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to Parent - Frost Families Organization home pageAncestry.com - "Along Those Lines..." by George G. Morgan, October 16, 1998.
Libraries have always been among my most favorite places. I grew up in a small town in North Carolina in which the town librarian was a crusader for more funding, more space and more commitment on the part of local government officials and citizens alike. Her efforts reaped great benefits. Not only did she get the funding, she got a beautiful new building to house the town's library collection. Local citizens donated money and time to expand and improve the collection to make it worthy of the new facility. She arranged for interlibrary loan of materials within the county library system And finally, there was space for a genealogical collection!
I was wondering the other night about the town librarian, and what she would think of modern libraries today. Certainly, in the nearly quarter century since her death, there have been amazing technological changes that have impacted all researchers, especially genealogists. In "Along Those Lines..."this week, I'd like to talk about some of the components of the modern library and how we, as genealogists are using them.
In the last 10-15 years, libraries have recognized the need to computerize their holdings. Most of us take for granted that materials are in our library's database, and ran be searched by author, title, subject, etc. This ability to 'slice and dice" information in a variety of ways makes locating materials vastly easier than in the past.
Many libraries are making their mechanized catalogs available online so that local patrons and distant individuals can check their holdings. As a genealogist, when I'm looking for information about specific books, it is not unusual for me to dial into my local public library to check the catalog. I can do this 24 hours a day at my leisure. I also connect with other distant libraries, such as those at colleges and universities, libraries in towns and cities I plan to visit for genealogical research, and even the venerable Library of Congress' prototype online catalog called the Experimental Search System (ESS).
If you aren't investigating library holdings via dial-in access to your local library and / or Internet access to catalogs, you're missing opportunities to locate materials that might help your research and investigation.
Modern libraries have supplemented their print collections with CD-ROM's of all sorts. In a genealogical collection, these can be a tremendous asset because they provide an inexpensive, compact, and usually searchable body of information. One CD of inexpensive, compact, and usually searchable body of information. One CD of particularly extraordinary value is PERSI - the Pon'odical Source Index. Formerly only available to larger libraries, and occupying a significant amount of shelf space, PERSI contains references to genealogical periodicals and articles that may help you locate specific articles and / or references about your ancestors. Prepared and maintained by the Allen County (IN) Public Library, and now published on CD-ROM by Ancestry, Inc., at a very reasonable price, PERSI is a "must-have" in genealogical collections.
There are hundreds if not thousands of other genealogical CDs available, ranging from U.S. and some foreign census indexes, marriage record references, military service records, ships passenger list records, collections of GEDCOM flies, and many, many others. Other CDs of interest to genealogists include references to historical periodicals.
Many libraries, especially the larger public libraries and certainly the academic libraries, subscribe to online databases. Some of these may be stored on computers in the library itself (called "servers") and may be accessed from designated computer terminals, either in the library or in the library system's network. There are literally thousands of different databases available today. Depending on your library's budget, they may subscribe to some databases that you may find helpful in your research. Some, for instance, may have genealogy-specific information. Most, however, may provide you access to historical information or news articles.
Some libraries databases may consist of a specific CD-ROM or set of CDs, stored in a CD-ROM drive or a CD-ROM tower, and available from specific computers. The contents may range from news articles to magazines, and any number of other materials. Check with your library to determine what databases they may have.
In centuries and decades past, a library patron was limited to only those materials that were on the shelves. That is no longer true. Today's libraries, recognizing that patrons expect staff members to be information brokers, have leaped into the Internet with both feet. In Florida, for instance, the state library has funded grants to provide Internet access, some dedicated public - access Internet computers, browser software, and formal training through library consortia and cooperatives for library personnel. Other states have adopted similar approaches to equipping libraries and archives with Internet computers.
These public access Internet computers provide you, the patron, with access to literally thousands of genealogical sites on the Internet. No one who wishes to use the Internet has an excuse not to do so. Using Internet search engines (Web sites with indexes of the Internet that allow you to search the Indexes), you can search for surnames, places, and any other word or topic.
You must skeptically consider any information located on the Internet as a secondary source, and corroborate each fact with other sources. However, there is an information explosion taking place on the Web, and the clues and pointers you find there can be just the Information that you need.
Perhaps you're one of those new breed of genealogical researchers - "have laptop; will travel.' If you use a laptop computer, and carry it with you to the modem library, you will not be disappointed, Newer libraries are designed with easy to reach power outlets. Older libraries are being retrofitted with outlets as funding allows. Some libraries are even installing carrels with electrical outlets and special lighting fixtures for computer users.
When I visited the South Carolina State Archives in Columbia, SC, in July, I saw one young woman working with microfilm while, at the same time, she was transcribing it into her laptop. I saw another researcher at the Tampa - Hough County (FL) Public Library busily checking printed materials against his genealogy database program loaded on his laptop. In both cases, the researchers were effectively using their computers for research.
If you think you want to use a scanner, you should think again. Because many older documents, books and manuscripts may be damaged by exposure to bright light, the modern library may have a policy against the use of a scanner you might bring into the library. Be certain to ask permission before bringing a scanner and using It in a library.
Security for your computer equipment is your concern. No library that I've talked with yet has said that it would assume any responsibility for computer equipment used there. Libraries funding rarely includes payroll for security personnel. Only the larger libraries and specialized archives can afford that luxury. Be certain, therefore, not to leave your laptop and other valuable electronic equipment unattended, even for a moment.
Earlier this year, a reader wrote and complained that he had been ejected from a state archives for using his digital camera. I subsequently asked members of a genealogy librarians' mailing list (listserv) what their library policy was about use of cameras. The responses were these:
1. Any camera using flash equipment is undesirable. Photosensitive materials can be damaged by exposure to even a single flash. and therefore flash photography is prohibited.
2. Flash photography of any sort is distracting and annoying to patrons, and is prohibited without permission.
3. Use of any camera equipment, including digital cameras and video camcorders, may not be used without permission of the library.
There were a few other stipulations but, as you can see, photography inside the library is not encouraged - certainly not without permission.
The fact that some materials are light-sensitive, and can be damaged with even a minimal exposure to high intensity light, is ample reason for your caution. Newsprint, telephone directories and city directories were printed on papers that were never intended to last for a long period of time. Manuscripts and other documents may have been written using light-i6nsitive inks that may easily fade until the writing is indistinguishable. Some books fall into both of the categories.
If you have any questions about copying these fragile and ephemeral materials, don't hesitate to ask the library staff. You don't want to damage any materials that future generations might otherwise be able to enjoy.
Some libraries have compiled collections of video and audio tapes that related to genealogical research. I have seen some impressive videotapes about using maps in genealogical research. I've also borrowed a6dio tapes of books and presentations of a historical or genealogical nature.
Modem libraries offer us the facilities to support the technologies we use in our genealogical research. The library staff are becoming highly trained and more skilled at helping us in directing us to in-house print and electronic resources. They also are helping us in directing us to in-house print and electronic resources. They also are adept in helping us locate and use the databases, the CD-ROM products, and the wealth of materials on the Internet.
I'd also like to dedicate this column to Miss Mary Scott Johnson, that wonderful hero of my small town library who started my research off right. There are thousands of men and women like her who make the so-called modern library a familiar and enjoyable place in which we can research our genealogy. I applaud them all and thank them for making the modem library a home away from home for us all.
Happy
hunting,
George
Copyright
1998 George G. Morgan
All Rights reserved
"Along Those Lines ..." is a weekly feature of the Genealogy Forum on America
Online (Keyword: ROOTS).
This column originally appeared in the Genealogy Forum on America Online.
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