Ancestry Day 2011 in San Francisco

The following press release was received from the California Genealogical Society.  The daylong event will feature genealogy experts, lectures and consultations.  Family History Day fans who are beginner researchers may be interested in the lectures oriented toward the basics.

Oakland, CA – August 8, 2011 – Ancestry.com and the California Genealogical Society (CGS) are partnering to present Ancestry Day in San Francisco 2011 — Saturday, November 5, 2011, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, located at 5 Embarcadero Center on the waterfront near the historic Ferry Building.

This full-day event will help you start or hone your genealogical skills. Explore the world of genealogy, listen to engaging lectures, meet with expert staff and learn about the incredible resources available at Ancestry.com and at the California Genealogical Society Library.

The day will include
•More than a dozen family history lectures
•Ancestry.com experts on-hand to answer your questions
•One-on-one consultations with genealogists
•Beginner’s classes where your family and friends can learn the basics

Registration is open. The “early bird” price (through October 5, 2011) is $42 for the all-day event. To learn more about the classes and consultation offerings, visit Ancestry Day in San Francisco 2011 at http://ancestry.com/ancestryday-sanfrancisco.


About Ancestry.com
With more than five billion historical records and in excess of 20 million family trees, Ancestry.com is the world's largest genealogical database. Have you explored what Ancestry.com has to offer? Visit Ancestry.com.


About CGS:
The California Genealogical Society, founded in San Francisco in 1898, maintains a library in Oakland, gathers and preserves vital records, and offers research services and online databases. CGS disseminates information through publications, meetings, seminars, workshops and its website: CaliforniaAncestors.org.

Sacramento Public Library, Exhibitor at Family History Day 2011

It is a pleasure to welcome the Sacramento Public Library Central Branch as an exhibitor at Family History Day 2011 at the California State Archives.

The Central Library, located at 828 I Street in downtown Sacramento, is the main branch of the Sacramento Public Library system. Central library offers a variety of free programs for the public, including  many that are of interest to genealogists. In addition, the various branches of the library system periodically offer genealogy programs. Central Library offers these services to the public:

• Presentations by Genealogy Specialists: Three series of presentations are offered annually, during the months of January, May and September. Each series includes three lectures. Special classes on beginning genealogy are also offered throughout the year. All lectures are held at the Central Library in the West Meeting Room.  The September 2011 presentations, on Sundays, 1:30-3:00 pm, include Civil War Research (Sept. 11th), Ancestry.com’s Border Crossing Database (Sept. 18th) and Using Google for your Genealogy (Sept. 25th). The class Beginning Genealogy - How to Trace Your Family History will be held on October 22, 2011, 1:00-2:30 pm.
• The Book a Genealogist program: Central Library is fortunate to have the assistance of a volunteer genealogist, who meets individually with people needing help with their research.  The volunteer is available at the library on Tuesday afternoons. Registration is required for these 45-minute appointments by calling 916-264-2920, or by visiting the library’s website at http://www.saclibrary.org/.
• Genealogy Reference Books:  A large collection of non-circulating genealogy books and periodicals is available for use by the public during library open hours. The majority of these books belong to the Genealogical Association of Sacramento. The collection is located on the 4th floor of Central Library. 
• Genealogy Databases:  The library subscribes to two genealogy databases for the public’s use: Ancestry Library Edition and American Ancestors.org. Both of these databases can be used at any branch of the Sacramento Public Library system.
• Genealogy computer classes:  These free classes are taught at Central Library by library staff. Currently, classes being taught include Introduction to Online Genealogy, Social Networking for Genealogists and Introduction to Ancestry Library Edition.

For more information on any of these programs, come by our exhibit table at Family History Day.  You may also call the library at 916-264-2920 or visit the website at http://www.saclibrary.org/. We hope that you’ll take advantage of all the genealogy services offered by the library!  

Cath Madden Trindle, Speaker at Family History Day 2011

It is a pleasure to welcome Cath Madden Trindle as a speaker at Family History Day 2011 at the California State Archives.

Cath Madden Trindle is a certified genealogist (CG), earned a Certificate of British Research from BYU and a Certificate in Genealogical Studies-Librarianship from the National Institute of Genealogical Studies. A retired financial system consultant, she is currently Treasurer of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS). Cath, as Projects Chair for the California State Genealogical Alliance (CSGA), has helped design and implement the online California Research Aid, has coordinated projects with FamilySearch.com and Ancestry.com, and writes regular copyright and society strategy columns for the CSGA newsletter. As Publications Chair for the San Mateo County Genealogical Society, she has edited the San Mateo County Naturalization Index Series, the Schellens indexing project, and has coordinated the series of indexes that are online at http://www.smcgs.org/. A first generation Californian, Cath has limited her client research to Northern California, however, speaking engagements also focus on the records of Ireland and Scotland, Canada, probate and land records, house histories and genealogical storytelling. Speaking engagements include societies throughout Northern California, the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree, the Salt Lake Institute and FGS. She will be a speaker at the FGS Conference in Springfield, Il on September 7-10, 2011.  Cath can be reached by email at Catht@aol.com.

Cath Madden Trindle will be presenting two classes at Family History Day:

Google Your Ancestors: A quick look at the many Google Tools, from Google Search to Google Earth that aid in gathering and compiling our genealogies.

CSGA Presents California Online: Start your California Research with the CSGA California Research Guide online.  Links to the FamilySearch California Wiki and other major online resources will also be explored.

North Highlands-Antelope Public Library Display

Family History Day is the theme of the display case at the North Highlands-Antelope Public Library for the month of August.  It's just inside the main entrance to the library.  When you are in the neighborhood, stop by and take a look.  The library is located at 4235 Antelope Road, Antelope, CA.  If you can't get there, enjoy the movie of the display - click on the right arrow below the photo.  The display was created by Marilyn Ulbricht, Diane Maltase and Nancy Fiorini with contributions from Charlene Eberwine, Suzanne Latimer and Denise Richmond.

Sacramento German Genealogical Society - Exhibitor

Please welcome the Sacramento German Genealogy Society (SGGS) as an exhibitor at Family History Day 2011 at the California State Archives.  The SGGS was founded in 1983 to promote the search for family histories of those who have a German heritage.  It provides educational resources for those seeking to learn how to research their German ancestry and seeks to increase the public’s understanding of the cultural history of life in the German-speaking areas of Europe and the United States. 

Stop by the SGGS table and receive “Bring a little German to your holidays”.

Benefits: SGGS holds week-day monthly lectures featuring local and out-of-town German genealogy experts. At those meetings attendees can purchase German genealogy research books, maps and tools. Attendees can also browse member pedigree charts, use the books in the SGGS library, discuss research problems with volunteers at the help desk and engage in a question/answer discussion with local experts or the featured speaker.

SGGS also runs a monthly workshop, weekly mentor sessions, an annual seminar and occasional special events. The monthly workshop is a small-group meeting where you can discuss your research problems with the experts leading the meeting and the other attendees. The mentor sessions occur every Thursday afternoon at the Sacramento Regional Family History Center where volunteer mentors will provide personal assistance in the use that research facility.

The annual seminar is an all-day Saturday event with lectures from one or two out-of-the-area speakers. SGGS occasionally hosts special events such as its 25th anniversary which local featured German folk dancers and singers. The monthly meetings are free and open to the public. The annual seminar and special events are fee-based.

In addition to meetings, SGGS also provides a number of services such as an informational website, a list of approved German translators (fee), surname queries and customized handshake packets. SGGS volunteers create useful publications that are subsequently sold to meeting attendees. These include a reference catalog to the German resources available at the Sacramento Regional Family History Center and a comprehensive index for all of the Der Blumenbaum journals (since 1984).

Program 2011
October 25th -  Michael Mayer-Kielmann  “Liedermatinee.” (The usual terminolgy is “Liederabend,” which means “an evening of songs”.  This is a program of German folk songs and concert pieces, well known and loved in Germany. And it’s not a “just listening” program, but rather one with both video and sound.  You are invited to join us. Guests are always welcome at our meetings. Check out our Website for the 2012 program and our Der Bote (monthly newsletter).

Seminar 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012: SGGS’ annual all-day seminar, featuring Warren Bittner, C.G. as our presenter.  Stop by the SGGS table for a brochure and registration form.

Membership
The membership year is 1 July – 30 June. Dues: Domestic: Individual $30; Couple $35. Foreign: Individual $35; Couple $40.

Contact:
Mail: P.O. Box 660061, Sacramento, CA 95866-0061
Memberships: 210 San Carlos Way, Novato, California 94945-1628
Website: http://www.sacgergensoc.org/

Speakers Directory

The following announcement was received from Gwen Myers of the Genealogical and Historical Council of Sacramento Valley:

The Genealogical and Historical Council of Sacramento Valley (GHCSV) is seeking speakers for their 2011 Speakers Directory.  A number of you have already been contacted; however, we would like to open this to others as well.

The Speakers Directory is used by genealogical and historical societies throughout Northern California. The many societies who use the directory are most appreciative for the ability to contact speakers on a variety of topics for their meetings and seminars.It also provides you, the speaker, the opportunity to promote yourself and your topics, publications, etc.  You can limit the areas where you are willing to speak, can charge what you wish, and can ask the society to provide certain audio-visual equipment, if they have it. There is no charge to be listed in the directory.

We expect to have the directory published by Family History Day, October 15, 2011.  Societies are welcome to purchase a directory (cost of publishing).  To be included in the directory or purchase one or for further questions, send an email to Gwen Myers at gg.myers@pobox.com.

5 Minute Genealogist

Awhile back there was a post requesting readers to submit resources for beginner genealogists.  Here's one: FamilySearch has a video series for beginning genealogy utilizing the records available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, UT.  One of the new videos is titled "Find a Record in Five Minutes".  Watch the video here.

Please share this post and submit your own beginner resources to fhdmailbox@gmail.com.