Ongoing Genealogy Drop-in Help
|
|
Listed here are times when a volunteer from the Fox Valley Genealogical Society will be available in the adult services department to help any interested individuals who wish to obtain assistance either to get started on a genealogy project or to complete difficult genealogical research challenges. Nichols Library Adult Services Department 1st Tuesday each month 6:30-8:30 p.m. 3rd Thursday each month 3:00-5:00 p.m. 95th Street Library Adult Services Department 2nd Thursday each month 12:30-2:30 p.m. Nichols Library 200 W. Jefferson Ave. Naperville, Illinois 60540 95th Street Library 3015 Cedar Glade Dr. Naperville, Illinois 60564 630-961-4100
|
|
Online Resources All databases are available from home with your library card number and PIN, except Ancestry –Library Edition which is in-library use only. No library card is needed to access these resources within the library.
|
|
Nichols Library 200 W. Jefferson Ave. Naperville, Illinois 60540 95th Street Library 3015 Cedar Glade Dr. Naperville, Illinois 60564 630-961-4100
|
|
|
Every year, the National Archives hosts a virtual Genealogy Fair via live webcast on YouTube. The sessions offer family history research tools on Federal records for all skill levels. Thousands of family historians participate in the live event. This year's webcast was in October. Recordings of the fair’s presentations by National Archives experts are now available on YouTube. Links to the videos, and presentation slides and handouts, are accessible from the fair webpage https://www.archives.gov/calendar/genealogy-fair. You will also find materials from past year’s fairs available there. Try-It! Illinois offers library users of Illinois member libraries the opportunity to use and evaluate a wide variety of electronic resources. Thanks to the partnerships between the Illinois State Library and the participating electronic resource vendors, there is no charge for accessing these databases during Try-It! Illinois. Try-it Illinois runs October 1 - November 31. Register for a password here. This year's long listing of databases include: Newspapers.com Library Edition NewspaperARCHIVE.com Newspaper Source Plus Service Newspapers of World War II MyHeritage Library Edition. The North Carolina Government and Heritage Library will offer a free online class. "In this class, we'll join the experts at the State Library of North Carolina. As they take us through some of the best sources and strategies for conducting an organized and efficient search for your family's history both online and in libraries and archives near you. This course is for anyone who has an interest in telling their family's story. There is no experience necessary, no cost to participate, and no required textbook." Orientation Module - Begins October 22. Materials and discussion boards will be available through December 31, 2018. RootsTech is a 4-day event held annually in Salt Lake City, Utah, which focuses on family history and provides genealogy presentations by many national speakers. There are useful lessons for genealogists within the video recordings of these presentations, which are shared here. FamilySearch Research Wiki is an online guide that provides family history researchers with sound research strategies, links to detailed lists of what records are available for locations worldwide, and articles on a multitude of family history topics. With over 88,000 articles, the Wiki is a great place to create a checklist of resources to search within for a specific county, or to find out what newspapers were published in a particular area. Tips for getting the most from the Wiki are found here.
|
|
Saturday, October 20, 9:30 a.m. Nichols Library Community Room 200 W. Jefferson, Naperville, IL One of the biggest challenges with collecting genealogical records and sharing ancestral treasures is that genealogists accumulate a lot of paper and digital files. They also waste a lot of time since they don’t always have organized research and presentation plans. In this lively talk author and educator Marsha Peterson-Maass will share the *Genealogy Organizational Challenge* to get genealogists back on track with visual common-sense suggestions from an organizational consultant and leading genealogical experts. Marsha is a genealogy instructor with the Newbery Library in Chicago.
|
|
This year's conference is "Celebrating Our Ancestors" featuring Thomas W. Johnes."With 20+ sessions presented by nine expert and well-known genealogists, we are confident there is something for everyone at this year's conference. Our hope is that after attending, you will come away with new tools and techniques to help you discover and Celebrate Your Ancestors." Click here for more information and to register.
|
|
Lower Level, Meeting Room B Mark Olsen of the Software MacKiev Company will be appearing at Fox Valley Genealogical Society's monthly meeting. He will demonstrate how to use the popular genealogy software Family Tree Maker 2017 and also introduce some new features such as color coding, and a feature for integrating DNA information into a family tree. Mark Olsen is the Family Tree Maker Ambassador to historical and genealogical societies around the world working to support their members.
|
|
200 W. Jefferson Ave. Naperville, IL Learn how to get your family tree back to Poland by finding the village of origin for your ancestral lines using technology. Topics include the availability of Polish vital records from both church and civil authorities, notarial, military, and other types of records. This presentation will include the latest updates from both American databases and various archives within Poland including Przemyśl, Włocławek, Poznań, and more along with the efforts to digitize records. Learn how to effectively utilize the online Słownik Geograficzny to help discover the parish of origin and more about your ancestral villages. Local author and educator, Jason Kruski, will return to present this comprehensive look at the tools available to Polish-American genealogists to build their family trees in both the United States and Poland.
|
|
200 W. Jefferson Ave., Naperville This beginners’ class will introduce the library’s online resource Heritage Quest. This resource provides a comprehensive treasury of American genealogical sources.
|
|
|
How to Weed Your Attic : Getting Rid of Junk Without Destroying Historyby Elizabeth H. DowHow to Weed Your Attic: Getting Rid of Junk without Destroying History provides answers to the question: when someone dies or it’s time to move --- or just clean out the attic, garage, or basement, what papers and other things should we save for the sake of history and what can we safely toss?
After reading this clearly written book by a retired archivist and a retired museum curator, you can comfortably clean out your attic – or office, garage, basement, cupboards – with confidence that you’re not tossing out historically valuable (or invaluable) things, and that you will not ask your local museum to take things that really belong in a thrift store, junk yard, or recycle center.
|
|
|
Family Tree Factbook: Key Genealogy Tips and Stats for the Busy Researcherby Family TreeThe answers to all your genealogy questions in one place! This convenient, time-saving collection of genealogy hacks gathers the best resources, tips, lists, and need-to-know facts from the experts at Family Tree Magazine. Inside, you'll find fast facts about a variety of family history topics, such as important dates in US history, the different kinds of DNA tests, and how to use the best genealogy websites.
|
|
|
Adobe Photoshop Restoration & Retouchingby Katrin EismannShowcases the tools and techniques required to digitally restore antique images, retouch portraits, and repair faded and damaged photographs using Adobe Photoshop.
|
|
A Guide to Chicago and Midwestern Polish-American Genealogyby Jason KruskiChicago has been the historic stronghold of Polish-Americans. Poles came to Chicago for the opportunities it offered, and then scattered across the Midwest and the United States. Learn to access the records, whether using paper records or the wealth of information available on websites.
|
|
|
Polish Genealogy: 4 Steps to Successby Stephen SzabadosThe book outlines a simple process that will identify where your ancestors were born and where to find their Polish records. The author, Stephen Szabados, uses his own genealogical research experience to outline this simple process that has been successful for him.
|
|
|
The Family Tree Historical Newspapers Guide: How to Find Your Ancestors in Archived Newspapersby James M. BeidlerThis comprehensive how-to guide will show you how to harvest the "social media" of centuries past to learn about your ancestors and the times and places they lived in. With step-by-step examples, case studies, templates, worksheets, and screenshots, this book shows you what you can find in online (and offline) historical newspapers, from city dailies to weekly community papers to foreign-language gazetteers.
|
|
|
White Like Her: My Family’s Story of Race and Racial Passingby Gail LukasikWhite Like Her: My Family's Story of Race and Racial Passing is the story of Gail Lukasik's mother's "passing," Gail's struggle with the shame of her mother's choice, and her subsequent journey of self-discovery and redemption. Haunted by her mother's fear and shame, Gail embarks on a quest to uncover her mother's racial lineage, tracing her family back to eighteenth-century colonial Louisiana. In coming to terms with her decision to publicly out her mother, Gail changed how she looks at race and heritage. With a foreword written by Kenyatta Berry, host of PBS's Genealogy Roadshow, this unique and fascinating story of coming to terms with oneself breaks down barriers.
|
|
|