Genealogy Research Resources

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If you are planning on conducting any research in the Washington D.C. area, this is one guide you'll need.The Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington has published the newly updated and expanded fourth edition of "Capital Collections: Resources for Jewish Genealogical Research in the Washington, DC Area". Resources, phone numbers, Web sites and security information have been updated. New sites have been added, along with a public transportation section and a DC Metro map. HINT: Do not bring any sort of drink down to the Metro platforms; you risk a fine. On my last trip, a friendly passerby advised me to ditch the iced tea before taking the escalator. At the bottom was an official waiting for unsuspecting travelers. I don't know if this tip, common knowledge for residents, is in the book, but it would help visitors.The 103-page guide includes the following sections and resources: Getting around the DC Metro Area; National Archives and Records Administration; NARA Archives II at College Park, Maryland; The Library of Congress; The US Holocaust Memorial Museum; National Museum of American Jewish Military History; Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Library; Family History Centers; National Library of Medicine; House of the Temple Library and Museum; Washington, DC (includes DC city archives & courts); Maryland (inclding special sections on Baltimore and Anapolis); Virginia (including Northern VA and Richmond); Synagogues in the Washington area; Cemeteries in the Washington area and the Synagogues & Burial Societies using them; Cemeteries in the Baltimore area and the Synagogues & Burial Societies using them.This book is a must for individual genealogists and genealogy society libraries. Single copies are $18 + $5 S&H, though Jewish genealogical libraries may purchase them for $12. To order, send checks to the Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington, Inc., P.O. Box 31122, Bethesda MD 20824, Att: Capital CollectionsLabels: Books, Washington DC

Library CDs capture GH history It is now possible for Loutit District Library patrons to hear stories of what life was like in the Grand Haven area in the early 20th century in the words of local citizens. Loutit District Library received $16,314 from the Library of Michigan's Digitization for Preservation and Access grant program to preserve in digital form interviews with Grand Haven area citizens recorded by local historian Dr. David Seibold and others. The CDs can be checked out at the library. The project was developed in cooperation with the Tri-Cities Historical Museum. Museum volunteers conducted interviews from the late 1970s through the early 1900s to preserve first-hand recollections of life in the area. Very few of the people whose voices were captured on tape are still living. Among those available is an interview with Ray O'Malley, a survivor of the sinking of the Escanaba, who died recently. There are more than 100 CD-ROMs with more than 6,600 minutes of interviews. In addition, more than 50 interviews were transcribed and can be searched by keyword or printed. Each of the CD-ROMs includes historical photographs from the library's collection. Patrons can listen to the interviews and view the photographs at the library or check out a CD-ROM, which can be accessed on their personal computers. Beginning in June, these materials will be available on the library's Web site, www.loutitlilbrary.org, along with many other local history and genealogy resources.

GPS for the Web A reader response in the October 2006 issue of Family Tree Magazine caught my eye:It astonishes me that a magazine such as yours would publish an article telling its readers of the many resources available on a "fresh-faced" Cyndi's List <cyndislist.com> without warning them that the site has not been seriously updated since mid-2003 ("Upping the Ante," June 2006).  By looking at the new, temporarily uncategorized links, you'll see that Cyndi Howells hasn't been moving these linkst into her main index for almost three years.Well that might explain why I haven't been successful getting Family Matters added to the list. My point is . . .  Why depend on an out-dated technology when you can use the online version of a GPS system to maintain your own set of research waypoints throughout the Internet.  And, you can easily share them with others - either in a research group or one-to-one.  You can do all this and much more with Diigo.  Diigo is different from other social bookmarking systems in that it allows you to add your own sticky notes to your bookmark and share those notes with others if you wish.  It's easy to select a page or a bit of text and email that information to someone.  And, because your bookmarks are managed on Diigo's servers, your bookmarks and notes are available to your from any computer.  It gets better.  Diigo is a free service.  Once you have created you account, download and install the appropriate toolbar (available for Foxfire, Internet Explorer and Flock) or bookmarklet and you're ready to go.  If you already use other social bookmarking platforms - like del.icio.us or My Web - you can set your toolbar options to automatically create bookmarks there too. Diigo is a researcher's dream.  The email forwarding alone is worth its weight in gold!  Stop by the Diigo site and see for yourself.