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| Libraries Discussed in this Post - Adapted from a Wikipedia Map |
Strategy for Ocean Shores Residents
Ocean Shores Library doesn’t have reciprocity with other libraries. Accordingly, your choices for online genealogy research are to use the conveniently located Family History Center on Albatross, which was discussed here, physically visit any of the other libraries in this post series, or buy subscriptions. Even so, you might be able to get a Pierce County, Kitsap Regional or North Olympic card which would allow you to access HeritageQuest online from home, and also MyHeritage in the case of Pierce County. If you happen to go to Aberdeen or Hoquiam, you can use the TRL library Wi-Fi and access their Ancestry Library, as well as HeritageQuest, Newspaper Archives and Washington State Sanborn Fire Maps. In truth, most if not all Washington public libraries allow access to all of their online resources with no need for a card or logon via their Wi-Fi – if you bring your own laptop. Far-away places, such as Texas, only allow access to Ancestry from a library computer. I don’t know why Ancestry has different licensing for different states, but they do.
OS residents should also consider the Washington State Library (WSL) and private libraries. WSL has a list of them here. Most of them offer a choice of a “one-day rate” or of unlimited use with a membership. FamilySearch also has a somewhat different list here. These are sensible alternatives to purchasing a nonresident card to any out-of-town public library. For example, a Sumner Heritage Quest Research Library membership costs $15 for a day visit or $45 for a full year’s membership. That is in the same ballpark as a typical public library. The downside is if you don’t live near Sumner, you can’t use any of the databases online at home.
Strategy for other Grays Harbor Residents
If you are in the Timberland Regional Library service area, you can get library cards from other systems until they start falling out of your pockets. On the other hand, the Ocean Shores Family History Center and our meeting area in the Ocean Shores library are beyond walking distance, so you’ll be more motivated to get a small, but useful card collection so you can do more of your research at home. The first and obvious card to get is the Timberland Card. Besides Ancestry (only when in one of their libraries - and you don't need a card when on their Wi-Fi), it allows you to access HeritageQuest, Newspaper Archives, and Washington Sanborn Maps from the comfort of your computer room. After TRL, the best choices to add are the Seattle Public Library and the Pierce County Library System. These two, together, add access to MyHeritage, America’s Genealogy by Newsbank (online obituaries and Social Security death records), Seattle Times archives from 1895 to present, and, just to put icing on the cake, more recent Sanborn Fire Maps for the 49 States that you can’t access from Timberland or even from the Library of Congress. Except for Ancestry, cardholders can access all the listed sites from home, for free.
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| Graphic from San Mateo College |
This post series identifies libraries that offer ILL. In all cases, ILL consists of a “receiving” library (the one you are requesting the loan from) getting the material from a “lending” library (the one that sends the book to your library). Usually, the lending library does not charge for this service, but sometimes they charge for packing, handling, and shipping costs. The lending library also determines the due date based on when it needs the material back. I have received ILL material that was due in two weeks and other ILL material that was due in four months. The lending library also determines if the item can be renewed. A renewal request comes from the receiving library (not the borrower), so don’t wait until the last minute if you might need a renewal.
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| Title Page of ILL Book |
In the case of the book at left, it is Volume 1 of a six volume set and they were published recently enough that copyright law prevents free distribution. Checking online, Volume 6 was available for download as a free eBook, but the first 5 volumes were not available even in "snippet" form. Fortunately, Volume 6 had an index that included indices of the previous five volumes and a page that followed an Ancestry image was also known. When Volume 1 was requested, the librarian at the receiving library asked for the whole set. About a week later, she called and it was soon clarified that Volume 1 was needed the most, but Volume 3 would also be very nice, indeed. About 4 weeks later, both Volumes showed up with a due date around six weeks later. After photographing the family pages of interest (about 8 pages in Vol 1 and 7 in Vol 3), the books were returned and later, the same lending library sent Volume 4 and 5. In the case of the book at left, it was originally published in 1907, but digitizers only made Volume 6 available. Ancestry probably has all 6 volumes (I know they had page 133 of volume 3), but that doesn't mean the entire book is available even to subscribers. In the case of another book, "Encyclopedia of 19th Century Photography," its $650 price tag made it unaffordable for a "sight unseen" purchase, but ILL obtained the book. As it turned out, there were another half dozen pages that were useful and the book went back to its lending library. In both cases, Worldcat indicated libraries that had the volumes, but also in both cases, the books were loaned by other libraries that were not listed in Worldcat as copy owners.
As may be seen, ILL is not like simply looking up the article in the local catalog and then checking it out. Lots of ILL material a genealogy researcher may want is multivolume and some lending libraries may only want to lend out one volume at a time, while others may provide two or three volumes in one request. This “let’s make a deal” aspect to ILL is why the BEST approach is to bring all the info available to the receiving library and get guidance from the reference librarian about request strategy. Writing everything down off Worldcat information on the book, and especially having properly spelled title, edition, and author is a very helpful starting point. If multiple different editions would work, note that. Some books change little over 20 editions and some are completely revised going from the second to the third edition.
If you want to get an ILL on an old book, in addition to checking your library catalog, look at online book sources. Many books published before about 1920 have been digitized and free, electronic versions are available. While there is no substitute for a real, paper book, it is handy to have the ebook, and it may obviate the need for an ILL.
Post Series Roadmap
Without further ado, here’s the roadmap to this post Series. These posts need not be viewed in any particular order, and Hoquiam residents will be less interested in the “Libraries to Consider” while Ocean Shores residents will be less interested in the “Seattle’s Special” topic.
- North Beach Genealogy Goes to the Library – This post
- Regional Library Access – includes a table of what is offered at many libraries in our region
- Nearby Libraries – Ocean Shores Public Library, Timberland Regional Library, and Grays Harbor College Library
- Washington State Library – Where our State keeps its stuff
- Other Public Libraries for OS – Pierce County Library, Kitsap Regional Library, and North Olympic Library may offer cards to OS residents, or not
- Seattle's Special – The Seattle Public Library offers some things no other system can match. It’s nice to be giant and rich!
- Beyond the Library – All the genealogy you could ever want without a trip out-of-state
