>Hi all; >Seems that our transcriptionists want San Francisco County done as much as the rest of us. Currently in Transcription is Vol. 1, 2, 3, M, and P is just going out the door. There seems to be much confusion as to what records we are using. Some of them are death registers (just like the other counties) and some of them are Mortuary Registers. The mortuary registers give the same info that the death registers do. All registers are for the "City and County of San Francisco". > >The other counties are moving right along as well. Several more counties have their records ordered and a few more are in transcription. We have some of the smaller counties getting transcribed while we are working on the larger ones. We have gotten book two of Los Angeles County online this week and hope to have more of it online shortly. For an update on what is happening for any given county, take a look at the website <http://www.rootsweb.com/~cabf1905>. For those counties that are pending donations, look at the donor page and that will tell you which ones are open for sponsorship, funding and support. > >I would like to take a moment to thank the genealogical societies that are supporting us. Santa Barbara is funded and being transcribed by their genealogical society...all we had to do is supply the records for them. The Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society is funding and helping with the transcription in the Alameda County records. Those records have been ordered and should be in shortly. The Tehama County Gen. and Hist. Society has offered help in Tehema County and there are several others on the verge of coming through for their counties as well. > >For those of you that are considering volunteering for transcribing, there are a couple things that need to be understood. These records are over 100 years old and not always the easiest to read. They are hand written and some of them are in the older style of writing. This makes them more difficult. Also, some of the records don't copy really well. We do the best we can with what we have to make it easier. This is definitely a "Labor of Love" and those that are working on these deserve and extra pat on the back for what they are doing. Because some of the people have expected something simple to do, we have sent out some batches and then never heard from the volunteers again. If you volunteer and discover that you cannot follow through, this is not a problem, but please send the copies back to us as there are additional costs entailed in recopying the records. This can be saved. > >This is not to discourage those that wish to volunteer, but to educate them on what to expect. We have back up for what you cannot read and we help whenever we can or whenever you seem to be having a problem. Right now...we are lucky as some of the records (like the ones we are distributing right now) are extremely easy to read and transcribe. > >A special thanks goes to Steve Melton...our computer wiz, who has managed to stay on top of all the technical dealings with getting this online. He keeps the site updated weekly with periodic changes during the middle of that week. Steve, we love you and you are wonderful. > >Laura Melton, Steve's wife, has been keeping everything organized and sending out templates and instructions to all the new transcribers, as well as dealing with some of the other technical problems that have come up. In between reunions, baby showers and the like, we have managed to keep her pretty busy as well. Thank you Laura for all you do...which is way too much to even start to mention here. > >For all those that have helped to support this project, in addition to listing all of you on the donor page, I would like to say an additional "THANK YOU". Without you, this project could not come about. Between copies and postage, it is amazing how rapidly the costs add up. Donations can be sent to me. Full accountings are kept of all costs and income to the project. > >Well, will keep you updated on the new additions to the website as they come along. Thank you all for the good words, support and help. Till next week... > >Donna Bradley >Project Coordinator >P. O. Box 391368 >Anza, CA 92539-1368 > > >