Ontario Genealogical Society Conference May 2010

 I received the information below about the upcoming Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) Conference. It is a reminder to me to register for the conference. I booked my room awhile back. I will be arriving on the Wednesday and taking part on Thursday in the Ontario Library Association (OLA) - OGS Genealogy and Libraries Day.

With February 2 (Groundhog Day) just two days away this press release is timely. I hope to see some of you there.

A certain groundhog couldn’t have predicted this . . . 

Registrations for the Ontario Genealogical Society’s Conference 2010 have been “heating” up. Early registrations have been coming in from far and wide. We already have intrepid family historians travelling from four states: Wisconsin, New York, Michigan, and Colorado; three provinces: BC, Quebec, and Saskatchewan, and, remarkably, Scotland and Italy. And of course, from many parts of Ontario.

Most of these folks have registered online at http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2010 (or printed a pdf from the website), but the February issue of Families will contain a paper brochure and will arrive very soon in the hands of some 4,000 members of the Ontario Genealogical Society.

Now’s the time to register for the most action-packed, star-studded OGS Conference ever!
To avoid disappointment and get the best selection, quick, go to the conference website and check out the program pages! You’ll find more details then ever before about lectures, tours, and our special Dutch and Italian streams. Check out the brand new “Lecture Streams at a Glance” page with printable schedules for each day.

Once you’ve made your choices, click on “How do I register?” and select the registration package that suits you best. Then let the secure online registration form guide you through the process.

There may be only 6 weeks until Spring, but take the opportunity to jump in ahead of the pack. Register today.

OGS Conference 2010
Essentials, Innovations & Delights
May 14-16, 2010
Doubletree by Hilton–Toronto Airport
www.ogs.on.ca/conference2010
conference2010@ogs.on.ca

© 2010 Janet Iles

Saturday Night Fun with creating calendars

 

The above is a sample of a calendar created in Legacy. I use Brother's Keeper for my family datbase but it doesn't have a calendar creation program so I exported a gedcom to Legacy.

I tried various variations and decided to do only birthdays of those who have died. Even with that, not all the dates would fit on the appropriate space and it created supplementary pages for each month. When I added a photo to the page, it caused problems so that a whole month did not show on a page.

If I was making a calendar for family, I would include the living people.

Above on the calendar for January 30 there is only one person shown in the square and that is William Buckindale born in 1865. He is in my Stiver line.

Today is one of my niece's birthday. Happy birthday, H.

© 2010 Janet Iles

Wordless Wednesday - Salvation Army Home League

My grandmother - Lily (Dudley) Iles is the second from the left - 1938.



© 2010 Janet Iles

52 weeks to better genealogy - Challenge #4 - Interlibrary Loan

The  Interlibrary loan service at my local library is one I am quite familiar with as I have used it from both sides of the desk.  Most of my requests are for microfilm but the process is quite similar for requesting a book.

Before requesting a book, I make sure that it isn't already in the library's collection.

What can be interlibrary loaned is primarily a decision of the holding library. A library may restrict the loan of their reference materials, rare or fragile items or one of a kind items or books on deposit from an organization that have stipulated that materials are not to loaned outside of the library.  Books published during the past year, as a general practice, are not loaned. Some libraries will loan books but will stipulate that the books can only be used in the borrowing library.

To have the best success in obtaining a book that I would like to borrow, I will do some preliminary research. I may have heard about a book or saw it in a bibliography but I want to make sure that I have the correct information.

1. Search InfoOntario  This database searches many of the Southern and Northern Ontario library databases The search can also be limited to a region. As a guest, choose Bibsearch to begin. You can do a simple or advanced search.  It will not tell you if the book is currently on the shelf but you will get the bibliographic information and the classification number for each library that has the book.
2. If I can't find the book in that database, I will check the Toronto Public Library system catalogue.
3. Finally, I would check Worldcat. Not all libraries are in this database.

The information that our library needs to begin the interlibrary loan process:

1. Your name, library card number (card must be in good standing) and telephone number and/or email
address.
2. The author (last name, first name)
3. The full title
4. Year of publication
5. Publisher
6. ISBN - International Standard Book Number (older books will not have this number).

You will be asked if you are willing to pay a fee if the book comes from a library that charges (sometimes there is a charge for books from universities).

This information is put on the interlibrary loan slip for books that are available from the reference desk staff.  This information is then passed on to the Interlibrary Loan Staff person who begins the search process through the INFO system.

Now, I have to be patient as it can take sometimes four to six weeks for the book to arrive. It will depend on what libraries have the book, whether it is on the shelf or not and from how far away the book has to come. Sometimes, you are really lucky and it will come quickly.

When the book arrives, I will be notified. The loan period is set by the loaning library so I want to get to the library as soon as possible so I have the maximum benefit of the time.

Interlibrary loan is a wonderful service.


© 2010 Janet Iles

Genea-Musings: Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Your Interests?

Genea-Musings: Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Your Interests?

Tonight's Saturday Night challenge from Randy Seaver is for us to talk about our interests outside of genealogy and blogging. Sometimes, it seems that all my time and energy are focused on genealogy related activities - my own research, research for others, blogging, etc.

I do enjoy reading although it is limited. I belong to a book club through our church. We read a variety of books. Discussions on the book are generally not in-depth discussions. Our hostess for the once a month gathering provides something delicious to eat.

I love the beauty of flowers as those who visit my blog know from the many photographs of flowers that I post here for Wordless Wednesday. I enjoy them in my garden but I must admit, I do not put much effort into maintaining my garden.

On television, I enjoy watching the decorating shows, Cityline and Breakfast Television.

Two years ago, I began to set aside about an hour a day to walk about five days a week. It has become a necessary part of my day. It gets  me away from the computer and it is good for my mental and physical well being. It is great to be able to walk indoors year round.

For over thirty years or perhaps it is closer to forty years, I have taught Sunday School to the youngest children.

Of course, my family is one of my great interests. My sister and brother and their children are so very special to me.


© 2010 Janet Iles

Madeline with her great grandmother Mary Iles

 Madeline Litherland with Mary Iles (second wife of George Iles and Madeline's great-grandmother). Photo taken likely in the early thirties.

© 2010 Janet Iles

Follow Friday: Genwriting

 Most days, I take time to read some blogs. Most are genealogy related. Some are connected to writing and editing. Some blogs feature both as their prime focus. Genwriting does both. Phyllis Matthews Ziller provides great pointers on writing your family history as she describes it "one story at a time". The most recent article recommends that you develop a writing schedule that works for you. She shared in one blog article the books on her bookshelf  that help with the writing process. There are some good suggestions.

Phyllis also as a companion website where she provides some very useful guides.

If you haven't visited Phyllis's blog, I hope you do as she may give you the inspiration that you need to write your family stories.

© 2010 Janet Iles

Wordless Wednesday - Who caught all those fish?

The photo was taken on Manitoulin Island - year not known; original photo from the collection of Margaret Love.  In the photo are Mary and Arthur Robinson , Beatrice Thiel, Grace (Love) Boyd and Ben Thiel.

© 2010 Janet Iles

Happy 101 Award

 Thank you to the following for honouring me with the Happy 101 Award.
Hummer - You can find Hummer at several blogs that are new to me so I look reading to her posts. Branching out through the years and Joyous Tomorrows
Miriam at AnceStories. She has several interesting projects. She also hosts scanfest and has a site with links to directories. She has a separate blog to alert you to updates to the website.
Joan at Luxegen Genealogy and Family History Joan is another Canadian blogger.
Greta at Greta's Genealogy Blog
Check out Greta's Memory Mondays, Silly Saturdays and her other theme days.

Great reading in the sites above.

What makes me happy? - 10 reasons are requested. These are no special order.
1. Being with or hearing from my brother and sister
2 Being with or hearing from my nieces and nephews
3. Sunshine - especially on a cold winter day.
4.Hugs and smiles from the young children in my Sunday School class
5. Researching and writing.

6. Helping others with their genealogy and hearing back from them to learn that the information I provided helped them continue their research.

7. Finding another piece of information on my ancestors and kin
8. Comments on my blog that further the conversation or let me know that my article was of interest.
9. Relaxing by the water (river, lake or ocean)
10. Spending time with friends

At this point, I am asked to award the Happy 101 Award to 10 others. How do you choose? Work is calling me so I will try to get back to this later.

© 2010 Janet Iles

Creative Gene: Carnival of Genealogy, 87th Edition

Creative Gene: Carnival of Genealogy, 87th Edition:  Jasia has  posted the round up of the most recent Carnival of Genealogy. Wow what a list! Everyone has been busy writing about their resolutions and reviewing the past year.

My resolutions can be found here. I hope I am successful in achieving them.

Thanks Jasia for all your hard work in orchestrating these carnivals.


© 2010 Janet Iles

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy - Challenge #1

 Week 1: Go to your local public library branch. Make a note of the genealogy books in the collection that may help you gain research knowledge. Don’t forget to check the shelves in both the non-fiction section and the reference section. If you do not already have a library card, take the time to get one. If you have a genealogy blog, write about what you find in your library’s genealogy collection.

Amy Coffin of the fabulous We Tree blog, has done it again. Last year, Amy developed a series of 52 Weekly Genealogy Blogging Prompts which kept folks very busy and forced them to look at many different aspects of their genealogy.

Now this one is an easy one for me as I worked at the local public library for 30 years as full time staff and since my retirement in 2005 on contract work generally filling in as needed from time to time, at the reference desk. I am therefore biased in  my comments. For at least fifteen years, I cataloged the materials in the local history section of the library and answered some of the questions pertaining to local history and genealogy.

The Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library serves a population of about 40,000, although Owen Sound itself has about 21,000 residents.

There is a separate area in a room that was once the Chief Librarian's office for many of the local history and genealogy books. These books are for in library use only. There is a bench in the room (with my name on it.) but researchers work at the study tables in the adjoining room The microfilm cabinets, microform machines, and vertical file cabinets are in the "Carnegie wing" of the library. In addition, there are many excellent resources that are in storage in the basement that have to be retrieved by staff. The newsletters are housed there.The Bruce and Grey Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society library is on deposit here.

In the circulation collection are mainly how to genealogy books. The library has available on its public computers the Library Edition of Ancestry. There are some genealogy related books in the reference department on the main floor.

The library is open 71 hours a week. Reference assistance is available for most of these hours (not Friday evening or Sunday afternoons).
Now that I have talked about the collection itself, I am to mention some books that help me gain research knowledge. From home, I can check the catalog.

In acquainting myself with some of the useful resources for genealogical research in Grey and Bruce counties Betty Warrilow's book, Tracing Your Ancestors in Bruce & Grey is very helpful.

Althea Douglas' book Genealogy, geography and maps : using atlases and gazetteers to find your family is a guide I would like to review. It may give me some more ideas on using these resources.

One suggestion I often make to researchers is to look at the various family histories in the collection as you never know when your family may turn up. The library has a good collection of family histories that have a connection to Grey or Bruce counties.  

I go regularly to the library to use this great collection.  

© 2010 Janet Iles