======================================================================== LIVERMORE-AMADOR GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY E-BULLETIN FOR NOVEMBER 1998 November 1, 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- See the note at the end for tips on improving the readability of this message. ======================================================================== C O M I N G E V E N T S ------------------------------------------------------------------------- L-AGS Family Tree Maker Focus Group Date: Thursday, November 5, 1998 at 7:30 pm Place: Sonoma School, 543 Sonoma Ave., Livermore All persons interested or potentially interested in Family Tree Maker and related software are invited to attend these meetings. The sessions are unstructured exchanges of information about features of and problems with FTM. Note that we are back to our regular winter meeting room at Sonoma School. For a map to the school, dial up: http://www.l-ags.org/sonoma.html Guests are welcome at no charge. For information on this group contact Dick Finn at 925-XXX-XXXX or XXXX@pacbell.net, or George Anderson at 925-XXX-XXXX or XXXX@ccnet.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Regular Monthly Meeting Garth Ludwig, Program Chairman Tuesday, November 10, 1998 - 7:30 pm Location: Congregation Beth Emek, 1886 College Avenue, Livermore Map to the meeting site: http://www.l-ags.org/college.html Program: Hands-on CD Workshop Jay Gilson, Chairman of the L-AGS Library Committee, will lead a learning-by-doing workshop on genealogical compact disks. The audience will learn by demonstration and practice how to exploit the resources of the Pleasanton Genealogy CD Center. Jay plans a 15 minute demonstration of the basic attributes of Broderbund CD types - Index CDs, Image CDs and World Family Tree CDs, followed by "how to print" at the library, and how to save text and images to a floppy to take home. Following this will be a chance for all members and guests to try these techniques on a battery of computers, with our more experienced members on hand as tutors. A handout summarizing these techniques will be available. IF YOU HAVE A PORTABLE COMPUTER, PLEASE BRING IT TO THE MEETING. The computer should run Windows and have a CD drive. The software to view our CDs can be supplied if you need it. Please come with a charged-up battery or an extension cord. The entire 154-disk collection from the CD Center in Pleasanton will be brought to the meeting. A catalog of this collection can be reached from the L-AGS home page at http://www.l-ags.org. We believe that this is the largest publicly-available set of genealogy CDs in the Bay area Jay will also describe the new CD 50/50 Policy - a cost-sharing plan allowing members to pay half-price for CDs if they promise to donate them later to our library. He will have a handout for the meeting detailing the policy and a wish list of CDs wanted by L-AGS. For information, contact Jay Gilson at 925 XXX-XXXX or at XXXX@best.com. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Genealogy Study Group Joyce Siason, Leader Thursday, November 19, 1998 - 7:30 pm Location: Mocho Street LDS Church, 950 Mocho Street, Livermore URL for a map to the church: http://www.l-ags.org/mocho.html Program: "Conducting an Oral History" Presenter: Tracie Parent Supervising Naturalist at Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve The Genealogy Study Group will not meet in December. - - - - - 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 contact Joyce Siason at (925) XXX-XXXX or XXXX@aol.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Interest Group Dick Finn, Group Leader The Computer Interest Group will not meet again until January because of a conflict in dates with Thanksgiving and Christmas. - - - - - Members needing help with a computer problem may call one of the mentors listed in the Members' Handbook. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- LIBRARY NEWS Jay Gilson, Library Chairman Did you know you can browse the L-AGS Library catalog from your home computer? There are two methods: via the Web on the Internet, and via a direct dial-up. To connect via the Web, go to the L-AGs home page at http://www.l-ags.org, then click on "Useful Internet Links" then on "Libraries and Archives" then on "Alameda County Library." You can limit the results of your searches to Pleasanton by using a button at the bottom of the forms. Direct dial-up is toll-free from Pleasanton but NOT from Livermore. The number is 1-510-794-7381. If you are using a free e-mail service like Juno or Hotmail, which do not include Web service, direct dial-up is the method to use. The Livermore Library's catalog is also accessible via the Web and via direct dial-up. For the Web, proceed as before from the L-AGS home page to "Libraries and Archives" then choose "Livermore Public Library." For dial-up, the number is 925-373-5519. The Pleasanton Library 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 is on duty at the library on Wednesdays from 10 am to 1 pm. Members who would like to serve as genealogy docents may contact Jay Gilson at 925 XXX-XXXX or at XXXX@best.com. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- TIPS OF THE MONTH Shirley Siems Terry, Tipster shirley@tdl.com Shirley tells us this month of a time-saving way to do big Internet searches. She also lists some interesting sites dealing with genetic influence on personal traits. Shirley would like to hear about your favorite tips! To reach "Tips of the Month" on our Web site, click on that title in the table on our home page at http://www.l-ags.org. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 925 XXX-XXXX. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pleasanton Family History Center The new directors of the Pleasanton Family History Center are L-AGS members David and Lola Cummings. They have announced the following schedule of extended hours for the center: Tuesday, Wednesday 7-9 pm Friday 9 am to 1 pm Saturday 10 am to 2 pm The Pleasanton FHC is located 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. The center now has four microfilm readers, four fiche readers and two computers running the Family Search program. Non-LDS patrons are welcome. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes from the Webmaster If you are willing to forgo receiving a paper copy of the Tracer and read it (in color!) on our Web site instead, you can save L-AGS some money for printing and mailing, and save a tree too! The eight most recent issues are archived on our Web site, and all future issues will be placed there also. Contact Lori Codey at 925 XXX-XXXX or XXXX@pacbell.net to remove your name from the Tracer mailing list. - - - - - To discontinue receiving these mailings from L-AGS please call me at 925 XXX-XXXX or e-mail me at XXXX@ccnet.com. - - - - - If you ever have trouble accessing the L-AGS Web site, or find any faulty links on it, please let me know immediately. George Anderson ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ride-sharing Offered If you are interested in attending a meeting and would like a ride, or can occasionally offer a ride, please call or Karen Banta at 925 XXX-XXXX (e-mail: XXXX@pacbell.mobile.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. -------------------------------------------------------------------------