Description

News stories for the week include: The Generations Network, parent of Ancestry.com, is to be acquired by Spectrum Equity Investors; the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) (http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/) opens access to more than 6M new military personnel records, including all the Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs) prior to 1946; Individual Deceased Personnel Files (IDPFs) can be obtained by following instructions at http://www.no-quarter.org/gui/nq_idpf.php; Nova Scotia Vital Records Database for BMDs is available free at http://novascotiagenealogy.com; Georgia Death Certificates (1919-1927) are now available online at http://www.GeorgiaArchives.org (Virtual Vault link); the Canadian Genealogy Centre (http://www.collectionscanada.gc/ca/genealogy) has two new search tools - Ancestors Search and That's My Family; NEHGS and Ancestry.com announce new member benefits as part of a collaborative agreement, including reduced joint membership fees; Sorenson Companies has launched a new Genetree (http://www.genetree.com), a DNA testing and social networking site; The National Archives (UK) will digitize the 1911 census (see press release at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/stories/156.htm?homepage=news); The Guys will be key speakers at the Texas State Genealogical Society Conference in Tyler, Texas, on November 9-10, 2008 (information at http://www.rootsweb.com/~txsgs/conference.pdf); George begins teaching U.S. Immigration and Naturalization course at Pharos (http://www.pharostutors.com) and announces other upcoming courses there.

Listener e-mail includes:

1. A request for guidance on locating an old Web site gone missing. Drew suggests going to http://www.archive.org/ and entering the old address in the Wayback Machine box.
2. A listener reports being able to successfully run Family Tree Maker from his flash drive (thumb drive).
3. A listener asks abut the quality of courses from the National Institute for Genealogical Studies (http://www.genealogicalstudies.com/) and their helpfulness in achieving certification from the Board for Certification of Genealogists (http://www.bcgcertification.org). George responds that the NIGS classes are excellent and will help provide a firm educational foundation for certification.

George's "Web Site of the Week" is NewsBank Inc. and its product, America's Genealogy Bank (http://www.newsbank.com/genealogists/).

The Guys discuss America's Genealogy Bank, some search hints, and George relates some finds that caused him to do the "Genealogy Happy Dance."

Drew discusses outreach programs offered by libraries. The Guys ask for listener input about what services they have and/or want libraries to provide to them as genealogists.