Hi Delores, I was fortunate to spend a few days in SLC at the Fam. Hist. Lib. recently. I was there on a Friday aft. & evening, when my husband and I had good luck, so we went back on Sat and kept hitting brick walls. But then we went on to vacation in the Tetons and the Rockies... Then, 10 days later, we went back to the FHL on a Monday aft. & evening and found some more good stuff! It seemed busier on Monday than it had on Fri or Sat, but I don't think there's any pattern to it. I did learn: Get yourself oriented at the beginning. They have a short (very short) introductory talk. I would ask for some printed guidelines. There are at least 4 floors, with different countries on each floor. Read the signs at the elevators to learn how it's arranged. They have MANY people helping, with some much more helpful than others. If you don't get your question answered satisfactorily by one person, find another one. Take your time to find the numbered microfilms in the drawers. It can take a while. There is some construction going on, and things have been moved. Keep asking. Keep looking. Take breaks to collect your thoughts and information so you know what you want to look up next. It's best if you go in with definite goals. I was much more successful when I looked up a certain family in the 1880 US Census for NJ, for instance, than if I just wandered around looking at various books. Be prepared to work... If you're using microfilm, you will first look use a reader. When you find something you want to copy, you must remove both reels and walk to the "copy room" where you will have to place the film on another machine to copy it. The readers feed the film from the bottom of the left reel, and the copiers feed from the top of left reel, so you have to "flip it over." You will need to buy a "copy card" from a machine. You use it to make copies by inserting it into the microfilm copy machine. You put a dollar in the machine to get the card... and then you go back and add another dollar...and... There is a restaurant just down the street called JB's or BJ's which was friendly and reasonable. Enjoy the lovely flowers. Go to a free concert. Both in Temple Square, just across from the FHL. The US area was always congested. A suggestion... take the microfilm to another floor where it is less busy. But please put it back where it came from. Don't be spooked by the stoplights. They make funny noises. For sight impaired people, I guess. Good Luck! Enjoy! I want to go back! It's wonderful!! Beth STEINBERG ARNOTT. ----- Original Message ----- From: Delores Rochelle Walls <Loy_Genealogy@att.net> To: <LOY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2001 7:29 PM Subject: [LOY] Going to SLC!! > Hi everyone, > > The day after tomorrow (Tuesday) I'm going on a one week vacation to Salt > Lake City via Greyhound. This will be my first time going. Have any of you > used the library there before? If so, do you have any good tips? I visited > the Library website, but thought some of you might have some personal ideas, > such as what time of day/what day of the week the crowds are the heaviest, > etc. > > Thanks, > > Delores > > > ==== LOY Mailing List ==== > *** Roxanne Munns, ListHostess *** > To unsubscribe, send "UNSUBSCRIBE" to LOY-L-request@rootsweb.com > > > ============================== > Visit Ancestry's Library - The best collection of family history > learning and how-to articles on the Internet. > http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library >

Thanks Beth! Did they just start copy cards? In the books, I was told to bring along plenty of change in advance, because there was a long line in getting change. A card is a great idea: does it work for both the microfilm copiers and the photocopiers (a/k/a "Xerox machines")? I don't plan on much census research, as I have found most of the Loys current to 1920, although I will go through some recently (in past two years) found Loy branches in AR, MO, and TX. The main thing I want to try is to see if they have copies of the Reading Adler (Reading, PA), in which John Loy's 1840 obituary was found. Another thing is to check Rowan Co., NC records pre-1850. Thanks to a posting by Larry Noah in the Brick Church Rootsweb List, I found the naturalization record transcript of Martin Loy and others from the area of Orange. Larry had said that some living in Western Orange Co. found it easier to go to Rowan Co. rather than Hillsborough in Orange. I am wondering, because those records are there, if other records, such as wills, might be found there as well. That I know of, no one has checked for any Loys in Rowan Co. wills/land records. As for the stoplights, there is one intersection in Palm Springs that still has that "funny noise." Braille Institute used to be on that corner, until they moved to a bigger building on the edge of town, but they didn't take their "noise-light" with them when they moved.