===================================================================== GEORGE G. MORGAN: "ALONG THOSE LINES . . ." "Planning Your Genealogy Vacation on the Internet, Part I" ===================================================================== Good weather is coming. (Trust me on this one!) Summer, too, is just around the corner and the prospect of a great vacation. If you're like me, almost every vacation I take has some focus on genealogical research. At the very least, I visit every library I can fit into the schedule because I never know where that next important clue will be found. The Internet has made planning a trip, especially a family history vacation, a lot easier. In this and next week's "Along Those Lines . . ." columns, let's explore some of the ways you can start planning your own summer genealogy vacation. DECIDING ON THE LOCATION Most of my vacations are planned with a destination and goal in mind. Perhaps it's a trip to visit family or a planned family reunion. Sometimes I'm attending a meeting or a conference. And still other times I may just want to make a sightseeing tour to places of general or historical interest. Whatever the reason, I know I can always incorporate some genealogical research into the schedule. Once I know the places I want to visit, I can then start organizing to plan the research I might want to accomplish. That means gathering information from my database and from files, and rereading what I have (and don't have) on specific persons who lived in the area. Knowing that I can't always answer all the questions and find documentation on all the facts I want to prove, it's important to set some goals. --- Who will I research? --- What information do I want to find? --- What document types might satisfy my queries? --- When, where, and why were those documents created? --- Where are the documents likely to be found now? --- How can I gain access to those documents and other materials? --- What other places do I want to visit? I review the list of persons I want to research-and who realistically I can research in the time available to me on the trip. Based on those decisions, I then prepare a list of what information I want to find, and in what format it might exist. I next have to consider where these materials may have been generated, and by what governmental or private entity. Then I have to determine where those materials might be found today: a courthouse, a health department, a vital statistics bureau, a public records office, a church, in a library or archives, in the possession of a genealogical or historical society, in a private collection, or in other place. My next step is then to prepare a list of likely locations where the documents may be located, and then my Internet research can begin. LOCATING PLACES ONLINE It is essential to organize yourself before you leave the house, and it is never too early to begin. Based on the information you've compiled and the list of information and materials you wish to locate, you want to locate and make contact with these places in advance. For example, you want to determine where they are physically located, what their hours of operation are, what can be found in their holdings, whether you need to make an appointment in advance to access the material or to speak with the resident expert, whether you need a researcher ID, and what costs there might be for copies. Remember that summer operating hours for some facilities may be different than at other times of the year. Materials you might want to use may be stored off-site and may require an advance request to gain you access. The worst possible situation would be one where the materials you want to see are out for microfilming, binding, repair, or on loan to another facility. It is always wise to make contact in advance. Information on websites is not always up to date, and you don't want to waste a visit. The following are some of the types of facilities that you might want to visit on your trip, and methods for accessing their websites. LIBRARIES - Visit Library Spot at http://www.libraryspot.com/libraries. This site includes links to websites for public and academic libraries, state libraries, government libraries, presidential libraries, and others. NATIONAL ARCHIVES - The National Archives and Records Administration in the U.S. can be accessed at http://www.archives.gov and there you can locate information about each NARA Branch. The Library and Archives of Canada can be accessed at http://www.archives.ca. To locate other national archives in other countries, use your favorite Internet search engine and type the name of the country followed by a + and the phrase "national archive" in quotation marks as shown below. (Note: Always use the singular archive rather than the plural archives; you have a better chance of making a match. Also, always type your search in lower case.) scotland + "national archive" STATE LIBRARIES OR ARCHIVES - The same search strategy holds true for state, regional, and territorial libraries or archives. Type the name of the entity first and enclose it in quotation marks to make it an 'exact phrase' if there are multiple words in the name. Follow this with a + character and either the exact phrase in quotation marks "state library" or the term archive (and not archives). Here are some examples. ohio + "state library" "new south wales" + archive OTHER ARCHIVAL HOLDINGS - If you are aware of another archive or are seeking the possibility of one for a specific type of resource, structure a search such as those that follow. To locate an archive of materials concerning railroads in North Carolina, you might type the following in your browser. archive + railroad + "north carolina" LOCATING GOVERNMENT OFFICES - An easy way to locate government offices is to determine the geographical area, such as a state name or a county name, and then enter a structured search in your browser. Here are some examples. "alachua county" + florida This might yield a general county page. You could further narrow your search to fewer and more specific Web pages by using searches such as those shown in the next examples. "alachua county" + florida + court "alachua county" + florida + "probate court" "alachua county" + florida + "health department" LOCATING ENTITIES IN A SPECIFIC PLACE - You may want to locate information about an organization in a specific places. For example, perhaps you want to locate all websites for or about Baptist churches in Plains, Georgia. You might type the following in your browser. "baptist church" + plains + Georgia Bear in mind that not every entity may have a website. Therefore, you will want to use the online telephone resources to help locate organizations, companies, and people. One of my favorite resources is one called The Ultimates (http://www.theultimates.com ). Here you can choose from White Pages for individuals, Yellow Pages for businesses and organizations, a Trip Planner, and more. A search of the Yellow Pages here under just the first tool, Infospace, using NAME baptist, CATEGORY church, CITY plains, and STATE yielded five (5) Baptist churches I could contact. Of course there are other people and business search facilities on the Internet. For example, there is the Yahoo! People Search at http://people.yahoo.com and the Yahoo! Yellow Pages (http://yp.yahoo.com ), as well as other sites like WhoWhere? (http://www.whowhere.lycos.com ), Switchboard.com (http://www.switchboard.com ), and any number of other resources. You can find others by enter one of the following text in your browser. "white pages" "yellow pages" You can even add the + character and specify a country, as in the examples below. "white pages" + germany "yellow pages" + singapore GENEALOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETIES - Genealogical and historical societies can provide a great deal of guidance in your research, and a visit to one while on your trip may open many new research doors. Few, however, can afford to be staffed and open for extended hours. You will want to make contact in advance to learn what materials they might have in their possession and/or if there are persons who could meet with you and provide guidance about the coverage area and their collection. Certainly you can use your browser to search for a society in a given area, as in the following example. nebraska + "genealogical society" "new mexico" + "santa fe" + "genealogical society" tampa + "historical society" Please note, though, that not all societies use such logical naming patterns. The easiest place to locate the most genealogical societies in the U.S. is at the Ancestry.com/Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) Society Hall site at http://www.familyhistory.com/societyhall/main.asp. Here you can search by society name or keyword, by city, by state/province, and/or by ZIP code. You will probably still have to use your browser to locate historical societies, and you may also want to substitute the exact phrase "family history" for the word genealogical to catch all possible matches. Still, this is an effective use of your advance research preparation. START RESEARCHING NOW As you've seen in the examples above, there really are effective ways to begin your planning now for an upcoming genealogical vacation. Let me encourage you in the coming week to practice with the samples I've given you in this column. Then, try to structure some searches specific to your own research goals. In next week's column, we'll discuss the use of online catalogs and we'll explore the optimum ways to plan the physical part of your trip: airline reservations, maps, hotel accommodations, car rentals, and other logistical arrangements. The Internet has made advance planning of vacations and visits to research venues very simple. All you need is a little advance organization, some logical thought, and the knowledge of how to effectively use your Internet browser. Get started now, and I'll see you here next week. Happy hunting! George __________________________________________________________________ Copyright 1998-2003, MyFamily.com Inc. and its subsidiaries. Reprinted by permission from "Ancestry Daily News" & George Morgan