Here is a brief summary of genealogy programs scheduled for the Washington, DC area in the next three weeks. Please feel free to forward the information to others. Harold McClendon Mount Vernon Genealogical Society Publicity Chairman Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. The Prince George’s County Genealogical Society will present a program entitled "The Still picture Branch at Archives II." The speaker is Thomas H. Shawker, M.D. The program will be held at 11 Crescent Road, Greenbelt Public Library, Greenbelt, Maryland. Additional details can be found at http://www.rootsweb.com/~mdpgcgs/. Saturday, February 16, 2008, at 10:15 a.m. The National Archives in Washington, DC will be presenting a program entitled "Who's on Your Family Tree? Beginning Your Family Genealogy." The speaker is Marie Melchiori, CG, CGL. The program will be in the Jefferson Room of the National Archives. You should enter on Constitution Avenue through the Special Events entrance. Reservations are required, and a fee of $20 is payable by cash or check (payable to NATF) at the door. Call 202-357-5333. Additional details can be found at http://www.archives.gov. Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. The Mount Vernon Genealogical Society (MVGS) will meet in room 112 of the Hollin Hall Senior Center in Alexandria, Virginia. The meeting will feature a presentation entitled "Use of the Online Access to Archival Databases (AAD) for Genealogical Research." The program will be presented by Lynn Goodsell and Daniel Law. Additional information about the meeting and MVGS can be found at http://www.mvgenealogy.org/. Wednesday, February 20, 2008, at 11:30 a.m. The National Archives in Washington, DC will be presenting a program entitled "What's New in the Archival research Catalog (ARC)?" The speaker is Jill Reilly James. The program will be in Room G-24 of the National Archives. You should enter on Pennsylvania Avenue. Additional details can be found at http://www.archives.gov. Thursday, February 21, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. The National Archives at College Park, MD will be presenting a program in Lecture room B entitled "What's New in the Archival Research Catalog (ARC)?" The speaker is Jill Reilly James. Additional details can be found at http://www.archives.gov/. Thursday, February 21, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. The Charles County Maryland Genealogical Society is presenting a program entitled “GPS Not Just Global Positioning System/Genealogical Proof Standard." The speaker is Joan Croson & Diane Giannini. The Charles County Maryland Genealogical Society meets at 7:00 p.m. at the LDS Family History Center, 4560 Padgett Road, White Plains, Charles County, Maryland Additional details can be found at http://rootsweb.com/~mdccmgs/index.htm. Friday, February 22, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. The Ruth E. Lloyd Information Center for Genealogy and Local History (RELIC) will present a program entitled "Use of DNA in the Search for Surname Ancestry." The program will be presented by J. J. "Jim" Logan. The program will be presented at the Bull Run Regional Library, 8051 Ashton Avenue, Manassas, Virginia. Reservations are required. They may be made via e-mail at relic2@pwcgov.org or by phone at 703-792-4540. Additional details can be found at http://www.pwcgov.org/library/relic/index.htm. Saturday, February 23, 2008, at 10:15 a.m. The National Archives in Washington, DC will be presenting a program entitled "Using Federal Records for African American Genealogical Research." The speaker is Reginald Washington. He will discuss using census records, military service and pension files, Freedmen's Bureau records, and other Federal records for African American genealogical research. The program will be in the Jefferson Room of the National Archives. You should enter on Constitution Avenue through the Special Events entrance. Reservations are required, and a fee of $20 is payable by cash or check (payable to NATF) at the door. Call 202-357-5333. Additional details can be found at http://www.archives.gov. Monday, February 25, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. The St. Mary’s (Maryland) County Genealogical Society. They will present a program entitled "Your Ancestor Was A ….. Occupations of Our Ancestors." The speaker is Nancy Waters Lauer. The program will be presented in the Garvey Senior Center, St.Mary's County Governmental Center, Hollywood Rood (MD 245), Leonardtown, Maryland. Additional details can be found at http://www.smcgsi.org/. Tuesday, February 26, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. The Ruth E. Lloyd Information Center for Genealogy and Local History (RELIC) will present a program entitled "African-Virginians: Sources for History and Genealogy before the Civil War." The program will be presented by Don Wilson. The program will be presented at the Bull Run Regional Library, 8051 Ashton Avenue, Manassas, Virginia. Reservations are required. They may be made via e-mail at relic2@pwcgov.org or by phone at 703-792-4540. Additional details can be found at http://www.pwcgov.org/library/relic/index.htm. Thursday, February 28, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. The Fairfax Genealogical Society will present a program entitled "Researching Government Documents." The speaker is Rick Sayre. This presentation will help us discover the genealogical treasures buried in these underused Government records. Primary emphasis is on American State Papers and the Congressional Serial Set, but many other documents will also be covered. Locate pensions, patents, claims, maps, and many other rich sources of genealogical significance. Explore the new web-based offerings of GenealogyBank and Heritage Quest. The Fairfax Genealogical Society will meet at the Lecture Hall of Kilmer Middle School, Vienna, Virginia. Additional details can be found at http://www.fxgs.org/. Saturday, March 1, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. The Fairfax Genealogical Society is presenting an educational program entitled "Use Excel To Get More From Your Genealogy Data." The speaker is Leslie Bouvier. This class will present the basics of a spreadsheet, including terms and formats; selecting and exporting data from genealogy programs; hiding and revealing rows and columns; and sorting the data in the way most useful to you. NOTE: If you have a particular issue you wish to have addressed, please let Leslie know by January 1 so that she has time to make the addition. Examples of the types of data manipulation users will learn to use are as follows: identify where ancestors are buried, by cemetery (handy for a cemetery visit to record and photograph tombstones); group together all ancestors who lived in a particular place; determine what vital statistics have been entered for each person and which are missing; and compare all persons who share the same name so that their facts can be displayed together to help distinguish an ancestor from collateral relations and associated families. This data can be difficult to isolate in reports from genealogy programs and users may be limited as to what they can do to format it. The program will be at the Dunn Loring VFD, 2148 Gallows Road, Dunn Loring, VA. Additional details can be found at http://www.fgs.org.