Last Call For Submissions to the 82nd Edition of the COG

The California Genealogical Society and Library blog is hosting the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy: Breaking Into Society.

The deadline is today so you have until midnight tonight to answer the following questions:

What's your favorite genealogical society?

Do you belong to a society?

Tell us why! Or if not, why not?

Some CGS members may not be familiar with blog carnivals – collections of articles written about a specific theme. The host blog presents the edition (think magazine) and provides links to each blog article submitted.

The Carnival of Genealogy was invented by Jasia of Creative Gene in June 2006. There are two editions published each month and the CGSL blog is honored to be hosting the 82nd edition.

As always, the footnote Maven has created a beautiful poster for this edition of the COG. She has all the details on how to submit at her blog Breaking Into Society at the COG.

Lorna's Report From the Alameda County Fair

CGS member Lorna Wallace helped staff the Alameda County Fair Genealogy Booth again this year and sent this report:

The Livermore-Amador Valley Genealogical Society (L-AGS) has sponsored a genealogy booth at the Alameda County Fair for the last few years. It is located in the large, air-conditioned (very important on hot summer days) “Technology Building”, where other computer-related attractions are going on. The booth features three computer stations with connections to several subscription databases (Ancestry, VitalRecords-CA and Footnote) for demonstrating the powerful search products that are now available. There is also a helpful handout listing many of the big, free sites, like Cyndislist.

There are two types of volunteers staffing the booth: “greeters” encourage visitors to mark their places of birth on large mounted maps of the U.S. and the world, and to fill out pedigree charts. “Researchers” then try to find an ancestors using the computer resources. Some visitors sit down at the computer and think their family history is just sitting in there, waiting to pop up on the screen. Some have been trying to use the Internet, but have not discovered basic sites such as Rootsweb or FamilySearch. Then there were those who actually brought notes so they could use their time well. Several used their cell phones to call relatives, right on the spot, to get a piece of missing information.

I think the biggest challenge for us, the volunteers, is the fact that we are presented with a whole segment of our community that are not well represented in the usual population of genealogical society membership. We come face-to-face with people from all over the world, especially Latin America and Asia, who want to know how to research their ancestry in their home county. The L-AGS is doing a good job of trying to find and provide resources.

Genealogists have so much to share. I encourage all of the members of the California Genealogical Society to volunteer next year when the Fair returns in late June of 2009.

Lorna Wallace is an active volunteer on the CGS Book Repair and Desk Duty Committees. She also handles book mailings for the society. Thanks for the report, Lorna, and for representing the society so well.

Photographs courtesy of Duncan Tanner.

Alameda County Fair Genealogy Booth

Volunteers Needed!
June 20 – July 6, 2008
The Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society (L-AGS) is gearing up for the annual Genealogy Booth at the 2008 Alameda County Fair. This is the ninth year that the society has organized and staffed the popular station in the fair's Technology Adventures Building at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, located at Valley Avenue and Bernal Avenue in Pleasanton, California.

CGS member and L-AGS Fair Booth Coordinator, Kay Speaks, sent the following:
"We are inviting other genealogy societies, DAR Chapters, FHC docents, historical societies and library genealogy docents to join us in this fun and very rewarding endeavor. Want to reserve an entire day for your organization? Please contact the fair booth coordinator to reserve a convenient date."

The genealogy booth is one of the most popular attractions at the seventeen-day fair, where hundreds of people get their first exposure to the genealogy bug. The booths are equipped with computers, laser printers and Internet access. Each session has three research docents and two greeters scheduled. Many volunteers, like CGS member Lorna Wallace, have wonderful stories to share from past years so organizers are promoting the event as "An Experience You Will Want to Repeat Year After Year."

The Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society serves the cities of Livermore, Pleasanton and Dublin and surrounding areas in the Livermore and Amador Valleys of southeastern Alameda County, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The society was formed in June 1977 by student participants of a Livermore Adult Education Class. General meetings are held at 7:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at Congregation Beth Emek, 3400 Nevada Court, Pleasanton. The Society, in cooperation with the City of Pleasanton Library, maintains the largest collection of genealogical materials in the Valley, numbering over 1000 books.

For additional information about volunteering, e-mail Kay Speaks.