December 2009 Making Connections: 101 Best Sites, FOIA and More

Security Clearance
The excellent information in “Under Surveillance” (November 2009) enables this average genealogist to feel like I’m an investigative reporter by writing FOIA on my envelopes. How empowering! What really made this article pop were the bold, hilarious illustrations. I’d give this artist government clearance any day.

Perfect Sites
Despite being descended from ancestors that “swung down from the trees,” David Fryxell has put together an excellent list of handy and helpful Web sites.
Ed Schultz, Renton, Wash.

I was stunned to see that you didn’t list West Virginia’s online archives. They’re fantastic—I’ve downloaded original document copies from the late 1700s to the 1950s.

The information provided on the death certificates helped me to find the children and maiden names of several additional ancestors.
On a whim I checked out the BYU Family History Archives and found a complete manuscript by Marianna Malkowski on the House family. While I already have a copy of the book, I was happy that Malkowski’s wonderful work is available to House descendants not fortunate enough to have a copy.
Carol Hermann, via e-mail

A recent conversation with friends brought up this question: Why didn’t our history teachers use genealogy to teach history? It would’ve been more interesting and meaningful to chase our own relatives than to memorize dates and battles.

Master Scan
I read with interest the article by Rick Crume on film scanners in the September 2009 issue (“Positive Outlook”). I just talked to a technical service person at Canon Canada who says the CanoScan 9950F has been discontinued and is no longer available. I was disappointed.
Edward Dinniwell,  via e-mail

I just read your article “Library of Knowledge” in the September 2009 Family Tree Magazine, and I am so pleased with how it came out. Sunny McClellan Morton truly captured why libraries are still important for genealogical research. Thank you so much for writing a piece that I am so happy to be affiliated with!