July Program - Randy Seaver

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

The Genealogical Society of North Orange County

Presents

RANDY SEAVER

Finding Your Elusive Ancestors

Doing a "Resonably Exhaustive Search"

The first element of the Genealogical Proof Standard is "to do a reasonably exhaustive search." In this presentation, Randy Seaver will explain the GPS, take us on a whirlwind tour through traditional and onlin resources that should be included in a search, discuss his favorite search strategies and techniques, and introduce several case studies of his still elusive ancestors.

Randy Seaver is a native San Diegan, a graduate of San Diego State University in Aerospace Engineering and a retired aerodynamics engineer. His activities include serving the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (former President, current Newsletter Editor and Research Chairman), speaking to Southern California groups, teaching Beginning Computer Genealogy senior adult classes, and writing the Genealogy 2.0 column for the FGS's FORUM Magazine. He is also na member of NGS, NEHGS, SDGS, and CGSSD, and blogs daily about genealogy https://www.geneaholic.com/, and the Chula Vista Genealogy Cage http://cvgencafe.blogspot.com/

6:15 p.m.: H.E.L.P. for Beginning Genealogists

7:00 p.m.: Business Meeting (really short!)

7:15 p.m.: Program (really interesting!)

At the end: Refreshments (really tasty!)

Yorba Linda Community Center

4501 Casa Loma Avenue at Imperial Highway

Yorba Linda

What is a Blog?

There are lots of links to information about what is a Blog and I'll list some at the end of this post. In short a BLOG is a web log. It's a little like a journal; it's an easy to update website. It's a place that you can post information, pictures, documents, and ideas for yourself and others to read. Blogger gives this definition:

"A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world.

Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules.

In simple terms, a blog is a web site, where you write stuff on an ongoing basis. New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what's new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not.

Since Blogger was launched, almost five years ago, blogs have reshaped the web, impacted politics, shaken up journalism, and enabled millions of people to have a voice and connect with others.

And we're pretty sure the whole deal is just getting started.

A blog gives you your own voice on the web. It's a place to collect and share things that you find interesting— whether it's your political commentary, a personal diary, or links to web sites you want to remember.

Many people use a blog just to organize their own thoughts, while others command influential, worldwide audiences of thousands. Professional and amateur journalists use blogs to publish breaking news, while personal journalers reveal inner thoughts."

Why are we doing it? Why should you read other people's blogs? Why would you do it?

We're doing it to share information with our members and to put our genealogy society face out for others to see.

Why should you read other people's blogs? What I hear is that you just don't have time. That's true. We're all so busy it's hard to find time to do our own family history. It's easy to subscribe to blogs through a blog reader (more on that in another post) or just visit the blog site. You don't have to sign in to read most blogs although you can keep your blog private and only allow selected people to read it. Do you have to read all the blogs? Do you have to read them everyday? Of course not. By reading other blogs you can keep up with the genealogical community. You can follow researchers who are researching your lines or the geographic area you are researching.

Why should you write a blog? It's easy. It's a way to communicate with others. My daughter-in-law writes a blog about her family. It's like getting a letter everyday. I'm writing a family research blog in hopes to connect with others who a researching the same lines. I can tell you that I read blogs for over two years before I started my own. Like everything, it's hard to start something new that you have never done before.

Two of our members: Jamie Mayhew and Nancy Peralta have started blogging about their genealogy. (Do you like this talking in the 3rd person?) You can find their blogs at the following URLs:

http://jmayhew.blogspot.com/

REFLECTIONS ON GENEALOGY RESEARCH

MY JOURNAL ONLINE. WHAT I'M DOING, WHAT I'M THINKING ABOUT.

...............................

http://branchesofmyfamilytree.blogspot.com/

Branches Of My Family Tree

I started this blog to record the discoveries I come across while researching my family tree. It's hard to start because I am starting in the middle. I want this to start from the beginning but that can't be. So - this is the beginning of the journey.

................

http://nancynurse1.blogspot.com/

FERMAZIN FAMILY GENEALOGY

WELCOME!

Welcome! Hope you enjoy my family history.
FERMAZIN - PLUECKER - HERBOLDT - LINDEN - POTT - KARTHEISER - BEVIER - WORTHING -INGRAM - AMES - PALON

...................................

http://adolphusamesgenealogy.blogspot.com/

ADOLPHUS AMES GENEALOGY

My research for this elusive family. What I'm doing, What I'm linking about. What I am thinking about.

Welcome to my journey. I hope by blogging that I can find my AMES Family. Adolphus Ames settled in Mc Kean County, Pennsylvania about 1840 with his wife Sarah Julia and one daughter, Sarah. The census states they were farmers, owned land, and were from New York. They are one of my two block walls. I hope to jump the brick wall. I have a few leads. Maybe one of my followers out there will be able to help me out.

Thomas Mac Entee runs a web site called: GENEABLOGGERS at http://www.geneabloggers.com/ On his GeneBloggers web site he tells you all you need to know about Genealogy Blogging. You can list your site on his Blog Roll. He posts Genea Blogger Events and lists daily themes as helpful hints of What to Blog About. His Bootcamp for GeneaBloggers gives instructions of how to get started.

Another site to learn about blogging is Treasure Maps at

http://amberskyline.com/treasuremaps/create-genealogy-blog-1.html

Welcome to the GSNOCC Blog

The Genealogical Society of North Orange County California (otherwise known as GSNOCC) is jumping feet first into the Social Networking world. We hope that by developing this blog we can communicate with our members in a more immediate fashion and keep you better informed about happenings in the genealogy world and with the happenings of GSNOCC. We hope that you are able to participate by leaving comments to further the sense of community with GSNOCC. Expect lots of changes and lots of updates, we're new at this. Come back often to see what is new!

Jamie Mayhew

President, GSNOCC