Metro New York
Genealogy and Computers Group

Affiliated with NYPC, NYMUG, PAF and Legacy Software Users' Groups

2007-2008 Meeting Schedule

Upcoming Events

4 Sept 2007, 6:00-8:00 pm

Topics: Summer Research Releases and Family Tree Maker 2008
This has been a very busy summer for genealogy software. We'll get an over view of the summer's releases of Research Databases (from Ancestry.com, Footnote,com, Jewishgen.com, and others), announced reworkings of FamilyHistory.com (LDS site), and most especially a review of the NEW Family Tree Maker 2008 (there are real pros and CONS on this one). Bring your summer success stories, bring your research frustrations and see if the group can help. See you all there!

Tuesday, 2 October 2007, 6:00-8:00 pm

Topic: "Deep Searching - Google and Beyond"

We'll explore the deep inner core of genealogy and general websites for family clues and information. Starting from Google or Yahoo (or any other general search engine) learn how to dig deep, follow a thread or a clue, and maybe find family treasure in the most unexpected websites. You never know what's out there until you look! We'll use real examples to show both successes and brick-walls - then look to see how to batter down the brick walls.

Tuesday, 6 November, 2007, 6:00-8:00 pm

Topic: "Clear Charts - Fancy Charts - Simple Charts - Apple Tarts"

Learn the tricks and tips of putting together clear, charts and text reports from popular genealogy software packages. We'll cover searching and selecting records, various reports, charts, and book formats, and how to optimize final output so your readers understand your work. We'll cover some basic elements of content style, graphics design, and type design (typeface selection & usage). NOTE: This is Election Day - Please exercise your vote before coming to the meeting!

Tuesday, 4 December, 2007, 6:00-8:00 pm-8:00 pm

Topic: "New Legacy 7.0!"

See the latest features, upgrades, and enhancements to one of the best research packages on the market. This will be an overview of the Pros and Cons just as we did for Family Tree Maker 2008 this last month. In fact, if the promised Service Pack 2 enhancements are available for Family Tree Maker 2008, we'll take a look at those too (see the Dick Eastman notice at the top of this email).

Tuesday, 8 January, 2008 NOTE: second Tuesday (due to New Year conflict)

Topic: "Local Farmer -> American Patriots -> Royal Lineage"

This will be a special meeting. Once again we have been invited to join the Peter Minuet Chapter of the �Daughters of the American Revolution� (DAR) for a multimedia evening on Genealogy. SIG Chair, David Kleiman, will present a case study of an actual Genealogical project from the initial family interview to web searches (both standard and specialized web pages) to site visits in the towns and counties where the family resided. Follow the work flow (using computers all the way) from choosing a database to outwitting the state archives on-line database to retrieve valuable information. We started from the question: "is this family legend true or false?" and wound up with a genealogical line that reflects the origins of religious tolerance in colonial US and even an earlier Royal surprise! Our thanks to Robin Roman and the Peter Minuet Chapter of the DAR for the invite!

IMPORTANT: The meeting will be held in a location other than our usual haunts (but in the same neighborhood). Watch your emails and the website for information. You�ll have to book a reservation in advance for this one - your name MUST be on the RSVP list to gain admittance to the space.

Tuesday, 5 February, 2008, 6:00-8:00 pm-8:00 pm

BY POPULAR DEMAND! Starting in February, we will be working through a 4 part series (Feb, Mar, Apr, May) on "REVISITING the BASICS" (for beginners, intermediates, and even Experts) of using genealogy software! Learn the best practices, tips and tricks that will work for any database system, and how to get clean, consistent results in your reports. The computer and your data file are perhaps the single most import genealogical tool in the 21st Century. Learn how to "kick it up a knotch" for your own use. We'll be focusing on Family Tree Maker and Legacy to demo the concepts. But it doesn't matter which genealogy software package you are currently working with, or intend to move to, nor whether you are using a Windows PC or a MAC

Part I - PERSONAL NAMES & DATES"
This is the kickoff to our series on the basics of using genealogy and family history software. Let's deal with names, nicknames, immigration names, spelling variations, legal names, common names, rare names, and name in languages other than English. Then check out how to work out dates, date conflicts, approximate dates, date ranges, etc. We'll also explore how to set up and maintain data entry standards that address all of your "special" or "exceptional" cases.

Tuesday, 4 March, 2008, 6:00-8:00 pm-8:00 pm

Topic: "Genealogy Software - REVISITING the BASICS Part II - PLACE NAMES & LOCATIONS" This is the second session of our series on the basics of using genealogy and family history software. What do you do when the place that Grandpa was born had its name changed three times during the course of his life? What do I do about six towns of the same name in the same country? How do I enter cemetery names so that I can get a list of all the burials in that area? What standards work in a database but don't necessarily work for research or publishing? How do we resolve the conflicts?

Tuesday, 1 April, 2008, 6:00-8:00 pm-8:00 pm

Topic: "Genealogy Software - REVISITING the BASICS Part III - SOURCES & REPOSITORIES" This is the third session of our series on the basics of using genealogy and family history software. Just because it is April Fools Day we don't have to play jokes on future generations reading our work. So, let's face the truths about being, good researchers, and good sharers, good writers, and good ancestors. Figure out how to help others understand your work and where the information came from. Come along and find out about the book "Evidence Explained" by Elizabeth Shown Mills, when does it work, and when does it not, and check out the automated digital version. And, we'll start a discussion on how to clean up an existing data file that was created years ago, or that has developed using changing or different standards over time.

Tuesday, 6 May, 2008, 6:00-8:00 pm-8:00 pm

Part IV - MERGING & CLEANING" This is the last session of our series on the basics of using genealogy and family history software. Learn how to SAFELY combine duplicate records in your file. Then we'll move on to merging two files together. Perhaps your cousin is working on their branch using REUNION software on a MAC - you may be using Legacy on the PC - how do you bring the two files together and manage both the duplicate data and conflicting information? We'll then take a look at the tools that various software packages give us to find POTENTIAL ISSUES such as individuals with multiple sets of parents, children born after one or both parents are deceased, possibly bad characters in the name fields, incorrect date formats, etc. In other words - how to do basic house cleaning on your data.

Tuesday, 3 June, 2008, 6:00-8:00 pm-8:00 pm

Topic: "23rd Annual - Ask the Experts Panel" Bring your GENEALOGY & Family History stumpers, puzzles, dead-end (every pun intended) research questions, etc. and get open (and free) advice from our panel of experts on how to succeed and avenues to explore! We ALWAYS have a great time at this session before we break for the summer.

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