The East Texas Genealogical Society will hold its regular monthly meeting on Saturday, May 10, 2008, at 2:00 p.m. at the Tyler Public Library in the Taylor Auditorium. The featured speaker will be Pat Gordon. Ms. Gordon, a professional writer, journalism teacher, and former newspaper reporter, will present a program titled “Genealogists Guide to Open Records.” The program will be a primer on open records – both federal and state – and provide genealogists with the information they need to know about which records are open and which ones are closed and how to gain access to the records. Ms. Gordon believes that knowing your rights is often the first step in gaining access to public records needed in your research. As a journalist Pat often used open records to find information for her stories, and when she began her family research about fifteen years ago, she discovered that what she did as a journalist was similar to what she needed to do as a genealogist. Pat Gordon holds a master’s degree in journalism from Texas Christian University and is a former newspaper reporter who now teaches journalism at a Fort Worth area university. She is a freelance writer and is involved in working on her family history as well as a county history. As a fifth-generation Texan, Pat likes to place her ancestors in the social setting in which they lived. Much of her research is done in newspapers and university archives, and she will be sharing how to find and obtain access to the records we need in our research. Pat has served two terms as president of the Fort Worth Genealogical Society and one term as vice president and editor of their monthly newsletter. She joined the Angelina College genealogy lecture staff in 2002 (http://www.angelina.edu/genealogy/htm) and continues to lecture at their annual conferences each July. Approximately thirty minutes following the conclusion of the regular program and refreshments, the Computer Interest Group of the East Texas Genealogical Society will meet with Steve Pope who will present a program on “Internet Security.” ETGS meetings are free and open to the public. For more information about ETGS go to our web-site: www.etgs.org or contact June Everheart, Publicity Director at Everheart@suddenlink.net or (903)877-4501.