I am forwarding this to the list to pass on to interested researchers. May 14, 2003 Please visit the DAR's website (www.dar.org) some time to view the new index that we have posted in the library's part of the site. Since the 1910s, DAR members have been collecting unpublished genealogical materials, largely Bible  and cemetery transcriptions, in what we call the Genealogical Records Committee Reports. There are nearly 18,000 volumes of these typescripts in our library. We are the only collection with all of these compilations and the volume numbering for these only works at the DAR Library. Many of you may have some of the GRC Reports from your own state, but we have numbered and arranged all of the state materials based on the holdings in our collection, which we naturally consider to be the master set. For the past couple of years we have had a project to index all of these volumes and to create national index to this wealth of genealogical information. The beginnings of this national index are now searchable on our web site. On that site, click on the top bar where it says "DAR Library," and on the library's page click on GRC National Index in the left-hand column just below the link to the library catalog. The page will open for the index search screen. Presently, Virginia, Maryland, Oregon, and Kentucky are largely complete, but there are about twenty other states for which portions of their set of GRC reports. One may limit a search to a particular state or to all states. NOT limiting a search to a state is a good idea because so many records from eastern states ended up in the hands of DAR members in western states and that's where the transcripts will appear, in the typescripts for the state in which the donor/transcriber lived! When the search results appear, there is a listing of the state, series, volume and page number. At the present time, that is as far as the reference will go. In the near future we plan to have every such index entry link over to the cataloging record for the exact book in which the reference appears. The contents notes of each book will help a researcher determine if the index entry is indeed something of interest to their search. Eventually, we hope to have the index entry link directly to the actual text. That, however, is a few years down the road and will likely involve some sort of subscription. This GRC National Index enables researchers to tap into our materials here in Washington and order copies of pages through the Library's Search Service (information on that is also available in the Library portion of the DAR website with fees and instructions). If there are questions about this index please send them to me. This index is just the first of several in the works, and we hope it will become a major source for researchers. Remember! The DAR Library's collections are not in any way limited to the period of the American Revolution. The materials buried in these reports cover all periods in American history. This index grows daily as new volume indexes are received from our members performing this massive undertaking. Please let your researchers know about it too. Eric Eric G. Grundset Library Director DAR Library 1776 D St., N.W. Washington, DC 20006-5303 202-879-3313 (phone) 202-879-3227 (fax) [email protected]