Kim found the answer + other problems with FOLD3

REPLY TO QUESTION ABOUT DOWNLOADING MULTIPLE PAGES

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We came across the following email from you and wanted to provide an answer. Currently images can only be downloaded or printed one at a time and there is not an option to mass download or print.

Let me know if you have additional questions.

Thanks again,

Gordon Atkinson

Director of Customer Service and Marketing

Fold3

This makes FOLD3 close to worthless unless you have an unlimited amount of time to waste waiting for your pages to come in one at a time.

There is another problem.  

When you get a hit and open the page there is often a note at the bottom of the page saying "nn (some number) of pages in this document contain matches".  If you're unaware of that you will miss all of the pages beyond the first one in that Vol.

At the bottom of the thumbnail for the first page there will be other thumbnails indicating the other pages available.

Say the PA Archives, Series 5 Vol XI pages 345, 732, 815.  Page 345 will be enclosed in a box, clicking on the box brings that page up.  

Clicking on "LARGER" expands the page to full size and  you can then click "DOWNLOAD".  

When the first page is downloaded you go back ;and click on the second page, 732.  That page comes up and  clicking "LARGER" expands it to full size.  Now click "DOWNLOAD" and the page reverts to  page 345. 

As far as I know there is only one way to get that page to print, you must scroll to it  using the film strip.

When there is a big jump from the first page to the second it is laborious to use that film strip and if you lay on the left or right film strip arrow you will often shoot way past your target page.

My solution, unless the page numbers are close together,  is to make a note of the Series, Volume and Page numbers that you're not able to easily get to and then  go back and pick up the extra pages through the BROWSE feature.  

BROWSE: You enter the 'Revolutionary War' section then select 'Pennsylvania Archives' and then the Series and Volume.  You will be shown several sections in that volume.  Page numbers are not shown so you have to click various sections until you find the section that has the page you want.

Now your extra pages will come up and can be downloaded.

The PA Archives is a wonderful resource so it's worth learning how to use it if you have anybody who ever lived in Pennsylvania.

I give all of the pages I download from the PA the name "Series 5 Vol II Page nnn".  By doing that you will have a folder with all of the pages you have downloaded in their proper order.  When you get another hit you can quickly scroll down the folder (in DETAIL mode) and see whether you've already downloaded that page.

Please let me know of any problems you encounter or anything I have written that turns out to be wrong.  I'm feeling my way with FOLD3 and am not terribly impressed however,  I think the PA Archives alone is worth the trouble.

What do you think?

Jerry

PS  Looking at the film strip, there are little red numbers on some pages. That number is the number of annotations for that page.  I've never found anything useful in them.

Wrestling with FOLD3

I've spent the day wrestling with Fold3.  My conclusion is that it is the hardest web site to use that I've ever encountered.

I started by searching for all of the Shearer surname, all variations.

I have 200 hits from the Pennsylvania Archives that I'm working on.

One of the hits was the Revolutionary War Pension file for Conrad  Goodner, husband of Elizabeth Sherer.  What a find, the record was 65 pages.  I set about looking for a way to download the entire record.  No way!

After struggling with it for a while I put in a phone call to Kim Dolce at the City Island Library.  Kim is conducting lessons on Fold3 but she had no answer.  She promised to find out the answer.

So far, there is no known way to accomplish the objective.

Giving up I set out to download the pages one at a time.  It is a VERY SLOW process.  The site keeps flashing the  WE'RE SORRY IT IS TAKING SO LONG TO PULL UP THE METADATA FOR THIS IMAGE.  It took me about 3 hours to download 65 pages.  I had to restart the site several times to get it to process my requests. The only thing running on my computer was my browser.

On the other hand, when I finally got the record there were some jewels in those pages.  Here's one of the best surprises I've ever found in such records:


September 25, 1934

Mittie L. Prather
Onawa, Iowa [Monona Co.]

Madam;     

 I have to advise you that from the papers in the Revolutionary War pension claim R. 4113 it appears that Conrad Goodner was born Novemer 29, 1756.     

While living in Hillsborough, Orange County, North Carolinan (sic) he enlisted  November 1, 1776 and served nine months  as a private in Captain John Griffy's Company, Colonel Thackston's North Carolina Regiment.     

He was allowed pension on his application executed June 3, 1833 while a resident of Saint Clair County, Illinois. 

 He died August 27, 1837     

Soldier married in 1782 in Guilford County, North Carolina, Elizabeth ________* who died April 12, 1839 leaving the following children:

John Goodner
Sally Browning.
David Goodner born in 1786.
Jacob Goodner born July 3, 1790.
James Goodner born February 8, 1792.
Jane Ann or Jeanan Goodner born January 9, 1794
Benjamin Goodner born June 4, 1795
Godfrey Goodner born in February 1798.
Francis A. Goodner.
Elijah Goodner.
Elisabeth Holcomb.

            Respectfully,

           Acting Commissioner

* From another source: Sherrer/Scherer

Thumb Drive Recovery

I had all of my R&B files on an 8GB thumb drive.  I've backed it up but not for a long time.  Unfortunately Carbonite doesn't back up thumb drives.

Yesterday, for the second time, the drive was suddenly totally blank and when I tried to access it I was told that it was not formatted and should formatting begin.  NO

I had previously bought a program specifically for this situation, it is called "BadCopy Pro", it cost $40.

I ran BadCopy and it recovered most of my files, 2,398 of them!  Unfortunately it doesn't recover the file names so now I have "File1.aaa through File 2398.aaa"  the recovered file does include the aaa  file extension which included DOC, JPG, GIF, and mostly PDF.

After recovering all the files I threw that thumb drive in the trash and ordered a replacement at NEWEGG for $6, shipping included.  Wish I had done that after the first crash.

Now I'm looking for the January board and general meeting minutes which I completed yesterday at the library and was getting ready to post.

The moral of the story is that, no matter how carefully you back things up a crash can always catch you napping.

1) BACK UP EARLY AND OFTEN.
2) IF A DRIVE FAILS ONCE THROW IT AWAY BECAUSE IT WILL FAIL AGAIN.

Jerry

Kobo eReaders overlooked in review

     I no more than published the article on eReader/Tablet Computer selection than I received a request for information on the Kobo. I had never heard of it but have learned a lot in a short time. There is an article in The Beacon (3-5 Dec 2012 pg 2A) about the Kobo being the savior of local book shops. I'm not sure how that applies when all of the usual sources are selling the Kobo.

NOTE - YOU CAN USE THE KOBO STORE BY INSTALLING THE KOBO APP ON OTHER DEVICES 

NOTE:  DRM is "Digital Rights Management" which requires a license to use content.  Adobe DRM provides, free,  a program for your computer that manages your DRM files. Example: eBooks you borrow from the public library.

Ref:

"Family Book Shop" DeLand

1301 N Woodland Blvd

Deland, FL 32720

(386) 736-6501

Book store site

Kobo is a Canadian Company.  Learn more about them and their products:  Kobo - about us

Presently there are four models of the Kobo, Mini, Glo, Touch and Arc. Kobo eReaders Here are the specs for those and for the original models as well, with links to the reviews of each model:

Mini 5" e-Ink (b/w) 2GB memory, micro SD slot (32gb max); WiFi 802.11 b/g/n; wt 4.7oz White, USB Cable, WiFi 2GB Battery life over 2 weeks w/wi-fi off; $80 @ Best Buy

Mini Review

Glo 6" e-Ink, Card slot, ePub and all Adobe DRM; WiFi; USB; no headphone jack (no audio capability) wt: 6.52 oz $130 @ Best Buy, $120 @ Amazon

Glo Review

Touch , 6" e-Ink (b/w); 600x800 dpi max, USB & Card Slot, Browser, WiFi wt: 200gr supports ePub, PNG CBZ PDF JPEG HTML GIF CBR; 2GB built in memory;  $113 @ Amazon

Touch Review

Arc Android 4.0 ICS (UPGRADE TO JELLY BEAN WHEN AVAILABLE), 1GB RAM, 7" color, wt 364g; available in 8 or 16GB  [Kobo just announced that it will now be available in 16, 32 and 64 GB]; Micro USB connection, "Wi-Fi Direct"; 1.3 mp forward looking camera; 10hr reading w/WiFi off; Black or white w/ available blue or purple back. NO MICRO SD CARD SLOT; 

Arc Review

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ORIGINAL MODELS

N647-KBU-B  6" b/w 1GB expandable to 32GB in card slot wt: 8oz (1st gen Kobo) Supports ePub & pdf  $70 @ Target

Orig Kobo Review

WiFi eReader 6" eInk (16 levels of grey)  6" 1GB (as N647 w/Wi-Fi to Kobo store) supports ePub, PDF (Adobe DRM and non DRM) and TXT $85 @ Amazon

Kobo Wi-Fi Review

Vox (K080-Kbo-B) 7" Color 1024x600 7" Vivid Color, 8GB internal memory, Mini SD card, slot 32GB max, not included; micro USB port 802.11b/g/n; wireless; wt:14.2oz; up to 7 hrs battery life. Now Google certified with access to the Google Play Store apps. Headphone jack, no camera. $180 @ Amazon 

Vox Review

Ancestry launches "Newspapers.com"

Ancestry has launched a new newspaper site.  It is just getting started but expect them to add papers quickly in the next 2 or 3 months.  Some of the content overlaps with what Ancestry has available through their regular subscription site.

Kimberly Powell has written a great review of what is available and what is planned.

Find it here
http://tinyurl.com/a5jhm3h

Jerry

SELECTING A TABLET  COMPUTER / eREADER  

by Jerry Hale

December 3, 2012

First, let me say that I am NOT an expert. My experience has been with the Nook Color and a little with the Kindle. I've only read about the others. For my money the Apples are not a consideration. Although they are very popular everything Apple does is especially proprietary and expensive. Except for the Apples the whole world is using the Android system so there are plenty of free apps (applications) and third party accessories for the Android devices, you don't have to go to the Apple Store to get them.  Android is the most popular operating system (OS), it is being used in everything from eReaders to autos. Ford announced it was putting the Android OS into it's new cars.

When people see me using my tablet computer they often want to know more about the choices they have when considering acquiring one.

It depends upon what you want to do with the device, use it as an eReader only or use it as a full blown tablet computer?

Do you want to pay the extra money to get one of the top of the line tablets, Apple or Samsung Galaxy, with a camera (or even two) or can you buy an eReader (Nook or Kindle) and convert it to a tablet computer as I have?

Other considerations are memory size, battery life, whether or not the battery is replaceable? On the Nook Color the battery is not made to be replaced by the user but many who are technically oriented have opened it up and replaced the battery themselves. I haven't heard whether Barnes and Noble will replace the battery if you send it back. One thing I know about the Nook is that the power cable is fragile. I've broken two of them even while being careful. Fortunately Barnes and Noble seems to be aware that they have a problem and have sent replacement cables for no charge. One disadvantage of hacking a Nook is that there is no camera on it.

Battery life varies quite a bit, the iPad claims "up to 10 hours", hmmm the problem is that 4 hours qualifies in that statement. Manufacturers of notebook computers are notorious for claiming longer battery life that they ever produce. The other ads do not specify battery life.

From the web site Squidoo http://www.squidoo.com/tablet-vs-ereader

"The battery life of e-readers is significantly better than that of tablet computers. e-Readers can typically go for a month or more of regular use without having to be charged. Tablets run out of battery life within a few hours or so. This is mostly due to the screen type (discussed above) and the fact that they do a lot more internal processing."

I maximize the battery life between recharges by turning off the screen of my Nook and my Droid X smart phone whenever I'm not using them.

Purusing the ads in this Sunday's newspaper I find that there are 17 choices. The Samsung "Transformer" is the most expensive at $750. Transformer means it has a keyboard that the tablet fits into and it then becomes a notebook computer.

On the other end of the spectrum, at $70 is the Kindle eReader (black and white) only for reading electronic books. See the lists at the end of this article.

Other considerations are screen size, memory and operating system. Except for the iPads the operating system is some version of the Android. Android (Google) gives their operating systems colorfull names to distinguish them apart. Version 3.2 was called "Gingerbread," version 4.0 is called Ice Cream Sandwich (or ICS) and version 4.2 is called "Jelly Bean".

The Nook and the Kindle use a proprietary version of the Android operating system but can be "hacked" and turned into a full tablet computer. The SD memory card is replaceable, I use a 16gb card but have a 32gb card I can use if 16gb ever proves to be inadequate.

I "liberated" my Nook Color and it is now running a hacked version of Android called "Cyanogen 7". Hacking or "jail breaking" the Nook is very easy, I have no experience with the Kindle. A step by step procedure can be found on the www with video tutorials on YouTube to help you through the job. I missed something the first and second time I tried and turned my Nook into a "glass brick." After I realized I wasn't going to have a heart attack I went back to the www and Googled "Nook glass brick" and learned how to rescue the device. The third time worked as advertised and I've been very pleased with the result. I bought the Color Nook reconditioned, from Barnes & Noble, for $150. I'm sure it doesn't work as well as an iPad or a Galaxy but it is adequate to my needs for now. I will help anyone who wants to go that route, it is easy once you know how ;-)

The nurse at my podiatrist's office said she had the iPad with a 10" screen and found it too large and too heavy to hold comfortably. It was especially difficult if she tried to read in bed. She was going to buy a 7" model instead.

The best part of these new devices is the world of books it opens up. I have purchased one book but have downloaded a couple of hundred from the free sites like The Gutenburg Project. At present I'm reading "The History of the Inquisition" in three volumes. It is more interesting than any modern book I've read. My next assignment is "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire". All free.

Screen sizes vary, here are the sizes:

5" [Intuos5],

7" [Kindle, Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, Nook Color HD, ASUS Nexus 7, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, & Polaroid],

7.9/8" [Apple iPad Mini & Coby],

9" [Nook Color HD, Galaxy S III, Leap Pad 2 Explorer, Nabi 2 Kid's Tablet & Lenovo Idea tab]

9.7" iPad ith Retina display

10/10.1" Samsung Galaxy 2, ASUS TF700 Infinity and TF300T Transformer

11.6" Samsung Series 5 Slate (transformer)

Here's how the choices line up by price:

$ 70 Kindle B&W ??GB ??" (Kindle modified Android)

$100 LeapPad 2 ??GB??" ??OS

$100 Polaroid Tablet 4GB 7" (Android ICS)

$120 COBY 4GB 8" (Android ICS)

$160 Kindle Fire 16GB 7" (Kindle modified Android)

$200 Nook HD 8GB 7" (Barnes & Noble modified Android)

$200 Kindle Fire HD16 GB 7" (Kindle modified Android)

$200 Galaxy Tab 2 8GB 7" (Android ICS)

$200 nabi Kids Tablet (Android ___)

$230 Lenovo Idea Tab 16GB 9" (Android ICS)

$230 Intuos5 Small ??GB ??OS

$250 ASUS Nexus 32GB 7"(Android Jelly Bean)

$270 Nook HD+ 16 GB 9" (Barnes & Noble modified Android)

$330 iPad mini 16GB 7.9"

$350 Galaxy Tab 2 16 GB 10.1" (Android ICS)

$430 iPad mini 32GB 7.9"

$450 Galaxy Tablet 16GB 10.1" (Android ICS)

$500 iPad Retina16GB 9.7"

$500 ASUS Transformer 32GB10.1" (Android ICS)

$600 iPad Retina 32GB 9.7"

$750 Samsung Series 5 Slate 64GB SSD & dock (Android ___)

Here are this Sunday's ads:

Here are some web sites that will help you decide or confuse you further.

http://www.squidoo.com/tablet-vs-ereader

http://ebookliterature.wordpress.com/2011/03/21/tabets-vs-ereaders-which-is-better-for-you/

http://www.qvc.com/tabletblog0103.content.html

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/high-tech-gadgets/tablet-or-e-reader.htm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/reviews/9696510/Best-e-readers-for-Christmas.html

http://www.tabletpc-zone.com/tabletpc_vs_ereaders.html

http://goodereader.com/blog/

Hello all,

Last Thursday I was working in the Genealogy Room and an old man came in. He wanted a history of Volusia County. I guided him to the shelf where he found the book he wanted. He sat down at a table and took out a magnifying glass. After a while he called me over and asked whether that book was available in large print. I said that I was sorry but it wasn't.

I sat back down at the desk and looked over to the old card catalog file. On top is the old magnifying glass which is lighted. I drew his attention to it. He went over and used the glass but I could see he was uncomfortable standing up for very long.

Suddenly I remembered what I call the "Big Eye". It is a home made device that we used to have on a desk over by the off-line computer. When Louise donated the microfiche reader we decided that there had been little or no use of the "Big Eye" and so removed it and put in the microfiche reader.

I thought that the "Big Eye" had been disposed of but when I looked in the back corner there it was. I didn't know whether it still worked, as a matter of fact I have never seen it work. Nonetheless I decided that it would fit nicely on the book cart. I rolled the cart to the back of the room and picked up the TV and it did fit on the cart. I wheeled it to the front of the room then realized that all of the device had not come with the TV. The "Big Eye" is actually two separate devices, the TV and the projector. I brought the projector up and slid it in place under the TV then plugged both units into the power block.

There was one cable coming from the projector that obviously should plug into the TV. It turns out the yellow, video, input on the TV is where the projector connects. I plugged it in and turned everything on and sure enough, when I placed a book on the tray under the projector the TV showed the page in very large and easy to read form on the screen.. The tray moves right and left and in and out. The only problem is that the magnification does not allow a small enough setting to show the whole page without scrolling.

I drew up a chair in front of the TV and showed the man how to use “Big Eye.” He sat down and began to use it to easily read the Volusia History he was interested in. He seemed to like it although he didn't say anything at all.

I went about my business and was at the off-line computer when I saw him walk by the window on his way out! No thanks, no goodbye, nothing ;-) Such is the life of a public servant I guess, he probably had a back ache.

Anyway I thought I'd write up what I learned in case anyone else is asked for help with a visually impaired customer. I don't know who built and donated the "Big Eye", probably someone like one of our departed members, Herbert Price.

I worked with Herb near the end of his life. He was nearly blind from macro degeneration and had torticollis which caused his neck to be bent forward to where he had a hard time raising his head to look at the computer screen. He had a braille-like overlay for his keyboard. I was impressed with his tenacity in pursuing his genealogy although he was suffering greatly and kept messing up his FTW database.

Herb could have used this device.

Jerry