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Showing posts with label Mocavo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mocavo. Show all posts

August 24, 2013

First New York State Family History Conference on September 20 and 21, 2013

The Central New York Genealogical Society and the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Announce the First New York State Family History Conference on September 20 and 21, 2013
The Central New York Genealogical Society and the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Announce the First New York State Family History Conference on September 20 and 21, 2013.

NEW YORK, NY, March 19, 2013 -- The Central New York Genealogical Society and the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society are cosponsoring the first-ever statewide genealogical conference in New York.  The two-day conference will be held on September 20 and 21 at the Holiday Inn & Conference Center Liverpool, just outside Syracuse, New York.  Preconference research activities will be available on September 19.  Attendees will have an opportunity to advance their skills in researching New York families and to build general skills through 20 lectures in two parallel tracks; two luncheons and a dinner, all with riveting speakers; and exhibits by vendors and societies. The Conference Program and exhibitor information may be found on the Conference website, www.NYSFHC.org.
New York State poses numerous challenges for even the most experienced family history researcher.  The New York State Family History Conference will break down research barriers and provide a forum that brings people together to share their research knowledge and problem-solving experiences and to collaborate on key research issues. Future conferences will be scheduled at regular intervals.The early-bird registration fee for the two-day Conference (excluding meals and printed syllabus) is $115 until July 1, after which it will be $140; members of the CNYGS or the NYG&B receive a $25 discount. Purchase tickets in the online store at www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org.  
Conference speakers include the top names in New York genealogy:  Blaine Bettinger, The Journal of Genetic Genealogy;  Ruth Carr, New York Public Library (retired);  Sachiko Clayton, New York Public Library;  Laura Murphy DeGrazia, CG, NYG&B Record; Stefani Evans, CG, National Genealogical Society; James D. Folts, New York State Archives;  Karen Mauer Green, CG, NYG&B Record;  Eric Grundset, Library of the Daughters of the American Revolution;  Terry Koch-Bostic, National Genealogical Society;  Michael Leclerc, Mocavo; Joseph Lieby, Palatines to America German Genealogical Society;  Maira Liriano, New York Public Library;  Kathleen Roe, New York State Archives;  Paula Stuart-Warren, CG; and  D. Joshua Taylor, findmypast.com.
Sponsors of the conference include: findmypast.com, Mocavo, the National Genealogical Society, the New York Public Library, the Office of Cultural Education/New York State Education Department, and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.
About the CNYGS
The Central New York Genealogical Society was formed in 1961 for the purpose of preserving, publishing and sharing genealogical information and resources.  Towards that end, it has published Tree Talks, a highly respected quarterly which contains abstracts of significant records from upstate New York counties and is fully indexed, annually. The CNYGS holds six meetings yearly, and members engage in record preservation projects to preserve and report information for the future.  Its official website is located at rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nycnygs
About the NYG&B
The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society was founded in 1869 and is the largest and only statewide genealogical society in New York State. The NYG&B publishes two quarterlies, The Record and The New York Researcher; offers a robust schedule of educational programs; partners with organizations across the state through the New York Family History School; and maintains a website, www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org, with a growing elibrary of unique research resources, including the full run (since 1870) of The Record, which preserves the histories of New York families.  The NYG&B will soon publish the New York Family History Research Guide and Gazetteer, the first guide to genealogy resources across the entire state and the first statewide gazetteer since 1872. 

Image credit: "Conference Room" by Pixomar at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

May 7, 2013

Genealogy Karma from Mocavo

The folks at Mocavo sent Olive Tree Genealogy this announcement. I have not tried this out yet but it sounds intriguing!

Genealogy Karma from Mocavo
Mocavo Announces Genealogy Karma

Back in 1999, a fantastic resource was established to bring together members of the genealogy community all around the world. The brainchild of Bridgett and Doc Schneider, Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) was created to help genealogists collaborate with the genealogy community to document their research, while also offering genealogists a way to give back to a community that had helped them in the past. RAOGK quickly turned into a global organization. The group’s volunteers were able to help thousands of genealogists make progress in their family history research.
Bridgett Schneider courtesy of RAOGK Wiki

The ROAGK website went offline in 2011 because of a computer disaster. Sadly, Bridgett Schneider passed away later that year, and the website was never able to come back online. In tribute to Bridgett and Doc Schneider and all of the participants in RAOGK, many volunteers have created programs similar to ROAGK to help bring together the expertise of the genealogy community. Doc and Bridgett’s legacy and the efforts of thousands of volunteers inspired us to create a place for researchers to come together and collaborate to help other members of the genealogical community.   

Today, at Mocavo, we are excited to announce the launch of Genealogy Karma. Modeled after Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness, we hope to empower the Mocavo community and connect researchers all around the country. If you’re looking for documents, records, or photos from an ancestor who lived far away, we will connect you with family history volunteers who can do this research for you in other cities. Likewise, if you’d like to give back to the Mocavo community and have a little time to donate, you can sign up as a volunteer.
To begin visit www.mocavo.com/karma
To request help:
1. Simply click on “I need to request help.”
2. Select the county for your request.
3. Create a short title and add a detailed explanation of your request so that others can help find what you’re looking for.
4. Tag your request to help others discover it. For example, you can tag your request as “photo”, “birth record”, or “tombstone”.
5. You can also select to be notified if someone replies to your request.
6. Post your query.

To Volunteer:
1. Simply click on “I want to be a volunteer.”
2. Select the counties that you can help with.
3. Submit your information.
4. We will then let you know when there are opportunities to help other genealogists in your area.
Similar to surname groups, genealogy karma has a new twist that allows the most valuable content to float to the top of the page.
You can vote positively or negatively on each question and answer.  As a result, the most popular questions and most relevant answers rise to the top so that you don’t have to dig through heaps of information to find the good stuff. Next to each question or answer within a Surname Group, you will see arrows.  If you find a request you are interested in or response that is particularly helpful, you can “vote it up” so that more people will see it. If you find a request to be wildly off topic or unhelpful or if you think an answer is inaccurate, you can “vote it down” so that it will migrate to the bottom of the page. The topics at the top of the page will be the ones with the highest number of “up” votes so that you can quickly see the most valuable questions and answers.

Check out Genealogy Karma and take advantage of the vast network of Mocavo community members spread far and wide. Let us know what you think by emailing us at support@mocavo.com.

March 16, 2011

Mocavo - a NEW Genealogy Search Engine

Mocavo launched yesterday and it's definitely worth a look.

Quoting from the website

The world’s largest free genealogy search engine, Mocavo.com, provides genealogists access to the best free genealogy content on the web including billions of names, dates and places worldwide. Mocavo.com seeks to index and make searchable all of the world’s free genealogy information.


I took a peek today and it's pretty darn good. The search is fast. Results lead you directly to the website where the genealogical information is found. There's no sneaky trying to keep you in a frame of the original website. Websites that snag the visitor in a frame make it so you never really know where you are or where you found the information. Mocavo doesn't do that and kudos to the creator(s) for keeping it honest!

Mocavo is new so the indexing of genealogy data sites is not complete. There is a link where you can suggest a site you think should be included in the search results so that will speed things up once visitors start utilizing that ability.

I tried a couple of genealogy searches and was impressed with the speed. I'm going to be watching Mocavo closely over the next few weeks to see how it grows. You might want to check it out at http://mocavo.com