Illinois State Genealogical Society Blog

Ann Wells will present “Understanding GENUKI” at the Saturday, July 16, 2011 meeting of the British Interest Group of Wisconsin & Illinois (BIGWILL) from 10:00 am until 12:00 pm at the Community Church, 5714 Broadway, Richmond, IL. GENUKI is a virtual online reference library of genealogical information for the United Kingdom and Ireland, provided by volunteers in cooperation with several family history societies. GENUKI group has developed over 88,000 text pages (2.5 Gbytes of text) of primarily historical material for genealogists, such as parish registers, census transcripts, details of archives and their holdings, and much more. GENUKI is designed to act as a repository of the most useful information about British and Irish genealogy, and to provide links to other sites of relevance. This makes it a combination of a genealogy handbook and web directory. Ann Wells is a professional genealogist with 30 years experience and owner of Wells Research Associates, a professional g

Don't Miss Out - FGS 2011 Early Bird Registration Ends July 1st! Save up to $50 on registration! The Federation of Genealogical Societies invites you to the FGS/ISGS 2011 Conference for the Nation's Genealogists. Our local host, the Illinois State Genealogical Society, joins FGS in welcoming you to historic Springfield as we celebrate "Pathways to the Heartland." And if you register by Friday, July 1st you'll save up to $50 on the registration fees. Click here ( http://fgs.org/2011conference/registration/ ) to register - don't delay! Remember, the early bird gets the worm and saves money too! Why should you make plans to be at FGS 2011? Take a peek at what we have in store for this year's FGS conference: Program More than 150 educational presentations with well-known speakers from all over the U.S. Check out the conference program at http://fgs.org/2011conference/program/. Lectures that appeal to beginning, intermediate and experienced genealog

"There is no 'I' in Team, but we sure are glad there is a 'U' in our Volunteers!"                                                                                                                 --Unknown Volunteering is an opportunity to be "on the inside" of what's happening at the FGS 2011 Conference.  Do it once and you will want to do it again and again.  Take the experience back to your local society and describe the feeling you had of making a difference in the success of the conference.  Volunteers who register for the full conference at the early rate (by July 1st) are eligible to receive a reimbursed portion of the registration fee based on the following schedule:      8 hours = 25%      12 hours = 40%      16 hours = 65% Volunteer slots need to be filled from Tuesday, September 6 th to Saturday, September 10 th . There are many opportunities available in areas such as registration, hospitality, room monitoring, and technology tro

Our Surname Database has only been active a few months and already we have over 150 surnames collected! This database was created to allow people to connect with others who are researching the same surname in a particular area and/or time period.  Anyone can search the database and connect with the person who made the submission.  The submitter’s email address is kept private and the inquiry is sent securely through the ISGS website.  It is up to the submitter to respond to the inquiry and exchange contact information if desired. To learn more about how the database works, including how to conduct a search, refer to our Surname Research Help guide, found under the Surname Research menu in the left-hand menu bar. Only ISGS members may submit surnames to the database as one of our many membership benefits.  Members are encouraged to submit surnames to the database.  Simply complete the Surname Form for each surname you would like to submit.  Submissions will be entered into the Sur

We’re looking for feedback regarding two of our projects: Prairie Pioneer Certificates and Military Certificates .  Members and non-members are welcome to participate and we’d really like to hear from you. The questionnaire is five questions and should only take a few minutes to complete.  Please click here to complete the questionnaire.  Thanks for taking a few minutes to help us out, your feedback is truly appreciated.

A fact-filled, helpful guide to the upcoming FGS 2011 Conference - Pathways to the Hearland - is now available! Click here to access the Insider's Guide to FGS 2011 (opens in PDF - Adobe Reader required). © 2011, copyright Illinois State Genealogical Society

Did you know there are volunteer opportunities during the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) 2011 Conference? Volunteers at conferences help to make the event a real success. These wonderful people assist with registration, room monitoring, technology, and other areas of the conference making it an enjoyable experience for everyone attending. Volunteering is a great way to meet new people, network, and give something back to the genealogical community. And, to show their appreciation, FGS offers a reimbursement for a portion of your registration fee if you register at the early rate for the entire 2011 conference. Volunteer slots need to be filled from Tuesday, September 6th to Saturday, September 10th. All of the details, including the reimbursement schedule and a list of opportunities, are available on the FGS 2011 Conference website at www.fgs.org/2011conference/activities/volunteer.php . To volunteer, simply complete the form and someone will contact you to discuss potentia

Help Find Illinois Genealogy Resources and Win Prizes! June 1, 2011 – Springfield, IL . The Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) announces The Great Illinois Genealogy Scavenger Hunt , June 1 – June 30, 2011 and invites all family historians to participate in this unique community effort. ISGS, in partnership with FamilySearch , is hosting a virtual, online scavenger hunt and asks the public to submit their favorite Illinois genealogy resources to be included in the FamilySearch Research Wiki ( http://wiki.familysearch.org ). Described as “free family history research advice for the community, by the community,” the research wiki contains a page for each of the 102 Illinois counties as well as many other subject matters related to genealogy. Find Illinois Genealogy Resources and Win Prizes! Between now and June 30, 2011, the public is invited to locate information on Illinois genealogy-related resources and tell us why a resource is worthy of inclusion in the FamilySearch Res