52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy - Week 8 - Genealogy Libraries

For week 4 on free offline resources, I blogged about my gratitude for public libraries and touted the wonderful genealogical resources available in the Los Angeles Public Library’s History and Genealogy Department. It is where I do most of my library research.

My favorite genealogy library is at the Southern California Genealogical Society in Burbank. An overview of their collections can be found here. SCGS offers genealogical lectures, classes for beginners, and special interest group meetings, all at the library. One can order films from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and have them delivered to the SCGS library. The opportunities for research are almost boundless.

But the best part of going to the SCGS library is seeing friends who share my passion for genealogical research!

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2012) that invite genealogists and others to discuss resources in the genealogy community including websites, applications, libraries, archives, genealogical societies and more. You do not have to be a blogger to participate. If you do not have a genealogy blog, write down your thoughts on your computer, or simply record them on paper and keep them with your files.


© 2012 Denise Spurlock, Ancestral Trees Research

It's A Wrap! Final Thoughts on Jamboree 2011

It's been a little over a week since the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree 2011 ended. I've been suffering from genealogy information overload as the result of attending two major conferences in a month's time. So, finally, here is my final report on this year's Jamboree.

Nancy Loe, MA, MLS, author of the Sassy Jane Genealogy blog, gave a presentation on using archival materials to a packed house. I was excited to see so many people interested in using the kinds of original records that can be found in libraries and archives around the state and country.

Next up were two activities of the Southern California Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists: the Board meeting at lunch time and the general meeting later in the afternoon. Plans are well under way for the Mini PMC (Professional Management Conference), an event designed to help members of the chapter enhance their professional skills. More information about membership and the Mini PMC is available at the chapter's website.

The Saturday evening banquet speaker was Curt Witcher, MA, FUGA, IGSF, of the Allen County Public Library. His presentation emphasized how the technology available today creates opportunities for us to touch others through family history research.

Sunday morning brought a presentation on California research with Cath Trindle, CG, exploring resources available in our golden state. Then it was on to a little big band music and Joel Weintraub, PhD, discussing the release of the 1940 census on April 2, 2012, and how to be prepared for it.

Lastly, I spent a couple of hours at the Ask An Expert table talking with attendees about their research and how they might move forward on some problem areas.

Kudos to the Southern California Genealogical Society, Jamboree chairmen Paula Hinkel and Leo Myers, and all the Jamboree volunteers for a fabulous time! Looking forward to next year!


© 2011 Denise Spurlock, Ancestral Trees Research

It’s Day 2 of Jamboree 2011!

I can’t believe it is already Saturday and the 2nd day of Jamboree. To recap what I’ve been doing:

The Family History Writers’ Conference on Thursday was outstanding. I attended all four sessions presented by John Colletta, Ph.D. His talks included information on how to assemble the documents and write a narrative family history, how to build historical context, principles of good writing and storytelling, and challenges and pitfalls to writing good narrative family histories. I learned a lot about the process and, although it is still a daunting task, I feel much more comfortable with tackling a writing project of this magnitude.

After my “field trip” yesterday with friend Corey Oiesen to Forest Lawn Memorial Park, I attended Gena Philibert Ortega’s talk on “The Secret Lives of Women: Examining Domestic Artifacts.” She focused on signature quilts, journals and diaries, and community cookbooks. Lots of great resources to explore, including The Quilt Index! One of her examples was a cookbook from Marysville, Ohio – I have to get the link for it because I have ancestors who were in that area!

Then it was on to the Land Platting workshop with Anne Miller, Ph.D., and David Armstrong, M.A. Learning how to plat parcels of land using the metes and bounds descriptions is not really as hard as it appears. Let’s see if I still feel that way in a week or so when I try it on my own at home!

First thing this morning I attended a session by Janis Martin on Unclaimed Persons, the volunteer organization that assists coroners and medical examiners around the country to find next-of-kin of unclaimed persons. Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak founded the organization in 2008. The subtitle of Janis’s talk was “Every life is worth remembering.” This is truly a project worthy of a genealogist’s time.

So many interesting topics by knowledgeable presenters, so little time!


© 2011 Denise Spurlock, Ancestral Trees Research

BillionGraves

While attending the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree this week, my friend Corey and I made a trip to Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Both of us have relatives buried at the cemetery. I took photos of the grave markers using the new BillionGraves app for I-phone and uploaded them to the BillionGraves website.

The goal of BillionGraves is to create a family history database with photos and information from cemeteries throughout the world. It's a pretty cool concept - check it out!

Myrtle A. Yawman
1878 - 1958

© 2011 Denise Spurlock, Ancestral Trees Research