|
"Along Those Lines"
3/7/2003 - Archive
Planning Your Genealogy Vacation on the Internet, Part One
Good weather is coming. (Trust me on this one!) Summer, too, is just around
the corner and the prospect of a great vacation. If you're like me, almost every
vacation I take has some focus on genealogical research. At the very least,
I visit every library I can fit into the schedule because I never know where
that next important clue will be found.
The Internet has made planning a trip, especially a family history vacation,
a lot easier. In this and next week's "Along Those
Lines . . ." columns, let's explore some of the ways you can start planning
your own summer genealogy vacation.
Deciding on the Location
Most of my vacations are planned with a destination and goal in mind. Perhaps
it's a trip to visit family or a planned family reunion. Sometimes I'm attending
a meeting or a conference. And still other times I may just want to make a sightseeing
tour to places of general or historical interest. Whatever the reason, I know
I can always incorporate some genealogical research into the schedule.
Once I know the places I want to visit, I can then start organizing to plan
the research I might want to accomplish. That means gathering information from
my database and from files, and rereading what I have (and don't have) on specific
persons who lived in the area. Knowing that I can't always answer all the questions
and find documentation on all the facts I want to prove, it's important to set
some goals.
--- Who will I research?
--- What information do I want to find?
--- What document types might satisfy my queries?
--- When, where, and why were those documents created?
--- Where are the documents likely to be found now?
--- How can I gain access to those documents and other materials?
--- What other places do I want to visit?
I review the list of persons I want to research - and who realistically I can
research in the time available to me on the trip. Based on those decisions,
I then prepare a list of what information I want to find, and in what format
it might exist. I next have to consider where these materials may have been
generated, and by what governmental or private entity. Then I have to determine
where those materials might be found today: a courthouse, a health department,
a vital statistics bureau, a public records office, a church, in a library or
archives, in the possession of a genealogical or historical society, in a private
collection, or in other place.
My next step is then to prepare a list of likely locations where the documents
may be located, and then my Internet research can begin.
Locating Places Online
It is essential to organize yourself before you leave the house, and it is never
too early to begin. Based on the information you've compiled and the list of
information and materials you wish to locate, you want to locate and make contact
with these places in advance. For example, you want to determine where they
are physically located, what their hours of operation are, what can be found
in their holdings, whether you need to make an appointment in advance to access
the material or to speak with the resident expert, whether you need a researcher
ID, and what costs there might be for copies. Remember that summer operating
hours for some facilities may be different than at other times of the year.
Materials you might want to use may be stored off-site and may require an advance
request to gain you access. The worst possible situation would be one where
the materials you want to see are out for microfilming, binding, repair, or
on loan to another facility. It is always wise to make contact in advance. Information
on websites is not always up to date, and you don't want to waste a visit.
The following are some of the types of facilities that you might want to visit
on your trip, and methods for accessing their websites.
LIBRARIES - Visit Library Spot.
This site includes links to websites for public and academic libraries, state
libraries, government libraries, presidential libraries, and others.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES - The National Archives and Records Administration in the
U.S. can be accessed at www.archives.gov
and there you can locate information about each NARA Branch. The Library and
Archives of Canada can be accessed at www.archives.ca.
To locate other national archives in other countries, use your favorite Internet
search engine and type the name of the country followed by a + and the phrase
"national archive" in quotation marks as shown below. (Note: Always
use the singular archive rather than the plural archives; you have a better
chance of making a match. Also, always type your search in lower case.)
scotland + "national archive"
STATE LIBRARIES OR ARCHIVES - The same search strategy holds true for state,
regional, and territorial libraries or archives. Type the name of the entity
first and enclose it in quotation marks to make it an 'exact phrase' if there
are multiple words in the name. Follow this with a + character and either the
exact phrase in quotation marks "state library" or the term archive
(and not archives). Here are some examples.
ohio + "state library"
"new south wales" + archive
OTHER ARCHIVAL HOLDINGS - If you are aware of another archive or are seeking
the possibility of one for a specific type of resource, structure a search such
as those that follow.
To locate an archive of materials concerning railroads in North Carolina, you
might type the following in your browser.
archive + railroad + "north carolina"
LOCATING GOVERNMENT OFFICES - An easy way to locate government offices is to
determine the geographical area, such as a state name or a county name, and
then enter a structured search in your browser. Here are some examples.
"alachua county" + florida
This might yield a general county page. You could further narrow your search
to fewer and more specific Web pages by using searches such as those shown in
the next examples.
"alachua county" + florida + court
"alachua county" + florida + "probate court"
"alachua county" + florida + "health department"
LOCATING ENTITIES IN A SPECIFIC PLACE - You may want to locate information about
an organization in a specific places. For example, perhaps you want to locate
all websites for or about Baptist churches in Plains, Georgia. You might type
the following in your browser.
"baptist church" + plains + Georgia
Bear in mind that not every entity may have a website. Therefore, you will want
to use the online telephone resources to help locate organizations, companies,
and people. One of my favorite resources is one called The Ultimates. Here you can choose from White Pages for individuals, Yellow Pages for businesses
and organizations, a Trip Planner, and more. A search of the Yellow Pages here
under just the first tool, Infospace, using NAME baptist, CATEGORY church, CITY
plains, and STATE yielded five (5) Baptist churches I could contact.
Of course there are other people and business search facilities on the Internet.
For example, there is the Yahoo! People Search
and the Yahoo! Yellow Pages, as well as other sites like WhoWhere?, Switchboard.com, and any number of other resources. You can find others by enter one of the
following text in your browser.
"white pages"
"yellow pages"
You can even add the + character and specify a country, as in the examples below.
"white pages" + germany
"yellow pages" + singapore
GENEALOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETIES - Genealogical and historical societies
can provide a great deal of guidance in your research, and a visit to one while
on your trip may open many new research doors. Few, however, can afford to be
staffed and open for extended hours. You will want to make contact in advance
to learn what materials they might have in their possession and/or if there
are persons who could meet with you and provide guidance about the coverage
area and their collection. Certainly you can use your browser to search for
a society in a given area, as in the following example.
nebraska + "genealogical society"
"new mexico" + "santa fe" + "genealogical society"
tampa + "historical society"
Please note, though, that not all societies use such logical naming patterns.
The easiest place to locate the most genealogical societies in the U.S. is at
the Ancestry.com/Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS)
Society Hall site.
Here you can search by society name or keyword, by city, by state/province,
and/or by ZIP code.
You will probably still have to use your browser to locate historical societies,
and you may also want to substitute the exact phrase "family history"
for the word genealogical to catch all possible matches. Still, this is an effective
use of your advance research preparation.
Start Researching Now
As you've seen in the examples above, there really are effective ways to begin
your planning now for an upcoming genealogical vacation. Let me encourage you
in the coming week to practice with the samples I've given you in this column.
Then, try to structure some searches specific to your own research goals.
In next week's column, we'll discuss the use of online catalogs and we'll explore
the optimum ways to plan the physical part of your trip: airline reservations,
maps, hotel accommodations, car rentals, and other logistical arrangements.
The Internet has made advance planning of vacations and visits to research venues
very simple. All you need is a little advance organization, some logical thought,
and the knowledge of how to effectively use your Internet browser. Get started
now, and I'll see you here next week.
Happy hunting!
George
George G. Morgan would like to hear from you at atl@ahaseminars.com
but, due to the volume of e-mail received, he is unable to answer every e-mail
message. Please note that he cannot assist you with your individual research.
Visit George's website at http://ahaseminars.com/atl
for information about speaking engagements.
Copyright 2003, MyFamily.com Inc. All rights reserved.
|
|
 |
|
