Genealogy Research  Tags: genealogy_research family_research relatives ancestors autobiography  

Hall County Public Library -- “Sitting Up with the Dead” at the Library
 
Have you ever dreamed of being locked in the library?  Have you wanted to research genealogy “to your heart’s content”?  On Friday,August 13th, genealogists will have the opportunity to fulfill their dreams by “Sitting Up with the Dead” at the downtown Gainesville branch library.  Registered participants can stay until midnight researching in the library’s extensive collection.  At 5:00 p.m. the library will be closed to the public.   No one will be admitted after 6:00 p.m.  The second floor will remain open until midnight for genealogists.
 
The cost is $12.00 per person for a boxed dinner, beverages, and a late night snack. Registration forms can be found online at www.hallcountylibrary.org or at any library branch.  Checks and registration forms must be received by Monday, February 8th. There is a late registration fee of $5.00.  This event is sponsored by the Northeast Georgia Historical & Genealogical Society and the Hall County Library System. For more information, call 770-532-3311 ext. 116.

Getting Kids Hooked on Genealogy

Move over, Sherlock Holmes! Here come the “Ancestor Detectors.” That's the term coined by Ira Wolfman, author of Climbing Your Family Tree: Online and Off-line Genealogy for Kids (Workman Publishing, 2002), a how-to genealogy book for kids.

“Kids aren't interested in documents,” says Wolfman. “They're too abstract. You have to get them excited about the concept of genealogy, about the process, not the nitty gritty. It's a puzzle. Pedigree charts just don't speak to their interests.”

There's no question that the Internet excites today's younger generation. To them, it's not technology. They associate the Web with fun and a natural way of doing things. They're developing skills and using them every day to communicate with each other and to do school work that can apply to genealogy. Says Wolfman, “They can get access to all this stuff out there.”

So how do you help children get started researching their family history? The easiest way is to have them start with themselves, by gathering facts, stories, documents, and photos. They can follow “The Story of Me” from the Climbing the Family Tree website by clicking on “Downloadables” to get the form. It asks questions about birth, parents, home, siblings, and grandparents. Kids can complete the form using a computer file or a notebook.

http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=84810

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/facesofamerica/ What made America? What makes us? These two questions are at the heart of the new PBS series Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The Harvard scholar turns to the latest tools of genealogy and genetics to explore the family histories of 12 renowned Americans.

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Rebecca Sewell Homan employeed 23 years by GSC.

Archivist, Bibliographer, and Associate Professor.

MLIS 1980, MEd 2007