LIVERMORE-AMADOR GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY E-BULLETIN FOR FEBRUARY 2006 February 1, 2006 ======================================================= Summary of Meetings for February 2006: - Family Tree Maker Group: - Thursday, February 2 - General Meeting: Tuesday, February 14 - Study Group: Thursday, February 16 - The Master Genealogist Group: February 18 - L-AGS Board Meeting, February 28 ======================================================= Future General Meetings February 14, 2006, "Using Online Census Indexes," Susan Johnston March 21, 2006, "Genealogy Quilting," Caroline Earhart Note the change of date for the March meeting! April 11, 2006, "Colonial Handwriting," Margery Bell ======================================================= A N N O U N C E M E N T S DUES REMINDER 2006 January is gone and we have not heard from some of you regarding the renewal of your membership. So before more time passes why don't you take a minute to renew your membership? An individual membership is $18.00 and family memberships are $25.00. If we do not hear from you by March 31st, we will assume that you no longer wish to be a member of L-AGS. You may mail your check made out to "L-AGS" to L-AGS, P O Box 901, Livermore CA 94551-0901 or give to Jean Lerche or Marilyn Cutting. Thanking you in advance........... Marilyn Cutting, Membership Chairman ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ L-AGS BOARD MEETINGS Jane Southwick, President Meetings of the L-AGS Board of Directors are open to any member. If you have an issue you want to put before the board, or just want to observe the directors conducting the Society's business, you are welcome to attend the meetings. For 2006, the board meetings are held at my home, in Livermore, starting at 7:30 PM on the last Tuesday of the month. Note that the last Tuesday is sometimes the fourth, and sometimes the fifth, Tuesday of the month. To request a copy of the agenda in advance of the meeting, or to obtain a copy of the minutes after the meeting, please send a request to me at mailto:XXXX@comcast.net Announcement of the board meetings will be included in future mailings of this monthly e-mail bulletin. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FRIENDS OF THE PLEASANTON LIBRARY Judy Person The Friends of the Pleasanton Library ("the Friends") have been wonderful benefactors of genealogists in our Valley, and especially of L-AGS. The best and most expensive books and other items in our collection were bought by the Friends, at a cost of thousands of dollars. We can reciprocate the generosity of the Friends in two ways. One is by joining the organization as members. The other is by volunteering our time and talents in their fundraising activities, the main one of which is the twice-yearly book sale. The next sale is May 5, 6 and 7. Many volunteer tasks need to be done between now and then. To join the Friends or to volunteer, please contact me to discuss the possibilities. Judy Person L-AGS Library Chair and Friends Recording Secretary XXXX@comcast.net 925-XXX-XXXX ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ROOTS TRACER OPTIONS George Anderson The printed version of our quarterly newsletter, The Roots Tracer, is distributed to members every February, May, August and November. Shortly after its appearance in print, it is also posted on our Web site at http://www.L-AGS.org The Web version is actually an enhanced copy of the paper version, since the images are in color, something we can't afford in print. Vicki Renz, the Roots Tracer Web editor, is also free to add photos and other graphics that we regrettably had to omit in the paper edition to stay within 20 pages, as heavy as we can go for 63 cents in postage. You can save the Society money if you feel you don't need your printed Roots Tracer and are satisfied to read the online version instead. There are currently ten subscribers who have chosen this option. To select the Web-only option, send your request to Scott Gagnon at XXXX@comcast.net Of course, you can reverse this decision at any time. ======================================================= F E B R U A R Y M E E T I N G S Visitors are welcome free of charge at all of our meetings. ======================================================= FAMILY TREE MAKER FOCUS GROUP Leader: Dick Finn at XXXX@wecare.net Please note new location! We have been meeting in Room 2, but that may be changed for this meeting. Look for sign on door of Room 2. Date and Time: Thursday, February 2, 2006 - 7:30 PM Always the first Thursday of the month. Place: Room 2, Almond Avenue School, 1401 Almond Avenue, Livermore Map to the school: http://www.l-ags.org/maps/Liv-AlmondSchool.html Besides our regular question and answer time we will be discussing generating our own books using FTM. Please bring any books you have done using FTM, even if not finished. Homework: will any of you who are using version 2005 or 2006 see if you can get Preview Book to work for you. Bring your questions (on any version of FTM, any and all skill levels welcome) and let us help each other find answers. Most of our group are FTM users (from beginners to experts) who discuss problems and solutions, share successes, answer questions, and in general help each other with the Family Tree Maker genealogical software. All persons interested or potentially interested in Family Tree Maker are invited to attend. For information on our group please call Dick Finn at 925- XXX-XXXX or e-mail him at XXXX@wecare.net. Contact Dick for information about topics to be discussed. Visitors are welcome and there is no charge to attend. Bring your questions, comments, and if you have a laptop with FTM loaded (any version) and/or the FTM Handbook, you might bring them. Please avail yourself of the L-AGS FTM e-mail forum at to post questions, answers and comments. ======================================================= MONTHLY GENERAL MEETING Barbara Huber, Program Chairperson mailto:program.chair@L-AGS.org Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 7:30 PM Always the second Tuesday of the month Location: Congregation Beth Emek, 3400 Nevada Court, Pleasanton Map to the meeting site: http://www.L-AGS.org/maps/Pls-BethEmek.html Topic: Using Online Census Indexes: A Comparison of Ancestry and HeritageQuest Presenter: Susan Goss Johnston Co-Leader of the Tri-Valley TMG Users Group Susan wrote on this topic in the Roots Tracer issues for November 2005 and (upcoming) February 2006. She also spoke to the Study Group last November on a subset of her research findings about the two online indexes. Her presentation was so well received that the program committee felt the general membership should hear it. Susan writes: I graduated from Yale University with a degree in physics and began working in medical research while studying voice at Peabody Conservatory. I left both careers to raise two children. One day, I discovered a box of old photographs, my children's ancestors, and in studying those people, found a new vocation. Genealogy was research that didn't require grant writing! I'm a graduate of the National Institute on Genealogical Research, "Advanced Methodology and Evidence Analysis" at the Samford University's Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, and the National Archives' course, "Going to the Source." After thirty years in Maryland, I moved to Fremont with my husband in August 2004. Occasionally, I still head west when I'm supposed to go east. Visitors are welcome. ======================================================= STUDY GROUP MEETING Co-Leaders: Kay Speaks, Dick Finn, and George Anderson Date: Thursday, February 16, 2006 Always the third Thursday of the month. Time: 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Location: LDS Church, 950 Mocho Street, Livermore, CA Map to meeting site: http://www.l-ags.org/maps/Liv-FHC.html Topic: Under-Utilized Databases, where are they and how do you use them? Presenter: Margaret Toth Margaret is a member of DAR, and is currently President of the Tracy Area Genealogical Society. She has been doing genealogical research for over 20 years. As a former vice president of an IT contractor for NASA, she uses her creative thinking skills used in programming for her research methods. Margaret has been teaching various genealogical subjects since 1994. Her primary skills are U.S. research. - - - - - Our e-mail forum is at: mailto:study.group@L-AGS.org Please make good use of it. ======================================================= TRI-VALLEY TMG USERS GROUP Date: Saturday, February 18, 2006 (We meet every third Saturday of the month.) Time: 9:00 a.m. - Noon Location: 7077 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 110, Pleasanton, CA 94566 Map: http://www.l-ags.org/maps/Pls-KollCenter.html Leader: Kay Speaks, mailto:tvtmg.chair@L-AGS.org Instructors: Kay Speaks & Sue Johnston Topic: Working with Charts in Visual Chartform(tm) We continue with Chapter 14 of Leo Hoffman's "Getting the Most Out of the Master Genealogist - Working with Charts in Visual Chartform(tm) by Robin Lamacraft." Visual Chartform(tm) (VCF) is a drawing package included with The Master Genealogist (TMG) software package. When the user clicks the option "Make Chart," a chart is created from the standard or default settings selected within TMG using VCF. But what happens if the user wishes to vary the chart's shape or layout, delete information, or annotate a chart with maps, text, lines and images, VCF has a comprehensive range of tools to make these enhancements, changes and/or deletions. February's session will cover the VCF tools and how you can use them to create your final presentation chart. Learn how to create these custom reports, what parts can be saved, and which portions have to be reconstructed should you decide to regenerate another chart. With the aid of a digital projector, Kay and Sue work as a team discussing, demonstrating, and brainstorming best practices for the software. We use a hands-on method to learn TMG's features by actually entering samples of the lesson into our TMG class database. Each monthly session is like a mini three hour TMG workshop. Guests are always welcome. Accommodation for laptops will be available. If you have a laptop, bring it with you to the meeting. A feature of our teaching sessions is the ability to connect laptops to the digital projector so that attendees can also share their ideas and project challenges. It also allows us to provide custom instruction to the individual user. If you can't stay for the entire 3 hours, come and leave early. TMG questions not specific to all attendees will be addressed in the later part of our meeting. Please bring samples of your problem if possible. We hope to see you at this month's meeting! A free demo version of the software can be downloaded at http://www.whollygenes.com. For additional information please contact tvtmg.chair@l-ags.org. - - - - - "Any genealogy software will help you organize your family history, but TMG stands out for its ability to record every detail, properly cite many kinds of sources, track your correspondence, maintain a research log, and produce the most professional books." - Family Tree Magazine, January, 2005 ======================================================= L-AGS BOARD MEETING Date: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 Always the last Tuesday of the month Time: 7:30 PM Location: Drake Way, Livermore, CA Members of L-AGS are welcome to attend meetings of the Board of Directors. =======================================================