Joe - I was referring to the library collections of the historical societies, as well as DAR and LOC, with respect to having their catalogs on line, not the primary document collections of MD and DE Archives. The MD Archives also has their library collection on line so you can access that. I have not tried to use the DE Archives website except in very cursory way so can't give you much advice about how to use it. Sorry - JP - ----- Original Message ----- From: <joslake@sbcglobal.net> To: <lower-delmarva-roots@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, September 20, 2008 5:42 PM Subject: Re: [LDR] MD STATE ARCHIVES > John Polk: You comment below that all of the named institutions have on line > catalogs, except The Nabb. > > My search (good or bad) indicates that the DE Archives in Dover have some individual > categories on line, such as their probate records, but no comprehensive catalog of > their complete holdings. > > If I'm wrong about that, could you please send me the correct URL to access their > catalog? When I go online to the DE Archives, I always start at > http://archives.delaware.gov > > Thanks, Joe Lake > > > > The return on your time investment at either of these places is very > > dependent on your preparation before arrival. The archives are mostly > > repositories of original materials and it really helps to know exactly what > > you are looking for so you are not wasting all your time ordering and > > waiting for the staff to retrieve materials that don't help. I think they > > both allow you to have three items (i.e. original documents, not microfilms) > > at a time - if you are looking at these, it is important to submit your next > > order slip as soon as you return an item, so that you are not sitting idly > > at the the table waiting for something to come back from the stacks. > > > > Depending on how far you have progressed in your research you may want to > > consider going to the the DAR Library, the Library of Congress, the > > Maryland Historical Society (Baltimore), the Historical Society of > > Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) or the Historical Society of Delaware > > (Wilmington), and of course the Nabb center. All of these places have > > excellent collections of published county and family histories in which the > > work of previous researchers (of varying degrees of scholarship of course) > > have been collected and presented. It is amazing how far you can advance at > > the early stages of your research into particular lines by using these > > resources. I think they all have online catalogs, except for the Nabb > > Center, so you can prepare in advance to access specific items when you get > > there. You can also accomplish much just by browsing the shelves, which is > > what I usually get sucked into. If you have not done a thorough job of > > consulting previous research then you will probably just be treading over > > previously trod ground in your visits to the Archives. Your visits there > > should focus on validation of the published secondary and tertiary materials > > and retrieving new materials that haven't already been unearthed. > > > > Both the Maryland and Delaware Archives do have libraries with some > > collections of secondary materials, but that is not their forte. The > > historical societies are better at this. The Maryland Archives library is > > mostly in stacks not open to the public but portions of it are in the main > > public area, including the family histories section. > > > > John Polk > > Havre de Grace MD > > *************************************** > QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? > Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: > http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Thanks for the reply. I've e-mailed them (DE Arch) to see if they have a printed guide (hopefully). Joe > > I was referring to the library collections of the historical societies, as > well as DAR and LOC, with respect to having their catalogs on line, not the > primary document collections of MD and DE Archives. The MD Archives also > has their library collection on line so you can access that. I have not > tried to use the DE Archives website except in very cursory way so can't > give you much advice about how to use it. > > Sorry - > > JP > > > > - > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <joslake@sbcglobal.net> > To: <lower-delmarva-roots@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Saturday, September 20, 2008 5:42 PM > Subject: Re: [LDR] MD STATE ARCHIVES > > >> John Polk: You comment below that all of the named institutions have on > line >> catalogs, except The Nabb. >> >> My search (good or bad) indicates that the DE Archives in Dover have some > individual >> categories on line, such as their probate records, but no comprehensive > catalog of >> their complete holdings. >> >> If I'm wrong about that, could you please send me the correct URL to > access their >> catalog? When I go online to the DE Archives, I always start at >> http://archives.delaware.gov >> >> Thanks, Joe Lake >> >> >> > The return on your time investment at either of these places is very >> > dependent on your preparation before arrival. The archives are mostly >> > repositories of original materials and it really helps to know exactly > what >> > you are looking for so you are not wasting all your time ordering and >> > waiting for the staff to retrieve materials that don't help. I think > they >> > both allow you to have three items (i.e. original documents, not > microfilms) >> > at a time - if you are looking at these, it is important to submit your > next >> > order slip as soon as you return an item, so that you are not sitting > idly >> > at the the table waiting for something to come back from the stacks. >> > >> > Depending on how far you have progressed in your research you may want > to >> > consider going to the the DAR Library, the Library of Congress, the >> > Maryland Historical Society (Baltimore), the Historical Society of >> > Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) or the Historical Society of Delaware >> > (Wilmington), and of course the Nabb center. All of these places have >> > excellent collections of published county and family histories in which > the >> > work of previous researchers (of varying degrees of scholarship of > course) >> > have been collected and presented. It is amazing how far you can > advance at >> > the early stages of your research into particular lines by using these >> > resources. I think they all have online catalogs, except for the Nabb >> > Center, so you can prepare in advance to access specific items when you > get >> > there. You can also accomplish much just by browsing the shelves, which > is >> > what I usually get sucked into. If you have not done a thorough job of >> > consulting previous research then you will probably just be treading > over >> > previously trod ground in your visits to the Archives. Your visits there >> > should focus on validation of the published secondary and tertiary > materials >> > and retrieving new materials that haven't already been unearthed. >> > >> > Both the Maryland and Delaware Archives do have libraries with some >> > collections of secondary materials, but that is not their forte. The >> > historical societies are better at this. The Maryland Archives library > is >> > mostly in stacks not open to the public but portions of it are in the > main >> > public area, including the family histories section. >> > >> > John Polk >> > Havre de Grace MD >> >> *************************************** >> QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? >> Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: >> http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> > > > *************************************** > QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? > Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: > http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message