DNA Testing

Ancestry.com will be presenting a free webinar that will explain:

• How DNA testing works,
• How the results can be used and applied to family trees and
• Some of the benefits involved.

The webinar, “Genetic Genealogy Made Easy,” will be held Wednesday July 8th, 8:00 PM (EST).

In order to attend this webinar, you must first register. To learn more about the webinar and/or register, copy and paste the following URL into your browser:

<https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=registration.jsp&sssdmh=dm13.208096&eventid=150497&sessionid=1&key=81FF8BCDBDA82D9E3BB56375A7997C75&sourcepage=register>.

Civil War Medals Still Available (for veterans' descendants)

In 1866, the state of West Virginia authorized the minting of over 26,000 medals to honor its Union Civil War soldiers. The medals were delivered in 1867. More than 4,000 medals remain unclaimed.

For information about:

• The history of the unclaimed West Virginia Civil War Medals,
• The list of unclaimed Civil War Medals,
• How to apply for a Civil War Medal and
• A claim application form,

copy and paste the following URL for the West Virginia State Archives into your web browser:

<http://www.wvculture.org/history/medals.html>

Note: In addition to West Virginia, several other states struck medals after the war. Descendants of Civil War veterans might benefit from searching other states for Civil War Medals.

Help for Hard-to-Read Handwriting

The following tip appeared in Ancestry.com’s January 30, 2009 issue of “24/7 Family History Circle”:

"The challenge of blurred or just plain sloppy handwriting in old records is one that has plagued genealogists for centuries. One trick for deciphering a hard to read character or word is to retrace it. Enlarge the word and then print it. Then trace over it with a pencil. Sometimes by retracing the lines you’ll be able to figure out the letters."

To view the tip and some interesting reader comments, copy and paste the following URL into your web browser:

<http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=3217>

"West Virginia - A Film History" now available on two-disc DVD

The 1995 public television series, "West Virginia - A Film History," is now available for purchase on a two-disc DVD for $29.95 (plus sales tax and shipping). The six-and-a-half-hour series, narrated by actor Richard Thomas, tells the history of West Virginia from the pre-Revolutionary War period through the state’s birth on June 20, 1863 to the recent past.

Previously available on VHS videotape but sold out for several years, the 2-DVD set will be available in bookstores and locations across West Virginia or can be purchased at the West Virginia Humanities Council [<www.wvhumanities.org> or by calling (304) 346-8500].

To see a brief review of each of the four parts of the series, copy and paste the following URL into your web browser:

<http://thegazz.com/gblogs/wvfilm/2009/05/27/wvpbs-to-broadcast-wv-a-film-history-in-honor-of-dvd-release/>

Staying Abreast of New Content on GSGC Blogs

Do you have difficulty staying abreast of “GSGC Tips and Treasures” and “GSGC Blog” updates? Could you use some help?

Subscribe to a RSS Feed. RSS Feeds allow you to stay informed by retrieving the latest content from certain websites in which you have an interest. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually. RSS Feed capability is identified by display of the following orange and white icon:

The manner in which information is communicated by the RSS Feed can vary depending upon how the connection is made. Connections can be made through many web browsers (such as Internet Explorer and Firefox) and web-based feed readers (such as My Yahoo and Google Reader). You might want to try more than one connection in order to get one that is most useful to you.

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If you use Internet Explorer 7 or 8 as your web browser, the following procedure can be used to make the RSS Feed connections for GSGC blogs.

Go to club blog websites:

GSGC Tips and Treasures http://gsgc-tandt.blogspot.com

or

GSGC Blog http://gsgc-blog.blogspot.com

The Blog will open.

Click on the orange and white RSS Feed icon on the menu bar at the top of your browser window. The RSS Feed window will open.

Click on “Subscribe to this feed.” A small window will open.

Click the “Subscribe” button. Another window will open that says “You’ve successfully subscribed to this feed!”

You can verify which feed you subscribed to by clicking the “View my feeds” link included in the open window.

Once you have subscribed to a feed, your internet browser will gather new information from the BLOG on a regular basis. To find out what’s new:

• Open Internet Explorer
• Click on the Favorites icon on the toolbar (There will be three tabs: Favorites, Feeds, and History.)
• Click on the Feeds Tab (This will show you a list of the feeds to which you have subscribed.)
• Click on one of them, e.g.: GSGC Tips and Treasures (A browser window will open with a list of the postings.)

You can determine how often your computer checks for updated BLOG information by using the “View feed properties...” link on the right side of the opened feeds window. These properties allow you to set a schedule for checking for information as well as deleting the information from your computer.