Thursday, December 6, 2018

Don’t Want to Deal with Family Skeletons, Don’t Look in the DNA Closet

If You Don’t Want to Deal with Family Skeletons, Don’t Look in the DNA Closet

· December 5, 2018 · DNA, Genealogy Basics · 12 Comments 
 
Amy Dickinson is an American newspaper columnist who writes the syndicated advice column Ask Amy. In a recent column, she published a letter from a reader asking how to handle a family surprise: upon having her DNA tested, the writer discovered she had a half-sibling that she was not aware of previously. She then shared this bit of information with her family, including with both of her parents.
The information was not well received.
You can read this rather interesting letter and Amy Dickinson’s advice in a number of newspapers, including the Detroit Free Press at: http://bit.ly/2QxfdL6.
Comment by Dick Eastman: I certainly cannot compete with Amy Dickinson’s nationally-syndicated advice column but I will offer one piece of advice to genealogists: If your research finds a something that was previously not widely known within the family, you might want to stop and consider the implications before you broadcast that information to your relatives. Do you really HAVE to tell everyone? or anyone?

12 Comments--see original article--click on 12 comments above to see--very informative.
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Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Reclaim The Records Wins Again and Freely Publishes the New York State Birth Index, 1881-1942

Reclaim The Records Wins Again and Freely Publishes the New York State Birth Index, 1881-1942

· September 17, 2018 · Online Sites · 7 Comments
Goodbye microfiche sheets, hello Internet!
Reclaim The Records has announced that the organization has won and published the first free online copy of the New York State birth index, for the years 1881-1942!
Reclaim The Records made a Freedom of Information request to the New York State Department of Health a year ago, in September 2017, and it has finally been fulfilled. The data for 1881-1934 is online right now at the Internet Archive and the remaining data for 1935-1942 will be online by the end of this week. With more than 700 gigabytes of high-resolution images, it is taking a while to upload all the images.

This statewide birth index was previously only available to researchers who were sitting in a small number of upstate New York public libraries, as well as the Manhattan branch of the National Archives (NARA). And even then, it was only available in an old-fashioned and difficult format, scratched-up and faded microfiche sheets. And you had to hand in your driver’s license to be held hostage by the librarian just so you could see a single sheet at a time.

Thanks to Reclaim The Records, genealogists and others can research all the people in the New York State birth index whenever we want, from our own homes, for free. You can browse the images, download the images, re-post them to your own website, and even transcribe everything into your own database, if you want.
You can read more in the Reclaim The Records web site at: https://www.reclaimtherecords.org/records-request/10/.
The images of the New York State Birth Index, 1881-1942 are available on Archive.org at https://archive.org/search.php?query=New%20York%20State%20Birth%20Index%201881-1942.
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Friday, November 30, 2018

Over 60 Million Pages of Digitized Canadian Heritage Soon To Be Available At No Charge

Over 60 Million Pages of Digitized Canadian Documentary Heritage Soon To Be Available At No Charge

Posted by Jean-Yves on Nov 19, 2018
 

As of January 1, 2019, 60 million pages of Canadian digital documentary heritage will be available at no charge to users. The Canadiana collections are the largest online collections of early textual Canadiana in the world. The removal of the subscription paywall will allow unimpeded access to this unique historical content for researchers, students, faculty, and all users in Canada and around the world.
Making the Canadiana collections available at no cost to users is a result of the recent merger between Canadiana.org, a not-for-profit charity, and the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN), a not-for-profit partnership of 75 Canadian universities, finalized in April 2018.
Source & Full Story
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Wednesday, November 14, 2018

New York Times will Digitize its Photo Archive

The New York Times will Digitize its Photo Archive

· November 12, 2018 · Photography, Preservation · One Comment
This may turn out to be a gold mine for historians and genealogists alike. The New York Times is planning to digitize more than a century’s worth of photographs, and it is going to use Google Cloud to do so.
The plan is to digitize MILLIONS of images — some dating back to the late nineteenth century — to ensure they can be accessed by generations to come. The digitization process will also prove useful for journalists who will be able to delve into the archives far more easily in future.

Until now, historic news articles and photos have been stored on microfilm and in other physical forms. This is not only difficult to catalog and navigate, but also prone to deterioration over time and through use.
Brian Stevens, Chief Technical Officer of Google Cloud, stated:

“Google Cloud technologies like Cloud Storage, Cloud Pub/Sub, and Cloud Vision API are helping to preserve this priceless history and give journalists a new way to search, access, and analyze millions of historic photos and give them new life. Cloud technology is allowing The Times to protect one of their most unique assets migrating from steel filing cabinets to a cloud-based platform where journalists can bring visual storytelling to a whole new level.”
You can read more in an article by Mark Wycislik-Wilson in the BetaNews web site at: https://betanews.com/2018/11/09/new-york-times-google-cloud/.
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Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Discover Your “Musical DNA”

Discover Your “Musical DNA”

· September 24, 2018 · DNA · 5 Comments  from his EASTMAN'S GENEALOGY NEWSLETTER AT https://blog.eogn.com/2018/09/24/discover-your-musical-dna/
 
An online advertisement caught my eye: “Spotify & AncestryDNA Users Can Now Generate Personalized Playlists Based On Their DNA Heritage Results.”

Really? My musical DNA? What is that?

An article by Kaitlyn Wylde in the Bustle.com web site states:
AncestryDNA has joined forces with Spotify to create the ultimate personal playlist curation experience. And by “personal”, I mean the playlist that this partnership offers you will resonate with you very deeply — aka, the music is literally tuned to your DNA. Yes, using your AncestryDNA results, Spotify will put together a collection of songs that are based on your heritage. If you’re in the market for a closer connection to your music library, this special feature will definitely hit the spot. I mean, how much closer can you get than sharing DNA?
Starting on September 19, customers who have received AncestryDNA test results can turn to Spotify to find carefully selected playlists that correspond with their ethnic background as disclosed in their DNA test results.

OK, I thought I had heard of everything but this is new to me. If you are interested in your “musical DNA,” check out the article at: http://bit.ly/2NZXlat.
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Friday, September 7, 2018

ROOTSWEB Home and Free Pages Back Up again

Go to http://rootsweb.blog/2018/08/27/homepages-and-freepages-urls-are-working-again/


Homepages and Freepages URLs Are Working Again

Posted on August 27, 2018 by Anne Mitchell

Homepages Hosted Sites

If you had a homepages hosted web site (all of which should be restored), you will find your hompages URL will work.
For example, if you site is ~aihbt:
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~aihbt
now works, as does
http://sites.rootsweb.com/~aihbt
You can also use https if you prefer:
https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~aihbt/

Freepages Hosted Sites

If you had a freepages hosted site (and your site has been restored) you should be able to get to your content again.
For example, if your account is gillespiehistory and if you use the URL:
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~gillespiehistory/genealogy
You will be taken to the contents of your genealogy_html directory.  Alternatively, you  can also use the old URL:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gillespiehistory
which will automatically redirect you to the new version of the URL. Just substitute the name of your account into the URL.
All of the old URLs will work and redirect to the new versions, you may use which ever one you wish:
You may use https with the new version of the URLs, but not the old version.
https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~gillespiehistory/history
We have no plans to make https work with the old freepages URLs.
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Monday, June 4, 2018

Experts Outline Ethics Issues With Use of Genealogy DNA to Solve Crimes

Experts Outline Ethics Issues With Use of Genealogy DNA to Solve Crimes 

I recently wrote about two different “cold cases” where murderers allegedly have been identified and arrested by using information found on the publicly-available genealogy DNA site at GEDmatch.com.
(See http://bit.ly/2J0dHye and http://bit.ly/2LPaSOs for my past articles.)
Privacy advocates and many others have since questioned the legality of using the information for law enforcement purposes. Admittedly, the information is publicly available for all to see. The genealogists who contributed the information did so willingly and presumably gave permission for the family DNA to be available to all. However, the relatives of the uploading genealogists may or may not have given permission for THEIR personal DNA information to be made available to the public. After all, it isn’t the DNA of any one individual; it is indeed the family’s DNA information. Not all family members have agreed to having that information made available to genealogists, law enforcement personnel, insurance companies, and worldwide hackers alike.
In the past, a court order was required for law enforcement personnel to legitimately invade the privacy of an individual or a family. The public information made available on GEDmatch seems to circumvent the legal protections of having a judge review the intent of law enforcement personnel. Are we giving up some of our liberties and privacy protections by making such information available?

There is also an issue of having law enforcement personnel use the information only for legitimate criminal investigations. One of the alleged murderers, commonly referred to as the Golden State Killer, reportedly was a uniformed police officer at the time he allegedly committed the rapes and murders. If GEDmatch had been available, would he have used the information on the web site to avoid identification and arrest? Indeed, GEDmatch theoretically could be used by murderers and others to evade capture.
You can find dozens of online article questioning the wisdom of making such information public. I’ll point to one such article by Carolyn Crist on the Reuters News Service web site at https://reut.rs/2szWHUq as one that describes the pros and cons of the issue. However, you can find many more articles about this issue by starting at any general-purpose Web search engine.
Perhaps the best quote of the article is, “‘Think carefully before uploading your genealogy data,’” said Benjamin Berkman, who heads the section on the ethics of genetics and new technologies at the National Institutes of Health’s Department of Bioethics in Bethesda, Maryland. ‘We’re not saying it’s unduly risky or a bad idea, but be comfortable with the idea that police may use your information to solve crimes before you sign up for these services.'”
My thanks to the many newsletter readers who sent me links to articles about these issues.

14 Comments

allthingsrobin June 1, 2018 at 4:02 pm
“Indeed, GEDmatch theoretically could be used by murderers and others to evade capture.”
Ok help me here. How could this be done? Even theoretically?
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    Dick Eastman June 1, 2018 at 4:36 pm
    —> Ok help me here. How could this be done? Even theoretically?
    Easily. First, any criminal who has some knowledge of DNA probably knows his own DNA information. He then could monitor GEDmatch to see if close matches are ever added, meaning that law enforcement could close in on him. It would be easy for him to decide when it was time to get out of town and go into hiding.
    Next, the criminal could monitor GEDmatch and any possible future services with similar publicly-identifiable data to see if a relative, even a distant relative, uploaded similar DNA information. It would then be easy for the criminal to contact the relative and convince him to remove the DNA information uploaded because of the risks associated with putting family DNA information visible to the public. The criminal might cite real risks (and there are several) or he might make up some story, inventing some plausible-sounding risks, and convince the relative to remove the listing. That would help the criminal to remain invisible to law enforcement.
    Are these risks probable? I doubt it. But they certainly are theoretically possible. I am sure there are other scenarios that I haven’t yet thought of.
    Next, there was an earlier story of a year or so ago where police used a publicly-available DNA database and they identified the wrong person! See https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/investigators-dna-from-genealogy-site-caught-serial-killer/2018/04/26/a8197258-49b8-11e8-8082-105a446d19b8_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.32c5b8106336 for the details. The innocent man eventually was determined to not be the killer and was freed.
    There was a somewhat similar, even earlier, case in New Orleans where police did a DNA match on a publicly-available DNA database and then identified the wrong man. The “wrong man” apparently was a relative of the real murderer, not the culprit.
    All that is described at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3510568/Law-enforcement-investigators-seek-private-DNA-databases.html
    Law enforcement is never 100% accurate. Like most other human endeavors, occasional mistakes are made. Is that enough to prohibit the use of certain investigative tools? I don’t know. I’ll leave that to the lawyers and judges to decide.
    Liked by 1 person
    Helen June 2, 2018 at 6:40 am
    Please can you post a reliable source that says that the Oregon man was actually arrested. I am not aware of any such arrest, only that he and his daughter volunteered to help that police with the case.
    Like
    Ann Turner June 2, 2018 at 8:47 am
    Dick, I don’t spot anything about a man being incarcerated in the links you provided. Do you have another link?
    Like
allthingsrobin June 1, 2018 at 5:37 pm
OK. I thought you were theoretically suggesting a criminal could manipulate the data at Gedmatch to avoid identification. I was having a hard time swallowing that idea.
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John McCoy June 1, 2018 at 5:44 pm
I am not at all convinced that the arguments advanced so far are particularly cogent or well-considered. The discovery of relatives of criminals on GEDmatch is not evidence. The actual evidence that provides probable cause for an arrest is the genetic match detected between a sample from a crime scene and a sample recovered from an individual whose identity was suggested by GEDmatch. After probable cause is established and an arrest is made, there is still no “evidence” admissible in criminal proceedings unless the crime scene sample matches (by expert testimony) a sample obtained from the person who was arrested, under appropriate judicial approval. All of the safeguards for evidence and due process still apply, and will be determined by law and precedent.
The more important consideration, I think, has to do with the ethics of keeping and revealing secrets. The secrets of the criminal, when discovered, should clearly be revealed in the interest of society as a whole. The classic little book by Sissela Bok, Secrets: On the Ethics of Concealment and Revelation (1983) still applies, and is still required reading for any genealogist interested in contemporary families.
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    nigelhuffingwaysmythe June 2, 2018 at 1:02 am
    Indeed. There are people who feel compelled to object to anything that law enforcement does on principle; that doesn’t mean they have logic to back up their gut feelings. I agree that objections presented so far fall short of “cogent and well-considered.”
    This, in particular, seems wrong: “it isn’t the DNA of any one individual; it is indeed the family’s DNA information.”
    No. It is the DNA of one individual, and none of my family members have a right to oblige me not to reveal my own DNA. Suggesting that because their DNA sequence might be revealed by my revealing my own it is wrong to reveal my own is like suggesting I not use my address—or, indeed, surname—because someone might guess they live there too or have a similar name.
    Like
Carole June 1, 2018 at 8:13 pm
Think about WWII Germany, when ALL Germans were required to carry books showing their genealogy back several generations to show that they had no Jewish blood. Imagine that today with your DNA or your relatives DNA database showing you did have Jewish blood, no hiding it, even if you didn’t know about it. Catching old murder suspects this way is fine, even a wonderful thing, but it is a slippery slope that could eventually lead to the Germany scenario. When you voluntarily give your DNA to Gedmatch or even the paid sites you are also giving your relatives DNA, even relatives you do not even know, and you are giving it without their permission, clearly an invasion of their privacy. This is definitely an ethics question the courts will have to answer in the near future.
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    brucefuimus June 2, 2018 at 10:48 am
    All the argument about DNA and Germany applies almost as much to my family tree. Should that be forbidden because it reveals my cousin’s ancestry? If we reject the DNA load because it’s not just my DNA but my cousin’s as well, then we should surely reject the family tree also, as it goes close enough to my cousins that any competent genealogists could identify them and therefore their ancestry.
    Like
pcaverly June 2, 2018 at 6:31 am
Paranoia has set in. How long do we live on this plant? History does teach us a few good things but the future is yet to be told. Where will we be when biometrics may be used on identification or passports? I for one am glad the police may have solved some old cold case files. As suggested by others, I would expect the investigation would now collect more evidence to clearing indicate the culprit is the correct person.
I am more concerned about the media and how someone is painted as a criminal even before all the facts are in or someone has their day in court. Once the media convicts you, even if you are proven as innocent the damage may be done and the individual’s life will likely never be the same.
Genealogy has similar issues. When researching an individual we often find bits and pieces. We might try to come to a conclusion about the individual but we really don’t have all the facts or history. The time period we all live in past/present can affect what individuals may do.
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Maureen June 2, 2018 at 8:08 am
The theory about criminals using GEDMatch sounds like a great premise for a mystery story/thriller. I wish I was a writer.
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gene32014 June 2, 2018 at 8:37 am
All sorts of people, businesses and the Government make statements about how our privacy and personal information are to be kept safe and confidential. There are, after all, laws about that. And yet, it is not safe. HIPPA regulations are supposed to make sure all of your medical information and records are confidential (and you have to go through some interesting things to get your own information) and yet…the Dr.’s office managed to mail out my compleat set of records which vanished into the US Mail (no tracking just addressed a packet and “poof” gone- so sorry, too bad, you have to ask for another set- but our computers are down it will take a while). Ah, yes, all of this stuff is now being either entered directly into formats for reports on computers or imaged and stored rather than held in a “locked filing storage vault” somewhere. And, businesses or professional’s are being hacked all the time, often with no information about the theft of sensitive data for months or more. Same thing with Government files
In my work experience I have had to provide fingerprints several times (you know, for Security and Background Check) and so those are are on file with both State Police and the FBI. If you have been in the military, your fingerprints are also on file, more recently also your DNA. Photo recognition is widely in use….don’t beleive that, don’t have to look crime drama shows, just use Facebook or a program like i-Photo. What happens when people put their photos in the Cloud?
Is it possible that Law Enforcement could make a mistake and arrest the wrong person and ruin their life even if they are quickly released? Happens all the time. And the comment about the Media and chewing a person’s life to bits just for becoming known as a suspect in an investigation….again, happens all the time for the profit and circulation boost of the various media outlets.
Government and other entities misuse information all the time. So all this hand wringing and moaning about sensitive data does’t do a lot as the ability to get at most of you personal data is almost the most trivial of the problems you face. It’s what they do with it that is the problem.
This horse left the barn years ago. Now it’s just the ranting and raving, particularly by politicians who want to “do something” about it for their own benefit, not for any actual protection of individuals.
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gene32014 June 2, 2018 at 10:35 am
That article just about sums up all the problems and opportunities for both the potential advantages of DNA testing and abuse of information and power in all of this. Collecting discarded items to get DNA (and other things) from people. Trying people in the media. Criminals in public service positions. Politicians making statements about protecting the public…and not (apparently) actualy doing anything substantive but get their name and high sounding words in the media (remember…”do it for the children”) and police not having the right suspect. And for those who would prefer not to acknowledge it, there are plenty of Judges who make some decisions based on political or ideological reasons for which there is little recourse or accountability under the Judicial System.

 

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Saturday, May 26, 2018

New Database with Pictures of 18th and 19th Century Ireland is Launched

A New Database with Pictures of 18th and 19th Century Ireland is Launched

· May 25, 2018 · History, Photography · No Comments
From an article by Micheál Ó Maoileoin in the Galway Daily:
“How was Ireland depicted in illustrations produced by travellers from 1680 to 1860? A new database of images drawn from travel accounts answers this question.

“Based on years of research by a group of investigators at NUI Galway led by Professor Jane Conroy, Ireland Illustrated is now available to view online.”
“Ireland Illustrated, 1680-1860, is a database of over 500 images of Ireland – woodcuts, water colours, engravings and other illustrations – with related text, drawn from more than 50 manuscript and printed works, and highlighting several neglected or rarely accessible sources.

“Many of the pictures in the database, woodcuts, water colours, engravings and other illustrations, have rarely, if ever, been seen by the public.”
You can read the full story and view a number of the images at: http://bit.ly/2kpfPkt.
The database is available at: https://ttce.nuigalway.ie/irelandillustrated/.
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Friday, March 16, 2018

27 Public Libraries and the Internet Archive Launch “Community Webs” for Local History Web Archiving

27 Public Libraries and the Internet Archive Launch “Community Webs” for Local History Web Archiving

· March 14, 2018 · Announcements, Current Affairs · No Comments
I have to believe this could become a huge resource for genealogists. According to an announcement in the Archive.org Blog:

“With generous support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, as well as the Kahle/Austin Foundation and the Archive-It service, the Internet Archive and 27 public library partners representing 17 different states have launched a new program: Community Webs: Empowering Public Libraries to Create Community History Web Archives. The program will provide education, applied training, cohort network development, and web archiving services for a group of public librarians to develop expertise in web archiving for the purpose of local memory collecting. Additional partners in the program include OCLC’s WebJunction training and education service and the public libraries of Queens, Cleveland and San Francisco will serve as “lead libraries” in the cohort. The program will result in dozens of terabytes of public library administered local history web archives, a range of open educational resources in the form of online courses, videos, and guides, and a nationwide network of public librarians with expertise in local history web archiving and the advocacy tools to build and expand the network. A full listing of the participating public libraries is below and on the program website.”

This could result in huge online collections local history and information created by libraries nationwide. The list of participating libraries is impressive, ranging from big city libraries to one small town library near me. You can learn more at: http://bit.ly/2IqBJi1.
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Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Ukrainian Genealogy Group to Host a Virtual Conference

Ukrainian Genealogy Group to Host a Virtual Conference

· March 5, 2018 · Conferences · No Comments
The following announcement was written by Nashi Predky, the family history group of the Ukrainian History and Education Center:
The Ukrainian History and Education Center (UHEC) is proud to announce the first-ever virtual event for Ukrainian genealogy. Nashi Predky (Our Ancestors), the family history group of the UHEC, will be hosting their 2018 Spring Workshop virtually on Saturday, March 17th .
Since the group’s formation in 2013, all of the workshops and annual conferences have been held at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Somerset, New Jersey. This year, the committee is excited to offer this event to fellow researchers who may not be able to travel for an in-person event.

The one-day event will begin at 9 a.m. with welcoming remarks from the event Chairperson Justin Houser, and the UHEC Archivist Michael Andrec. The workshop agenda includes four presentations with Question & Answer periods as well as breaks between sessions.
Attendees will watch presenters from around United States and Poland speak on the following topics:
  • Greek Catholics in Poland and Family //Research/ by Tadeusz Piłat (Poland)
  • Introduction to Ukrainian Genealogy/ by Justin Houser (Pennsylvania)
  • Introduction to DNA and Genetic Genealogy/ by Paul Woodbury (Utah)
  • A Historical Overview of Ukraine/ by Michael Andrec (New Jersey)
Using the GoToWebinar online conferencing platform, attendees can view the presentations from anywhere in the world on their own computer or mobile device with an Internet connection. Those attending the live sessions can also actively participate in the talks and ask questions through a special chat feature. Presentations will be archived for a 72-hour period after the event ends.
To learn more about the event, including lecture descriptions and speaker bios, and to complete the online registration, please visit the event page: https://www.ukrhec.org/nashi-predky-online-workshop-2018
Don’t hesitate! There are less than 100 spaces available for the online event.
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