Follow Friday -- Saving Water Damaged Photos

   A great new article has been posted at the Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner blog, entitled, "Saving Water Damaged Photos."  It was posted by Thomas MacEntee.  Flip-Pal scanners have been used to rescue lost, water-damaged photos from Hurricane Sandy on the east coast.  These photos are then posted online so the owners can be reunited with the lost photos.

   Flip-Pal has also created a free "Rescuing Water Damaged Photos" guide that you can download for your own use.  It has lots of great advice on caring for the water damaged photos and bringing them back for you to use. It is a 5 page pdf file that covers: Prioritizing and Organizing, Practice Safety, General Cleaning, Freezing, and Drying Washed Photos.  On the last page are resources with many website links.

Copyright © 2013 by Contra Costa County Genealogical Society.

Getting Photocopies from the Family History Library

   You can request records from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.  If you know the exact book, film, microfiche, etc., you can email the request and the copy of the image will be sent to you via email.    You will have to know the answer to specific questions before they can find the record. They will not do research for you.

   So how can you use this? Let's say you find an index of a birth record on FamilySearch.org.  In the summation of the record, the film number is noted. Now you know the film number, the name of the person, the date of the event, the place of the event, and other information.  You will be able to answer the appropriate questions.  The look-up volunteer will search through the film/fiche and find the record for you. The image of the record is then sent to an email address.

   Isn't that great? Now you will not have to order a film from Salt Lake City or put it on a research to do list for the next time you visit the Family History Library in Salt Lake City just to see the one image!

   Check out the complete details here.



Copyright © 2013 by Contra Costa County Genealogical Society.

General Meeting - Feb 14, 2013 - Janice Sellers

Janice Sellers

   Our next general meeting will be February 14, 2013.  Professional genealogist, Janice Sellers, will be speaking about Vital Records. Come hear about what is new about researching Vital Records.

   The meeting is held at the LDS church building on 1360 Alberta Way in Concord, California.  Meeting begins at 7:00 pm. We hope to see you there.





Copyright © 2013 by Contra Costa County Genealogical Society.

Family History Writing Challenge - Day 1

   Even though I have a full plate of responsibilities, I signed up for the 2013 Family History Writing Challenge.  It's not too late for you to sign up, too.  All you have to do to participate is to agree to write for 28 days, some on each day of the month of February.  Here's how to get started:

Family History Writing Challenge Day 1

   There is no minimum of words per day.  Just write.  Start by writing a quick summary about one ancestor. Then from there, you can work on an outline.  Add color and humorous stories.  Add photos and captions.  Soon, if you write a bit each day, you will have a nice little essay about your one ancestor.  If you finish before the end of the month, start on another ancestor.  You don't have to stop at the end of the month.  March has 31 days of writing you can do.

   I am writing about my husband's great-grandfather, Amos Gorrell Jr.  I want my focus to be about his courtship and marriage to his wife.  I have his journal to use as a source.  My goal is to write between 800 and 1000 words and if I get this done well, I'll enter the essay in a contest.  Wish me luck!

Copyright © 2013 by Contra Costa County Genealogical Society.