Links, 7.25.11

Hope everyone made it through the heat wave that sat on so much of the U.S. last week (what rudeness!). Hereabouts, we discovered a renewed fondness for the Italian ice (supermarket version), although I could have done with the more authentic city versions too, which I remember as highlights from childhood  trips to Brooklyn.

Successful conferencing: Congrats to Fort Wayne (and the merged talents of the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center, the Allen County Genealogy Society and Ancestry.com) on the success of  the first-time Ancestry Day conference. The linked article also touts the conference’s role in generating publicity for the city’s downtown restaurants and businesses.

Old New York: The New York Times had an interesting profile of Andrew Van Dusen, real estate broker, genealogy hound and descendant of some of Manhattan’s first settlers. There’s a nice little research twist at the end, too.

Sharing is caring: Tonia at Tonia’s Roots reviews a webinar on Sharing Genealogy Electronically, finding it intriguing and informative.

Remote possibilities: I read a little too fast the other day and thought Dick Eastman had penned something called What’s Happening with Family Search? A Lesson for All of Us. I cringed — was scandal ahead? I’d have saved myself the worry had I really read the first part of the headline — Carol Smith’s Remote Presentation. Lots of good points on how easily available technology can bring expert appearances to local genealogy societies at a fraction of the cost of a traditional speaker engagement.

Tree talk: Apropos of my bullet-pointed glance at the New York Times‘ fretting about 21st-century family research, I notice a post from gay parent and genealogy enthusiast Veronica Rhodes on Creating a Modern Family Tree.

Mapping it: In case you missed this, as I did: The US Geological Survey is releasing a trove of historic topographical maps of the U.S. from 1884-2006. (h/t Leland Meitzler.)

Enjoy the week, which hopefully will be short on sweltering.

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