OK Northern Californian's, this is a challenge to us all. What if we
plan that for our next meeting in March we each present the name of 1
book along with the author, the possible merits of the book to the
group and we vote on it as the book of the quarter. As the first book
it might be best if it's a book in english, a book we can all get
either through Amazon or any of the on-line booksellers and that the
book should be $50.00 or less because some of these books are very
expensive.
Once we have decided on a book we can communicate it to all of the
Ranchos members. Anyone from Ranchos who wants to participate can do
so.
And here's to all of Ranchos, what say you on this matter because it
is now on the table for commentaries, suggestions etc.
Feliz Año a todos........Alicia Avelar Olmos de Carrillo
--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, Mary Allen <mary.allen3770@s...>
wrote:
Hello Victor:
I know this was addressed to Joseph, but I couldn't help but
overhear! It sounds like a wonderful set of ideas. Book reviews are
good because most of us have limited time and to be directed to good,
useful or interesting books is critical. On the other hand, it
would be a real service to catalog vital information from certain
books so that everyone doesn't have to search through the same
books. It would be a great reliable bank everyone could draw from.
But we have to give credit where credit is due....Alicia did get this
started.
Isn't it great? The group weaves in and out but is never
stagnant. The group is like a great tapestry. From the bottom you see
a lot of apparently disconnected threads. But, from the top, it all
comes together into a great design!
My work is wonderful but very stressful. I coordinate volunteer
services for the terminally ill, my second career after 38 years in
education. At the end of the day, I am sometimes emotionally drained
but I kick off my shoes and head for the computer to see what
everybody has to say. It is refreshing. Sometimes I smile at the
polite exchanges. Sometimes I wonder. But it is always
motivating. Then I am ready for the next day. Thanks.
Mary
"v.h.villarreal" <raices_regias@y...> wrote:
Joseph,
I've thought of something similar but instead of getting a group
together to simply comment about or review a history book which is
very good, to take it one step further and create a searchable
database with all the data of genealogical relevance.
Something similar to what we were doing with "The Colotlán Census"
from the Archivos Españoles where each team member gets assigned a
chapter or section of a book and as he/she is reading it enters the
who, when, where and what data into a previously agreed form.
When everybody gets their part done it would be a simple task to
concatenate all the parts into a single searchable database. Then
we'd select another book and do the same and so on.
The other part of the idea is to have a user interface that you can
access online where one would select a book's title from the
database
and then be able to search for a person's name and get a list of all
the instances that the name appears and the associated events to
it.
You would also be able to filter by dates and read all the persons
included in a selected period, some sort of timeline.
With an application like that we would not only learn about history
but we'd be accumulating data to be mined later with ease for our
genealogical purposes. I don't think any copyrights would be
infringed by extracting the "data" this way out of a book.
Of course there would have to be some criteria for the book's
selection process. We would have a list of "candidate" books and
then
by consensus make a selection or maybe there could be several teams
working on their own selected book projects. "Sumaria Relación" is
a
book that should be in such a list as well as many other history
books
from colonial times. What do you think? I have already toyed
around
with a possible database structure.
Victor
--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, Joseph Puentes <makas@n...> wrote:
Alicia Carrillo wrote:
Victor and Ed,
The reason I chose to use this quote is because the topic was
on
historical novelas and or movies. My recollection was that in
times
past many movies and novelas were created with this thematic
matter.
It is not that I agree or disagree with it, my opinion is not
of
any relevance as it is not well informed either way. The two of
you
appear to have much better information and anecdotal data than I
do. I
appreciate your inputs and comments and for my part enjoy when
two
diverging views are presented with facts or data to represent
each
point of view.
Please continue to enlighten us when ever possible. Since
joining
this
group I have been reading as much as possible on the history of
Mexico
at different time periods.
That might be something we could do as a group, provide more
names of
books and texts that each of us feels would be enlightening to
the
group as it relates to our research. You know what they say,
several people might read the same material and come away with
differing opinions. I would love to belong to a Latino/Mexican
literary group so that we could hold open discussions. I guess
I am
dreaming but if you don't have dreams you are not truly living.
dreams come through with action. here is how you do it. get
together
with those Rancho Members right in your area and pick a book to
read or
and get together quarterly to review the book. put a notice up in
the
family history center you attend and the others in the SF bay
area (you
could mail them to the others unless you want to make a visit).
just an idea.
joseph
Take care,
by Date 
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