Fall 2009 Beginning Genealogy Series

In celebration of October Family History Month, the Oakland Regional Family History Center (ORFHC) and the California Genealogical Society (CGS) are offering an encore Beginning Genealogy Research Series. Four classes will be taught on Thursdays at the ORFHC and repeated on Saturdays, at the CGS Library.

The same teachers and handouts will be used in both sessions each week and enrolled students can attend classes at either or both facilities. Classes start on September 24, 2009. All classes will be held from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. In addition, an optional Internet Workshop will be held on Thursday, October 1 and Saturday, October 3, 2009 from 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

There is a $15 fee for the full series of classes which includes a printed syllabus. Single classes can be attended for a fee of $4 per class if space is available. The optional workshop will not be open to walk-ins.

Free parking is available at both locations. The Oakland Regional Family History Center is located at 4766 Lincoln Avenue, Oakland, California 94602. The California Genealogical Society Library is located at 2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland, California 94612.

Preregistration is necessary to ensure adequate handouts. Drop-ins will be welcome on a space available basis. Please register by telephone 510-531-3905 or by e-mail.

Those students wishing to join the California Genealogical Society will also receive $10 off their memberships after attending all four classes. The offer expires on October 17, 2009.

To register for the Beginning Genealogy Seminar, download the registration form from the CGS website and mail with a check for $15 to the ORFHC, attn: Marge Bell, 4766 Lincoln Avenue, Oakland, California 94602.

Class outline and schedule:

Session I – Introduction to the Science of Genealogy (2 hrs.) – Margery Bell
Thursday, September 24 & Saturday, September 26, 2009, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Session II – Secondary Resources (2 hrs.) – Jane Knowles Lindsey
Thursday, October 1, 2009 & Saturday October 3, 2009, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Optional Internet Workshop (1.5 hrs.) – Jane Knowles Lindsey
Thursday, October 1, 2009 & Saturday October 3, 2009, 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Session III – Census Records (1.5 hours) – Margery Bell
Thursday, October 8, 2009 & Saturday October 10, 2009, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Session IV – Vital Records and the Calendar Change (2 hrs.) – Margery Bell
Thursday, October 15, 2009 & Saturday October 17, 2009, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Announcing the CGS e-News ARCHIVE

Some of you may not know that in addition to blogging for the California Genealogical Society and Library, I also edit our electronic newsletter, the CGS e-News. Until now, the only way to view an issue was via email.

Now the society is offering an online archive of all past editions of the newsletter. The CGS e-News ARCHIVE can be accessed through the society website. The link is in the left sidebar.

The e-News ARCHIVE contains all of the previously published issues of the CGSL monthly electronic newsletter, organized by year.

The CGS e-News is e-mailed to members and subscribers on the first of each month. Besides the time sensitive announcements of society meetings, classes and events, the newsletter also contains two regular features that may be of interest long after publication:

1. New trends in the world of genealogy are the focus of Editor's Picks: Suggested Links from the Blogosphere.

2. Members submit old family photographs to CGS Ancestors: Photo Tributes to the CGS Family. This feature, edited by Cathy H. Paris, has already helped one member to find a new branch of her Hetrick family.

I hope you will check out some of our old issues. Please let me know if you find a new connection.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday
Desk Duty Training at the CGS Library
Saturday, August 8, 2009

Photographs courtesy of Tim Cox, Oakland, California

BayNet Spotlight on CGS and Interview with Jane

Today BayNet, the Bay Area Library and Information Network, turns their spotlight on the California Genealogical Society and features an interview with CGS President Jane Lindsey. She answers questions about getting started in genealogy, what the society offers those with ancestors from outside California and more.

Thanks to BayNet and webmaster Amy Rogers for helping us spread the word about CGS!

About BayNet from their website:

A multi-type library association, BayNet welcomes librarians and information professionals from all varieties of organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our mission is to strengthen connections among all types of libraries and information centers, and to promote communication, professional development, cooperation, and innovative resource sharing.

Workshop: Digital Photography - A Tool For Your Genealogical Research

Digital Photography – A Tool For Your Genealogical Research
A Workshop with Mary Beth Frederick

Saturday, September 19, 2009
10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
California Genealogical Society Library
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland, California

Join CGS member Mary Beth Frederick and learn how to use your digital camera to take photographs of books, original documents, microfilms, and computer screens. Using this method will save you time, money, energy, and frustration, not to mention your back by never again toting a mountain of paper in your carry-on baggage!

The workshop is a FREE benefit of membership but is limited to fifteen people. Pre-registration is required - no walk-ins will be allowed. There is a non-refundable sign-up fee of $10 for non-members. (This fee can be applied toward membership on the day of the workshop.) There is a sign-up sheet at the CGS Library desk. Please call CGS at 510-663-1358 or email CGSLevents@gmail.com to reserve a space.

Mary Beth Frederick has enjoyed careers in marketing research, systems analysis and design, project management and as an editor for both print catalogs and an online website. She inadvertently retired when her last employer went out of business.

For over four and a half years, she has been engaged full time in researching her family tree and that of her husband as well as the times and places in which their ancestors lived. She has researched the records of many U.S. states; French Canada and the Louisiana Territory; France and Germany; Wales and the Channel Islands, and South Africa. When the volume of paper collected during the first two years of research threatened to outgrow her office, she started taking digital photos of source documents.

Mary Beth attended the 2008 Salt Lake Institute to study family history writing with John Philip Colletta and Patricia Law Hatcher, has studied Old German handwriting with Ingeborg Carpenter, and holds memberships in First Families of St. Louis and La Société des Filles du roi et soldats du Carignan. She earned a BA in English Literature with Classics from The Loyola University of Chicago.

She was born and raised in southeast Nebraska where she was related to nearly everyone in the county, which meant that finding a date (or a mate) presented a challenge. She solved this problem by meeting and marrying a South African. He does have a French surname, however, so she wouldn’t be surprised to find that they are related, too. Earlier this year, Mary Beth visited Australia where she has no known cousins. She is considering making the koala her totem animal since this furry creature also spends most of its time in trees.