Events of the Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society L-AGS 2008 Programs [Visitors are welcome at all of our meetings!] Arleen Wood, Program Chairperson

Family Tree Maker Focus Group

Date: Thursday, May 1, 2008
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Vineyard Adult Education Facility, 1401 Almond Avenue, Livermore
Map to the meeting site: http://www.L-AGS.org/maps/Liv-AlmondSchool.html

As always, we will provide a problem-solving atmosphere in which attendees are free to ask questions and offer answers and tips about FTM. We will continue to discuss the question, "Should I or should I not upgrade to FTM 2008?" We are especially interested in comments from those who have upgraded.

Most of our group are FTM users (from beginners to experts) who discuss problems and solutions, share successes, answer questions, and in general help each other with the Family Tree Maker genealogical software. All persons interested or potentially interested in Family Tree Maker are invited to attend. For information on our group please e-mail Dick Finn at ftm.chair@l-ags.org. Contact Dick for information about topics to be discussed.

Please bring your suggestions to better use FTM as well as any questions you have that we, as a group, can help solve.

Visitors are welcome and there is no charge to attend. Bring your questions, comments, and if you have a laptop with FTM loaded (any version) and/or the FTM Handbook, you might bring them.

Please avail yourself of the L-AGS FTM e-mail forum at ftm.group@L-AGS.org to post questions, answers and comments.

General Meeting

Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Time: 7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Location: Congregation Beth Emek, 3400 Nevada Court, Pleasanton
Map to the meeting site: http://www.L-AGS.org/maps/Pls-BethEmek.html

Topic: "Tri-Valley Civil War Veterans - What an Interesting Group They Were"

Speaker:  Dick Finn

Who would have ever guessed that over ninety Civil War veterans lived here in the Tri-Valley area at one time or another? All were Union vets except for two known Confederates. Come and hear about some of these very interesting men and one woman and how they helped change the history of the valley.

Biography:

Richard "Dick" Finn, retired as manager of Integrated Design Services and Engineering Information Management with over 36 years at Sandia National Laboratories/California. He was an adjunct faculty member of Chabot and Las Positas Colleges for over 15 years. He served on advisory committees for four community colleges as well as high school Regional Occupational Program committees, and the Tri-Valley Educational Consortium. He is a past president of the Alameda County 4H Council. He has judged at local, county, and the state fairs since 1977.

Dick has been an active member of the Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society for 11 years. He is a past president of L-AGS, served as chair and co-chair of the L-AGS Computer Interest Group for several years, and has been the leader of the Family Tree Maker group for a number of years. He is presently the leader of the Tri-Valley Heritage Families Project and has worked on many genealogy and history-related projects.

Visitors are welcome.

Tri-Valley TMG Users Group

Date: Saturday, May 17, 2008
Time: 9:00 a.m. - Noon (each meeting is like a mini-workshop)
Location: 7077 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 110, Pleasanton, CA 94566
Map to the meeting site: http://www.l-ags.org/maps/Pls-KollCenter.html

Topic: "Managing Your RootsWeb WorldConnect Files"

Leader: Kay Speaks, tvtmg.chair@l-ags.org
Instructors: Kay Speaks & Sue Johnston

Please print and bring to class information from Terry Reigel's Web site located at:
      http://tmg.reigelridge.com/WorldConnect.htm.

RootsWeb has a section that allows you to post your family tree information for other researchers to access. The user who posts information retains complete control on how information is displayed, when it is changed and removed. We will explore how TMG software can manage your WorldConnect information online and make it easy to keep data updated. Visit Sue's Web site at:
      http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mdtmgug/
and follow the "My WorldConnect Site" link. Sue uses TMG to determine what information to post to her Web site.

TMG Version 7 Note: In May we will continue to use TMG Version 6.12, even though Version 7 is now available to download. We will transition to Version 7.01, gold edition software, at the July meeting. At that time we will begin with the basics using Terry Reigel's new book, "A Primer for the Master Genealogist." You can purchase the book from the Whollygenes site for $19.95 plus tax and shipping. Product code is BPRIMER. Sue Johnston had input into the writing of the book, so you know it will be a perfect fit for our next round of lessons. Terry has created an excellent book, a "must have" for the beginning user. The book was written for TMG Version 7.

With the aid of a digital projector, Kay and Sue work as an instructional team. We discuss, demonstrate, and brainstorm best practices of the software. We use a hands-on method, thus you learn TMG's features by actually entering samples of the lesson into a class TMG database. Each monthly session is like a mini three-hour TMG workshop.

Guests are always welcome at our meetings.

Accommodations for laptops are available. If you have a laptop, bring it with you to the meeting. A copy of the group's practice database will be provided to you. A laptop is not a requirement as the lesson will be digitally projected. If you can't stay for the entire 3 hours, come and leave early. TMG questions not specific to all attendees will be addressed in the later part of our meeting. Please bring samples of your problem if possible. We hope to see you at the next meeting!

A free demo version of the software can be downloaded at:
     http://www.whollygenes.com

If possible, please RSVP if you plan to attend the meeting, tvtmg.chair@l-ags.org

Study Group Meeting

Date: Thursday,  May 22,  2008
Time: 7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Location: LDS Church, 950 Mocho Street, Livermore, CA
Map to the meeting site: http://www.l-ags.org/maps/Liv-FHC.html

Leader: Kay Speaks study.group@l-ags.org

Topic: Footnote.com

where digital images of records preserved in the National Archives are now available online!

Footnote calls itself "The World's Archives." It is an impressive subscription Web site that allows users to access and annotate millions of historical documents online. Their Web site has over 33 million original images and adds millions more monthly. Footnote has established a partnership with the National Archives providing access to millions of documents for viewing online. You can also upload images, annotate documents and maintain member pages.

Historical documents are divided into 12 categories: Early American: Before 1775; Revolution: 1775-1815; A New Nation: 1815-1860; Civil War: 1860-1880; Emerging America and WWI: 1880-1920; Boom and Bust: 1920-1935; WWII 1935-1950; Post War: 1950 and After; Naturalizations: 1700-mid 1900s; news; and Town Records and Photos.

Monthly membership is $7.95 and annual membership is $59.95. There is a basic free membership, which has limited access to a few historical documents. You can access their Web site at:
      http://www.footnote.com/

We will explore this wonderful site in May. If you haven't visited Footnote.com, you don't want to miss this Study Group meeting! To quote their Web site, "Footnote is a place where original historical documents are combined with social networking in order to create a truly unique experience involving stories of our past."

We will continue the practice of helping you to conquer your brick walls. If you would like help, don't forget to use our L-AGS Study Group forum for any genealogy topic discussion or computer interest questions. L-AGS is blessed with people willing to share their knowledge and expertise! E-mail the forum at: study.group@L-AGS.org. You can also post suggestions for future Study Group topics

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05 May 2008, 08:48:05