Nordic Records Added by MyHeritage

I have taken this verbatim from Eastman's Genealogical Newsletter with his permission, which is very much appreciated.

 

MyHeritage Adds Millions of Nordic Records

If you have Scandinavian ancestry, you will want to check this out. MyHeritage, the exclusive sponsor of this newsletter, today added more than 32 million records from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, dating back to the early 1600s.

Additionally, MyHeritage is investing millions of dollars to digitize more Nordic historical content and has signed new agreements that will result in a wealth of Nordic historical records to be added during the next few years.

Here is the official announcement from MyHeritage:

STOCKHOLM, Sweden & OSLO, Norway & COPENHAGEN, Denmark & HELSINKI, Finland & TEL AVIV, Israel -- MyHeritage, the popular family history network announced today a market expansion initiative focused on the Nordic countries. Millions of families can now search digitized Nordic records dating back to the 17th century to discover more about their ancestors and the lives they led.

n addition to the significant content added today, MyHeritage is investing millions of dollars to digitize more Nordic historical content and has signed new agreements that will result in a wealth of Nordic historical records to be added during the next few years.

MyHeritage is already the family history market leader in the Nordic region and is the only major company providing services in Norwegian, Danish and Finnish. With more than 470,000 registered users in Sweden, 350,000 in Norway, 300,000 in Denmark and 200,000 in Finland, MyHeritage has amassed the largest Nordic user base and family tree database in the market. MyHeritage users can now enjoy a more comprehensive family history experience that combines family trees and historical records, to paint a more detailed and colorful picture of their ancestry.

MyHeritage has also launched today dedicated social media channels for Norway, Denmark and Finland including local blogs and Facebook and Twitter accounts, to complement its existing popular Swedish social media presence. Followers will be notified about additional record collections as they are added and enjoy tips and tricks for family history research and more information about MyHeritage’s services.

The Nordic historical record collections added today include birth, death, marriage, baptism and other records, covering more than 90 million names. This comes in addition to more than 70 million profiles in 730,000 family trees created by MyHeritage users from the Nordic region, and many more contributed by users with Nordic ancestry. The records and the public profiles are available for searching via SuperSearch, MyHeritage’s search engine for historical records. MyHeritage users also enjoy powerful matching technologies that research their family trees automatically and notify them whenever records relevant to their family are found. This makes discoveries easier and quicker than ever before.

For Sweden, MyHeritage has added 11 million records with 31 million names. These collections include baptism documents dating back to 1611, marriage documents dating back to 1630 and burial documents dating back to 1649. Visitors can find more information about the collections from Sweden and search them at www.myheritage.se/svenska-samlingar.

For Norway, MyHeritage has added 10 million records with 30 million names. These collections include baptism documents dating back to 1634, marriage documents dating back to 1660, burial documents dating back to 1666 and the Norwegian national census from 1875. Visitors can find more information about the collections from Norway and search them at www.myheritage.no/norske-samlinger.

For Denmark, MyHeritage has added 5.5 million records with 14 million names. These collections include baptism documents dating back to 1618, marriage documents dating back to 1635 and burial documents dating back to 1640. Visitors can find more information about the collections from Denmark and search them at www.myheritage.dk/danske-samlinger.

For Finland, MyHeritage has added 5.5 million records with 16 million names. These collections include baptism documents dating back to 1657, marriage documents dating back to 1682 and burial documents dating back to 1725. Visitors can find more information about the collections from Finland and search them at www.myheritage.com/suomalaiset-kokoelmat.

“We're delighted to add this vast collection of historical records to our fast growing database and are excited about the new family connections that our users will make and the family stories they will reveal", said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “This is a treasure trove not only for people in the Nordic countries but for everyone whose family originated from this region. We look forward to enhancing our leadership in the Nordic region and in many additional countries over the next few years – watch this space!”

With a diverse user base, spanning every country and continent, MyHeritage is a gateway to a massive variety of family histories from different cultures, religions and ethnic backgrounds. MyHeritage offers a private and secure environment for sharing and researching family history, and users can choose which information they wish to share. MyHeritage has ranked #10 in Deloitte's 2013 Fast 500 list of the 500 technology companies with the fastest revenue growth across all of Europe.

About MyHeritage

MyHeritage is a family history network helping millions of families around the world discover and share their legacy online. As technology thought leaders and innovators in the space, MyHeritage is transforming family history into an activity that’s accessible, exciting and easier than ever before. MyHeritage empowers its global community of users with unique social tools, a massive library of historical content and powerful search and data matching technologies. The service is available in 40 languages. For more information visit www.myheritage.com.

Social media links

Sweden
Blog: http://blog.myheritage.se
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MyHeritageSverige
Twitter: twitter.com/myheritagese

Norway
Blog: http://blog.myheritage.no
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MyHeritageNorge
Twitter: twitter.com/MyHeritageNorge

Denmark
Blog: http://blog.myheritage.dk
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MyHeritageDK
Twitter: twitter.com/myheritagedk

Finland
Blog: http://blog.myheritage.fi
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MyHeritageFI
Twitter: twitter.com/myheritagefi

Eastman's Genealogy Newsletter topic

The following information was taken verbatim from Dick Eastman's Genealogical Newsletter with his permission. I thank Dick for giving his permission to copy this information to add to our blog.  I hope that you all find this information to be of interest.

 

A Little-Known Government Genealogy Service

A little-known program of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provides genealogy information that may be difficult or impossible to obtain elsewhere. The records include naturalization files, visa applications, and citizenship tests, and may reveal family secrets and mysteries. In addition to relatives, historians or researchers can also request files.

Under the USCIS Genealogy Program, which started in 2008, requests are usually completed within 90 days. The government will run a search of the name, as long as the person is deceased. If there are records available, the government charges additional fees for the files. The fee for a record copy from microfilm identified as (M) is $20 per request. The fee for a copy of a hard copy file identified as (HC) is $35 per request. More information about the fees associated with each file series may be found at http://www.uscis.gov/history-and-genealogy/genealogy/historical-records-series-available-genealogy-program.

The documents typically include immigration information, often (but not always) including exact hometowns in their ancestors' native countries. The files often have information on brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles. Many times it is useful to obtain the records of your uncles, aunts, and cousins who also immigrated from "the old country."

If the immigrant applied for American citizenship, the details are also included in these files. For anyone of Japanese, German, or Italian origin who lived in the United States during World War II, the documents often include FBI reports about the person's activities, including friends, family, and political activities.

For more information about the program, check out http://www.uscis.gov/genealogy.

 

December Meeting Update

At the December meeting, Per Anderson will be showing and talking about "Arivdigital" which is for Sweden only. He will also talk about the Norwegian archive website, http://arkivverket.no/eng/content/view/full/629.  The Norwegian archive site was suggested by Keith Miland.

Review of our November meeting

We had an excellent turn out for our November meeting with 24 persons attending.  After a few announcements Mike Garvin demonstrated and explained the features of "Legacy" an off line genealogy program for managing one's family history research.  His presentation was excellent and at the end of the meeting Ann even told me that she really liked several of the features that he showed us.  Following his presentation I presented the features of  "Roots Magic", another off line program. Then Jim Lanin did a "Power Point" presentation telling us about "Family Tree Maker" which is also an off line program.  These are the top 3 programs in use today.  Then Jim demonstrated the features of "Ancestry.com", an online genealogy program. Ancestry is the top online program in use today.  Geni is another online program. Like Mike's presentation, Jim's was excellent.

We demonstrated these programs because we actually use them and most programs that are available have very similar features.  It was suggested that the members go to "Google"  and search for the top 10 genealogy programs, check the features and cost before selecting one.  Also, it was suggested that when one has selected a few for consideration that they download a free version to try out and then purchase the fully featured program that they like the most.

Our demonstrations were not promotions of any one program but rather an attempt to inform our members of the general features that such programs offer and recommended that they check out several before they make their final choice.

Several of those in attendance added comments that really enhanced the presentations because they were using some features that I, at least,  hadn't used yet and it was helpful to get the input as it made my presentation better.  Thank you all.

December Meeting

Our December meeting will be an "open discussion" session however I have talked with Per Anderson who, at his suggestion,   has agreed to show us how to use "Arkivdigital".  Ann will have another surgery  on Dec. 17th and I don't think she will be discharged from the hospital until Friday, Dec. 20th, the day of our meeting.. Therefore, I have talked with Jim Lanin who has agreed to lead the meeting for me which I appreciate a lot.  I know you will have a good meeting.

Since this will be our last meeting of this year and the holidays will be upon us I suggest that anyone who would like to bring treats to share that they do so.  Coffee will be available.

Ann & I will see you all in January.

Larry

November meeting

Most of us are using a genealogy program to organize our family history data. Some are resident on our computers and no one else has access to the information.  Others use an online service such as Ancestry.com, Geni or Family Search, which are maintained on the systems of those services and give the option to have the data held as private or as a public database.  Larry Peterson will demonstrate "Roots Magic"  and Mike Garvin will demonstrate "Legacy" which are programs that are only on your computer.  Jim Lannin will demonstrate "Ancestry.com" which is a program that is an online service so the program and data are not only on your computer but  also on the computer  at Ancestry.com. The purpose of these demonstrations is to show  the common features of these programs and to highlight the differences.  These demonstrations/discussions are not recommendations for any one of them, they are intended to be informational only.  There are many  genealogy programs available and they offer the same basic features therefore it will be the individual's responsibility to review several programs and make their own decision as to which one will fulfill their requirements the best.

Coffee will be available at the meeting.

Websites of General Interest to Scandinavians

The sites that are listed below are not specific to genealogy however they may be of general interest to persons of Scandinavian descent. 

http://www.svt.se/allt-for-sverige/ 

http://www.augustana.edu/x58257.xml.

October meeting

Since we will be talking about reference/research sources (printed and digital) at our October meeting I'm asking all members who attend the meeting to bring their top 3 printed resources and a list of the online resources to the meeting.  We will each have an opportunity to talk about these resources and explain how to use them. In addition we will talk about physical resources such as county clerks offices, cemeteries, etc..

October meeting

During our meeting in September one of our members mentioned that it would be nice to know more about reference books, software, sites, etc so in October we will discuss sources of information, whether it is a book, a website or other source and the type of information that one can obtain from each source that we discuss.

For this meeting we expect to have many of our "snow birds" back home in "The Villages" and look forward to welcoming them home for the winter months. We will open with introductions,  followed by the main topic of research sources and how to use them and have an open discussion session to close the meeting.

There will be coffee available at the meeting.  We will start the meeting at 10:00 am and close at 11:50 am.

ISGS Webinars

The Rock Island County Illinois GenealogicalSociety sent me the following information about their upcoming webinars :



Upcoming Webinars - October 2013

 

 

Join us on Tuesday, October 8, at 8:00 PM Central, when Peggy Clemens Lauritzen, AG, will present, Up In Smoke!! What To Do When the Courthouse Burns. To attend this webinar, register athttps://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1130232329628818432.

 

Last week's webinar, “To the Honorable, the General Assembly” – The Treasure Trove in Legislative Petitions, presented by Judy G. Russell, is now available to ISGS members in the Members Section of the ISGS website (http://ilgensoc.org/members.php).

 

Upcoming Webinars

• October 8 - Up In Smoke!! What To Do When the Courthouse Burns
  Presenter: Peggy Clemens Lauritzen, AG
  Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1130232329628818432

• November 12 – Little Houses on the Prairie: Midwestern Research Techniques
  Presenter: Diana Crisman Smith
  Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/848493470127452672

• December 10 – Miracles, Mysteries & Mayhem: Online Family Trees
  Presenter:  Jeanne Larzalere Bloom
  Registration:  https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8253902195291921152

For the complete list of upcoming webinars, including the entire 2013 schedule, visit http://ilgensoc.org/cpage.php?pt=234.

 

And don't forget to spread the word! Forward this email onto your friends and colleagues, post the information to social media sites and/or your blog/website, or print out a few copies of our webinar flyer to hand out at your local society meetings. The flyer can be accessed at http://ilgensoc.org/upload/menu/2013_Webinar_Brochure.pdf.

 

Support the ISGS Webinar program by making a financial contribution, which will help ISGS expand its educational offerings in a virtual manner. To learn why we need your help, or to make a contribution, please visit http://ilgensoc.org/cpage.php?pt=345.

 

Please direct any questions to the ISGS Education Committee atisgseducation@ilgensoc.org.

September meeting

Our next meeting is Sept. 20th from 10:00am to 11:50am at the Sea Breeze Rec. Center.

We will open with a Q & A session.  Then we will visit and discuss the web sites for the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, IN and the Newberry Library in Chicago, IL. Both facilities are good/excellent sources of information for genealogists. We will end the meeting with an open discussion.

Coffee will be available at the meeting. 

We are looking forward to a good attendance this month and to meeting a new member who recently called me and expressed an interest in our group.  She is researching her Norwegian ancestry.

Links to sites of genealogical interest

Here are links to genealogical sites that are interesting and useful in assisting us in our research.

www.slaktdata.org/index.php/lexikon

www.cindislist.com

www.heritagesleuth.com

www.mytrees.com

www.vgsfl.org

April meeting

For April we will discuss the similarities and differences of the genealogical vocabulary for each of the Scandinavian countries that we encounter during our family history research. And we will discuss the documents/documentation in which the vocabulary is most likely to found. In conjunction with the vocabulary we will look at handwriting samples from earlier centuries.

February meeting

Our February meeting is next Friday, 2/15, at the Sea Breeze recreation center from 10:00 am to 11:50 am.

Two members will present their research on one individual that seems to be a "brick wall" for them. We will discuss the research completed and then look for ways to get the research moving forward again.  I think that as we review these cases we will all  gain some insight for expanding our own research.

Coffee will be available.

Ann & I look forward to seeing many of you at the meeting.

Larry

Hi, thank you for inviting me.  Minnesota Jacki

March meeting

We will have another Q & A session coupled with using the computer to 1: find answers to questions asked and 2: to initiate some general web searches which will hopefully inspire us to ask more questions.  Utilizing the computer during the meeting should provide an immediate step by step process for starting and or expanding our genealogical research.

The meeting will be from 10am to noon on March 15, 2013 at the Sea Breeze Recreation Center.

VGS Genetic Genealogy Special Interest Group

Jim Lannin has taken on the leadership of the VGS Genetic Genealogy SIG.  The group will hold it's January meeting on Weds., January 23rd, at the Savannah Center from 8:45 am to 9:45 am.

Jim is working with John De Angelo to provide more information on a VGS Genetic Genealogy Web Page.  The web page is http://villagesgenealogy.org/cpage.php?pt=66. Jim says that you will soon be able to find links to a wide range of resources for members of the Genetic Genealogy SIG.

Jim is the right person for leading this group. His experience and leadership capabilites will ensure that the material will be well researched and presented.

I recommend this group not just because of the topic but also because of the leader.

New to Genealogy

The Leesburg Library has a beginners group called Gene-Rookies that meets the second Monday of each month.  Here is a copy of their meeting notice from their newsletter:

Gene-Rookies

Leesburg Public LibraryCarol Anderson

Bring your questions to the Gene-Rookies question-and-answer session coordinated by Glorianne Fahs and Jerry Hardwich at the Leesburg Public Library on the second Monday of each month (resuming Monday, February 11, 2013).  This group is sponsored by the Kinseekers Genealogical Society and is intended to provide basic information and assistance to those beginning their genealogical research.  The group meets at 1:00 pm at the Leesburg Public Library, 100 East Main St., Leesburg, FL  34748.  Phone:   352-728-9790  E-mail:  librarian@leesburgflorida.gov  Website:  www.leesburgflorida.gov/library

Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

I recommend "Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter" as a good source of current genealogical information.  To learn more about it go to  http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/plusedition.html.  You will be able to subscribe to his free edition of the newsletter and for $19.95 you can subscribe to his Plus Edition of the newsletter.  Take a few minutes and check out the site.  You won't be disappointed.