Yep, FamilySearch Indexing can now follow you everywhere. And guess what? It was out for the Android market first! But FamilySearch was able to quickly get through all of the Apple hoops, and the FamilySearch Indexing app is now also available in the Apple app store for both iPhone and iPad.

The new app is cool! Devin Ashby from FamilySearch let me check it out this morning. What's interesting is that because it is sized small enough to work on a smart phone, is only indexes a single field from a set of records. Generally this will be an individual's name, perhaps useful for indexing by name some of the hundreds of thousands of records that are only currently available only by browsing. It could, however, be used to index other single items from a given record set.

There are definitely limitations to indexing in such a small space. As Devin and I looked at the first name that appeared, it was hard to interpret the handwriting without any surrounding clues from the record. FamilySearch has the answer, however, because you can click to open the full record from which the name was extracted. If nothing else it is quick and easy. Index a few names while waiting to pick up your kids from an afternoon activity, or while in line at the grocery store. It's definitely less intimidating than trying to index an entire record batch on the desktop version of FamilySearch Indexing.

The FamilySearch Indexing app is in beta version right now, but free as is everything from FamilySearch so give it a try. You can currently find it on the Android Market as well as in the Apple App Store. Who knows? Maybe it will be the next great addiction after Angry Birds!

Cool New FamilySearch Indexing App! originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Friday, February 3rd, 2012 at 18:05:55.

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Last month I wrote about several popular genealogy sites being pressured into removing or altering access to the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) through the actions of four Senators in support of a bill by Representative Sam Johnson (R - Texas) to remove all public access to the Death Master File, often referred to as the SSDI. This is an extremely valuable tool for anyone researching 20th century U.S. ancestors, and loss of access would be a huge blow for genealogists.

This Thursday, February 2, 2012, the Subcommittee on Social Security of the House Ways & Means Committee in Washington, D.C., will hold a hearing on the "accuracy and uses of the Social Security Administration's Death Master File," which is a fancy way of saying that they want to discuss permanently closing all public access. In case you still aren't worried, the committee is only allowing invited witnesses ...

Call to Action - Save the SSDI originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 at 03:49:29.

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The popular RootsTech conference, now in its second year, will once again broadcast a number of its popular sessions over the Internet for those unable to attend the conference in person. These 14 sessions, a large increase over last year's live broadcast sessions, are free for anyone to view over the Internet -- the only caveat is that you have to watch them as they are streamed live during the conference which is being held later this week in Salt Lake City, Utah, February 2-4, 2012.

The free online sessions include ...

RootsTech Live from Home for Free originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Monday, January 30th, 2012 at 12:59:14.

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Genealogy records and documents are easy to find online, but it is not uncommon for genealogists to overlook unknown resources in favor of sites they use on a regular basis. Even if you keep good notes and try to stay on top of new sites and databases, there are new resources coming online every day -- and not all of them are advertised to the genealogical community (every few weeks I seem to find a new U.S. county has put its deed records online). This is why your search for ancestors should always include a review of known resources and a search for new ones (i.e. explore the website for each of the suggestions on this list!).

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Search for Sources, Not Just Surnames originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Sunday, January 29th, 2012 at 07:04:57.

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It's one of the most popular of the many genealogical education opportunities open to genealogists, and one of the highlights of my year! Registration opens today, Tuesday, January 17, for the 2012 Institute of Genealogy & Historical Research (IGHR) at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. A few of the courses sell out within minutes, and many are closed by the end of the first day of registration, so if you're interested at all in attending I strong suggest you register today. You will have the opportunity to cancel without penalty until May 1, 2012, for a $75 cancellation fee.

To prevent an overload of the online registration system, the opening of registration for courses will be staggered, with different courses opening at different times. Once open, registration for each course will remain open until the course is full. At that time you can request to be added to the waiting list by following the applicable link on the Courses page. All registration times listed below are in Central Standard Time. ...

Registration Open Today for the Institute of Genealogy & Historical Research (IGHR) originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 at 09:48:34.

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Even though I had no idea what I wanted for Christmas, my husband managed to find a way straight to my heart by giving me several old albums and diaries that he had located and purchased through antique dealers and eBay. A yellowed newspaper clipping tucked behind the photograph of a woman identified as Dora Bowman immediately caught my eye. She's the only named photograph in an album filled with gorgeous old photos, which seems a bit too coincidental to me, but her story is definitely captivating...

"Oh! Dan, don't kill me and I will be yours." It was a woman imploring for mercy. Over her stood a man with a cocked revolver. "D___ you, I will kill you," and with that he fired, but fortunately the ball struck the woman's corset steel and fell to the ground. Twice more the villian fired, but the bullets went wide of their mark.

Dramatic it may seem, but this is the true tale of an engineer named William Schipp, and the much younger Dora Bowman set in 1890 Omaha, Nebraska. Dora apparently lived with William in adultery for almost two years after he solicited her away from "May Morgan's sporting house," before she tired of his attentions and tried to break off their arrangement. ...

Saved by her Corset! The Interesting Case of Dora Bowman originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 at 13:14:01.

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It was a big week for announcements of new online learning opportunities for the genealogy community, including a variety of instructive webinars and videos. The majority of these are free to boot! Those which require a fee for participation are noted.

• The U.S. National Archives & Records Administration has launched online videos of its most popular genealogy "how to" workshops, covering topics such as census, military and immigration records. These "Know Your Records" videos are available on the National Archives YouTube Channel for free viewing, with hopefully more to come. They are asking for help prioritizing from a list of 60 videos which include a number of interest to genealogists, so voice your opinion!

• The Association of Professional Genealogists announced a move into the genealogy webinar space, hosting a free webinar for both members and non-members this week titled "Tax Considerations for Your Genealogy Business," presented by Jim Beidler, a genealogy business owner and senior tax adviser for H&R Block. The webinar is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, January 11, 2012. Pre-registration is recommended.

• Several U.S. state genealogical societies also have upcoming genealogy webinars, including free webinar series open to the public from the Illinois State Genealogical Society, the Utah Genealogical Society and the Southern California Genealogical Society. The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania will also be hosting two webinars - each featuring a well-known national speaker - for a nominal fee. Learn more in Angela Packer McGhie's blog Adventures in Genealogy Education.

Looking for even more genealogical education opportunities? Check out these Genealogy Webinars & Online Seminars and Online Genealogy Classes & Tutorials, plus 10 Educational Opportunities for Genealogists

New Online Learning Opportunities - Most Free! originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Monday, January 9th, 2012 at 11:11:04.

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I didn't initially notice the changes at 23andme.com that caused such an uproar in the genealogy community last month, primarily because I was one of the early adopters who had my DNA (and that of my family members) tested prior to their change to a subscription-based program. In other words, the changes didn't affect my account in an immediately noticeable way. However, once I started reading some of the blog posts on the topic, including CeCe Moore's 23andMe Changes Terms for Expired PGS Subscription Customers and DNA Access Policy Changes Bad for Genealogists by Debbie Parker Wayne, CG, I realized the changes would indeed affect me as well -- because they would affect many people who might be my future potential matches in Relative Finder. I also immediately downloaded my raw DNA data from their database so I won't risk losing it to future service changes.

It was good to see the announcement this week by23andMe co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcidki ...

23 and Me Responds to the Genealogy Community originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Sunday, January 8th, 2012 at 11:17:17.

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This spring brings more genealogy than ever before to American prime time television with shows on both NBC and PBS.

Premiering on Friday, February 3 (8-9:00 p.m. Eastern) is the third season of NBC's Who Do You Think You Are?, based on the award-winning hit British television documentary series of the same name. Promising to take us from "Ireland's freedom fighters to the American Revolutionary War, and from the African nation of Cameroon to Bulgaria," this season includes the biggest celebrity lineup to date: Martin Sheen, Marisa Tomei, Blair Underwood, Reba McEntire, Rob Lowe, Helen Hunt, Rita Wilson, Edie Falco, Rashida Jones, Jerome Bettis, Jason Sudeikis and Paula Deen.

PBS and Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. are back with another genealogy show as well. Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. will premier on Sunday, March 25 ...

Celebrities Announced for Genealogy Shows on NBC & PBS originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Friday, January 6th, 2012 at 10:19:23.

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Have you ever begun an evening researching Great Grandma Emeline and found yourself browsing online census records for your spouse's family instead? Does a new message board post or other genealogical discovery distract you from what you were doing and send you off willy-nilly in a new direction? If you feel as if your family history search has you wandering aimlessly from clue to clue, try these tips for pulling everything together and keeping your research on track.

How to Keep Your Research on Track originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Tuesday, December 27th, 2011 at 08:58:24.

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As you sift through the records of your own ancestors to build your family tree, you may find yourself with questions. What other records can/should I search? What else can I learn from this record? How do I pull all of these little clues together? The answers to these types of questions generally come through knowledge and experience. This is why I invest a great deal of my personal education time in reading case studies, written examples of research problems, methodologies, and unique records shared by fellow genealogists.

What is so eye-opening about the research of others, especially if the individuals or places in question have nothing to do with your own family? For me, there is no better way to learn (aside from your own hands-on practice) than through the successes, mistakes and techniques of other genealogists. ...

Case Studies: Learning by Example originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Monday, December 19th, 2011 at 14:08:31.

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In November, GenealogyBank removed social security numbers from one of their popular free databases, the U.S. Social  Security Death Index, after two customers complained their privacy was violated when the Social Security Administration falsely listed them as deceased. This week, Ancestry.com followed suit, removing the entire free SSDI database (aka SSA's Death Master File) which has been online at RootsWeb.com for over a decade. They also made changes to the SSDI database behind their membership wall on Ancestry.com "due to sensitivities around the information in this database," removing Social Security numbers from the results for individuals who have died in the last 10 years.

The reasons for these changes began with a report following a Scripps Howard News Service investigation in October 2011, that complained about individuals using Social Security Numbers for deceased individuals found online to commit tax and credit fraud, and culminated in the recent decision by several major genealogy companies to remove access to the Social Security Death Master File on their websites.

The removal of the SSDI from RootsWeb.com was apparently prompted by a petition sent on December 1, 2011, to the "five largest genealogy services" who currently host the Death Master File (SSDI) online by U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), Bill Nelson (D-Florida) and Richard J. Durbin (D-Illinois), who have joined in support of recent legislation introduced by Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas) to remove all public access to the Social Security Death Master File.

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Genealogy Sites Pressured Into Removing SSDI originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Friday, December 16th, 2011 at 00:44:13.

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Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett signed Senate Bill 361 into law today, amending a 1953 Vital Statistics Law (P.L. 304, No. 66) to finally provide for public access to Pennsylvania birth and death certificates 105 years after the date of birth or 50 years after the date of death. The historic birth and death records (currently birth records from 1906 and 1907 and death records from 1906 to 1961) will be maintained by the State Archives. Pre-1906 birth and death records are already open and available at the county level.  The amended Vital Records act will go into effect in 60 days (February 14, 2012).

This has been a long drawn-out battle for public access to historic PA vital records, led in large part in recent years by a grassroots organization formed expressly for this purpose - People for Better Pennsylvania Historical Records Access (PaHR-Access). I would like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who worked so tirelessly to achieve this important milestone.

Pennsylvania Governor Corbett Signs Bill Loosening Restrictions on Vital Records Access originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Thursday, December 15th, 2011 at 10:03:14.

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Another fairly quiet change made by the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) last month will greatly impact the amount of information publicly available in the SSA's Death Master File, a file of all deaths reported to SSA from sources other than States beginning around 1936 (the online version includes deaths from 1962). While recent legislation introduced by Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas) -- the "Keeping IDs Safe Act of 2011" (aka KIDS Act) -- aims to remove all public access to the Death Master File (aka SSDI), there are already changes in the works that will keep as many as 1 million of the  2.8 million deaths expected by the SSA next year out of the public Death Master File, a reduction of almost 36 percent. In addition, the SSA plans to remove about 4.8 million names from the historical SSDI.

The names that will no longer be included in, or will be removed from, the Death Master File are those where the only source of death information was a State record of death. The change, according to the SSA, went into effect November 1, 2011: ...

Social Security Administration Removing Names from Public Death Master File (aka SSDI) originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Monday, December 12th, 2011 at 20:02:48.

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My husband brought me a cool postcard today, postmarked 10 July 1916, with a photograph of a church just up the street from where we live. The Noblestown U. P. Church and even the house next door haven't changed dramatically in the 95 years since, although the huge maple that makes me smile each fall was nowhere in sight. Addressed to "H. R. Boyce, W Selby St., Alliance, O," the photo postcard is short and sweet.

Dear Brother & Sister
Arrived here safe
Victor, Mary & Mathilda

Who are Victor, Mary & Mathilda? Why were they in tiny little Noblestown, PA? My husband warned me not to get distracted, but what genealogist could resist?

The only surname I have is Boyce -- H. R. Boyce. It seems that Victor, Mary, Mathilda and H.R. are all siblings, but the term "brother and sister" could easily include brother- and sister-in-laws or other relations. Searches are a little trickier without a first name, but a location, time period and initials offer plenty to work with. ...

Arrived Here Safe... originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 at 11:53:59.

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In remembrance of the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Ancestry.com is offering six days (December 2-7) of free access to nearly 60 million historical military records related to World War II. This includes the World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1939-1949 made available on Ancestry.com earlier this year, which include 33 million quarterly reports detailing the location, rank and other information about nearly all enlisted personnel who served aboard ships during those years.

Two brand-new collections were added ...

Ancestry.com Offers Free Access to World War II Records originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Friday, December 2nd, 2011 at 09:09:25.

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Do you have an ancestor who worked on the railroad? According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, over 1.2 million American railroad employees were covered by the Railroad Retirement system in 1939. In addition to those who worked as railroad engineers, signalmen, and ticket clerks, there were also the railroad workers who blasted and tunneled through miles of mountains, and hammered down thousands of miles of track.

Researching individuals associated with the railroads can often be difficult, especially for those who worked prior to the establishment of the Railroad Retirement Board in 1936. Railroad companies have merged and folded. Personnel records have rarely survived. Yet there is still a wealth of historical information available to help you better tell the story of your U.S. railroading ancestors, from accident reports to first-hand accounts.

Working on the Railroad originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Saturday, November 26th, 2011 at 15:19:45.

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Holiday gatherings are a perfect time to talk about genealogy and family trees. U.S. federal health officials want Americans to take this a bit further over the Thanksgiving weekend, however, and serve up a little family health history at the holiday table. This Thanksgiving is the 8th annual National Family History Day, as declared by the U.S. Surgeon General

Taking the time to learn, and record, your families' health history is a positive step toward ensuring many years of future family gatherings. Knowing who in your family had what type of cancer or suffered from diabetes can provide the critical information your doctor needs for proper diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

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Can We Talk? Put Health History on the Menu this Holiday Season originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Thursday, November 24th, 2011 at 09:02:18.

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By 1913, more than one million miners across Great Britain were working mostly by hand in 2,600 coal pits to produce a peak 280 million tons of coal a year. Needless to say, this involved a large percentage of the populations of England, Wales and even Scotland, making it likely than many of you with British ancestors have a coal mining ancestor or two hiding out in your family tree. To further explore your coal mining roots, these resources for researching UK coal mining ancestors will help you learn how and where to track down employee and accident reports, read first-hand accounts of life as a coal miner, and explore the history of the coal mining industry in England, Scotland and Wales.

Researching UK Coal Mining Ancestors originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011 at 14:25:15.

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Random Acts of Genealogical Kindess (RAOGK), begun in March 1999 by Bridgett and Doc Schneider from Nebraska, is one of the best genealogical grassroots  organizations out there, connecting over 4,000 volunteers in 40+ countries with genealogists who need someone "local" to help retrieve a record from the courthouse, look up a newspaper obituary, or take a photo of their ancestor's tombstone. The news that RAOGK was temporarily shutting down last month due to computer issues and the health of one of its administrators had kind words and offers of help pouring in from throughout the genealogical community.

Sadly, the genealogical community learned today just how dire that health issue was. Bridgett Schneider passed away this morning. The world has lost a very kind and generous woman. Bridgett's husband Doc has assured the RAOGK volunteers that RAOGK will be back online in the future - a promise he has made to Bridgett. For now, some people are helping individuals through the RAOGK Facebook page. Bridgett has brightened the lives of countless people and will be dearly missed.

RIP Bridget Schneider - Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Saturday, November 12th, 2011 at 12:43:27.

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