Once you have landed on the ground in Poland, how are you going to get around? If you will be meeting with family then this person will probably end up being your chauffer. Help pay for the fuel. Prices in Europe are much higher that they are here in the US....
What is Mocavo? Mocavo has been available for over a year now. My first exposure to Mocavo was at Rootstech 2012 in Salt Lake City. Mocavo is a genealogy search engine that provides search results from genealogy specific websites. I took a look at Mocavo and its capabilities and have written...
If you are looking for a place to learn more about what is happening in Poland today, Polish traditions, history, culture and what is happening in Polish communities around the world, I suggest looking no further than the Polish American Journal.The Polish American Journal is a monthly newspaper chocked full of useful and...
Who Do You Think You Are? Live begins! Don't you just love the pink carpeting! :)The doors opened and visitors began flooding in. The large venue is holding 160 society and vendor booths.When I was not wandering around the hall to absorb everything that was there, I was helping out at...
This morning was beautiful and sunny in London. Alvie and I first made a stop at the Olympia where the "Who Do You Think You Are? Live" conference will be held. Alvie thought it would be a good idea to check out where the APG booth would be and if things...
Today was the day I made the trip from Boston to London. At the gate in Boston I met up with Michael LeClerc and Maureen Taylor who were on my flight.I was quite surprised that the flight actually left on time. It only took aobut 5 3/4 hours to make the...
Rootstech 2012 is over and I had a wonderful time. It was amazing to be at the largest genealogical conference in the United States. How can you top that? Its easy ..... Attend "Who Do You Think You Are? Live" in London, England!With a little coaxing from a person who shall...
It has been a wonderfully informational packed few days here at Rootstech and I have experienced a genealogical conference like no other. It is sad to see it go, but it leaves me looking forward to Rootstech 2013. I would not be surprised if next year they beat the attendance record...
WOW I was looking around the Expo Hall just after registration. Everyone was scrambling to set up for the start of the conference. Chairs are all set up for the Opening and Keynote speaker. It was like looking at a field of chairs, and the technology that is set up in...
Rootstech is coming up next week. This Conference is a new type of conference to bring together technology and genealogists.During the 3 days of this event there are over 130 sessions to select from. I am overwhelmed by the selection. Narrowing down my choices is not going to be easy as...
Many people have asked me where I was when I visited Poland this summer, especially my genealogical colleagues, so I thought I would answer that question with a map.
I had the opportunity to do some research in the Diocesan Archives of Tarnów when I was in Poland.
The process is simple... you must sign in the "guest book" and then if you have not been to the archives before, you will need to purchase a researchers id card which is good for that calendar year. Of course you must present some identification which for the foreigner would be your passport.
If I recall correctly it cost about 15 złoty which is roughly about $5 give or take depending on the exchange rate. Research time costs 6 złoty per hour.
The Archive is open Monday thru Friday 9 am to 3pm with a break for lunch from noon to 1pm. On Saturdays it is open for only 3 hours from 9am to noon.
I had to go to Szewna, Poland to do some research for a client. The project is filled with many mysteries. I had a short time to at least go through the cemetery before I had to continue my journey to the southeast part of Poland.
There was one mystery that kept bothering me. The name of the parish is św. Mikołaj (St. Nicolas) but the name św. Roch (St. Roch) was remembered by a family member. I was unable to find a parish with this name that was nearby and I was left puzzled.
I finally learned that the parish had two patron saints, those two being St. Nicolas and St. Roch. St. Nicolas is the most known name for this parish.
It may sound like a small thing if you know you have the right church, but since it has been difficult finding records, St. Roch may have been another church where the family records I needed were. That did not turn out to be the case but at least I finally solved that small puzzle.
On the 9th of August I was walking around Warsaw with my cousin from Brwinow and I came across the most popular State Archive in Warsaw. This archive holds the oldest records. I had no plans for any genealogy research there that day, but I had to take a photo.
I had been in this area of Warsaw twice before, but failed to recognize it as one of the State archive buildings.
I was looking for a new digital camera to take with me on my upcoming research / vacation trip to Poland for 2 months. I will be at repositories and churches and graveyards, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get a digital camera that has a Geo-tagging function. After shopping around I purchased the 16.2 MP Sony DSC-HX7V.
Being a previous Sony owner, it was relatively easy to maneuver through the menus. I was amazed at all the features... HD video, 3D photography (viewable on 3D TVs), Auto panorama photography, GPS & compass function & the list goes on. The unit is light and feels very sturdy, the back display is easy to see in the sunlight.
This camera is going to be the perfect match for a genealogist. I will be able to mark the latitude and longitude of those gravestones I find. Never again will I return from touring and wonder where I was when that photo was taken.
Mix this with Google maps tools and the world belongs to me!
Many of my genealogy colleagues have created their own blogs & I have found many of them interesting and informative. When I was young, if I ever told my mother that I did something just because my friends did, she would ask me "If your friends would jump off a bridge, would you?" So now this poses the question... Am I now jumping off the hypothetical bridge or jumping on the bandwagon?
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