==================================================================== LIVERMORE-AMADOR GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY E-BULLETIN FOR FEBRUARY 1998 February 1, 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you prefer not to receive these mailings from L-AGS or would like further information, please call or e-mail me at: See the note at the end for tips on improving the readability of this message. George Anderson ==================================================================== L-AGS Family Tree Maker Focus Group Date: Thursday, February 5, 1997 at 7:30 pm Place: Sonoma School, P-2 classroom, 543 Sonoma Street, Livermore *************** NOTE THE NEW LOCATION FOR THIS GROUP *************** The L-AGS focus group for Family Tree Maker will meet on Thursday, Feb. 5th, at 7:30 pm at the Sonoma School in Classroom P-2, 543 Sonoma Avenue, Livermore. The P-2 classroom is a trailer located behind the main school building. It is best to park in the east parking lot, and walk around the back of the building to the classroom. You can go to the following URL to view a map showing the school and classroom location. http://www.l-ags.org/sonoma.html The reason for moving to this new site location is the availability of a computer projection system and easy access to a telephone line so we can connect to the Internet. We will discuss problems, solutions, and questions anyone has with Family Tree Maker. If you have some specific issue you would like dealt with, send me an email message describing the issue so we can be prepared at the meeting. For further information, call J'Nell Thompson at XXX-XXXX, or email me at XXXX@tdl.com. Non-members are welcome. J'Nell Thompson ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Regular Monthly Meeting for February 1998 Tuesday, February 10, 1998 - 7:30 pm Location: Congregation Beth Emek, 1886 College Avenue, Livermore Program: "Show and Tell: Family Heirlooms" Members and guests are asked to bring a relic or heirloom and tell the audience about it for 3 to 5 minutes. A display area will be available for those who do not wish to speak or who have not been chosen to do so in the time available. For information about the program call Garth Ludwig at XXX-XXXX. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Genealogy Study Group Jolene Abrahams, Leader Thursday, February 19, 1998 - 7:30 pm Location: LDS Church, 950 Mocho St., Livermore (parking and entrance in the rear). Program: "Genealogical Problem Solving" The topic for the February meeting is Genealogical Problem Solving. If you are just starting out or are an expert genealogist who wants to expand your knowledge, be there. - - - - - Members needing help with a genealogy problem may call one of the club officers, who will attempt to find someone who can help. For information call Jolene Abrahams at 510 XXX-XXXX or send her e-mail at XXXX@ccnet.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Interest Group Doug Mumma, Group Leader Thursday, February 26, 1998 - 7:30 pm Location: Sonoma School, Room 7/8, 543 Sonoma Avenue, Livermore URL for a map to Sonoma school http://www.l-ags.org/sonoma.html Program: "Scanning and Image Handling" I'm sure that many of us have recently received scanners for Christmas or have simply treated ourselves to this great tool. In this meeting, we will discuss basic information about the various types of scanners, issues to consider when purchasing one and how to hook them up to a computer. Next we will go over the various settings to use depending on whether you are scanning a document that you want to convert into revisable text, scanning photographs to use on the Internet or to put in your genealogy program, or scanning a photograph that you want to print out as high quality copies on your printer. Then we will discuss how to enhance an image after it has been scanned in order to remove defects or lighten/darken it. A discussion of file formats to use for saving your graphic files will conclude this meeting. If you want to learn about scanning in advance of the meeting, the following web sites are worth visiting. http://www.cyberramp.net/~fulton/scans.html#menu http://photo.net/philg/how-to-scan-photos.html Members needing help with a computer problem may call one of the mentors listed in the Members' Handbook. For information call Doug Mumma at XXX-XXXX or E-mail him at XXXX@mumma.org ----------------------------------------------------------------------- LIBRARY NEWS The new CD-ROM Genealogy Center is taking shape at the Pleasanton Library. The first 98 CDs paid for by the Pleasanton Library League have arrived. They will next be sent to cataloging at the Alameda County Main Library in Fremont. Hardware furnished by the Pleasanton Library is on hand, but will have to be reconfigured, upgraded and physically moved to the carrel that is being converted for this use. Some idea of the massive quantity of data we will have when these CDs are put into use can be deduced from these numbers: A CD contains about 600 megabytes of data. When the 100 CDs are in use, we will have 60 gigabytes of data available. A typical book has about 2 megabytes. We have 852 books in the Pleasanton Genealogy Library now, equivalent to 1.7 gigabytes. So the CDs will multiply the genealogy information in our current collection by about 35 times! These numbers are deceiving, because most of our books can in no way be replaced by CDs - they are how-to books, books that will never appear as CDs, and books that are not just collections of data. Also, some of the CDs contain bitmapped images requiring lots of bytes but conveying very sparse information. Nevertheless, the new CD-ROM center will be a giant leap forward for genealogy in our communities. - - - - - A new, updated catalog for the Pleasanton Genealogy Library, which includes the L-AGS collection, is now available. "Robbie" Robinson, L-AGS Publications Chairman, will have copies for sale at the February 10 L-AGS meeting. The members-only price is $3.00. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- L-AGS WEB QUEST To give a fair shake to those who don't read their e-mail very often, the questions for the monthly Web surfing contest will be sent out by e-mail at a pre-announced time each month. This month the e-mailing will take place at 6 pm on Monday, February 2. Watch for it! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- R E M I N D E R Dues are due! Individual $18 Family 25 Benefactor 40 Patron 100 Pay the Business Manager or his alternate at one of the meetings, or send a check made out to "L-AGS" to: L-AGS P.O. Box 901 Livermore, CA 94551-0901 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- L-AGS Library The L-AGS library is housed in the Pleasanton Library at 400 Old Bernal Avenue in Pleasanton. The hours are: Monday and Tuesday Noon to 9 pm Wednesday and Thursday 10 am to 9 pm Friday closed Saturday 10 am to 5 pm Sunday 1 pm to 5 pm A L-AGS docent, helping with the Internet as well as with genealogy, is currently on duty at the library on Wednesdays from 10 am to 1 pm. Members who would like to serve as genealogy docents may contact Judy Person at XXX-XXXX. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Livermore Family History Center The LDS Family History Center at 950 Mocho Street in Livermore is open at the following times: Monday 10 am to 3 pm Wednesday and Thursday 6 pm to 9 pm Saturday 1 pm to 4 pm L-AGS members who would like to serve as docents at the FHC may contact Jeanne Tanghe at XXX-XXXX. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Pleasanton Family History Center The following are the current hours for the Pleasanton FHC at the Pleasanton Stake house on the corner of Valley and Paseo Santa Cruz. The building faces North and the entrance to the library is on the East side. Wednesday 7:00 p. m. to 9:00 p. m. Friday 11:00 a. m. to 1:00 p. m. Longer open hours are in the plans. The library now has four microfilm readers, four fiche readers and two computers running the Family Search program. Non-LDS patrons are welcome. For use of the facilities at times other than the regular open hours, a special appointment may be requested from Nan Reuel, Center Director, at 510 XXX-XXXX. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ride-sharing Offered If you are interested in attending a meeting and would like a ride, or can occasionally offer a ride, please call David Abrahams at XXX-XXXX (e-mail: XXXX@ccnet.com) or Karen Banta at XXX-XXXX (e-mail: XXXX@aol.com). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The L-AGS website is located at: http://www.l-ags.org ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Readability To make sure this message is readable by the maximum number of different computer systems, it is transmitted in plain text, without embedded formatting. The message was composed in 10 point monospaced Courier font, in a 6.125 inch column width. Any necessary indenting and centering was done with spaces, not tabs. If the text appears ragged on your screen, change to 10 point Courier font, or copy the message to a word processor and change the font there. George W. Anderson Jr.