What is Digital Archiving?

Is "Digital Archiving" becoming the big buzz phrase for genealogical societies, libraries and other organizations?  It is with TSGS and many other organizations everywhere!  Our genealogical society has been talking about this subject for several years now, but have not done much more than say we need to talk about it.

Our society is very fortunate to have an experienced, knowledgeable person in the computer/electronic/media field who works with data storage.  University of Southern Indiana Retired Professor Larry Goss has been trying to get us more into the electronic age.  Larry has been digitally archiving past issues of our members quarterly journal, The Tri-State Packet, for several years now.  He is wanting the society to consider other alternatives to archiving these quarterlies.

It is amazing how many other groups are going to digital newsletters and quarterlies.  But, actually, it should not be all that amazing since going digital will reduce storage space and costs.  With all of the personal media electronic devices like smart phones, Kindles, Ipads, etc.  Digital data is the way everything will be available and at our fingertips in seconds.  A 20-yr-old is working with me.  He has this cool app on his Droid that when placed near the speaker of the truck radio, it will tell him all about a song that is playing: name, artist, album, recording date and more!  He can type in a tree or insect name and in a second have a photo of it and just everything you could ever want to know about an Elm tree or a June Bug!

This very morning, Dick Eastman has on his blog Eastman's Online Genealogical Newsletter (EOGN) a good article on going paperless with digital archiving.  He has a link to another very good article that both are very good for us less knowledgeable and possibly a little to a lot electronically challenged.  I suggest everyone should read both of these short articles to reduce storage of paper and make retrieval so much easier & faster.  Here are the links to the two articles:

http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2012/09/digital-scanning-system-replaces-paper-frees-up-space.html

http://digitalrv.rvtravel.com/2012/09/digital-scanning-system-vamooses-paper.html

Let us know what you think about "Digital Archiving."

- Written by JGWest

"Historic Evansville Newspaper Online!"

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The Evansville Argus...
... an excellent local African-American newspaper that was published for about 5-6 years from 1938 to 1943. It is a very interesting paper that should be of great help to historians & genealogists. It can be found on the David Rice Library at the University of Southern Indiana.

My good friend, Taneya Koonce, sent me a "heads-up" on this new data online. She has a great blog that she calls - "Taneya's Genealogy Blog" that you can visit to learn more about this great news. I met with Taneya a couple years ago at Willard Library. She is a medical librarian with 1 0+ years in information management & organization. She holds a Masters of Science in Library Science – University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC – 1999 and a Masters of Public Health – Vanderbilt University School of Medicine – 2010. Taneya applies her professional experience in the identification, selection, evaluation, & critical analysis of information resources to her genealogy hobby pursuits. Her own quest in family history research started in 2006 after rediscovering family tree notes taken during interviews with her grandmothers approximately 10 years earlier. Already an active volunteer with the national USGenWeb Project and dedicated to helping others locate additional information to enrich their own family history knowledge, she is also an active blogger and participant in the Internet genealogy community. Her particular interests lie heavily in technology and historical newspaper research. Taneya has contributed a lot of great blogs & information to the TSGS Cruiser Blog! Thanks, Taneya!

- Compiled by JGWest

From the FIRST MATE's PHOTO ALBUM...

University of Evansville...

gardens & grounds

Yesterday, while driving along Lincoln Avenue east toward Weinbach Avenue, I glanced over at U of E where I attended part of my college years over forty years ago. The grounds were so pretty in front of the Administration Building that I was compelled to come back later with my camera to take a few photos. It was a beautiful day and the garden & grounds made it even better. I guess that the gardens have been enhanced over the last few years or I just simply did not notice before. I came to the, then, Evansville College in 1965 after graduating from Boonville High School. What an exciting time in my life! I was the first in my immediate family to go to college; however, my mother's first cousin, Betty Wood, attended Evansville College graduating with honors in 1950. I think it was 1967 when they changed the status of the college to a university, while I was a student there - that was very exciting, too. We were required to take Air Force ROTC for two years and assembled on a regular basis in the more spacious plaza in front of the Admin. Bldg. - it was not the garden it is today. Right behind or actually the other side of the stone sign is a small platform or stage that was used for various events. I remember attending an event there when Eugene McCarthy spoke from this platform to the U of E students in is bid for the U.S. Presidency.

Another view of Admin. Bldg. with the flag poles and circular garden. The grandeur of the building coupled with the trees, flags, flowers & grassy plaza makes for a very pleasant scene.

I do not know when the University added the cobble stoned walkways, but it really enhances the whole garden & grounds. There are a lot of changes at U of E over just the last few years... several new buildings and expansions of existing buildings. I ended up graduating after four years in the U.S. Air Force from Indiana State University - Evansville (ISUE) [they changed their name, too - University of Southern Indiana]. USI has a great campus with beautiful grounds, as well; however, there is something extra special about U of E that will remain in my heart forever!

- Photos taken & submitted by JGWest