From the announcement:

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is pleased to announce the launch of a new online database, Second World War Service Files: Canadian Armed Forces War Dead.

Through this online database, researchers can access references to the service files in the Department of National Defence Fonds (RG 24) for the members of the Canadian Armed Forces who lost their lives during this conflict. Over 1,159,000 men and women served in the Canadian Armed Forces during the Second World War (1939-1945) and 44,093 people lost their lives. The database is available at: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/war-dead/index-e.html

New Genealogy Program Started By Feds

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service are making it easier to find your family’s immigration history. The agency started a new Genealogy program to streamline the process of finding information.

USCIS has records dating back to the late 1800’s documenting the arrival and naturalization of millions of immigrants. The agency also has records of those people who were naturalized citizens between 1906 and 1956.

The new program replaces a Freedom of Information Act process that was required to get the information. USCIS reported receiving over 40,000 requests for historical records in the last four years.

There will be a charge to use the program of 20 dollars. If you need a copy of a file on microfilm it will add 20 dollars to the fee, and if you need a copy of text file, that’ll tack on another $35.

+ USCIS Genealogy Program

Source: cbs4.com

From the announcement:

For the first time you can now search and download the medal index cards of more than 20,000 soldiers who served in the Indian Army during World War One. The cards record the soldiers who were entitled to, or made a claim for, campaign medals - in particular the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

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For the first time you can now search and download service records of officers who served in the Royal Navy. These records were kept by the Admiralty from the 1840s and record service for warrant officers joining the Royal Navy up to 1931 and commissioned officers joining the service up to 1917.

Source: National Archives, United Kingdom

The latest issue of the Wise Guide to the Library of Congress Web site features fascinating facts on the public markets, the Library’s Local History and Genealogy Reading Room, tourism industry guides and much more.

Direct to Wise Guide

Source: Library of Congress

From the article:

The [NYPL] library’s extensive genealogical collection has just been enormously enhanced by the gift of 75,000 volumes, 30,000 manuscripts and 22,000 reels of microfilm from the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society.

Faced with a dwindling endowment, the members-only G & B, as it is known, sold its four-story building on East 58th Street in Midtown Manhattan last year for $24 million. It bought an office condominium in Midtown where it will now focus on grant-giving, tours, lectures and other means of encouraging genealogical research. One of the first grants was about $1 million to the library for a four-person staff to process and catalog the G & B collection within two years.

Source: NY Times

Read all about what’s new with the Archival Records Catalog.

Source: NARA

Genealogy Resources, by State
From USA.gov RSS feed:

Check out USA.gov’s new genealogy page. You’ll find links to state archives, libraries, or other places to begin researching your family tree.

From the announcement:

The National Archives officially launches its new reading rooms following a £4 million transformation to accommodate its family records service, setting a new standard for archives in a digital age.

Now The National Archives brings together all of its family history and historical assets into a one-stop-shop of online resources, with practical face-to-face support to help researchers make the most of the wealth of information available.

Source: National Archives (UK)

+ Version 72, Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography Now Available

+ IST Researcher Examines Search Engine Branding
This research is being funded by Google.

+ A First Taxonomy of Search Log Junk (via SearchTools.com)

+ Hakia Beta Update

+ Search U.S. forces deaths

More than 4,500 men and women with U.S. forces have died in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

+ Online database shows Britain-Australia links (AFP)

Details of millions of Britons who travelled to Australia in the late 19th and early 20th century in search of economic success were released online Wednesday as part of a social history collection. Website Ancestry.co.uk has compiled the names of 8.9 million so-called “free settlers”, or economic migrants to Australia, including around 2.2 million British free settlers.

+ California: Prescription drug database to go online (AP)

New Genealogy Database from Library and Archives Canada: Immigrants from China

The Government of Canada created documents specifically for new arrivals from China. This research tool provides access to 98,361 references to Chinese immigrants who arrived in Canada between 1885 and 1949.

The General Registers of Chinese Immigration were indexed by the Department of History at the University of British Columbia (www.ubc.ca/). This index is intended for personal genealogical use only.

Source: Library and Archives Canada

From Wired Campus:

Voices and images from the civil-rights movement are now on the Web at the Civil Rights Digital Library, created by the University of Georgia.

The library features 30 hours of historical news footage showing such events as the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., and Martin Luther King Jr. accepting the Nobel Peace Prize.

From the announcement:

Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein and Tim Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of The Generations Network, parent company of Ancestry.com, today signed and announced a five-year agreement to digitize selected records from the vast holdings of the National Archives. The Generations Network’s Ancestry.com web site currently has the largest online collection of digitized and indexed National Archives content, including the complete U.S. Federal Census Collection, 1790-1930, passenger lists from 1820-1960 and WWI and WWII draft registration cards.

Source: NARA

From an informational web page:

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) collects and preserves Canada’s documentary heritage, and makes it accessible to all Canadians. This heritage includes publications, archival records, sound and audiovisual materials, photographs, artworks, and electronic documents such as websites. As part of its mandate, LAC works closely with other archives and libraries to acquire and share these materials as widely as possible.

LAC is committed to making as much of its collection as possible available online. LAC has determined that genealogical records are a priority.

The Generations Network (TGN) is an American company based in Provo Utah, which specializes in the production of genealogical information for its subscribers. It is an expert in watermarking, digitization and indexing records related to genealogical information and skilled at displaying this information online through its various websites, including ancestry.ca, rootsweb.com, genealogy.com.

Estimated Cost:
This is a non-monetary project, both parties contributing expertise, knowledge and resources towards a shared and common objective. Both LAC and TGN are responsible for costs associated with their portions of the project.

Source: LAC

Search War Diaries online

From the site:

Wouldn’t it be fascinating to discover what your First World War ancestor’s army unit actually did? War Diaries are official daily accounts kept by individual units. They give reports on operations, intelligence summaries and other material. They can help you piece together your ancestor’s life in the army in the First World War.

Search the diaries at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/war-diaries.asp - Searching is free and you only pay for downloads.

Source: National Archives, UK