Tuesday's Tip: Oral History for the Family Historian: A Basic Guide

Want to brush up on your interviewing skills before you see relatives over the holidays? I recommend Oral History for the Family Historian: A Basic Guide by Linda Barnickel, published by the Oral History Association.

You can get it through Amazon for $15. The 70-page guide practical advice for conducting family oral history interviews. It also contains an extensive list of sample questions, a legal release form, and some tips about common pitfalls, and other suggested resources.

Scanning Saturday

If you're planning on scanning some family photos this weekend, don't forget to use at least 400 ppi and TIF format. I like to use the Canon CanoScan LiDE210 Scanner, a full-sized flatbed that's also very light and portable. And here's someone who put that information to good use:

I attended your seminars at the 2010 California Family History Expo in Pleasanton, CA. You were a dynamic and engaging speaker!

At the start of 2010 I had purchased an Epson photo scanner hoping to use it in my family business (home and office organizing, downsizing, etc). I would have scanned everything in JPG, but I attended your seminar and you described how TIFF was superior.

I carried that piece of information in my head and then in October 2010, my Grandma died and I was able to gather a large collection of her pictures and started scanning. Eleven months later, I scanned over 1,500 photos, negatives, slides, documents as TIFFs, backed them up on 2 separate external hard drives, then did a batch conversion to change the TIFFs to JPGs. Two weeks ago, I created DVDs with the JPGs, and then mailed those off to the interested family members (and even those that weren’t so interested).

In the next months, I’ll continue to work on developing an index for the photos. But, the important thing is the photos have been shared with family, for all to enjoy, and for the photos not to be hoarded in someone’s forgotten closet.

This year, I’ve been scanning a client’s photos and we’re going to prepare DVDs of her family photos for her to give as Christmas gifts!

Thank you for sharing your knowledge  - you helped me get on the right path for my photo project! Without your words, I don’t believe I would have even started my project.

Sincerely,

Jeanne Sibert

In the Pilgrims’ Footsteps, Through England and the Netherlands in the NY Times

There was a great article in the travel section of the New York Times a few days ago about following in the footsteps of the Pilgrims from England and the Netherlands to Massachusetts. 

The 102 passengers who sailed on the Mayflower in September 1620 came from all over England (and not all of them were religiously motivated), but the leaders of the separatist movement came from just a handful of farming villages in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and southern Yorkshire, most within walking distance of one another. This is not the touristy, thatched-cottage part of England, but it is beautiful nonetheless, and last spring my wife and I visited to see what we could learn about her ancestors, who in so many ways are forefathers to us all. 

It's a great overview of this important period in history, even if you don't have ancestors who broke bread at the first Thanksgiving. Worth a look.

Happy Thanksgiving from Sassy Jane Genealogy

President Truman receiving a Thanksgiving turkey from members of the
Poultry and Egg National Board outside the White House, 16 Nov 1949
Harry S. Truman Library (NLHST)
[ARC Identifier 200138]

] 

Did you know that the Presidential tradition of pardoning a holiday turkey did not start with Harry Truman, as commonly believed? I had no idea the historical record was so murky – something genealogists are used to dealing with! – but the background for the custom is here.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my U.S. readers. May you all get lots of new family information along with your turkey this holiday.

RIP, Uncle Don

How Future Generations Will Remember Us

Tuesday's Tip: My Top Tip for Interviewing Relatives for Family History

Will you have the opportunity to talk to some relatives during Thanksgiving weekend? If some of those stories you've heard more than once or the family member says they can't remember, then ask about historical events.

 

One of the best ways to prompt memories in an interviewee is to ask where they were during historical events. I remember asking my grandmother about living in Chicago when she was first married. She was convinced she didn't have any interesting stories, couldn't remember what neighborhood or address they lived in, nothing. 

But then I asked her where she was when she'd heard Lindbergh had landed in Paris. Her face lighted up and she told me her downstairs neighbor, Mrs. S------, came out of her apartment banging a saucepan with a spoon and soon all the neighbors had gathered to cheer and listen to the radio together. With that memory came wonderful details: the address she hadn't been able to remember moments before, the different countries her immigrant neighbors came from, where my grandfather was working, even what they had for supper that night. 

I like to think that it gave her pleasure to go back to that happy memory and at the same time gave me an indelible memory of talking with her. 

So if you're interested in the stories that will help you put leaves and branches on your family tree, ask about historical events.

Follow Friday: National Archives Now Available on iTunes® U

The National Archives has now joined iTunes U, a dedicated area within the iTunes Store giving users public access to thousands of free lectures, videos, books and podcasts from learning institutions all over the world. Visit the National Archives on iTunes U at: http://ow.ly/6F13r.

National Archives on iTunes U is giving teachers, students, and lifelong seekers of knowledge access to archival documents, lesson plans, Presidential Libraries' podcasts, and more, all available as free downloads to enjoy on a Mac or PC, iPad, iPhone or iPod.

National Archives on iTunes U launched on November 12 with selection of World War II films, Presidential historical documents and podcasts, and several "Inside the Vaults" videos featuring behind-the-scenes at the Archives, and lesson plan materials, exhibit materials, and videos of public lectures will continue to be added to iTunes U.

Tuesday's Tip: Latest Additions to Chronicling America Newspaper Database

Last week, the Library of Congress updated the Chronicling America Web site with more than 190,000 additional newspaper pages in various titles. The site now provides access to more than 4.1 million searchable newspaper pages from 581 newspaper titles, published in 25 states and the District of Columbia between 1836 and 1922.

To learn more about what newspapers have been added or updated, subscribe to the Recent Additions RSS feed available from anywhere in Chronicling America (click on the orange Subscribe button). 

To search for newspaper titles that have been digitized, visit http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

Veterans Day and Military Records Requests in the United States

In honor of Veterans Day (Happy 11/11/11 to you, btw), the National Archives has released a three-minute video that takes you behind the scenes of a request for military records. View the video on the National Archives YouTube channel here: http://tinyurl.com/VetsStL

NARA's press releases:

By far the most-requested documents in the holdings of the National Archives are the military personnel records of the nation’s veterans.  These documents are often needed by veterans or their families to obtain benefits, receive mortgages, to support job applications, or for family history.  

This Veterans Day the National Archives is presenting a new 3:43 minute video short to the public explaining how veterans and other interested parties can obtain copies of these documents.

In a brisk, visual narrative “Veterans Personnel Records at the National Archives, St. Louis” literally walks the viewer through the new National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, Missouri.  The huge facility – which opened in summer 2011 – has more than seven acres of storage, housing in perpetuity more than 56 million individual military personnel files.  The earliest records date from 1841. 

Air Force veteran and NPRC archives technician Bruce Bronsema – using his own personnel file – demonstrates how veterans can request copies of their records with a simple on-line application (http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records).  

The St. Louis facility receives four to five thousand requests each day for military personnel records, and according to NPRC director Scott Levins, responds to 90% of those requests within ten days. Beginning with Bronsema’s records request, the tour then heads to the storage areas: 15 separate record storage areas holding 2.3 million boxes on 29-foot high shelving units with two levels of steel catwalk.  

A Closer Look: Beware of Photos Bearing False Captions

The blog for the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress has a great post up about photographic literacy, or interpreting the clues that exist in photographs, called Beware of Photos Bearing False Captions. Well worth a look.

Tuesday's Tip: Use 100% Rag Paper for the Important Stuff

The next time you need to buy a ream of paper for your genealogical research, give serious consideration to the permanence of the records you’re creating and then reach for acid-free – or even better – 100 percent cotton paper.

But first, let’s take a brief walk through paper history. If you’ve had the chance to see paper that was made before the 19th century, you may be pleasantly surprised by how well it's lasted. From medieval times until the mid-eighteenth century, paper was made with flax or cotton and sized with gelatin, all relatively stable ingredients. 

In 1774, Carl Wilhelm Scheele (is that name in anyone’s family tree?) discovered chlorine, making it possible to use bleach-dyed rags for paper. The chlorine reduced the permanence of the paper, but increased the availability of raw materials to make paper. So paper became not as expensive, but also not as permanent. The same thing happened in 1806 when alum, a highly acidic sizing, was developed.

The proliferation of high-speed printing processes for newspapers and books increased the demand for paper. In response, new and faster methods of making paper were developed. By 1858, the groundwood process, the ability to grind wood fibers, made paper even cheaper to produce. Sulphite, a highly acidic sizing, was developed to speed production and increase profits.

But by the early twentieth century, it was clear that cheaply made paper was so acidic that the deterioration of books and newspapers using this paper had imperiled our shared cultural history. Libraries and archives began to work on ways to mass-deacidify paper. And they began work on how to avoid the problem altogether.

In 1984, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) established the standard for Permanence of Paper for Publications and Documents in Libraries and Archives (ANSI Z39.48-1992 rev 2002). The goal of this standard is to reduce future deterioration issues in printed library materials through establishment of  “criteria for coated and uncoated paper to last several hundred years” under optimal conditions in libraries and archives. 

The next time you’re in the market for a new ream of paper, you can look for “acid-free” on the label, but there are various standards for "acid-free" paper, with differing requirements. In some professions, paper having a pH between 6 and 7 is considered acid-free, but archival and museum conservators consider 7.5 the threshold. 

So use the stuff from Staples that’s labeled “acid-free” for notes and the like. But when you’re ready to print copies of primary sources or produce trees for family members, use 100% cotton paper. If you were writing and submitting a dissertation, the university would require that you use paper of this quality, so why should your genealogical research deserve anything less?

Tuesday's Tip: Time to Stock Up on Archival Supplies at the Hollinger Fall Sale

Want to shop where professional archivists get their archival supplies? And how about a 15 percent discount at the same time? 

Then head to the Fall 2011 sale at Hollinger Metal Edge to stock up. To be completely honest, I get nervous when genealogists tell me they buy acid-free supplies at Walmart or other retail outlets that aren't in the preservation business. Archivists swear by Hollinger, the leader in this field since 1945. If they say it's acid-free, you can count on it.

Products I really like include:

 

File Folders 

 

 

Flip-top Document Storage Boxes

 

 

 

Textile Storage (also great for flat oversized documents)

3-mil. Archival Polyester Sleeves

  








If you've heard my presentation on organization, you know that this is where you should be spending your storage dollar, rather than on elaborate binders, color-coded systems, and sheet protectors from discounters and office supply stores. Please store your original and vintage materials appropriately in trusted archival supplies like the ones from Hollinger. (And I have no financial interest in Hollinger.)

Sale ends November 30th!