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Show Cl EDITOR: RANA LEHR 344-25- THE DAILY HERALD ASH ANCESTRY y jr 1 SATURDAY, JULY 24, 19N Juliana S. Smith Millennium brings greater interest in earching ancestry As we move towards the lillennium, more and more people Ire becoming interested in their pasts. They couldn't have picked a ii Ready to roll: Victor Yost, I letter time. 57, and his dog, Zara, live in his recreational vehicle in Newport Beach, Calif. With the recent explosion of data In the Internet, the information need- d to trace a person's ancestry is Increasingly accessible. Ancestry.com Is proud to be a major participant in his "data explosion." In 1999 alone, we have added excit- ng new collections, giving Ancestry access to over 274 million fiembers over 1600 databases. A evised home page and recent nhancements to the Global Search featured at Ancestry make it possible o find information quickly and easily. Below are some of the landmark ollections that Ancestry.com has dded since the beginning of the year. AMERICAN Genealogical- Biographical Index (AGBI), (vww.ancestry.comagbi.htm. In January, Ancestry.com acquired xclusive access to the Godfrey Memorial Library's index of millions f names from genealogies, family his- bries and other genealogical sources. he database covers the equivalent of ver 200 printed volumes and has hade this incredible collection avail- ble to all Ancestry.com members. AIS Census Indexes, www.ances- - ry.comcensusmain.asp. In March, the addition of the AIS ensus Indexes (more than 600 new latabases) enabled Ancestry.com mem-fcr- s to make major breakthroughs in fceir research. By placing an ancestor a particular location, these census dexes open up new avenues and sources for further research. Civil War, ww.ancestry.comancestrysearchcw ticwrd index.htm. Also in June, Ancestry added a tage Civil War database. The project las digitized, indexed and interlinked he roster records of 2,100,000 Bol ters (out of approx. 4,000,000 who brved), 2,719 regimental chronicles, 010 officer profiles, 3,343 battle syn- pses and 1,012 soldier photographs. OTHER ADDITIONS over the ast seven months include 500,000 linnesota Naturalization Records, 00,000 Records from Berks County, 'ennsylvania, quarterly updates of he Social Security Death Index (the post current version available), anadian telephone listings (adding b the U.S. listings), an extensive of Irish records (added July 2) and much more. Look for more xciting additions to the Ancestry eol ations in the near future.From 'olumbus' 1492 landing in the Caribbean to the historic lunar of 1969, the quest to be a pioneer as been an indelible part of the uman experience. In honor of those 'ho broke new ground, pioneered a )reign land or took the first tentative teps into a new life in America and round the world, Ancestry.com is ffering access to its pioneer-relateatabases, free of charge between uly 22 and 27. A listing of these atabases is available at: www.ances- ry.comdailynewspioneer.htm. Like many Americans, he plans on touring the country with his wife when she retires. MICHAEL KITADARnighi Ridder Newspaper a Today's home or means of escape full-tim- e than $500,000 are the hottest luxury items in the By ANDRE MOUCHARD The Orange County Register country. IRVINE, Calif. Americans spent $8.4 billion last year on recreational vehicles, up 22 percent from 1997. While the boom is expected to slow, the RV industry is predicting growth through at least 2004. Consider this: Americans last year spent more on RVs than on swimming pools, fur Michael Sebastian, recreational vehi- cle seller, is spilling trade secrets. He's talking about something he calls the "barrier of resistance" and he's using his hands to draw lines in the air and, at one point, he invokes the name of sales superguru Zig Zigler. coats and yachts gotta get the customer to imagine," Sebastian FEW CONSUMER products can change a person's life like an RV. Buy one and you're committed to the road, to the outdoors, to honking and parking and dealing with something says. "You've got to help him create a mental image of what he's going to do in one of these things ... sort of a mind picture of the fun they're going to have. "Because when you get down to it," Sebastian adds, smiling, "the fun, the lifestyle ... that's what we're really selling, not just a politely known as "black water" (i.e., the family sewage) on every trip. You're also committed to . nothing. No schedule. No reservations. motorcoach." Sebastian then paints a stream of mental pictures that include, in no particular order of appeal, washing a trout in your very own outdoor shower; sitting around an RV park with your new, friends; and experiencing marital bliss in the afternoon in the back of d com- bined. "You've Home on the roadi Recreational vehicles can bring in all the comforts of home with features e sucn as a snuwer. me nv muusuy is uooming as more peupie nil uie roaus io lour America. run-siz- A your RV. DESPITE WHAT your gut might tell you about people who sell motorized cles, Sebastian, president of Saddleback RV in Irvine, Calif., isn't into the hard sell. He doesn't lie. He doesn't cajole. He does, at times, take "no" for an answer. If Sebastian isn't embrac ing his evil inner salesman, it's because he doesn't have to. mid- - to His products RVs that cost from about $30,000 to more No expecta- tions. "Buying an RV isn't like buying a car," Sebastian says. "It's a commitment to being out there and being on the move ... to being free." Blame Wall Street. Blame the rise of upper-en- d SeeRV,C2 n mis-io- n d . Smith is the editor of ncestry Daily News, a free lewsletter from Ancestry.com. She can K reached at askancestryancestry- - Juliana ic.com. S. What's new in family history using Internet's resources There are many changes in family history that deal with the Internet, new sources on compact discs and new publications. A few new sources and Internet databases are mentioned here. The Internet site, FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service, wwwianv 0ysearch.org, allows users to download a free Windows release of Personal Ancestral File 4.0. Although the Family History Department does not offer telephone support for this product, you can go to www.familysearch.compaf and ask PAF 4.0 questions to the support team. Those people who own Personal Ancestral File Companion 2.0 may t T the Windows version of PAF 4.0. KIP'S TIPS 1 i2 Kip Sperry receive a free upgrade to PAF Companion 2.1 from the Web site listed above. This upgrade allows users to print attractive charts and forms using a. , ; 'r- f.r. .V FOR THOSE who have an older DOS version of Personal Ancestral File, a free upgrade, known as PAF 3.01M, is available from the Internet, www.familysearch.org. This upgrade includes a download function for submitting genealogy to be preserved and shared in the new Pedigree Resource File, part of FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service. ' The 1881 British Census and National Index is now available on compact discs and may be ordered from the FamilySearch Online Distribution Center at www.family- search.org. - i It's estimated it took over two million hours of volunteer time to transcribe and data enter this census. This census identifies over 30 million indi4 viduals. Call (800) for more information. Users of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City will be interested to know a new version of the Family History Library Catalog (FHLQ is now available. Known as Web View, this version of the Library's catalog may only be used at the main library. Users are able to conduct the following searches using special computers: Title, Author, FilmFlche, Place (locality), Surname, Keyword, Call 346-604- See SPERRY, C2 |