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Jan Murphy

@packrat74.bsky.social

1.7K followers 1.8K following 7.7K posts

Enthusiastic family historian since 2006; moderator pro tempore at Genealogy & Family History Stack Exchange. http://genealogy.stackexchange.com Fan of F&SF, figure skating, baseball, equestrian sports, cycling. Former bookseller; book junkie.

genealogy.stackexchange.com

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Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · Dec 5

Need a #genealogy help desk? Go beyond the query, and focus on the problem you are trying to solve.

Ask specific, answerable research questions. If you have answers, share your expertise!

The tour shows how #Genealogy and #FamilyHistory Stack Exchange works: genealogy.stackexchange.com/tour

Tour

Q&A for expert genealogists and people interested in genealogy or family history

genealogy.stackexchange.com

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Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 1d

#AncestryHour So I see it's going to be one of those days again.

"I have tried to find [my person] on other genealogy sites but found no information."

(Context: they're looking in 1890 in the United States. Want to bet they've only been collecting census records and BMD so far?)

Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 1d

#AncestryHour

a man in a military uniform is wearing a helmet and says i see nothing !

Alt: Animated gif of sergeant Schultz from the TV show Hogan's Heroes saying "I see nothing!"

media.tenor.com

Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 1d

#AncestryHour This is why I hate blanket statements about how computers save time and make research easier.
/end of rant

Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 1d

#AncestryHour Over and over again, I see rookies who assume that the databases online are all clean and perfect and complete.

They are not.

And because they exist, people don't learn the skills they need to do things the pre-computer way.

AI, particularly Generative AI, makes this even worse.

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Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 1d

#AncestryHour This "helpful" computer database has now become an impediment to anyone who doesn't understand the records and won't see at a glance that the number is too short.

Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 1d

#AncestryHour example I, the person, see a string 1236?70. Where the ? is a number I can't read. But I know I can't use ? in a database that's going online because ? is used for syntax-y things in URLs, so I use a space. Which gets stripped.

1236[something]70 is not the same as 123670..

Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 1d

#AncestryHour Now, some developer puts that data on Ancestry, and instead of leaving the spaces in or subbing underscores for the spaces, and leaving an explanation of the problem in the "About the Database", they strip out all the spaces. How good is the index now?

Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 1d

#AncestryHour An example of how computers make things harder instead of easier. Let's say someone is making a database, an index of a bunch of file numbers. They are working from a list where the raw data has spaces where the original data was illegible. 🧵

Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 1d

#AncestryHour Yes, I'm ranting again, but I dislike blanket statements like "since AI is making research easier".

It isn't. It's making research *different*. It makes some things easier and some things harder.

But no one ever talks about the impedients that computer solutions introduce.

Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 1d

#AncestryHour I do hope the conference discussions make it clearer to people what the difference is between useful AI and the hideous slop generated by Generative AIs like ChatGPT. (You know the GenAI techbros would like everyone to think their crappy bullshit-generating AI is the default.)

Liz Craig @willsmanonename.bsky.social · 1d

Booking for the 2026 Guild of #OneNameStudies conference in Portsmouth is now open! Even if you’re not a one-namer, the topics are relevant to anyone interested in #FamilyHistory or #LocalHistory. Find out more & book here 👉🏻 one-name.org/guild-confer...
#AncestryHour

Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 1d

#AncestryHour The link in this post goes to the ACPL's YouTube channel and searches for videos about PERSI. bsky.app/profile/pack...

Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 4d

#GenChat I finally found the place where you can search the ACPL's channel and not all of YouTube. 🤦
www.youtube.com/@AllenCounty...

Allen County Public Library

The Allen County Public Library has been part of the social and cultural fabric of Fort Wayne, Indiana and surrounding communities since 1895. Our YouTube channel is an integral part of our social me...

www.youtube.com

Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 1d

#AncestryHour This is one of my favorite videos on using PERSI. #OnePlaceStudy people already know the value of doing research by place, but family historians who haven't studied #LocalHistory may need some help getting up to speed on searching by place.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS7i...

Finding Periodical Articles about Your Geographic Area of Interest Using PERSI

YouTube video by Allen County Public Library

www.youtube.com

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Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 1d

Greetings #AncestryHour friends! Still trying to sort out files and computer stuff this week, so not much in the way of new #genealogy research. How has your work been going? Any new interesting record sets or discoveries?

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Reposted by Jan Murphy

The Whimsical Muse @whimsicalmuse.bsky.social · 4d

I cannot stress this strongly enough: Support your local theatre, café, bookstore, bakery, and library. We breathe life into these places when we support them. They need us, and more importantly, we need them.

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Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 2d

"many Americans simply don't want to pay what it costs to produce things ethically in this country" = true

Also true: some Americans would gladly pay what it costs to produce things ethically in this country, but they can't afford those prices very often because their own wages are too low.

Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 2d

Thank you, Canada. ❤️🍁

abc7news.com/post/canadia...

Canadian Snowbirds air show thrills SF Fleet Week spectators, despite no Blue Angels: 'Spectacular!'

The Fleet Week Air Show continued over the San Francisco's waterfront Saturday. This year, no U.S. Military planes could take part due to the government shutdown, but spectators still enjoyed the show...

abc7news.com

Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 2d

I don't think I ever saw it in the theater, but the soundtrack CD was an instabuy. YMMV.

Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 2d

This is what happens when you think "I wish my cohort were running things instead!" in the era after the leading edge of the Boomers did the whole "Never trust anyone over 30!" thing.

Solidarity fistbump from a mid-curve boomer.

Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 2d

If you need a TL;dr
Physics is unrelenting and unforgiving to the human body.

Don't argue with the laser safety guy.

Funranium (AKA Phil Broughton) @funranium.bsky.social · 3d

I am very tired of this, but a quick review.

In America, it is legal for you to own your bullshit laser, no matter how it got into the county.

How you use your bullshit laser matters. Most jurisdictions escalate to felony for lighting up any law enforcement. Doing to them in the sky is ++Felony.

Jake @jakeythesnakey.bsky.social · 3d

This is such an astoundingly bad idea that I kinda think it’s a false flag or an op of some sort

Merits aside, it is insanely easy to be caught if you do this and the punishment for doing this is much more severe than you’d guess.

(@faineg.bsky.social often writes on stuff like this)

Reposted by Jan Murphy

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 4d

They have fired the staff of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and 70 Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, who are disease detectives that respond to outbreaks around the world.

I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous it is to dismantle our disease surveillance infrastructure.

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Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 4d

There are grade-school kids who have called 911 in emergencies when their family members neeeded them.

Those children don't deserve to be lumped in with irresponsible greedy corrupt adults.

Call the adults what they are. Corrupt. Fascist. Vandals.

Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 4d

I don't know if any journalists will hear this, but I am damn tired of people using age-related words when talking about political stuff. "No adult supervision" "the adults in the room" etc.

Say what you really mean. The so-called "childish" people have no integrity or morals. 🧵

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Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 4d

#GenChat *red alert klaxon*
Timothy Pinnick is one of my favorite presenters! For anyone lucky enough to be near Fort Wayne IN and who is doing African-American research, don't miss this! (no disrespect to Janis Minor Forté, whom I haven't been lucky enough to see).
acpl.libnet.info/event/14574461

Hybrid: Making the Records Talk – with - Timothy Pinnick & Janis Forte
Saturday, October 18: 9:00am - 5:00pm
Main Library Genealogy Center
Age group: Adults
event type: Family History & Genealogy
Join us for a FREE, IN-PERSON program on Saturday, October 18th from 9 AM to 5 PM in the Discovery Center!

Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 4d

#GenChat Look for "Programs and More" on the right-hand side of the banner on the GC's main page, then choose "Upcoming Genealogy Programs". That should take you to this event page.

acpl.libnet.info/events?n=30&...

Events - Allen County Public Library

acpl.libnet.info

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Jan Murphy @packrat74.bsky.social · 4d

#GenChat Check out the events page! October is Family History month so the ACPL's Genealogy Center usually goes all-out with interesting presentations. The librarians are awesome and really friendly.

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