Hark! Have You Subscribed to Our Newsletters?

On this day, we'd like to remind you about our two free Heritage Room newsletters. 

Our Genealogy and History Events newsletter covers everything from Christmas tours at state parks and plantations around Georgia to Census classes at the Atlanta History Center. We make sure you know about webinars that are coming up, such as Researching Your Irish Roots and lunch-and-learn series at the National Archives about using DNA for genealogy research. The events newsletter makes it possible to plan your schedule and ensure you don't miss a chance to learn, explore, and discover new things.

Our Genealogy News and Tips newsletter keeps you in the loop with the latest resources available for research, such as the expanded marriage records holdings by FamilySearch.org and primers on searching for your War of 1812 ancestors. It also includes tips on how to use general software apps for genealogy and lets you know about new sites for sharing what you find with friends and family.

Click here (or either of the above newletter links) to read the current newsletter and subscribe to have them delivered. It couldn't be easier, and is a great time saver, so sign up today!

Microfilm Scanning That Isn't a Hassle? Do Tell!

 
On this day, we'd like to ask for your help to make the dream of easy microfilm scanning a reality in the new Heritage Room.
 
The ScanPro 2000 is a cutting-edge digital microfilm scanner that offers a wide variety of viewing and editing functions while remaining easy to use. Clarke-Oconee Genealogical Society (COGS) has committed to providing $6500 toward this machine after seeing it demonstrated at national meetings and at the COGS EXPO. 

The Heritage Room must raise the remaining money ($6500.00) toward this machine before December 2012. A new version, ScanPro 3000 coming out in early 2013, has a much larger camera (21 megapixel instead of the 6 megapixel). The price will also be higher. 

However, if we can purchase and take delivery of the ScanPro 2000 before the end of this year, the company will upgrade our machine to the new camera when it comes out at no extra charge. This is too good to pass up!
 
Donations of any amount are welcomed from $5.00 up. Click here to download the donation form.  Please contact Laura Carter with questions at 706-613-3650 Ext. 327 or email.

We appreciate your past and future support of the Heritage Room and the Athens-Clarke County Library. 


Learn More:

• Overview of the ScanPro 2000 microform scanner.
• Video demonstration of the ScanPro 2000 microform scanner.
• Testimonials by users of the ScanPro 2000 microform scanner.
• The Wonders of Auto-Scan for the ScanPro 2000 microform scanner. 

Are You Reading Our Heritage Room Newsletters?

On this day we'd like to remind you to subscribe to our two fantastic Heritage Room newsletters. They will be delivered to your email Inbox, and are a great way to keep up with all that is going on in genealogy and history throughout the year, and especially during the busy holiday season.

Our Genealogy and History Events newsletter covers everything from Haunted History tours in Athens and Macon to free webinars about Irish ancestor brick walls and getting started with Native American genealogy. Find out where to hear historians talking about their latest books, or when the dedication ceremony for a new historical marker will be held. Autumn is a busy time for cemetery tours, and with the newsletter, you can take your pick of tours in Athens, Cartersville, Atlanta, and McDonough. The commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War continues apace, with a variety of symposia, lectures, programs, and book-related events. Don't regret not doing something because you didn't find out in time--just read our newsletter!

Our Genealogy News and Tips newsletter makes sure you will not miss out on the information you need for your research, even as everyone's schedule speeds up this autumn. We cover practical information, such as the increase in copying fees at all National Archives locations and updates about the status of the Georgia Archives, to new resources online such as Mercer campus newspapers from 1920-1970 and Scottish post office directories. We even include information on how to fit your research into a busy schedule, such as Family Tree magazine's list of "Weekend Warrior" genealogy projects.

Click here (or either newsletter link above) to subscribe. It couldn't be easier, so sign up today!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Fantastic Scanner Demo on October 23rd!

On this day, we hope you will mark your calendar to come to the Athens-Clarke County Library's new Heritage Room space to see a demonstration of the incredibly cool ScanPro 2000 microfilm scanner and image processor on Tuesday, October 23rd. 

This machine is simple to use, and has powerful, automatic enhancement options for the image you are trying to scan. The Heritage Room staff saw an early demo of this new development in microfilm scanning a couple of years ago, and could not have been more impressed by the quality of the images created and the easy, intuitive interface. 

While no technology can fix every bad roll of microfilm, the improvements made by the ScanPro to your scanned images are something to see for yourself! A representative from Palmetto Microfilm Systems, Inc., will be here to demonstrate the ScanPro 2000, including information on how to copy microfilm and digitize the images.

We will have four demonstrations over the course of the day: 

12:30pm (lunch time)

 3:30 pm (after school)

 5:30 pm (after work)

 7:30 pm (after dinner)

The demonstration is free, but reservations are required, so please call the Reference Desk at (706) 613-3650, ext. 356  or email Laura Carter at lcarter@athenslibrary.org to sign up for the session you want to attend. (You'll also get a peak at the new Heritage Room space while you're here!)

We look forward to sharing this smart new development in microfilm reading and scanning with all of you, and hope to see you at one of the four demonstrations on the 23rd!

Rally to Save the Georgia Archives on October 3rd!

On this day, we'd like you to mark your calendar for Wednesday, October 3rd at noon when a rally to Save the Georgia Archives is planned for the Capitol Rotunda in Atlanta. Show up early, and bring as many friends as you can.

Though Governor Nathan Deal stated that he would restore funding for the Georgia Archives at the Georgia Archives Month proclamation signing on September 19th, no plans for funding before the closing date, and the termination date of the seven archivists who will leave the Archives without experienced staff, have been made. Secretary of State Brian Kemp remains committed to taking the entire 3% of his department's budget cut from the Georgia Archives. 

Without action in October, the people of Georgia will lose access to their own history and public records, while the professionals who have preserved and made available this collection will be forced to move on with their careers. As all researchers know, a knowledgeable staff makes all the difference for finding relevant, useful, and accurate information. 

For more information about the rally, and what else you can do to help save the Georgia Archives, please visit the Friends of Georgia Archives and History website and the Georgia Genealogical Society website.

What You Can Do About the Closing of the Georgia Archives

On this day we'd like to offer some suggestions about what actions you can take in light of the news that the Georgia State Archives will be closed to citizens as of November 1. 

To start, you can write to our Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Secretary of State.

Though the Lieutenant Governor did not enact this budget cut, he may run for governor in the future, as may our current Secretary of State, Brian Kemp.  Write to them to ensure they all understand the importance of the Georgia Archives.

Governor Nathan Deal

Mailing Address:
206 Washington Street
Suite 203, State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334

Phone:
404-656-1776

Fax:
404-657-7332

Contact Us form:

http://gov.georgia.gov/contact-us-0

Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle

Mailing address:

240 State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
Phone: 
(404) 656-5030
Fax: 
(404) 656-6739

Contact Us form (at bottom of the page below)

http://ltgov.georgia.gov/contact-lt-governor

Secretary of State Brian Kemp

Mailing address:
214 State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
Phone: 
404-656-2881
Fax: 
404-656-0513

Contact Us form:

http://sos.georgia.gov/cgi-bin/email.asp

You can also contact your state representatives. To find the contact information for your State Senator and Representative, use this Find Your Legislator page. Our representatives must know that this budget cut is unacceptable.

This Saturday, September 15th, 2012, is the Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Georgia Archives & History at the Archives building in Morrow. The meeting is expected to end around noon, and a brainstorming session will take place afterwards. For more information, contact the organization via email, at FriendsofGeorgiaArchives@yahoo.com, or by phone, at 678-364-3732.

Please also sign the petition to keep the Georgia Archives open to the public, and follow events on the Facebook page, Georgians Against Closing the State Archives. 

PLEASE NOTE: Even if you aren't in Georgia, you are still encouraged to sign the petition and write to our Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Secretary of State. Many people had ancestors who came through Georgia and just because you don't live in Georgia, doesn't mean you will never need these Archives. It also sets a terrible precedent that other states may try to follow. Politicians need to know that citizen access to their government records is important.

Heritage Book Collection Reprieve!

On this day, we are happy to announce that during this last phase of construction, the available Heritage Room book collection will not be closed stacks, and you will have access to far more books than were noted in the last post.

The Heritage Room books are currently upstairs on two shelves that run along the far wall you'll see as you come to the top of the staircase. They are on the other side of the computer desks, on either side of the entrance to the new restrooms. The small cart for books that you are done using is next to the Athens-Clarke County books.

The temporarily smaller collection has a much closer focus on Georgia, including any Georgia county books that cover marriages, wills, cemeteries, deeds, or other abstracts taking priority in the collection. Some county histories have moved, if they provided this type of information. 

Also, all Georgia newspaper abstracts are available, as well as books with multiple counties of marriage or will records, land lottery books, the Pioneers of Wiregrass collection, Christian Index obituaries, U.S. Census indices, Georgia English Crown Grants, and Georgia Governor & Council Journals. 

For North Carolina and South Carolina, no county-focused books will be available for the time being, but there are U.S. Census indices, tax, will, marriage, deed records, as well as North Carolina Colonial Land Entries and South Carolina Royal Land Grants. 

For Virginia, you have access to Adventures of Purse and Person, Cavaliers & Pioneers, Colonial Abstracts, both sets of Genealogies of Virginia Families, Virginia Wills, and Wulfeck's Virginia Marriages. 

Still available for Civil War research are These Men Wore Grey, Rosters of Confederate Graves, Roster of Confederate Soldiers from the Official Records set, two rosters of Georgia Confederate Soldiers, and Sifakis's Compendium of the Confederate Armies. 

For the Revolution, we have Virgil White's collection of military pension and service record abstracts, Pierce's Register, the DAR Patriot Index, some Elijah Clark Chapter records, Helen Lu's Revolutionary War Period set, among other items. White's indices covering the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the Indian Wars are also available.

There are also some general genealogy books for those who are getting started, need to know where to look for out of state or county records, or are trying to figure out where the heck the marriage record they need could be, such as the Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, and Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Census, 1790-1920. 

 
We are so happy we were able to make more available than anticipated, and in a way that allows you pursue your research at your own rate, picking the book you want or think you need from the shelf. If you find the book in PINES, we should have it available for you in the current Heritage collection. 


If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to call us at the Reference Desk, at (706) 613-3650, ext. 356, or email us at Heritage.Room.Blog@gmail.com or heritageroom@arlsmail.org. We are still here to help you with your research! 

Important Information about Heritage Room Book Collection!

While we had hoped to have the current Heritage Room book collection remain available as closed stacks during the final phase of renovation, space and furniture realities have made it necessary to greatly reduce the number of books that we will have available. 

We plan to have the following books available as closed stacks (i.e. you must request the books from a librarian) during this brief, final phase of construction:

• Clarke County books, including Athens city directories, but minus UGA history, much of which can be found in our circulating collection, the Digital Library of Georgia, and/or UGA's library;
• Elbert County books;
• Greene County books;
• Jackson County books; 
• Madison County books;
• Oconee County books;
• Oglethorpe County books;
• Wilkes County books;
• Much of our Daughters of the American Revolution collection, including the Patriot Index set;
• Loyalists in the Southern Campaign set;
• Pension Roll of 1835 set;
• Roster of the Confederate soldiers of Georgia, 1861-1865 by Lillian Henderson;
• Georgia Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 by Janet Hewett;
• Compendium of the Confederate Armies set by Sifakis;
• Federal and some state census index books for states of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, spanning the 1780s to the 1870s;
• Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920 by William Dollarhide;
• Virgil White's pension and service books, covering 
• War of 1812, 
• Mexican War, 
• Indian Wars, and 
• American Revolution;
• Virginia Marriages and Wills books;
• Virginia Cavaliers and Pioneers set;
• Virginia Purse and Person set;

We may have more available; we just aren't sure yet what our space will allow. The microfilm collection that is currently available in Reference will continue to be available during this last phase of construction.


THIS WEEKEND, August 18-19, 2012, will be the last weekend for several months where the book collection currently available is still openly available to researchers. 

If you have research you have put off, please consider coming to the library this weekend and early next week to pursue it. 

Sometime in the next week, the books will start to be put into storage until the end of the library's renovation. We are happy to help you find what you need, and if we do not have it, can find out where you can get it. 


Please contact us if you have any concerns or questions, either by calling the Reference desk (706-613-3650, ext. 356) or emailing us at either Heritage.Room.Blog@gmail.com or heritageroom@arlsmail.org. 

We apologize for such a last minute announcement of this situation, but once you see the new Heritage Room, we hope you will agree that a few months of inconvenience were worth the wait. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during this time!

Heritage Room Newsletters: The Fun Doesn't Stop When Summer Ends!

On this day, we'd like to remind you that our two Heritage Room newsletters are great ways to find out what is happening and what resources are available, all from the cool comfort of your own home!

In our Genealogy and History Events newsletter,  you can find out how to get started researching your Civil War ancestors by signing up for a webinar by the Friends of the National Archives-Southeast, or take a trip to Columbus to learn about Civil War navies at the Civil War Naval Museum. Plan an evening in Atlanta with a love stories tour of Oakland Cemetery, or pick up a Georgia State Park pass here at the library to plan an afternoon at Smithgall Woods State Park in Helen, learning about the 1828 Georgia Gold Rush. There are all sorts of events that make fun family trips before the school year gets too hectic, and our Events newsletter makes sure you have time to plan ahead.

In our Genealogy News and Tips newsletter, you'll learn about not just new content but improved filtering options in Fold3, a database all Athens Regional Library cardholders can access from their own home. Be heartened by the news that Ancestry.com has a name index for the full 1940 Census, months ahead of schedule, and how to buy CDs of webinars by Legacy Family Tree. Read reviews of new genealogy software programs, about the Free Guide to London Ancestors by FamilySearch.org in honor of the Olympics, and the latest additions to collections by local genealogical groups around the world. It sometimes seems impossible to keep up with all the new resources available to the genealogy researcher, but our News & Tips newsletter gives you a great head start.

Click here (or any newsletter link above) to subscribe. It couldn't be easier, so what are you waiting for? Sign up today! 

 

Important News about the Heritage Room Collection during the Last Part of the Library Renovation

On this day, we'd like to provide notice for some changes that are coming quite soon that could affect your research plans.


In the next few weeks, most of the library will be on the move to enable the last phases of construction. At the end of July, the Reference area is scheduled to move into the renovated side of the second floor, and, at that time, the Heritage Room book collection will become closed stacks through the end of the year. 


The books in this collection will still be available to patrons, but you will need to ask a librarian to retrieve the title or titles you wish to use. This situation is temporary, merely a side effect of space constraints while the other half of the second floor is being updated.
 
The Heritage Room microfilm, reader, and digital scanner will remain in the new Reference area until the end of construction. We still urge you to call to reserve the machine you want to use in advance, to ensure it is available when you arrive. All aspects of the microform collection will return to the Heritage Room space once the room reopens, with great fanfare, in early 2013. (It really is sooner than it sounds!)


Among the features of the new Heritage Room space will be 

• more microfilm readers and printers (plus the old dinosaurs with their loud mechanical Thu-THUNK! when you hit the Print button), 
• a conference room that will be used for classes but can also be reserved for use by local organizations for meetings, 
• more computers, 
• more individual work tables, 
• more shelves full of books, 
• lockers for you to stash your bags securely, 
• an easier-to-find location,
• a more accessible and browsable magazine area, 
• a more comfortable ambient temperature in the reading room,
• a larger vault, and 
• work spaces for staff so there will be fewer piles of boxes and papers and ledgers and maps in the room, which means more room for you to spread out while researching.

Here are some pictures of the room in progress, courtesy of our public relations guru, Rhiannon Eades:

(click to enlarge image)

In the picture above, you can see the light coming from the new meeting room doorway on the right that was once a window! And on the topic of windows, you can see we still have the large one at the end of the room that always filled the space with such gorgeous golden sunlight in late afternoon.

(click to enlarge image)

Hooray! Carpet padding! 

No, not really exciting, but it is the first step toward getting carpet in the new space. (All steps forward are to be celebrated.) You can also see new walls where the microfilm reader alcove used to be (but is now office space for Heritage Room and Information Services staff), and the knocked out wall where there used to be file drawers filled with microfilm and boxes filled with maps.

(click to enlarge image)

A nice low line of shelves with enough power to handle, according to the diagram of the new second floor layout, seven microform readers and reader-printers. At long last, the digital scanner will be at a comfortable height for long periods of research. 

Please let us know at the Reference desk if you have any concerns, or have questions about using the collection. We understand that having access to the materials you need is important, and we are here to make this temporary inconvenience as little trouble as possible. 

In the mean time, we appreciate your patience, and hope you are as excited about the prospect of a renewed Heritage Room as we are. We miss it, too!

Learn More:

• Athens-Clarke County Library Renovation blog.
• Renovation plans for the Athens-Clarke County library.
• Second floor layout of the renovated Athens-Clarke County library (.pdf file).

Heritage Room Newsletters: The Cool Way to Follow What's Hot!

On this day, we'd like to remind you that our two Heritage Room newsletters are great ways to find out what is happening and what resources are available, all from the cool comfort of your own home!


In our Genealogy and History Events newsletter,  you can find how to sign up for guided tours of the University of Georgia's new Special Collections library on Hull Street, or when the William Faulkner celebration at Ciné in downtown Athens on the 50th anniversary of his death. Discover the Women of Oakland Cemetery in a Twilight Tour in Atlanta, or how to use a Flip-Pal mobile scanner (the only one allowed by the National Archives) at family gatherings to enhance your family history through a webinar accessible from your home computer. Take a day trip to hear about Alabama and the War of 1812 at the Alabama State Archives, or to learn about "Historic District" designations for neighborhoods at the DeKalb History Center. There are so many interesting, new things to explore, and the Events newsletter ensures you know when and where they are.


In our Genealogy News and Tips newsletter, you'll learn when subscription databases are having sales or free access to their holdings, and how far along the name indexing of the 1940 has come. Click through our links to read the personal journals of Queen Victoria, or to peruse the City of Dallas's online collection of documents and images from the John F. Kennedy assassination. You'll learn which archives are cutting back their hours, and which ones have acquired or are exhibiting fascinating new collections. Links to stories about organizing your family research photos and the best way to preserve family documents for posterity are delivered to your computer so you don't need to search the web for it yourself.


Click here (or any newsletter link above) to subscribe. It couldn't be easier, so what are you waiting for? Sign up today!

Last Spring Heritage Room Genealogy Class at the Athens Council on Aging

On this day, we'd like you to know that the Heritage Room's final spring class at the Athens Community Council on Aging will be on Wednesday, April 18th, 2012, from 1:00pm to 2:30pm in the Harris Room on Hoyt Street. The title of the class is Tracking Our Ancestors' Footsteps: More Mobile Than We Think.

If you missed earlier classes, don't worry! Each class is independent, so if you are set on the basics, but want to know more about immigration records or using maps and DNA in your research, just sign up now for the April 18th class.  The class is free to members of the ACCA's Center for Active Living. Though free for members of CAL, pre-registration is required.

In our final spring installment, we'll describe the basics of immigration, naturalization, and migration, and learn to use geographic tools with our research. We will also see how to integrate GoogleEarth, GoogleMaps, and newspapers as we track our ancestors from their home countries and within their new one. Types of DNA testing and why to use it will also be covered. 

For more information about the classes, please call us at the library, (706) 613-3650, extension 356; to register, please call the Athens Council on Aging at (706) 549-4850 or consult their online program catalog, Senior Center Scene.

1 April 1940: Census Workers Start Work in Athens

On this day 72 years ago, Enumerators hired by the U.S. Census Bureau started going door-to-door across Athens and Clarke County and the rest of the nation, asking questions of the city's residents such as:

• Number of hours worked the previous week
• If workplace was "Emergency Employment," such as the WPA, CCC, etc.
• Income in the previous year
• Value of home
• Highest grade of school completed

For those born abroad, Enumerators were told to "give country in which birthplace was located on January 1, 1937." Therefore, someone who was born in Prague or Vienna would give their birth nation as Czechoslovakia or Austria, rather than Germany, which had occupied both nations in 1938. Enumerators were also instructed to distinguish between French and English Canada, and Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State. 


Because it has been 72 years since the 1940 Census was taken, at 9am on Monday, April 2nd, 2012, the National Archives will be releasing for free the digitized images of the 1940 Census. Due to privacy laws, the Census could not begin to be indexed before this date, but those who know where someone lived in 1940 have a couple of ways to shorten their search for the right Enumeration District they need.


The easiest way is using Steve Morse's Unified 1940 Census ED Finder. By entering address information, or the 1930 Enumeration District, the corresponding 1940 Enumeration District or Districts can be found.  


You can also find the reference map used by the U.S. Census Bureau to create Enumeration Districts by using Steve Morse's Viewing 1940 Enumeration District Maps in One Step utility. These maps have most street names, prominent structures such as schools and factories, lines indicating wards or districts within a city or county, and the Enumeration District for each area. 


So even if all you know is Aunt Katie "lived near the old Check Factory," you can still narrow down which ED is the place to begin your search. The National Archives estimates it will take at least six months to index the 1940 Census, so name searches should be available by the end of 2012.  


Next Saturday, 7 April 2012, the National Archives Southeast in Morrow, Georgia, will host a free workshop on the 1940 Census from 10am to noon. Registration is required, so call (770) 968-2100 or email atlanta.archives@nara.gov to reserve your seat or get more information.




Learn More:

• Official 1940 Census website. (An opening event webcast will be shown at 8:30am)
• United States Census Bureau's 1940 Census web page.
• National Archives 1940 Census Information web page.
• FamilySearch.org's 1940 Census page.
• 10 Interesting Facts about the 1940 Census from the NARAtions blog.
• 1940 Census Records Include 21 Million Still Alive from the Boston Globe.
• 1940 Census Is the First That Will Be Free Online from the Kansas City Star.

Fourth Heritage Room Genealogy Class at the Athens Community Council on Aging

On this day, we'd like you to know that the Heritage Room's fourth class at the Athens Community Council on Aging will be on Wednesday, April 4th, 2012, from 1:00pm to 2:30pm in the Harris Room's ACCA Hoyt Street location. The title of the class is Finding Those Who Served: Military Records.

If you missed the first class, don't worry! Each class is independent, so if you are set on the basics, but want to know more about service records or using draft cards and pension records in your research, just sign up now for the April 4th class.  The class is free to members of the ACCA's Center for Active Living. Though free for members of CAL, pre-registration is required.

In our forth installment, we'll demonstrate the width and breadth of the war-related information available and useful for genealogical research. Our overview will cover what the records are, what sort of information they contain, and where they are located going back to Colonial times.

For more information about the classes, please call us at the library, (706) 613-3650, extension 356; to register, please call the Athens Council on Aging at (706) 549-4850 or consult their online program catalog, Senior Center Scene.