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  marker -- Research in the States E-Books
 
The National Genealogical Society announced several new and revised publications from its Research in the States series just before the 2007 Conference in the States, and the books flew off the shelves. Don't miss your 
chance to take home the latest additions to this series at this year's conference. 
 
Series Editors Ann Carter Fleming and Kay Haviland Freilich are continuing to work with various authors to complete research on new states. The following new publications will be released as printed soft cover books at the
2008 Conference in the States, priced at $12 each for NGS members and $15 each for non-members. 
These will also be available shortly after the conference as e-books:
 
ARKANSAS: Originally part of the Louisiana Territory, Arkansas became a state in 1836. Both the Civil War and the reconstruction area were significant in creating records for residents.
 
COLORADO: With its mountains, rivers, streams, and timberland, Colorado drew  early explorers and fur trappers. Prospectors arrived after the 1858 discovery of gold; they were followed by settlers interested in farming, mining,
and the prospects of good health.
 
MICHIGAN: Many of the early settlers were transplants from New England and New York who migrated via the Great Lakes. Michigan remained under Canadian martial law until 1787. 
 
NEBRASKA:  The lure of free or inexpensive land under the Homestead Act lured many to Nebraska. While some of these families moved on, many others established families who remain there today. The major wagon train
trails all passed through Nebraska.
 
NORTH CAROLINA: With a history that dates back to the colonial period, North  Carolina offers records for every major period in American history. It was also the starting point for many who migrated west. 
 
OHIO: Originally part of the Northwest Territory, Ohio provides a particularly challenging set of land records that include military grants, metes and bounds descriptions, and township and range grid system in two different 
measurements.
 
Each publication includes a section on archives, libraries, societies, and other research facilities in the respective state, as well as a discussion of the major family history resources available, such as maps, cemetery records, 
census, city directories, newspapers, military records, tax records, and vital 
records. In addition, each state includes a discussion of which records are available at the local, county, and state level. 
 
Additional states in the series are in process, so don't forget to check the website from time to time for new releases at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org
 
The following 2007 issues are available today as e-books from the NGS website:
 
* Research in Illinois by Diane Renner Walsh 
* Research in Maryland by Patricia O'Brien 
* Research in Missouri by Pamela Boyer Porter and Ann Carter Fleming 
* Research in Oregon by Connie Miller Lenzen 
* Research in Pennsylvania by Kay Haviland Freilich
* Research in Virginia by Eric G. Grundset 
* Research  in West Virginia by Barbara Vines Little 
 
Each publication is 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches, slightly larger than our previous Research in the States publications. The average length is 42 pages, but it  varies by state. Each is currently available as a PDF file, an "e-book" that you can download from the NGS website  and then either read on your computer or 
print. Prices are $8 for NGS members and $10 for non-members. The direct link to the download and purchase is http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/bookstore/ListItems.cfm?CATID=32

Exciting news!  
"The first UGA indexing project with FamilySearch Indexing is now on the Internet! UGA indexed the Salt Lake County death certificates from 1908 to 1949 (county, not state).  The indexing was 
completed last year.  Then the data went through various FamilySearch Indexing processes, and the index can now
be used on the Internet at http://www.labs.familysearch.org/

Labs is a free site, but you do need to register to use it. On the Home Page, click ‘Record Search’.  On the next page, click ‘Register to Use Record Search’.  Fill out the short form.  You may 
need to wait a day or so, but then a notice will be sent to your email, and you can use Record Search.  After that, you just type your email address to sign in. 

To find our index, scroll down the left hand column to Vital Records, “Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records, 1908-1949.” Click to search our index. The county has not given permission for the
 images of the death certificates to go online, but with the information in the index, they
will send copies of death certificates.FamilySearch Indexing would like us to use the index and let them know if there are any problems.  There is a Feedback button in the upper right
section of the screen."

AND ALSO: "News From the BYU Computerized Genealogy Conference," Posted by Diane
"FamilySearch makeover update: The revamped Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Family History Library Web site, still in the testing stage, is gradually being rolled out to the church’s 
temple districts around the world. It’ll be open to the general public once data security issues are addressed. “New” FamilySearch offers collaboration, multimedia and improved searching. It’ll 
attempt to consolidate all the family information located in several databases on “old” FamilySearch.

As a shared database open for users to collaborate on, the new FamilySearch is fundamentally different from the current site, which doesn’t let you alter data someone else submitted. 
You’ll be able to submit information to the new site in GEDCOM format, but you can’t download data as a GEDCOM. Working with other service providers is the new site’s strong suit. 
Several genealogy programs, including Ancestral Quest, Legacy Family Tree and RootsMagic (but not Family Tree Maker or FamilySearch’s own Personal Ancestral File), will let you 
synchronize the family files on your computer with New FamilySearch. And you’ll be able to use these programs free at Family History Centers for three years.

Progeny’s Charting Companion utilities  will combine family information from the renewed site with photos from another site to create a photo family tree chart. And Generations Maps will
let you order a chart made from names on the new FamilySearch. Work is underway to digitize the Family History Library’s collection. FamilySearch Labs' Record Search
already lets you search millions of indexed names."
  Read about Rootsweb moving at: http://genealogy.about.com/b/2008/03/17/usgenweb-where-are-they-moving.htm 

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DID YOU KNOW?
 Do you know about the Genealogy Encyclopedia? It is like Wikipedia in that you can add information to it. Read more at: http://www.eogen.com/
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