PLEASE NOTE: This event has been rescheduled from its original date of Feb. 3. It will now be held on Saturday, Feb. 24. The text of the article below has been updated to reflect this schedule change.
WINDHAM COUNTY, Vt. – On Saturday, Feb. 24, from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., the Windham County Genealogy Interest Group (WCGIG) will present two topics: “Using Artificial Intelligence in Genealogy,” and “Using the David Rumsey Map Collection for Genealogy,” over Zoom only. Please register at www.bit.ly/WCGIGFEB2024. A Zoom link will be sent before the meeting. Pose any questions you have when you register.
Wayne Blanchard, cofounder of Windham County Genealogy Interest Group and genealogy volunteer at Rockingham Library, will give us his insights into artificial intelligence (AI) and its current and future use in genealogy. Artificial intelligence is expanding into all sorts of areas, and genealogy is no exception. Although it can’t replace the human genealogist, some of the new tools can be very helpful. AI is used in colorizing black and white photos, translating records into another language, transcribing and indexing records or newspaper articles, extracting and summarizing information from a document, and creating a genealogical sketch of an ancestor. Companies such as Ancestry and My Heritage are beginning to incorporate AI in their websites to support users in their family research. Wayne Blanchard has been experimenting with some of these tools, and he will share what he has learned.
Jerry Carbone of Whetstone Brook Genealogy will discuss the massive map collection, using the David Rumsey Map Collection for genealogy. The David Rumsey Map Collection at Stanford University began in 1966, and contains more than 200,000 maps, 128,000 of which are online. The collection focuses on rare maps from the 1550s through the present day. The collection’s scope is worldwide, but is very strong on various maps of the United States. The collection includes atlases, globes, wall maps, school geographies, pocket maps, books of exploration, maritime charts, and a variety of cartographic materials including pocket, wall, children’s, and manuscript maps. Maps of importance for genealogical use are property, insurance, railroad, military, and topographic maps. The presentation will focus on how to find the maps and use the various tools that are part of the collection.
The Windham County Genealogy Interest Group is an informal organization whose members are dedicated to genealogy education, research, and best practices. Meetings are held every other month on Zoom. Many of these sessions were recorded and are available on the WCGIG YouTube Channel at www.bit.ly/WCGIGVIDEO. They cover topics such as improving your search results in www.familysearch.org and www.ancestry.com; using family tree software; navigating the crowd sourced cemetery database Find A Grave; using land records for genealogy research; using www.americanancestors.org, the database of the New England Historical Genealogical Society; and finding people in the newly released 1950 U.S. Census.
WCGIG is also supported by Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro, Vt., and Rockingham Free Library in Bellows Falls, Vt., with use of their Zoom accounts, publicity, and use of their facilities.
Feel free to contact Jerry Carbone and Wayne Blanchard at windhamcountygig@gmail.com.