DBC Genealogy
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Today's Headlines...October 8, 2006

THAT'S A WRAP
The recent Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference saw several new and soon-to-come products that could fit quite nicely into your roots research agenda. Here's what to watch for:

* 1837online.com, having finished its British vital-records indexing project, is on to something even bigger: AncestorsOnBoard, a 30 million-name database of people leaving the British Isles from 1890 to 1960. You'll be able to download images of the passenger lists-- which include not just Britons, but those from all over Europe who boarded ships in Liverpool, London, Southhampton, Hull and other British ports. No launch date yet, but keep an eye on http://fwpubs.sparklist.com/t/2040168/4490101/1236/0/ (and, of course, right here on your E-mail Update).

* NewsBank's Tom Kemp filled us in on America's Genealogy Bank, a tantalizing-- sounding subscription service set to launch in month or so. It indexes articles in 900 US historical newspapers--not just a few issues, but comprehensive collections for each title, says Kemp-- plus government documents and pages from more than 100,000 other publications. Results show the paragraph snippet containing your search term, then you click to see the whole thing. Fees won't be announced until the launch, but both individuals and libraries will be able to subscribe. Look for details at http://fwpubs.sparklist.com/t/2040168/4490101/1237/0/

* ProQuest -- www.proquest.com -- announced its index to obituaries in seven major newspapers: The New York Times (from 1851), The Washington Post (from 1877), Los Angeles Times (from 1881), Chicago Tribune (from 1849), Atlanta Constitution (from 1868), Chicago Defender (from 1909) and Boston Globe (from 1872). Once you find your relative, you can click to see the full obituary. The service, which isn't part of ProQuest's HeritageQuest Online records collection, is available through subscribing libraries. http://fwpubs.sparklist.com/t/2040168/4490101/1238/0/

* MyFamily.com offered Family Tree Maker 16, an upgrade from Family Tree Maker 2006. (Wondering why the switch from version numbers to years with Family Tree Maker 2005, and now back to numbers? One MyFamily.com staffer speculated the company wants to avoid being locked into putting out a new version every year.) Family Tree Maker 2006 users need not get out their wallets--just download a free patch at www.familytreemaker.com. http://fwpubs.sparklist.com/t/2040168/4490101/1239/0/

* Irish Historic Maps unveiled its online search tool for Ordnance Survey maps from 1829 to 1913 at http://fwpubs.sparklist.com/t/2040168/4490101/1240/0/ You'll need to purchase access to search for a map by county or townland; prices vary from about $6.40 for a day to $383 for a year. The map images are crystal clear, with detailed building drawings. Streets, churches and schools are marked. Once you specify an area you want to print, you can purchase an "A4" map as a PDF for about $30, or order a full sheet ("A0") by mail for $127.

Irish Townland Maps -- www.pasthomes.com -- offers collections of Ordnance Survey maps on $39.95 CDs, or you can order a map by mail for $39.95. http://fwpubs.sparklist.com/t/2040168/4490101/1241/0/

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
Until now, the baptism, marriage and burial registers of California's historic Spanish missions were inaccessible to all but a few scholars. The original records, scattered in archives across California, are too brittle to handle, and microfilm copies are poor quality and hard to find. Interpreting the registers' 18th-century Spanish script demands rare skills.

Now you can get a peek at these registers thanks to the San Marino, Calif.-based Huntington Library's Early California Population Project (http://fwpubs.sparklist.com/t/1987581/4490101/617/0/ This online database contains transcribed information on the Indians, soldiers and settlers of Alta California (roughly, where the state of California is now) from 1769 to 1850. Records include more than 101,000 baptisms, 27,000 marriages, and 71,000 burials from 21 missions plus the Los Angeles Plaza Church and Santa Barbara Presidio.

Searching isn't the most intuitive. First, select a record type (baptism, burial or marriage). You can search on many criteria, such as name, age, religion and spouse's name: Use the table's pull-down menus to select a criterion, then enter the information in the corresponding field. For example, select Ego's Native Name (Ego being the subject of the record) and enter a first name, using a % as a wildcard to replace a character you don't know. Choose a Clause--and, or, or not--for each criterion to run a Boolean search.

Click on a match and you'll get a form showing whatever details were in the record, such as date of the sacrament, recipient's place of origin, spouse's name and a coded mission name. See the search tips to unscramble the code and peruse other helpful information about each mission's records.

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Reprinted with permission from Family Tree Magazine Email Update, copyright 2006 F+W Publications Inc. To subscribe to this free weekly e-mail newsletter, go to http://www.familytreemagazine.com/newsletter.asp. For a free sample copy of the print Family Tree Magazine, America's #1 family history magazine, go to http://www.familytreemagazine.com/specialoffers.asp? FAMfreeissue