Fostering family history services : a guide for librarians, archivists, and volunteers

Fostering family history services A guide for librarians, archivists, and volunteers

Rhonda L. Clark

Book - 2016

Here is everything you need to promote your library as a center for genealogical study by leveraging your collection to help patrons conduct research on ancestors, document family stories, and archive family heirlooms. Discusses the reference environment and offers tips for strategic planning for local studies. Includes hints of how to assess, organize, discard, or donate family heirlooms. Offers suggestions for caring for family history archives, including physical enclosures, digital copies, and the importance of data backups. Features templates for partnership agreements with other organizations.

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Subjects
Libraries > Special collections > Genealogy.
Libraries > Special collections > History, Local.
Family archives.
Local history > Archival resources.
Published
Santa Barbara, California : Libraries Unlimited [2016]
Language
English
Main Author
Rhonda L. Clark (author)
Other Authors
Nicole Wedemeyer Miller (author)
Physical Description
xvii, 269 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781610695411
  • Preface
  • Introduction: Why Providing Family History Services Is a Great Idea
  • Chapter 1. Thinking Outside the Collection Box
  • Beginning at the Beginning: Defining Genealogy and Family History
  • The Main Essential in Family History Services
  • Organizing and Naming the Resources
  • Enhancing the Local Studies Collection
  • Don't Go It Alone-Developing Partnerships
  • Programming for Genealogists and Family Historians
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Chapter 2. Record It: Preserving Family and Community History
  • Local Historical Writing and Traditional Formats
  • Forms of Family Histories
  • Online and Digital Recording of Family History
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Chapter 3. Tell It: Oral History for the Twenty-First Century
  • A Brief History of Oral History
  • Oral History and Local Studies Collections
  • Helping Families to Create Oral Histories
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Chapter 4. Sort It: Assessing and Storing Home Sources
  • The Sorting System
  • What Is This and What Is It Worth? Common Questions about Family Items
  • The Personal Archive: Teaching Skills for Families to Preserve Their Own Items
  • Storage Advice at a Glance
  • Scanning
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Chapter 5. Picture It: Gathering, Analyzing, and Storing Family Photographs
  • Enhancing Access: Organization
  • Dating Old Photographs
  • Keep and Preserve: Storage of Photographs
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Chapter 6. The Negotiators: Asking and Answering Questions
  • The Mindset: What Information Providers Should Be Thinking in Order to Better Help Researchers
  • The Reference Interview
  • Administrative Aspects of Providing Family History Reference
  • Technicalities: Using Genealogical Software, Online Trees, Message Boards, and Apps
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Chapter 7. Maximizing Access to Family History Materials
  • The Search for Information in a Family History Collection
  • Major Cataloging Methods for Family History Items Explored
  • Locally Driven Indexes and Databases: An Introduction
  • Evaluating an Institution's Access to Family History Resources
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Chapter 8. Mining the Riches
  • Periodical Publications
  • Local Histories
  • Religious Records
  • Government Documents
  • Visual Resources
  • Records Generated after Death
  • Online Resources
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 9. Pooling Our Resources: The Digital Portal
  • The Digitization Revolution
  • Digitization for Smaller Institutions: Can We Do It?
  • Reimagining the Role of the Public: The Intersection of Families and Cultural Heritage Institutions
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Appendix A. A Selected Annotated List of How-To Family History Titles
  • Appendix B. The Locality Guide
  • Appendix C. Associations Related to Local Studies
  • Appendix D. Forms
  • Index
Review by Library Journal Review

Interest in genealogy and family history continues to grow. As patrons delve into researching this topic, they frequently desire more details to their family's story. Many turn to libraries and archives for guidance and access to specialized resources. Library science professors Clark (Clarion Univ. of Pennsylvania) and Miller (Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) provide librarians, archivists, and volunteers with a sound roadmap for assisting such users. The authors adeptly describe how even the smallest institution can foster interest in family research. They address all requisite subjects such as library policies, collection development, finding guides, preservation, online resources, local indexes, and interlibrary cooperation. Readers will appreciate the plethora of programming ideas presented throughout the work as well as the tips for creating a guide of other local organizations supporting family history research. This is much more than an introduction to genealogy such as David R. Dowell's Crash Course in Genealogy. Here the authors present a solid framework for creating and fostering family history services. VERDICT Anyone who wishes to develop or expand a family history program will turn to this resource again and again.-Lydia Olszak, Bosler Memorial Lib., Carlisle, PA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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