What You Missed: Summer Thursday Night Discussions

Did you make it into the library this summer for our extended Thursday hours? Tim Cox and Jane Lindsey cooked up the idea last year and it has proved to be wildly successful. We've gotten lots of positive feedback from members who enjoyed coming to do research on a day they didn''t have to pack up and leave at 4:00 p.m. Some even came in at 9:00 a.m. and stayed until 8:30 p.m. closing!

Kim Cotton led "Social Networking: Facebook, RSS, Twitter and Blogs" on 6/16.

Jane and Tim also scheduled specific discussions for 6:30 p.m. – 8:15 p.m. every Thursday in June, July and August. Topics included everything from ethnic research to software and subscription databases.

Cathy Paris led "Creative Ways to Share and Write Your Family History Research" on 7/28.

A special "thank-you" to all of our member facilitators who led Thursday night discussions this summer: Judy Bodycote, Kim Cotton, Tim Cox, Gloria Hanson, Steve Harris, Sally Houston, Douglas Joe, Lorna Jones, Jane Lindsey, John Moore, Cathy Paris and Lavinia Schwarz.

Tim tells me we had a grand total of 147 attendees at the thirteen discussions – many attended more than one session. Thanks to you all for making our summer program a success!


Photographs courtesy of Jane Lindsey (6/16/11) and Jeremy Frankel (7/28/2011), Oakland, California.

Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

New in the Library: the Konika-Minolta Bizhub 250

 

The California Genealogical Society has a new piece of equipment in the library. Vice-president Jeffrey Vaillant negotiated a new rental contract to replace our aged copier with a state-of-the-art networked model that prints, copies, faxes and scans. Best of all, the new contract price costs less so updated technology also represents a monthly net savings to the society. Nice work, Jeff!

Installed in August, the Konica Minolta Bizhub 250 can print 25 black and white copies per minute or patrons and volunteers can scan instead of copying. The BizHub scans to and prints from all computers in addition to handling incoming faxes. The old stand-alone fax machine has been retired.

The BizHub automatically recognizes the copy size needed and has paper loaded for 8.5 x 11, 8.5 x 14 and 11 x 17 copies. It copies both sides (duplex) and has a stapler. Large print (11 x 17) capability allowed us to retire the HP5000 printer, making room for another computer “up front” which can be used by patrons or volunteer staff.

Jeff gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Kathy Watson who worked her tech-magic to network print, scan and fax functions.

Inservice training for desk volunteers took place on August 10, 2011. Training will continue as needed.


Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Legacy Planning: What Happens to Your Research after You Are Gone?

Saturday, October 15, 2011
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

California Genealogical Society Library
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2
Oakland, CA 94612

Legacy Planning usually refers to your will, trusts and medical directives. Have you thought about what is going to happen to your family history research? Do your children know what to do with those file cabinets, folders, binders and archival boxes full of memorabilia? Patricia Burrow will share some of the things we can do to ensure our family history research is preserved for future generations.

The class is limited to thirty-five participants and is a free benefit of membership. Non-members fee is $20.00 (non-refundable) and can be applied towards membership on the day of the workshop.

Preregistration is required. Walk-ins will not be admitted. Registration confirmations will be sent to the first 35 registrants. Additional names will be collected and placed on a waiting list in case of cancellations.

Register online.

Patricia Burrow has blended her retired, tech world vocation with her passionate avocation for genealogy research and storytelling. She leads several groups in the genealogy community and has been actively researching her family’s history for almost a decade. Pat has had several articles and stories published about her ancestors and is working on a book about her adopted grandmother and the two families that loved her. She teaches Reunion for the Mac at the Silicon Valley Computer Genealogy Group and participates in an indexing project at the Santa Clara County Archives. Her mantra is: “Your kids won’t throw away a book with their surname on it. Publish, publish, publish.”


Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Report from the 2011 Allen County Public Library Research Tour

This year's tour to Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana was led by CGS Vice-President Jeffrey Vaillant who sent this report:

The pressure is on to be back in 2013 when the Federation of Genealogical Societies holds its annual conference in Fort Wayne! That was one of many nuggets gathered during the week at the Allen County Public Library.

It was a great week for research with everyone devouring the stacks of information available in book form or in microfilm. We all agreed that the microfilm room itself could hold ice cream solid for days!

It was a great group of people – Cathy Gowdy, Nancy Peterson, Mary Lee Sammis, Patricia Smith and Duncan Tanner – who fanned out in the library hunting down new information and genealogical clues. Mary Lee thoroughly investigated the 50,000 family history books looking for her families. Cathy fed Mary Lee information as well as seeking her own. Nancy walked the book stacks with state and county histories finding in one Minnesota county history THE naturalization account with the local German town which had been eluding discovery. Duncan hunted down clues for his grandfather and Pat was the energizer bunny moving around at a frantic pace.

Nancy Peterson presented Curt Wicher with a copy of her second edition of Raking the Ashes: Genealogical Strategies for Pre-1906 San Francisco Research

There were many highlights of the time in Fort Wayne. Everyone agreed that the Wednesday night dinner with Curt Witcher was one of the best. He broke bread with us for two hours and talked about being at the Genealogical Department for 25+ years, the type of staff he hires (they are very very helpful), the challenges of being in a public library, the policies about collecting materials and what he foresees. [Hint: Subscribe to the Genealogy Gems from the ACPL.]

The next day Curt took us into the “basement” to see and ask questions about the archives.org scanning efforts taking place at the Library. There is excellent work being done to scan a multitude of records including the original New York Times newspapers from the 1860s!

Gastronomically we ate our way through Fort Wayne from Cindy’s Diner (only seats 15 at a time) to J.K. O’Donnell’s Irish Ale House for three dinners! Of course we did the Dash-In as well as the 13th floor Window Garden Café – the view of Fort Wayne from the 13th floor can be stated in one word: Flat! The Toscani Pizzeria, the 816 Pint & Slice together with the Loaf n’Ladle and even Dunkin Donuts at the Library got visits. Another highlight was the 1905 Pfeiffer House and Wayne Street Soda Shop. All of these were within a few blocks of the library and the weather cooperated by being in the low 80’s with reasonable humidity.

Another highlight was a good old fashion Midwestern thunder and lightning storm or the fireworks Saturday night after the Tincaps baseball game. A little something for everyone was provided.

The Courtyard by Marriott was a hit. As one participant stated “I have never stayed in a hotel with such fast, seamless internet…multiple public terminals and “Word” to boot. Staff is extraordinarily friendly.” There was a Starbucks onsite for all the breakfast needs so we ate our way through their offerings.

It was my good fortune to be with five completely self-starters. It was a wonderful way to “break” me into my first trip. My thanks to all the people for a great seven days at the ACPL and Fort Wayne. See you in 2013.

– Jeff Vaillant

Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

eNews September 2011, volume 5, number 9

The September 2011 eNews, volume 5, number 9,  has been published and emailed to members and friends. As always, the eNews features timely information about the California Genealogical Society and our upcoming events. Each edition also includes Suggested Links From the Blogosphere and a photo feature: California Ancestors.

This month, member Anita Wills honors her maternal great-uncle, William Chester Ruth, grandson of a slave, inventor, and self-made millionaire.

William Chester Ruth (1882-1971)

Past issues of the eNews are available at the eNews archive.

The October 2011 issue will be emailed on September 30, 2011. To receive a copy, please join our mailing list.

Photograph courtesy of Anita Wills.


Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library