Hello New Jersey Researchers, Yesterday, I met with a member of the web development team for the New Jersey Historical Society. We discussed content for the upcoming NJHS web site. Among items discussed were: 1. A complete listing of their holdings. 2. Mail in lookup requests. 3. On line maps of early New Jersey, counties and towns. 4. The history of the organization. 5. Their hours of operation. 6. Directions to the Society 7. Membership in the Society 8. Hotel accommodations near the Society for visitors. 9. Mass transit facilities for visitors. 10. Parking facilities for visitors. 11. Restaurant facilities for visitors. 12. Events sponsored by the Society 13. A form to preorder documents for viewing that are not on site. 14. Posting of photos of New Jersey 15. Links to other libraries that have additional or complimentary information. 16. What to expect from a visit to the Society. 17. On line store. 18. On site research fees for mail in research (for research, not just a lookup) 19. Putting their cemetery holdings on line. 20. User imputed databases. 21. User query system that will be answered by staff members or other visitors. 22. User discussion area. 23. Search engine that will search the entire site, including User sections and holdings. 24. Asking for volunteers to put NJHS data on line, such as the cemetery lists, rosters. 25. A Section that tells what information they have that is unique to the NJHS. 26. Web site forms for various uses, including research requests. 27. User suggestion area. 28. A "How-To Research" guide 29. Turnaround time for lookups and research requests. When I asked who the web site would be aimed at, I was told History Buffs, Education Systems and Genealogists. I replied that I hoped that it wasn't in that order and that I would estimate that at least 90% of the web site visitors would be Genealogists doing research. I also stressed that Lookup Requests and Research Requests would skyrocket and that they should be prepared for that. The last item that I stressed was the NJHS experience for visitors. Visitors should know before arriving: 1. How to get to the NJHS easily. 2. Where they can park, have lunch. 3. Have a 'game plan' of what they can do and how to do it before they enter the site so visitors/researchers can maximize their time with research and not with learning the system. 4. Be able to 'order' off site documents prior to their arrival so these documents will be ready for immediate research. I don't know what the final web site will include but the initial web site should be on line by the end of the year. Thank You, Glenn G. Geisheimer <[email protected]> NJ State Coordinator USGenWeb Project <http://www.rootsweb.com/~njgenweb/index.html>