Author Archives: Lorelle VanFossen

About Lorelle VanFossen

Lorelle VanFossen writes for a variety of blogs, websites, ezines, and print publications. She also teaches and does a lot of public speaking internationally on photography, writing, blogging, web page design and development, and more. She and her husband and cat(s) travel full-time across North American and the rest of the world by RV, planes, trains, automobiles, and foot, writing and photographing their travels and nature, when they can find it.

How Do You Represent Religion in Your GEDCOM Records?

In a fascinating discussion on soc.genealogy.computing’s mailing list, the issue of how religion is represented in GEDCOM 5.5′s RELI token. The question was whether or not there was a standardized value or list to use to represent the religion. The … Continue reading

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How Far Will You Go To Dig Into Your Family History?

Boston 1775 offers “Washington’s Hanukkah: An Oral Tradition”, researching the historical evidence of General George Washington learning about Jewish traditions. In his recent picture book Hanukkah at Valley Forge, Stephen Krensky gives a main source for his story of Gen. … Continue reading

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Web 2.5: DNA Social Networking

According to The Globe and Mail Technology, the hottest trend in online social networking is genealogy, but not genealogy as you might imagine. This is a far cry from your family history blog. Rather than exchanging photos, music and cellphone … Continue reading

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Move Your Genealogy Blog Into the 21st Century With Site Feeds

The Society of Genealogists in the UK has finally added a feed to their website. They join a growing rank of family history, genealogical societies, clubs, groups, and services finally getting onto the feed band wagon. Some of the most … Continue reading

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Finding Ancestors Thrills: Arab Royalty With European Genes

The thrill of identifying an ancestor is always exciting in family history research. Sometimes it’s a predictable find (Norwegians finding Norwegians in their past), and sometimes unpredictable (Norwegians finding Africans in their past). Then there are truly “shocking” and yet … Continue reading

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Uncovering the Myths and Truths in Our Family Tree

In Columbus Colonists’ Despair Revealed (print version) from Discovery News, it appears to be confirmed that Columbus faked the wealth of his discovery of the new world. The first silver ever extracted from coarser materials by Europeans in the New … Continue reading

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How Would You Use a Timeline on Your Family History Blog?

Dan Lawyer has been talking about Timelines for displaying on your family history site or blog. One of the focus areas for some prototyping we plan to do in the near future is an effort to allow users to explore … Continue reading

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US Archives Resources on the War of 1812

The US National Archives – War of 1812 features extensive information, resources, records, and online exhibitions about the US War of 1812, including: Genealogical Records of the War of 1812 War of 1812 Discharge Certificates Genealogical fallout from the War … Continue reading

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Exploring The History of Cancer in Your Family History

The New England Historic Genealogical Society’s Dr. Edwin Knights offers “Confronted With Cancer”, a great look into using your family tree to trace cancer in your family. Is there cancer in you family’s medical pedigree? And if so, how are … Continue reading

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US Library of Congress Gets $2 Million to Digitize Historical Books

The US Library of Congress announces a grant to help digitize thousands of books for online access. Librarian of Congress James H. Billington today announced that the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has awarded the Library of Congress a $2 million … Continue reading

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