Illinois State Genealogical Society Blog

Regency Conference Center, O’Fallon, Illinois The Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) announces its 2014 Fall conference to be held on October 24 and 25 in O’Fallon, Illinois, at the Regency Conference Center. Illinois: Land of Opportunity as this year’s theme. Our featured speaker is J. Mark Lowe along with other nationally known speakers. Besides attending genealogy focused lectures and social events, conference goers can visit the O’Fallon/St. Louis area which offers a variety of venues for historical sightseeing. Conference details will be available at the ISGS website at http://www.ilgensoc.org . For room reservations, contact the Hilton Garden Suites at (636) 625-2700 or visit Hilton Garden Inn - O'Fallon (mention the ISGS conference to secure the group rate). Hilton Garden Inn St. Louis/O'Fallon, 2310 Technology Dr., O'Fallon, IL Questions about the ISGS 2014 Fall Conference can be emailed to the Conference Chair, at isgspublications@ilgensoc.org .

Join us on Tuesday, July 8 , at 8:00 PM Central, where Patricia Walls Stamm will present Newspaper Research - More Than Obituaries . To attend this webinar, register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4215015562064657921 . Last week's webinar, Plotting, Scheming, and Mapping Online , presented by Cyndi Ingle, is now available to ISGS members in the Members Section of the ISGS website ( http://ilgensoc.org/members.php ). Upcoming Webinars July 8 – Newspaper Research—More Than Obituaries Presenter: Patricia Walls Stamm, CG, CGL Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4215015562064657921 August 12 – Land Records in Illinois Presenter: Michael John Neill Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7772534911757198337 September 9 – Treasures and Hidden Secrets of the Illinois Regional Archives (IRAD) Presenter: Luana Darby, MLIS Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1778023905401548033 For the complete list

The Montgomery County Genealogical Society is proud to offer you our new history and families book at the pre-publication price. This book will go to the publisher in the fall and the pre-publication price is good until that time. The final deadline for stories is June 15 and the deadline for the feature pages is June 30. Our approximate delivery date is February 2015. If you have any questions, please email the book committee at montgomerycofamilybook@mcgsil.com or call Deanna Reeves at 217-324-2425 or Carol Berry at 217-556-6777. Montgomery County Genealogical Society POBox 212, Litchfield, IL 62056-0212 www.mcgsil.com email: info@mcgsil.com

The Illinois State Genealogical Society is looking for a new Education Committee chairman to start ASAP. The ideal person should have a passion for helping genealogists and family historians learn new things to make their research journey more exciting and successful. While the committee does a variety of things, the immediate concern is taking over the webinar program for the remaining 2014 schedule and working to build the 2015 schedule. Managing the webinars requires about two hours per month (this includes the one hour for hosting the actual webinar). We would also like to see the committee grow. In addition to the webinars, this committee either writes or solicits articles of an educational nature for the ISGS blog. There are other projects the committee would like to implement down the road including educational presentations/videos focusing on various Illinois research facilities. We have a list of ideas that perhaps a new chair and their committee members would like to take

Nominations are currently being accepted for the ISGS Honors and Awards for 2014. These awards will be presented at the ISGS Fall Conference in October. Now is the time to tell us why you feel someone should be recognized for commitment and service to genealogy. We have received one nomination so far. You can nominate a volunteer, student, researcher, governmental or business leader, even an organization dedicated to recordkeeping and education. Please visit the Honors and Awards page on the ISGS website under “About ISGS” or at http://www.ilgensoc.org/cpage.php?pt=48 to learn more and to download the nomination form. To submit a nomination, please contact chair Linda Wallin at: isgsawards@ilgensoc.org. Your assistance is valuable to help us discover worthy candidates for the awards. The deadline for nominations is July 1 .

Maps are a tremendous resource for genealogists. Join us on June 10, for Plotting, Scheming, and Mapping Online , where Cyndi Ingle will discuss how to locate maps as well as how to use them as tools in your research. Date : Tuesday, June 10, 2014, 8:00 pm Central Description : The Internet is a source for a variety of maps and geographical tools that will help you in your research. From new maps and atlases with online driving directions to old gazetteers with county lines and ancient place names, the Internet has them all. We'll explore those resources, ideas for using them, and integrating them into your research routine. Presenter : Cyndi Ingle [Cyndi Ingle is the creator of the popular website CyndisList.com, a categorized index to more than 327,000 online resources. Cyndi, a genealogist for more than 33 years, is a past-member of the board of directors for the National Genealogical Society. Cyndi is an internationally-known speaker. She has lectured for FGS, NGS, the Salt La