WSAC Genealogy Meeting – Wednesday May 7.25
Our May 7 meeting was hosted by Don Bowling who had arranged for Art Taylor, a member of the Ontario Genealogy Society, to present on the topic of using MetaData as a means of filing, categorizing, and placing notations with digital photographs. As we move more and more to storing our genealogy information, records and photographs digitally, MetaData is an important tool that will enable both organization of these files and easy retrieval.
In addition, Art was to provide a presentation on how he used photographs and negatives to reconstruct the travels of his grandfather, Ed Taylor, from his birth in 1883 until his death in 1961.
Unfortunately, the Zoom connection to Art’s presentation was lost about half ways through his talk, and we were unable to re-establish connection. Accordingly, I will provide you with some information on MetaData and where you can link for further understanding.
METADATA
MetaData is “data that provides information about other data”, but not the content of the data itself, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata including ‘Descriptive metadata – the descriptive information about a resource.
Metadata on a website refers to data about data, essentially providing information about the content and structure of a webpage. It’s typically implemented through meta tags in the HTML head section, making it visible to search engines and those who inspect the page’s source code. This data helps search engines understand and index the page, improving its visibility and ranking.
Key aspects of website metadata:
Meta Tags: These are HTML tags, like title, description, and keywords that provide details about the page to search engines and other clients.
Purpose: Metadata helps search engines understand the content, structure, and purpose of a webpage which is crucial to SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
Visibility: Meta tags are not displayed on the webpage itself, but they provide valuable information to search engines.
Examples: Metadata can include information like the author, date of creation, file size and content type.
Importance of SEO: By providing information about your website’s content, metadata helps search engines understand what your website is about and how to rank it in search results.
Checking Meta Tags: You can view the meta tags on a website by right clicking on the page and selecting “View Page Source” or “View Source”.
With the loss of our connection with Art Taylor, the group took advantage of the time to share genealogy experiences, sources and recommendations for other members. Here are a few of those that were discussed:
Photomyne: https://photomyne.com/
“The perfect home for scanning old memories and preserving them for your family’s future”.
Easy, speedy and high-quality – scan dozens of photos into digital albums in minutes.
Every time captures memory – dedicated scanning apps for multiple types of media – photos, slides, negative, and kid’s art.
Enhance and infuse with new life – Touch-up old photos so they look as good – or better- than when the shutter snapped.
Immigration Ships Lists: Searching for the arrival of ancestors to Canda can be challenging depending on the arrival location and dates. Many immigrants to North America came through Ellis Island in New York or Pier 21 in Halifax although there are several other points of arrival. Three sites that may be of value in your search for record of your ancestor’s arrival are:
- Immigration Records – Library and Archives Canada
https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration-records/passenger-lists/Pages/introduction.aspx
- Passenger Lists – Ancestry.com or Ancestry.ca
Passenger lists searched by location or date worldwide.
- The Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Foundation:
https://www.statueofliberty.org/discover/passenger-ship-search/
The Passenger Search database allows you to look for family members who arrived at the Port of New York from 1820 to 1957.
Using chatGBT for Soundex Searches: www.chatgbt.com
One way to expand genealogical searches is to use the Soundex feature. The Soundex algorithm is a phonetic algorithm used to classify words that sound similar, even if spelled differently. Using Soundex Examples:
- ChatGBT can explain how database search engines can use Soundex to find records based on the phonetic similarity of the works in the records.
- ChatGBT can provide an example of how Soundex can be used to group names that are spelled differently but sound the same life “Johnson” and “Jonson”.
** There will be more discussion and demonstration of chatGBTA in our 2025-2026 meetings”.
I thank all those who were able to attend our meeting, we had a good turnout. Our next meeting, and final meeting for the 2024-2025 season, will be on June 4, 2025 in the WSAC Boardroom. The presentation will be on Polish Settlement in Alberta and Western Canada by John Szumlas, Polish Consul for Northern Alberta. Even though you may not have Polish ancestry, learning about the struggles, challenges and contributions of how this group of immigrants has enhanced the heritage and culture of Canada contributes to your understanding of this wonderful country we live in called Canada.