and try the exercises at home.

Skill level: beginner to intermediate.

This workshop is limited to fifteen participants and one of the free benefits for CGS members. Non-members fee is $20.00 (non-refundable) and can be applied towards membership on the day of the workshop.

Preregistration is required. Walk-ins will not be admitted.