Sunday, November 29, 2015

How Do You Spell?

There are six states with counties with similar names: Allegany and Allegheny, for example.

I wanted to review how the names are spelled because I'm working on correcting and adding county names to a genealogy file I'm editing.

I went to this County Name website.  I keyed Alleg into the search box.

This is the result I got:

FIPS         County, State

24001 Allegany County, MD
26005 Allegan County, MI
36003 Allegany County, NY
37005 Alleghany County, NC
42003 Allegheny County, PA
51005 Alleghany County, VA

Three variations. Very useful.

Dick Henthorn
29 November 2015

Thursday, November 5, 2015

What Is a Box Collaborator?


As part of my current project to review and improve what I know about managing a Box account I'm posting some information to my genealogy blog.  The following information was selected from Box help information and modified for posting here.

What is a Collaborator? 
A collaborator is an individual who has been invited into a folder. Collaboration invitations are a great way to share content for long term projects. Collaboration allows the Box account owner to invite people to a folder and monitor updates over time. In order to access a folder as a collaborator, a person needs a Box account and the folder will be listed under All Files when they log in to their Box account. If you send a collaboration invitation to a person without a Box account, that person will be prompted to sign up with Box before being able to access the content.
[Note: Until November 2015 my Box account was a starter "free" account.]

Who Should Become a Collaborator?
Box account holder would invite an individual into a folder as a collaborator if the account holder and the collaborator are actively working together on long-term projects. Collaboration provides a two-way relationship; depending on the access level granted, collaborators can view, edit, upload/download documents, leverage collaboration tools (comments, tasks, etc.), and receive updates on actions taking place in the folder. 

Folder collaborators need a Box account.  If a Box account holder sends a collaboration invitation to an individual without a Box account, that individual will be prompted to sign up with Box before being able to access the content.

Dick Henthorn
5 November 2015

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Box Shared Links Defined


I have a Box account where I sometimes share genealogy information.  Recently I signed up for a year of extended storage when they held a half-price sale.  This prompted me to review how the application works. As often happens with me, there seems to be quite a bit about Box that I either forgot or never understood.  I'm working on the problem.  Progress is slow.

As I understand it there are two ways to allow access to my content, either invite others to become Collaborators or via Shared links.

Here's a definition I found for Shared Links.

Shared linkA shared link provides a one-way relationship, allowing the recipient to preview or download a given file or folder. With customizable permission levels, security settings, and a URL that’s easy to copy and paste, shared links can be used to send important content both internally and externally. Unlike collaboration, individuals accessing your content through a shared link get "read-only" access and won’t be able to make changes to your files. They can continue to reference that link for the most up-to-date version of the content. Think of a shared link as a secure email attachment replacement.

Dick Henthorn
4 November 2015

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Earl Carson - Baker Researcher


Yesterday I created a 26-page ancestor report in PDF format for deceased Baker researcher, Earl Carson and his wife. They had no issue. The report shows where I think Mr. Carson fits into the Baker family tree. Researcher Valerie Kramer reported that he worked on genealogy for 40 years and never published anything. Pity!
The report starts with a non-existent person called, Place Holder. I used this technique in order to include the wife of Mr. Carson in the report. If she had an ancestral line in my file they would thusly be included. After the report is created I "unlink" Place Holder from the parents, but leave the record in my genealogy file waiting for the next time I need it.

The report was uploaded to my "secret" Henthorn Genealogy area on Facebook where it is available for viewing and download to members of the group. If you aren't a member, and want to be included, contact me to apply for membership.

Dick Henthorn
3 November 2015