SAR Patriot Week in Ocean Shores

 The North Beach Genealogy Society supported the Washington State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution during "Patriot Week 2024", in honor of the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution- by providing free genealogy sessions at the Ocean Shores Public Library. We -NBGS-have been asked by the Ocean Shores Public Library to provide the free genealogy services once a quarter starting in the summer of 2024. Go Team!

                        

Getting Books - 3 Parts and Counting

  

FamilySearch Library
Link is here

Titled another way, this post might have been "identify it, find it, and bring it home." Carrie Cartwright Bergquist says "I'm a paper person." Personally, I'm more of a "download bits person." Either way, a lot of what happens is the same. This is part of a continuing series on finding that "special book or document."

In the meantime, here's a "hot tip." Any documents found from this series can also be searched for from our local Ocean Shores FamilySearch Center. It's got many online databases that are simply not available within a two-day trip from Western Washington.

Part 3 - Test of the Best

 

FamilySearch LIBRARY Results for "Franklin County" Search

Having a gauntlet thrown down, a member of our SOCIETY wondered what might be found about “Franklin County,” as in the Franklin County in Tennessee. Here’s what came up when using "Part 2 - Checking the Top Genealogy Library Catalogs"

Part 1 - Finding Books about a Small Town History

 

Many of us have roots in what are, or were small towns, this is a story about finding books in one such place.

In previous posts, various Internet sources of old genealogical books have been noted here. The use of Worldcat and other sources to find old paper books has also been discussed here.

Part 2 - Checking the Top Genealogy Library Catalogs

A while back, a post, here, discussed the best genealogical repositories beyond our nearby libraries. Now, we're going to investigate what you can get from "the nation's best." To come up with this list, FamilyTree Magazine's ranking was considered, along with that from FamilySearch. In addition to this post, the "Genealogy's Star" blog has a good post on the subject which emphasizes actually GETTING the relevant item.

• Anyway, the list below has the following characteristics considered
• They are part of worldcat dot org. One worldcat trick that is handy for genealogical searching on worldcat is to make the "best libraries" also your "favorites." 
• They have an online catalog
• There is a way for a nonresident to borrow materials without going there in person

One Blog to Another

 The Washington State Library Blog joined with the Washington Secretary of State blog FROM OUR CORNER

and can be reached at this address: https://blogs.sos.wa.gov/fromourcorner/

Zoom Made Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

Does Keitha Look Like a Seahawk Fan?

This post started out with all sorts of fancy stuff. However, our Ocean Shores Librarian, Keitha Owen, showed that simple can be best. In an email, she wrote:

Hi Steve

Have people that are interested in learning about Zoom call the library between 11 - 3 Tuesday - Saturday and make a Book a Techie appointment with Nick

360.289.3919

Keitha

Saving Files to a USB

When using online library databases at a local library or Family History Center, various images and text files appear that the researcher will want to save for documentation purposes. The first choice is simply to use a personal computer or tablet on the library Wi-Fi and save files normally. However, sometimes that is not possible (desktop as a personal computer come to mind), or because licensing requires that the online database can ONLY be accessed using a library computer. This post outlines how to download files and screen images onto a USB Flash Drive for later use. The post assumes the library has a Windows computer. While schools often use Macintosh computers, libraries almost never use anything except Windows computers. The post uses FamilySearch as an example. In most regards, other online services found at a library will be similar.

North Beach Genealogy goes to the Library

Libraries Discussed in this Post - Adapted from a Wikipedia Map

Our Post on Regional Library Access discussed quite a few public libraries around Western Washington that have online genealogy resources and that may be free to residents in the Grays Harbor area. That post touched on interlibrary loan, indicating “Interlibrary loans are … a separate post…” Well, that time has come. This post collection, goes into how various regional systems offer free library cards, how much cards cost for people that can’t get free ones, how a person might obtain a card online without even going to the library system, how different library systems treat interlibrary loan, and touches on archival collections and private libraries as well.

Nearby Libraries

Nearby Libraries are those which are, at most, an express bus ride away. These ought to be the first ones someone doing genealogical research considers. Two of the three can be of significant help to the researcher. The first of these is the Ocean Shores Public Library, the second is the Timberland Regional Library System, with libraries in Aberdeen and Hoquiam, and the third, much less useful one is the Gray’s Harbor College Library in Aberdeen. The first two both offer Interlibrary Loan (ILL) connected with the Worldcat system, have good in-library Wi-Fi, and the Timberland System adds some genealogy-specific online resources. Both are free to residents and cards can be purchased by nonresidents for either short or longer terms. The GHC is less useful because it is oriented towards its student population who aren't generally interested in genealogy. It is included since it is nearby and people might wonder about its genealogy research facilities.

OSPL Photos From Their Website

Washington State Library

Washington State Library (WSL in Tumwater)

The Washington State Library is somewhat unique in that it is a resource for all people in Washington. It has lots of material and much of that can be accessed without even needing a card. While it doesn’t have third-party online databases such as Ancestry Library or HeritageQuest, it does have large digital collections of its own. It also acts as a broker to purchase online services for library systems within Washington. Along with the Washington State Archives, discussed in another post in this series, it operates under the office of the Washington Secretary of State.

Other Public Libraries for OS

Ocean Shores residents that want a card from another system to obtain online genealogy resources they can then use from their home computer are not entirely without choices. As noted in another post, people who work in the TRL area can get that card for free. In addition, the 3 library systems discussed in this post are somewhat different than most in that they may allow Ocean Shores residents to obtain a card. Two of the three systems include FamilySearch Affiliate libraries at the branch noted. As with most other library systems, they will allow access to their online resources if you bring your own computer and use the Wi-Fi. 

Seattle's Special

Seattle Public Library
Wikipedia Photo by Ɱ

Seattle Public Library (SPL)

The SPL is one public library in a different league than any other in this series. Not only is its main branch also a FamilySearch Affiliate library, but it has America’s Genealogy, the Seattle Times going back to 1895, and Sanborn Fire Maps that I have not found anywhere else. Most libraries only have Sanborn maps of the State the library is in. The Library of Congress has many maps from locations around the US, but none after about 1920. Seattle has newer and more Sanborn maps. Some of this material is not available even on the big “pay” genealogy sites. And we haven't even mentioned that SPL also has a large genealogy collection if you visit them in person. Seattle has done a lot of stuff wrong, but the library is done right. There are some advantages to living in the region's largest city.

Beyond the Library

Archives and Private Genealogy Museums in Western Washington
There are a number of archives and private genealogy museums in Western Washington. Some of these are readily accessed by any interested person and some are less so for a casual visitor.

Proquest Newspaper Access from Libraries

If you go to one of the library sites that offers Proquest news feeds, there are literally well over a thousand of them. Partly to experiment with how to better create tables for this and other blogs, here are a sampling of them. To cut down the number, I sorted based on the oldest starts to publication (older items are always of interest to those of us looking for stuff on relatives that died or were newsworthy during living memory). I then started cutting out ones that didn't cover much period or only started recently. That left the list below, which is still pretty long even after I eliminated 90% of the sources.

For those that have forgotten, libraries that offer this Proquest feed, that have reciprocity with Timberland Regional Library card holders, include: North Olympic, Pierce County, Seattle, Washington State Library. You can also access these publications via the US Newsstream (in a bit harder to use form) which is available through TRL itself.

Regional Library Access

There has been a fair amount of concern/discussion about paid versus free genealogy sites. Many feel that the "big" sites want to get as much money out of the researcher as possible. However, these are not simply "big businesses" that run television commercials. Most of them offer free access to people using libraries that subscribe to the services. Almost all of them offer free access to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. That organization estimates this is a value to its members of around $900 per year. In short, you can spend a lot of money on research sites, but you can also access the information inexpensively, or even for free.

Timberland Regional Library (TRL) - and connected systems

Some of our members live places other than Ocean Shores. If you happen to be one that lives somewhere outside Ocean Shores proper in Grays Harbor or Thurston or even Pacific Counties, or if you own property in one of those places, you are eligible to obtain a free Timberland Library Card.

Using Worldcat for Genealogy Research

Worldcat, at https://www.worldcat.org/ is a resource you can use to find WHERE books you've run across in your research are stored. Many libraries (including Ocean Shores), are worldcat members that publish their collections to the worldcat database. People who search for items in those collections, can find out which member libraries have those collection items. While you aren't going to find exotic genealogy books in our Ocean Shores library, you might find very useful books nearby. For a small fee, Ocean Shores might be able to get them here via inter-library loan. TRL has free inter-library loans and if you are a UW Alumni Association, you can access the UW library's extensive collection.