Free Access to World War II Documents

In honor of the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor bombing (December 7th), Footnote.com is offering free access to its WWII records during the month of December. Records include first-hand accounts of submarine missions and reports of missing air crews.

Explore the USS Arizona Memorial. View over 80,000 photos from the US Army Air Force.

Other WWII records include:

• Japanese Air Target Analysis
• Army JAG Case Files
• Navy JAG Case Files
• Naval Press Clippings
• Allied Military Conferences
• Holocaust Records

To access Footnote’s WWII documents, copy and paste the following URL into your web browser:

<http://go.footnote.com/wwii/>

Free Access to the "Irish Times" Newspaper Digital Article Archives

You can access the Irish Times newspaper digital article archives free through December 14, 2009. The Irish Times is celebrating 150 years in publication.

For additional information, see Family Tree Magazine’s December 2nd “Genealogy Insider” blog by copying and pasting the following URL into your web browser:

<http://blog.familytreemagazine.com/insider/2009/12/02/150YearsOfTheIrishTimesFreeThroughDec14.aspx>

Free Access to Ancestry.com’s U.S. Military Collection

Ancestry.com’s U.S. Military Collection, advertised as the largest online assortment of U.S. military records, covers more than three centuries of American wars and conflicts. It includes more than 100 million names and 700 titles and databases in military records from all 50 U.S. states.

Ancestry is offering free access through November 13th. To access these records, copy and paste the following URL into your web browser:

<http://www.ancestry.com/military>

What happens to your email and social networking information when you die?

How many of us have given more than a passing thought concerning what will happen to our email or our information on social networking sites after our death ? Whether you have or have not, you might want to read an article on the subject written by Australian resident Andrew Ramadge, Technology Reporter for "News.com.au."

The article points out that some email providers have policies of retaining data after someone passes away and allowing their next of kin or the executor of their estate to access it. It notes than one well-known email service provider refuses to supply emails to anyone after a user has died but will honor a user’s next of kin’s request for the account to be closed.

Included in the article are the policies of the popular email providers and social networking sites Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, Facebook and MySpace.

To read the article, copy and paste the following URL into you web browser:

<http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,26303927-5014239,00.html>

Genealogy Internet Web-Site Program at Surfside Beach Library

GSGC members, Kathryn Brannigan Walizer and Lois Butler, will present a program at the Surfside Beach Library on genealogy research using various Internet websites. Topics will include Ellis Island on the Web, HeritageQuest Online, RootsWeb, USGenWeb, Cyndi’s List and ShoeString Genealogy. Tips on accessing website information will be provided.

The 2-hour program will be held Monday, October 19, 2009 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The library is located at 410 Surfside Drive, Surfside Beach, SC.

Attendees are encouraged to bring laptops or share with a friend and follow along the websites in real-time.

No laptop? No problem. Just bring your questions and a notepad.

The public is invited.

Ohio Historical Society’s Archives/Library to Reduce Hours of Operation

The Ohio Historical Center, located in Columbus, Ohio and part of the Ohio Historical Society (OHS), will undergo its first major overhaul in twenty years. Most of the current exhibits will be dismantled and removed – replaced by what officials are calling a "collections learning center." Thousands of items, many of which have not been publicly displayed before, will be moved from warehouse storage to the museum.

Researchers using OHS’s Archives/Library will feel the affects of the overhaul. As a result of the construction which will begin January 1, 2010, the Archives/Library (located on the third floor of the Ohio Historical Center) will reduce hours of operation from the current 3-days per week to 1-day per week during the fourteen month construction period (January 2010 through February 2011). Currently, the Archives/Library is open to researchers on Thursday, Friday and Saturday but beginning January 1, 2010 will be open only on Thursdays. Hours of operation will be from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Free FOOTNOTE Webinar

Many (if not most) of you have likely heard of Footnote. You may be somewhat familiar with this website and its offerings of digitized historic documents, including military and census records, naturalizations, city directories, newspapers, photographs, etc. Membership is required but there is “basic free membership” available which offers limited benefits.

If you would like to know more about Footnote, you have the opportunity through a free webinar - which provides a tutorial of the site and a personalized tour. The webinar is available anytime you want to view it - requiring 30 minutes of your time. It addresses what records are available, a search demonstration, as well as explanations of how to use the Footnote viewer and how to create Footnote pages.

To view the webinar, copy and paste the following URL into your web browser:

<http://blog.footnote.com/the-worlds-first-footnote-webinar/>

Recommendation: Prior to activating the webinar (accomplished by clicking on the white triangle in the center of the black viewing box), maximize and center the viewing box on your computer monitor. This will result in improved viewing capability.

To access Footnote, copy and paste the following URL into your web browser:

<http://www.footnote.com/>