Feb 10, 2020

One last reminder of the deadline to respond to the proposed price increases by the USCIS. Details are here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/01/24/2020-01189/us-citizenship-and-immigration-services-fee-schedule-and-changes-to-certain-other-immigration

News You Can Use and Share

• Both 23andMe and Ancestry have announced layoffs related to the downturn in the DNA testing market.
• MyHeritage has released millions of new records in late December and throughout January.
• The Society of Genealogists has alerted us through their newsletter of several new British and Irish collection news updates, including updates at the PRONI website, the ability to share screenshots from the GRO, and an addition of more civil marriage records at IrishGenealogy.ie
• Bucks County in Pennsylvania has put deeds online back to 1684.
• The U.S. National Archives has put Record Group 77 (Civil Works Map Files) online and has digitized Record Group 145 (Aerial Indexes).
• Findmypast has added Britain, Royal and Imperial Calendars, plus more baptisms, marriages, and burials for Durham.
• FamilySearch is celebrating Black History Month with new collections and articles.
• Drew provides a long list of updated collections for FamilySearch.

DNA Segment with Blaine T. Bettinger

Drew asks Blaine about X-DNA and how it can be used.

Cyndi Says

Cyndi Ingle discusses "Research the Records before the Ancestor":

1. FamilySearch Wiki - wiki.familysearch.org
2. For US research - Ancestry Wiki -  wiki.rootsweb.com
3. Libraries, archives, genealogical & historical societies in that area too.
   • Anne Moss-Biggs Library at Robeson Community College, https://guides.robeson.edu/c.php?g=632482&p=4422915
   • BYU - North Carolina Research Outline,  http://files.lib.byu.edu/family-history-library/research-outlines/US/NorthCarolina.pdf
4. How-to guides, research outlines, pathfinders. For example, Robeson County, NC:
5. Don't forget to look at each level of government or record-keeping. Don't stick with just the parish or the county, look also at the state, the territory, and the federal government too.

Our Listeners Talk to Us

• Janet follows up on George's discussion of Pompeii in a previous episode with a link to the article, provided here: https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-rome/the-survivors-of-mount-vesuvius/?mqsc=E4108051&dk=ZE022EZF2&utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=BHDDaily%20Newsletter&utm_campaign=ZE022EZF2
• Janet also provides a link to an article about the possible identification of a skull that may have been that of Pliny the Elder: https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2020/02/dna-tests-suggest-skull-found-near-pompeii-likely-to-be-pliny-the-elder/?fbclid=IwAR1QO1VcshOeybYVUjpgcxkhtRk2NsSyDW5WDjsh--3onCB1xalaVOcjXRw
• Katherine shares with us the perfect children's picture book for Black History Month: Emma, by Cheryl Wills. It's available here: https://www.amazon.com/Emma-Cheryl-Wills/dp/168265642X
• Donna asks about how to search online library catalogs for a list of 800 books, all at once.

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