P is for Profile Page Posted 19 April 2017 by Peggy ChapmanWhen did you last update your one-name study profile page? Does it still contain the same information that you provided when you registered the study? Or even more dismaying, did you completely overlook creating one in the first place? April is the month of spring and renewal: a perfect time to refresh (or create) your profile to match the progress of your study. Despite many of us having websites that serve as the focal point to the study, there are many reasons why an informative profile page is advantageous: in doing a google search on my own study using the very broad search of “Messervey surname”, the Guild profile page was fourth in returned hits. As well, anyone searching the surname on the Guild website will go directly to the profile page. I also find it a way to assess progress: checking the profile page once or twice a year helps to keep focused. If you do have a website, the profile page gives the reader the URL; Facebook groups and contact information for a DNA study is also listed here. Have I convinced you? Why not try a few surnames in the search box on the home page to get an idea of what other members are doing. You will find some with lots of work to do; others have enough information for readers to know the goals of the study, what stage it is, whether there is a DNA project attached, and more. Some members have extensive profile pages that leave no stone unturned! The next step is to find your profile page and do the updates. I don’t need to give you all the information here because the very helpful website team has provided an excellent tool entitled “Managing your One-Name Study profile page”. This is all you need to complete and update your profile: once logged in, you can find this information under the Studies tab on the home page. See the screen shot below. Just click on Profile Page Help and get started.
O is for Other Surnames of Interest Posted 18 April 2017 by Peggy ChapmanDo you have an interest in surnames in addition to the one you registered as your one-name study? Did you know that through your Guild membership, you can register an interest in Other Surnames? Why do this when you perhaps have no intent to ever do a one-name study on that “other” name? It is about making connections: others searching the surname can find you and you can exchange information. In the surname search on the Guild home page, the “other surname” category returns a result that identifies it as not a registered study, but an interest for a member and a contact. This has the benefit of perhaps advancing your personal family history and for some, might eventually mean making the decision to register a second study. There are a couple of caveats: first, if the surname is a registered study by another member, it is not available for “Other Surnames”; second, if at some point in the future a member does register the name, it can no longer be included as an interest. Where do you find this member benefit? It is easily accessed through the member options on the home page (you must be logged in): See the screen shot below. Once you click on “Other Surname Interests”, a simple online registration appears where you can, if you prefer, restrict your interest geographically or by years. The second screen shot below shows the submission form. Only 231 members have taken advantage of this option to date, although they have registered multiple surnames. It is perhaps not a well-known feature, so become part of “those in the know” and register a surname or two!
N is for News Posted 17 April 2017 by Tessa KeoughThe Guild has so much going on, whether that is in person (seminars, conferences, committee and regional meetings) or online (websites, social media, journals, indexes). How is a Guild member to keep up? Why not check out the News where we share all kinds of news with our members and the genealogy public. At the Guild Website simply select News at the drop down menu and then focus on the type of news you are interested in, including General News – all this month using the A to Z Challenge, we are posting an article highlighting a service or benefit found here at our Guild Website. We show you where to find it, how it works, and encourage you to take advantage of it. The rest of year, we post general news of interest to our membership. Regional News – if you want to get information about the various Guild regions or contact information for your regional representative, check out the regional news. When a regional representative publishes a newsletter or email bulletin you should be able to find it here. A shout out to Guild members Ken and Jean Toll who publish regular newsletters that are quite informative! Committee News – want to find out about the agenda or documentation for a committee meeting? Select the Committee News tab and previous meeting information is available for your reading pleasure. Chairman’s Newsletter – although the Chairman’s Newsletter is pushed via email to all members, perhaps you have missed one (check to make sure your email provider hasn’t put it in the spam folder). This is the place to find all previous Chairman’s Newsletters. Media Releases – when the Guild shares publicity items, shares news with the genealogy community, and/or is featured in the news, you should be able to find it here in Media Releases. If you have something for a media release, contact Guild Member Cliff Kemball, our publicity manager. Features – leave it to our webmaster Kim Baldacchino to provide Guild members with a quick and easy way to focus on 6 of the top features at our Website and make them accessible with a simple click. Right now 3 of the features are the Guild Wiki, DNA Kits, and Guild Seminars. If you are wondering what the other 3 features are, why not visit the Features page found at News. Between our social media and the News here at the Website, Guild members should always know what the Guild is up to – you can read all about it! where to find all the news features – an easy way to find some of the freshest news
M is for Members’ Websites Project Posted 15 April 2017 by Tessa KeoughWe spend so much time on our one-name studies – doing the research, gathering records and data, reconstructing families, searching for DNA connections – that we become experts about our surname as it has traveled through time and space. Have you shared that expertise with others? Have you published and preserved your work? I have a Profile at the Guild Website, I occasionally blog about my one-name study, and I maintain my research on my laptop with a backup on an external hard drive. But I had not taken that leap yet of publishing any of my work online because setting up and maintaining a website is just a bit too difficult. Thanks to the efforts of some of our fellow Guild members a little over a year ago, it just got easier! The Members’ Websites Project (MWP) was designed “to provide a safe haven for members’ one-name study websites.” If a member has registered a surname, it is a simple matter of uploading a website and the Guild will maintain it. These are not static websites as you can continue to add research data, trees, images, histories, your working hypotheses and conclusions – you control the substance of the website. Once part of the Members’ Websites Project, your material can be viewed on a worldwide basis and is available to genealogists, family historians, and those who might find it by googling a shared surname. There are three types of websites – free-standing HTML websites, websites using Content Management Systems like WordPress and Media Wiki, and websites where genealogy data is imported from GEDCOM files and stored in a common database using The Next Generation genealogy software (TNG). If you want to learn more, simply select Resources on the drop down menu at the Guild Website and then select Members’ Websites (see image below). Several examples of members’ websites are shown at the Members’ Websites Project page. This is a great way to publish and preserve all your research and share your one-name study with the world. Take advantage of the Members’ Websites Forum to ask any questions and get assistance from the coordinators of this terrific Guild resource. I am just getting started with my Keough one-name study website using TNG – but for the small dollar investment (I purchased a licensed copy of TNG) the Guild will provide the server and be my IT administrator – it doesn’t get better than that. So what are you waiting for? The Members’ Websites Project provides all members with another way to publish and preserve our one-name studies! be sure to visit the members website check out the instructions at the left-hand side of the Members’ Website page