Friday, December 01, 2006

Your Guide to Using Archives for Genealogical Research

Working on a webpage for private manuscript sources necessitated doing one on using archives. Most genealogists are very proficient at using libraries, but some are hesitant to make full use of archives. They seem more daunting... and as I prepared this page, I could see why! But material in archives is getting more and more accessible and I hope this web page will help you renew your efforts to find material in archives.

Click on the header of this blog to see Your Guide to Using Archives for Genealogical Research.

Your Guide to Using Diaries, Letters, Personal Papers and Other Manuscript Sources

I got this site up today, in preparation for that talk I mentioned in my earlier blog. Researching this topic reminded me how much is out there...and how many ways there are to find that material. The web has provided a terrific boost to our ability to find manuscript sources, but as I worked on these pages I am reminded again at how much valuable information is in the print sources. Not only will the print sources guide you to information you may not find on the web, they also provide the information needed to make better use of the web. For example, if you use a print source to find diaries of interest to you, you can then search the web using some of the key words found in the description. The two sources.. print and web...simply enhance each other. Neither is best, neither is comprehensive.

Click on the heading of this blog to go to the website Your Guide to Using Diaries, Letters, Personal Papers and Other Manuscript Sources

Friday, November 17, 2006

Putting an old diary online --the diary of Louise B. Hancock

I was preparing for a talk I'm giving on diaries and manuscripts and came across this site, which is part of a larger one on e-scrapbooking. This diary begins in 1916, when Louise was still in high school and ends it in 1919.

When Larry Johnson saw it on E-bay, it caught his interest and he purchased it. He and his wife(Annette Lamb) then set about finding out everything they could about the person who kept the diary and the environment she lived in. Using official records, yearbooks, books that covered the history of the events of that time, census records and a variety of other sources, they created a vivid and detailed account of the life of a young woman.

It turns out that Louise Hancock is no one's direct ancestor. She married in 1922, but suffered from tuberculosis and died at the age of 25 in 1924, leaving no children. Larry Johnson and Annette Lamb brought her back to life... and on their site they tell how they did it. It's a great site... combining human interest, inspiration and instruction.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Updated my page on Sweden

I usually don't link to a site that is completely in a foreign language, so I was pleased to learn that the SVAR website has an English language portal and I updated the page to add that link. I also added a link to the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center. I don't have Swedish ancestors -- if I did, I'd be busy planning a trip to that facility!

Bobbie's Genealogy Classroom

My website is intended as a background for classes I teach and talks I give, as well as a handy way for me to keep track of important websites and information. I don't yet have pages up for every topic and even when a page is up, it constantly needs to be updated. I keep plugging away at it, bit by bit... but it's hard to keep track of what has changed. At the bottom of some (and eventually all) pages is a date last updated, but that doesn't give any information about changes. I thought I'd use this blog to track changes. I hesitate to add something because each time I work on the blog, that's a change I'm not making. But I will try to use it to track some of the major changes I make. In the meantime, I hope you visit my website and find something useful. I appreciate notification of bad information and suggestions of material I might want to include.