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This is a follow-up to my earlier article at http://goo.gl/ll53g: Kimberly Silk has posted a blog article describing how Canadians can take action now to save and greatly improve Library & Archives Canada. You can read Kimberly's excellent article at http://goo.gl/KsuPw. Dick Eastman

The Who Do You Think You Are? Live! event is probably the largest family history gathering in the world. It typically attracts 12,000 to 15,000 attendees each year. It is always held at the Olympia Centre in London, England. Past conferences have typically been held on Friday through Sunday. However, the show's organizers have announced a change for the 2014 show: it will be held on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 20 to 22 February, 2014. The format of the 2014 will remain similar to past events: more than 150 free workshops, free services which can identify and date military memorabilia... Dick Eastman

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I received the following note from Steven C. Smyrl FIGRS, MAPGI, the Executive Liaison Officer for the Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations: The Irish government has announced that indexes to birth, death & marriage records which date from 1845 are soon to be made available through its genealogy portal www.irishgenealogy.ie. This is terrific news, announced in CIGO’s 21st year, the year in which it ‘comes of age’. Founded as the GRO Users Group, but soon after renamed the Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations, CIGO began life as a direct response to the 1992 government announcement that the General Register Office... Dick Eastman

Joanna Maria has published a list of what she believes are the six best FREE genealogy programs. I am not sure if I agree exactly with her list or not, but I will agree with five of the six. The remaining one she listed is a program I have not used so I don't yet have an opinion about that one. The title of "best" is open for discussion but her list is a great starting point for that discussion. You can read Joanna Maria's list of the 6 Best FREE Genealogy Software at http://goo.gl/HqeOC. Dick Eastman

NBC had a very successful series in "Who Do You Think You Are?" but canceled the television programs after three seasons. Producers Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky have since negotiated a deal with TLC Network (see my earlier articles by starting at http://goo.gl/zzidk) and now have announced the premiere date for a new season: July 23 at 9 PM Eastern, 8 PM Central. Ancestry.com will remain as the sponsor. TLC will air eight one-hour episodes in the new season. The celebrities featured this year include: Christina Applegate, Kelly Clarkson, Cindy Crawford, Chris O’Donnell and Zooey Deschan. You can read more... Dick Eastman

Is it time to stop the presses? It seems that every week I report in this newsletter about more and more genealogy books that are being converted to electronic format. Sure, old books have been digitized for several years now. However, even new books are now appearing as electronic publications. The Kindle, Nook, and other e-book readers are hot items these days. Now the world's first completely paperless public library is scheduled to open this summer in San Antonio, Texas. The so-called BiblioTech is a low-cost project with big ambitions. It will have 100 e-readers on loan, and dozens of... Dick Eastman

The following announcement was written by Genealogical.com: BALTIMORE, May 22, 2013 -- Between 1937 and 1938, the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Project Administration (WPA) conducted thousands of interviews with former African-American slaves. While historians have known about these oral histories for some time, few researchers have exploited the genealogical potential of these sources--until now! For the first time, the DVD series Generations, by Dr. James M. Rose, presents these ex-slave narratives with critical genealogical evidence pertaining to each interviewee. While varying from one ex-slave to another, Generations' genealogical content includes census record extracts, death certificates, probate records, plantation... Dick Eastman

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch: May 22, 2013 FamilySearch has added more than 2.25 million index records and images this week from Argentina, Austria, Italy, Paraguay, Portugal, Spain, and the United States. Notable collection updates include the 1,152,830 index records and images from the U.S., Illinois, County Marriages, 1810-1934 collection, and the 244,523 images from the Spain, Province of Valencia, Municipal Records, 1611-1935, collection. See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org. Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through... Dick Eastman

Black families with ancestors in Edgefield County, South Carolina, can now follow the lives of ancestors throughout the 19th century, thanks to a comprehensive collection of records from the Edgefield County Archives pertaining to the purchasing and selling of slaves. The award-winning work, Slave Records of Edgefield County, is Gloria Lucas’ legacy, according to close friends and associates. Lucas died at age 84 last month. The book, published by the Edgefield Historical Society, contains extractions from ledgers of estates, wills, inventories, appraisals, deed transfers, sheriff sales and other files that contain about 29,000 listings and more than 58,000 slave names.... Dick Eastman

A political scandal is brewing in Canada. The head of Library and Archives Canada (LAC), Daniel Caron, resigned after billing taxpayers nearly $4,500 for personal Spanish lessons. The scandal over his expenses followed controversy over a new code of conduct for employees instituted a few months ago by the same Daniel Caron. (You can read about that in my earlier article at http://goo.gl/aRUJS.) Caron's departure comes amongst numerous other claims of improper management at Library and Archives Canada. You can read more about Caron's departure under a cloud by starting at http://goo.gl/tDR5j. Lew Lockhart obviously wants to see increased funding... Dick Eastman

The following book review was written by Bobbi King: The Unofficial Family Archivist A Guide to Creating and Maintaining Family Papers, Photographs, and Memorabilia. by Melissa Mannon. 247 pages. The problem with being the unofficial family archivist is that eventually you become the official family archivist. When I started doing genealogy, Dear Myrtle on AOL Genealogy Forum was my beacon for organizing my papers. To this day, I follow her instructions for organizing all my notes. At least I got that much right. Now we have Family Archivist to start us out doing things right. It’s the beginner who will... Dick Eastman

Computer hardware keeps evolving and prices keep dropping. Of course, that's been true for decades and there appears to be no let-up of the rapid changes ahead. One newly-announced computer I am enthusiastic about is Dell's new "Project Ophelia" computer that will sell for about $100. The new "Project Ophelia" computer is expected to be released in July to developers who may want to write apps for Ophelia. In August, it will be available via cable companies or telecom providers that may want to offer it with cable packages or data plans. Shortly after, it will be available to consumers... Dick Eastman

Man is at his cruelest in times of war. This is illustrated by a video produced by the New York Times that displays still photos taken during the U.S. Civil War. You can view these historic photographs at http://nyti.ms/10v0FpL or click on the video player below. Dick Eastman

To all Plus Edition subscribers: The weekly Plus Edition weekly update notification was sent to your e-mail address a few hours ago. If you have not yet seen it in your in-box, check your spam folder. If it is not there, please contact your e-mail provider to see why it was blocked. This week's entire Plus Edition newsletter is ALWAYS available at: http://www.eogn.com/wp/thisweek.htm. Your email provider cannot block that address so the newsletter is always available to you. Here are the articles in this week's Plus Edition newsletter: (+) Hands On with the $169.99 HP Slate 7 Tablet FamilySearch Adds... Dick Eastman

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. I own one of the original Apple iPad handheld computers. While I like the device, I realize that newer handheld computers have more features, high-resolution cameras, more memory for data storage, and numerous other advantages that my aging device does not possess. In addition, I have realized the iPad's almost 10-inch screen makes it too bulky to carry with me all the time. As a result, the iPad often sits on the desk at home when I really would like to be using it when I... Dick Eastman

The Godfrey Memorial Library continues to expand its searchable Scholar+ online database weekly. The database now contains listings from 770 cemeteries in Connecticut and includes: A photograph of every tombstone in each cemetery Vital information from each tombstone is transcribed Information from missing tombstones is added from the Hale Collection Godfrey Scholar subscribers can search for people by name or browse all the names in a particular cemetery at http://www.godfrey.org/scholar/login.html. Once logged in, anyone who participates in the Godfrey Scholar program can search and then click on the name to view a photo of the persons' tombstone. Information about the... Dick Eastman

Writing in the Mocavo Blog, Michael Leclerc has some interesting observations about genetic sequencing on someone’s DNA without their consent. One law professor suggests that such action should be classified as felony theft. Such action obviously could impact genealogists, not to mention law enforcement and others. I would guess it could also change the plots of all sorts of television programs. There are two key phrases here: "without their consent" and "one law professor suggests." Most genealogists do obtain permission in advance before purchasing DNA tests on their relatives' DNA and a suggestion from one law professor is a long... Dick Eastman

The Tucker Family Cemetery in Hampton, Virginia, is a wooded plot surrounded by low-slung brick homes built in the 1950s. Accessible by narrow strip of grass along Sharon Court, the property is widely believed to be the site where the first black baby born in English North America in 1619 is now interred. Even though William Tucker's grave is not marked, visitors to the cemetery are greeted with a granite marker that reads "Tucker's Cemetery, First Black Family, 1619." View Larger Map The cemetery's last owner of record abandoned the property years ago. Mayor Molly Joseph Ward, who hopes to... Dick Eastman

The genealogy community lost a good friend a few days ago. The following was written by Craig Scott and is republished here with his permission: "In different hours, a man represents each of several of his ancestors, as if there were seven or eight of us rolled up in each man's skin—seven or eight ancestors at least, and they constitute the variety of notes for that new piece of music which his life is."—Ralph Waldo Emerson That was the favorite genealogical quote of our good friend, Carolyn L. Barkley, unexpectedly lost to our genealogical family on Sunday, 12 May 2013.... Dick Eastman