Sunday, April 29, 2007

FamilyLink: a New Social Genealogy Networking Site

From Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
April 18, 2007

FamilyLink: a New Social Genealogy Networking Site

Here is an announcement of a new genealogy social networking site. Social networking is quite different from "regular" genealogy sites. Here is the announcement from FamilyLink:

http://www.familylink.com/

FamilyLink: New Genealogy Collaboration Web Site Rapidly "Links" People at a Whole New Level Geographic and language barriers minimized to improve genealogy research with launch of FamilyLink

Provo, UT, April 18, 2007 - FamilyLink, the newest social genealogy networking web site created to rapidly link people across the world launched today.

"The recent surge in social networking sites demonstrates the need for people to connect around diverse types of interests" said Michael Tanne, Founder and CEO of Wink, a People Search Engine. FamilyLink provides a perfect venue for families, genealogists and family historians to share their common interests and heritage as they connect with one another and up;oad their photos, family tree, and family history."

FamilyLink has been created to facilitate genealogists in working together in ways that have never been attempted before in the genealogy world with a tool that is easy to use and understand.

"During the early years of Ancestry and MyFamily, I could hardly sleep. I was so excited about what we were building. I feel the same way about FamilyLink," said Paul Allen, CEO, WorldVitalRecords.com.

Using FamilyLink, geographic and language barriers are minimized as individuals connect with their loved ones, research their family history, and preserve memories.

"For the first time ever, if I'm looking for an ancestor in a particular part of the world, I'll be a click away from the expert researchers who live there, and from others who have done research there," Allen said.

FamilyLink users can view the profiles of other individuals, communicate with individuals who have researched or are currently researching in their area of interest through the City Link feature, meet new individuals who also participate in the service, share photos, genealogical information, and post comments.

"One thing that is really interesting right now is that there really is nothing out there on the Web to help someone who lived in a certain city gather information from another city, unless they fly there. The need for this type of social networking definitely exists. FamilyLink allows people who are in different cities to connect with each other in an amazing way," said Jason McGowan, Product Manager, FamilyLink.com.

Additional features include a news feed system, Ancestor Pages, announcements pages, email features, shared connections between WorldVitalRecords.com and FamilyLink.com, and will soon include a family tree.

"Putting FamilyLink.com and WorldVitalRecords.com together is a great way to preserve, share, and grow your family tree," said Barbara Renick, professional genealogist, nationally known lecturer, and author.

In the past genealogists were able to make connections with other genealogists. However to do so required a lot of time, and effort, two scarce resources for genealogists. FamilyLink is a tool that connects people in such a way that it makes everyone and everything more efficient, and will become even better as people join the site.

"As with other social networks, the more people that use FamilyLink, the more useful it will become to everyone else. So we invite you to join and encourage others to join as well, so that we will soon have members in all of the cities of the world - all helping each other to find and preserve their heritage," Allen said.

NOTE: This is a free site. However, it is still in beta, so expect some temporary glitches.

Munselle gedcom on RootsWeb: an easier URL

Here is an easier URL to use to find the Nancy West Munselle gedcom on RootsWeb:

http://snipurl.com/1ij7v

Thanks to Nancy Cunningham.

Friday, April 27, 2007

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Ancestry.com Celebrates 100th Anniversaries of Ellis Island

Ancestry.com Celebrates 100th Anniversaries of Ellis Island's Largest Day and Year of Immigration, April 17, 2007

Free Access to Only Complete Online Collection of Ellis Island Records, 1892-1957;

Explore Ellis Island at the Click of a Mouse at:

http://www.EllisIslandExperience.com

PROVO, Utah, April 12--To honor the 100th anniversaries of the largest year and single day of immigration through Ellis Island, Ancestry.com, the world's largest online resource for family history, is offering free access to the only complete online set of Ellis Island passenger arrival records (1892-1957) from April 12 to April 30. In addition, Ancestry.com is inviting users to relive the remarkable journeys of their gateway ancestors at the click of a mouse at:

http://www.ellisislandexperience.com/

--an interactive, multimedia tour of this national landmark....

Ancestry.com's easy-to-use search and navigation tools help users find their ancestors' passenger lists. Users can view a digital image of the actual passenger list document, save to their online personal family tree, print for future reference and share via email with their family members. From April 12 through April 30, Ancestry.com is offering free access to the entire U.S. Passenger List Collection, which includes the Internet's most comprehensive set of Ellis Island records....

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Ancient Faces

I have just posted a history of the Munselle family in Texas to Ancient Faces. Now you can add family photos, stories and recipes. Just visit:

http://www.ancientfaces.com/research/surnames/M/Munselle

This is another free website.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Linkpendium Surpasses Five Million Links

From Internet Genealogy
Oct/Nov 2006

...Linkpendium, www.linkpendium.com, has announced that it now boasts more than five million genealogy links. Founders Brian Leverich and Karen Isaacson, also founders of RootsWeb, www.RootsWeb.com, said they have categorized close to 550,000 links relating to US localities. The bulk of links on Linkpendium, though, are categorized by surnames worldwide, with nearly 4.5 million entries.
"Linkpendium is by far the largest directory to genealogical resources on the web," said Leverich in a release. "It is, to our knowledge, the second largest human-edited directory of any kind on the web."
Genealogists and regular visitors are encouraged to recommend websites to add to the growing list. In general, websites are reviewed and, if accepted, added within two weeks.
Leverich also said that as the database of links continues to grow, Linkpendium is looking to expand its localities listings to other countries. The site also plans to add more categories, offering links to websites that do not fit into the Surname or Locality sections.
- John Mather

Sunday, April 1, 2007

Footnote, Inc. Free Account

March 25, 2007
National Archives and Footnote Launch Project to Digitize Historic Documents
Signing of Agreement for Footnote, Inc. to Digitize Holdings of NARA

Washington, D.C. and Lindon, UT...Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein and Footnote, Inc. CEO Russell Wilding today announced an agreement to digitize selected records from the vast holdings of the National Archives. The 4.5 million pages that have been digitized so far are now available at

www.footnote.com/nara

...About Footnote, Inc. Founded in 1997 as iArchives, Inc., Footnote is a subscription based web site that features searchable original documents that provide users with an unaltered view of the events, places and people that shaped the American nation and the world. At Footnote.com all are invited to come to share, discuss, and collaborate on their discoveries with friends, family and colleagues.

YOU CAN SEARCH AND REGISTER FOR A FREE ACCOUNT WITH FOOTNOTE AT:

http://www.footnote.com/

With a free Footnote membership you can:

Add annotations and comments to things you find on Footnote.

Create your own story pages.

Maintain a gallery of your favorite Footnote images.

Upload your own images to your gallery.