Genealogy writing awards announcement from ISFHWE

Do you write articles for your genealogical society publication? Maybe you are a blogger or write a genealogy column for the local historical society or newspaper. The International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE) reminds writers IN ALL MEDIA including magazines, newspapers, journals, websites, and blogs that the 2014 Excellence-in-Writing Competition is now open for entries through 15 June 2014.

The competition is open to both MEMBERS and NON-MEMBERS of ISFHWE; both published and non-published authors may enter (see category list on the website). A new category of poetry has been added. Members of ISFHWE receive a discount on the entry fee.

The awards presentations for the various categories will take place during the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference in San Antonio, 27-30 August 2014. Some of the awards include a cash prize.

Click here for full details.

Spell it out. Pls. Thx.

While working on some family history research today while writing an article I was frustrated by abbreviations that I find online and in books. So, here comes my soapbox for the day. Please spell out the words. Isn't your family history important enough to do that? If someone is looking for ancestors in a specific state but your abbreviation makes them think it's the wrong state, you may have just missed out on meeting the person who has the family bible.

• NE is the postal abbreviation for Nebraska, not Nevada 
• AK is the postal abbreviation for Alaska, not Arkansas
• Do you mean city or county when you state "cty" and this does cause geographic angst.
• Do you and whoever reads your material in the future know the difference between ms, mss, Miss? [In my world, mss is an abbreviation for manuscript; ms is the postal abbreviation for the state of Mississippi, not Massachusetts; and Miss is a designation for a a non-married female]

Sources and Brackets

I have been in Salt Lake City for two weeks for a variety of reasons. As I have researched at the Family History Library, two pet peeves keep cropping up. In reality, these should not be regarded as pet peeves, rather as missing or erroneous information in record compilations. I have looked at abstracts and transcriptions of many records including cemetery, probate, marriage, and obituaries. Whenever possible, I also view the original record on microfilm if it is available at the FHL.

It isn't always possible to tell where the information came from, i.e., was it from another publication, a family file, personal knowledge, from a record book or microfilm at the courthouse, state archive, or a FHL film?

The other item is the misuse of parentheses when doing transcribing or abstracting. If you add some details from personal knowledge or other sources to the information being transcribed or abstracted, brackets [ ] should be used to enclose such explanatory or additional details. Use the parentheses ( ) if it occurs in the original record.

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly appreciate all the work that goes into such projects, but just wish some parts were a bit easier to understand.