CGS Library Committee

What better place for a group of genealogists to spend National Library Week than the Family History Library in Salt Lake City? I'm going to put a little twist on genea-blogger Lori Thornton's summons and write a tribute to the California Genealogical Society Library Committee and librarian volunteers.

The Library Committee is composed of several volunteers with years of experience in all areas of librarianship. They are experienced genealogists as well, who know how to catalog, locate new publications and out-of-print books, keep good records and, best of all, freely give their time and expertise. Past and present committee members include: Gloria Hanson, Barbara Hill, Arlene Miles and Laura Spurrier.

L to R: Laura Spurrier, Arlene Miles, Gloria Hanson. Not shown: Barbara Hill

Gloria Hanson has experience in libraries from Korea to St. Louis. After obtaining her Masters in Library Science (M.L.S.) from the University of Southern California, Gloria decided to "see the world" and worked as a civilian employee for the U.S. Army in Korea where she ran three libraries. Stateside she has worked as a cataloguer for the St. Louis Public Library system and retired from the San Francisco Public Library as a branch district manager. Now Gloria puts her experience to work for CGS primarily in periodical processing and cataloging and receiving books.

Barbara Hill has a total of thirty-three years of library work experience, including time in public, school, technical and academic libraries. Her favorite jobs involved working in library acquisitions which is her focus for the CGS Library Committee. She often humorously ascribes her interest in genealogy to "prenatal influence" since her mother was pregnant with Barbara while researching the family at the Library of Congress. (It probably influenced her career choice as well.) Barbara and her mother collaborated on the family's U.S. and Canadian research for many years until her mother's death.

Arlene Miles is a retired library technician who has acquired an eclectic resume in specialized libraries, including air quality management, law, environmental as well as volunteer work at an electric railway museum. Arlene joined CGS in 2007 intending to do family research but she couldn't resist keeping her fingers "in the library pie." She soon set to work on the uncataloged periodicals, setting up a spreadsheet to organize incoming titles, identify missing issues and process subcription renewals.

Laura Spurrier chairs the Library Committee and acts as head librarian. Her credentials include masters degrees in history and East Indian Area Studies from the University of Wisconsin and a M.L.S. from the University of California, Berkeley. Laura worked for fifteen years at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory where she retired as a technical information specialist. Genealogy was the family hobby in the Spurrier household so Laura caught the bug as a teenager. She is a specialist in Quaker research and has lectured on the topic to the society.

Please join me in honoring the CGS librarians for the valuable work they do.

Photograph by Kathryn M. Doyle, Salt Lake City, Utah, 4/16/2008.

Copyright © 2008 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Missing Money for You

CGS has landed in Salt Lake City this week for the 8th annual CGS Salt Lake City Research Tour. Seven of us drove from the airport to the hotel on the shuttle yesterday with Melinda M. Barbish, Auditing-Accounting Manager of the Division of Unclaimed Property, Department of the Treasury of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Melinda is here for a conference of a different sort but she advised us all to take a look at MissingMoney.com. The Web site is billed as "State governments working together to safeguard and return your lost funds" and is a collection of links to the Unclaimed Property divisions of the various state agencies. Click on the small map to bring up a page with a large clickable map of the U.S. which leads to each state's free search engine.

The Virginia Department of the Treasury defines Unclaimed Property as "All tangible or intangible property that has remained unclaimed by its owner for an extended period of time. This includes but is not limited to savings and checking accounts, wages or commisssions, underlying shares, dividends, customer deposit, credit balances, gift certificates, credit memos, refunds, etc.

What is the connection to genealogy? Melinda advises checking the databases in every state you have ever lived, and also to search your parents' and grandparents' names in all the states they lived, or any state in which they were stationed if they were in the military. In Melinda's home state of Virginia, one in seven residents are owed unclaimed funds.

After taking a look at some of the sites, these are also potential places to find missing relatives since many states give full addresses as well as names. If you don't find money, you may find cousins. Please leave a comment if you hit the lottery!

Feedback on the Eastern European Workshop

Nancy Hart Servin sent a glowing report on the first CGS "Second Saturday" workshop held yesterday at the CGS Library. Events coordinator, Carolyn Steinberg, did an excellent job of setting up the program entitled Eastern and Central European Research. Attendees first heard formal presentations by Jeremy Frankel, President of the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society, and Steve Danko, author of Steve's Genealogy Blog before the informal work session began. Steve gives a full report on his blog: Eastern European Research Workshop.

Nancy's account: "We had eight CGS members and one woman from the San Ramon Valley Genealogical Society, and the two leaders. Both presentations were interesting and informative, and Steve Danko's slides/powerpoint was a good addition. They are very knowledgeable and a few researchers who stayed afterward got some important extra help. We exchanged phone numbers and Emails addresses so if anyone wants to continue the search thread with someone from the meeting they can."

"The whole thing was very well done, and at least three members really seemed to benefit from it. Thanks to Jeremy and Steve for volunteering their time. Thanks to CGS for introducing us to two members who have expertise in a specific area."

Two Talks by Stephen Morse - May 10, 2008

May Membership Meeting
Please note the earlier start time!

Saturday, May 10, 2008, 1:00 p.m.
CGS Library, 2201 Broadway at 22nd, Oakland.

Please join us for two special talks by Dr. Stephen P. Morse.

"What Color Ellis Island Search Form Should I Use?"

& “The Jewish Calendar Demystified”

CGS members will have double the pleasure when popular speaker Steve Morse returns in May.

Steve's first talk will describe the evolution of the One-Step Ellis Island Web site to the One-Step Web Pages. In April 2001 the Ellis Island ship manifests and passenger records went online. A few weeks later the One-Step Ellis Island website was created to make this resource easier to use. Since that time the One-Step site has been greatly expanded to include new search capabilities and an array of color-coded search forms.

He will describe the evolution of the website from both a historical and a practical perspective, and provide a beacon for navigating through this color maze.

Dr. Morse's second lecture is a tongue-in-cheek but factual description of the Jewish Calendar as seen through the eyes of Adam and Eve. Because it is both a solar and lunar calendar, the rules that govern it can be a bit daunting. This piece was recently published in the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly which reflects its general appeal. It's not just for people doing Jewish genealogy - and is a very humorous talk!

CGS News - May 2008

The May 2008 issue of the CGS News, Volume XXXIX, No. 3, has been mailed out to members and its twelve pages are chock-full of news and information.

In This Issue:
“Post-1906 Immigration and Naturalization Records: Part I” by Nancy Peterson
Research Trip to the NEHGS Library in Boston: Registration Flier
A Tsunami of New Books, Books and More Books
Book Review, Events, and much more.

The CGS News, edited by Jane Hufft and produced by Lois Elling, is published six times a year by the California Genealogical Society. An annual subscription to the bi-monthly newsletter is included in a society membership ($35 per year). The newsletter keeps members up-to-date regarding speakers, trips, and other events of interest to family history researchers. Articles on relevant aspects of California history and ongoing publication of vital records are some of the regular topics.