Libraries Hit YouTube

Paula Stuart-Warren  Allen County Public Library, Conferences, Libraries, Mid-Continent Public Library  Leave a comment

I can’t wait to go upstairs and tell my 14 year old granddaughter that genealogy has hit YouTube. I am sure she will be impressed.

The Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana has a YouTube video tour of the new library and its resources. I saw many familiar faces on that video. The ACPL was the host for the Federation of Genealogical Societies’ Conference in 2007.Click here to watch the video.

In the same vein of genealogy conferences and new libraries, the Mid-Continent Public Library in Independence, Missouri will be hosting a reception during the National Genealogical Society Conference in May, 2008. The Mid-Continent Public Library Genealogy Center is building a new home that is scheduled to open in May. The video talks about that expansion and the resources of the library.

How Museums and Libraries Lose Stuff

Paula Stuart-Warren  Libraries  Leave a comment

Have you ever been in a library, archives, historical society or other facility and ordered a book, collection, or microform to view, only to be told it cannot be found? As genealogists we just know the missing item is the one that holds the long-sought clue to a brick wall in our research. The loss of items has generated much press in recent months. A recent article in the George Mason University’s History News Network discusses some of the losses and also addresses reasons for it.

One comment made by a reader concerns helpful patrons who reshelve the books they have looked at. The reason for book return shelves and carts is to prevent misshelving and many facilities look at the type of books being used. This aids in future purchases as well as decisions on books to put in storage when shelving capacity is bulging at the seams. I remember searching nearby shelves and behind other books to find a missing item. The same holds true for missing microforms. The article serves as a reminder to follow the reshelving or refiling rules of any place we visit in our family history research.

Paula Stuart-Warren  Family  Leave a comment

I just spent a great weekend near Duluth, Minnesota visiting my daughter and her family. Yes, we had 14.5 inches of snow there on Saturday. I heard that they received an additional 12 inches today. My grandchildren there are 2, 6, and 9. The 6 and 8 year old boys were fascinated by some of the pictures and maps I showed them online. The 2 year old girl always wants to see the pool pictures on my computer. These are pictures of the three of them at a Duluth indoor water park we went to last March when they had the previous big storm.

On purpose I also showed a slide show of older family pictures. The boys were curious about the names of the people and how they connected to them. Their attention span is not great, but the slide show on the computer kept them more interested than showing them paper photos. They also wanted to know where the people lived. That brought out the globe. A great way for a family history and geography lesson. Then I showed the 8 year old daily and historical newspapers online. He was furiously writing down the URLs. Then I showed him some sites with digitized books. Thankfully, these boys also like to have books they can hold and read. But it was fascinating to watch them looking at me like I was a font of knowledge. Yes, I enjoyed that.

NGS Conference Program and Registration

Paula Stuart-Warren  Conferences, National Genealogical Society  Leave a comment

This past Saturday, The National Genealogical Society posted the program for its May 14-17, 2008 conference in Kansas City. Registration is open for this conference that features more than 150 lectures and workshops. Kansas City and the surrounding area is a great place for research, tourism, restaurants, and more — check out the extensive details at the conference website.

For those who register no later than the early bird deadline of March 31st, there is a choice of either a printed or CD version of the syllabus. The availibility of both printed and CD versions of the syllabus is only $10.00 extra charge if ordered by this date. Those who register after this date will only receive the CD version.

I am intrigued by some of the interesting lecture titles that appear to be unique to this program.

Keeping Up with Salt Lake City Changes

Paula Stuart-Warren  Salt Lake City  Leave a comment

If you would like to keep up with what is happening with the former Crossroads Plaza mall and ZCMI Center in Salt Lake City, check out Downtown Rising. The new complex is called City Creek Center and is scheduled for completion in mid-2011. The site includes details such as overview maps, FAQs, press releases, retail info (grocery, restaurants, food court +), and planned residential space. If you are traveling to SLC, don’t forget that the Gateway shopping complex just a few blocks from the library is open as are the shopping areas on 400 South (University Line) that can be reached by Trax Light Rail or bus. Restaurants abound in both places.

Check out Downtown Salt Lake City for info on downtown restaurants and other helpful details.

Holiday Travel

Paula Stuart-Warren  Family, grandchildren  Leave a comment

Not me. Last year I spent Christmas in northern Minnesota with my daughter, her husband, and their three grandchildren. This year it is their turn to come to the Twin Cities.

Our family began our holiday season today with a birthday dinner for my oldest granddaughter, Kaylene, who turned 14. As if having a granddaughter who is already 14 wasn’t traumatic enough, she has now surpassed me in height. Not by much, but she is elated.

For many years, an extended business trip has kept me away on her birthday. We began a tradition of what she calls her “fake birthday.” It is celebrated either before or after my business trip. I recently told her I would be in town on her birthday so we could celebrate on time. She said she still wanted the “fake birthday.” It is special Granddaughter and Grandma time, and I was thrilled that she wanted our tradition to continue. This year we are going out to dinner and then jewelry shopping for her gift.

Page 161, 6th Sentence

Paula Stuart-Warren  Blogs, Tagging  Leave a comment

For some time now, bloggers with a connection to genealogy have been “tagging” each other. This is tagging as in tag, you’re it! Challenges are made, information is requested, and so on. Some is very serious, other tags are just interesting and some are humorous. Randy Seaver issued a tag to me yesterday, November 17th in his blog. I don’t always have time to accept the challenge, but I did today. The tag this time around is to open the book you are currently reading to page 161 and post the book title, author, and the 6th sentence on that page. Yes, Randy, I do read your blog, Genea-Musings. Reading the blogs of others is something that I do when I am trying to avoid other work that is calling to me. After all, keeping up on the genealogy world in general is important!

The first book I am reading is really going to tell you something about me. Actually, I can blame Eileen Polakoff, another professional genealogist for this one. A few years ago when I was going through one of those trying times in life, she sent me a big box of romance novels. I became hooked on this mindless fluff. I can find the best romance novel sections in used books stores everywhere. The current trashy novel is Daring by Jillian Hunter. Why did I pick this book — it was on sale at Wal-Mart and had Scottish plaid on the cover. After all, my maiden name is Stuart. I was hoping that page 161, 6th sentence would be one I could post! The sentence is “She jumped, putting her hand to her heart.” No, I will not tell you the rest of the story!

The second book on my nightstand is Nathan Philbrick’s Mayflower. The 6th sentence on page 161 is “But for William Bradford, who had come to American to recreate the community of fellow worshippers he had known in Scrooby and in Leiden, there would always be something missing.” I can blame this gift book on another professional genealogist, Josh Taylor.

I no longer have genealogy periodicals on my nightstand. A break from genealogy is important now and then. As someone who works full time and then some in this field, those breaks are great therapy.

List of Newspaper Indexes and Images Online

Paula Stuart-Warren  Newspaper Indexes  Leave a comment

The Library of Congress website includes a section “Newspaper Archives/Indexes/Morgues.” This page includes links to sites with newspaper indexes, images, directories, and other links for finding newspapers online. In this case it is largely directed at historical newspapers which are what genealogists generally seek. One section of the page tells which newspaper related sites have a fee involved. Be sure to check on some of the links to other general sites for more lists. Check back occasionally for updates to the lists. Now, if miraculously the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Minneapolis Star-Tribune and other Twin Cities newspapers were only indexed online before the late 1980s, I would be a totally happy camper.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Paula Stuart-Warren  Cemeteries  Leave a comment

During World Wars I & II, 1.7 million men and women died during their service to the Commonwealth. The London Times recently carried an article that listed databases, collections, and hints to use in tracing the war graves. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission alone covers cemeteries found in 150 countries that represent those 1.7 million war casualty burials from World Wars I and II. The easily searchable database results give the service person’s name, rank, service #, date of death, age, regiment, nationality, and the name & place of the cemetery or memorial. The nationality column includes Australian, Canadian, Indian, New Zealand, South African and United Kingdom. I checked the database for one of my English surnames and 70 names popped up, including one Canadian.

The register can also be searched for the 67,000 Commonwealth civilians who died as a result of enemy action in World War II. The CWGC website is a treasure trove of information.

My October Arkansas Trip

Paula Stuart-Warren  Arkansas  Leave a comment

Though the trip was a business one, I did save a couple days for personal genealogy and visiting friends. I stopped in Clarksville and Ozone, Arkansas for a short while. My late father-in-law was born a bit south of Clarksville, in Jamestown.

Things have changed, but I still recognized important places. Being there always reminds me of the summer we tent camped on the Arkansas River and the humidity and the cicadas kept us awake. Lesson learned: do not go camping in a nylon tent in Arkansas in August. When the relatives in Fort Smith offered a couple of air conditioned rooms we jumped at the opportunity. LOL.

The drive north through the town of Ozone was quite different. A lot of home have been built along the road. I drove north to Branson but driving through the Ozarks did not bring the oohs and ahs of beautiful fall colors — the leaves were just beginning to turn. Still, the awesome beauty and fresh air of the Ozarks was there on a sunny day as I drove with my windows open.