Diane: There is something on every floor of the Suzzallo-Allen Library for genealogists. A few tips: The Microforms and Newspapers Collection is a good place to start if you want to look at Washington State newspapers (many of them) and other materials on microfilm. You can spend a lot of time there, and it would help you get oriented to the building. Another good place to start is the floor with the 900s (Dewey Decimal System) for older book acquisitions. Example: _Brookhaven Town Records_ (974.7 B791b). Many Massachusetts and some Maine town vital records are there. Or you could start with the periodicals on the Serials floor, some of which are not available elsewhere in Seattle (such as Virginia, South Carolina). From home, use the online catalog <http://catalog.lib.washington.edu/search/> and keywords to find representative catalog numbers and go to the shelves. Example: There are Huguenot records in the 200s (Dewey) as well as in BX (Library of Congress). The 900s and the 200s still haven't been converted over to the Library of Congress system. However, if you didn't use the catalog, you would miss Huguenot stuff in the 300s on a Dewey floor and perhaps other locations besides BX on the Library of Congress floors. If you start in the Dewey universe, don't overlook the parallel Library of Congress universe. The universes inhabit different floors. Happy hunting! --Ida Skarson McCormick, idamc@seanet.com, Seattle

Suzzallo... I can talk for hours on Suzzallo and I'm only talkin' the microfilm/newspaper section... <grin> 1. the student librarians are very nice. 2. most of the computers are set up for UW student use only BUT there are community computers on the several floors. 3. the Allen Library NW archives. 4. Parking... Saturday evening and Sunday it is free on campus... otherwise it's big bucks 5. Some of the study rooms are just awesome and I've just gone there to suck up atmosphere 6. the 900 history book section!!! 7. old newspapers!!! 8. auto loading microfilm readers. If you have walkin' difficulties there is a spot that will bring you 30 feet from the Suzzalo library. Someone else could then go park the car. There are elevators close by I've been trying to make it to the library twice a month... usually Sunday afternoon to evening... Darilee Ida Skarson McCormick <idamc@seanet.com> wrote: Diane: There is something on every floor of the Suzzallo-Allen Library for genealogists. A few tips: The Microforms and Newspapers Collection is a good place to start if you want to look at Washington State newspapers (many of them) and other materials on microfilm. You can spend a lot of time there, and it would help you get oriented to the building. Another good place to start is the floor with the 900s (Dewey Decimal System) for older book acquisitions. Example: _Brookhaven Town Records_ (974.7 B791b). Many Massachusetts and some Maine town vital records are there. Or you could start with the periodicals on the Serials floor, some of which are not available elsewhere in Seattle (such as Virginia, South Carolina). >From home, use the online catalog and keywords to find representative catalog numbers and go to the shelves. Example: There are Huguenot records in the 200s (Dewey) as well as in BX (Library of Congress). The 900s and the 200s still haven't been converted over to the Library of Congress system. However, if you didn't use the catalog, you would miss Huguenot stuff in the 300s on a Dewey floor and perhaps other locations besides BX on the Library of Congress floors. If you start in the Dewey universe, don't overlook the parallel Library of Congress universe. The universes inhabit different floors. Happy hunting! --Ida Skarson McCormick, idamc@seanet.com, Seattle bookstorelady@prodigy.net http://www.rootsweb.com/~waskagit - Skagit USGW http://www.thirdstbooks.com - 3rd St. Book Exchange http://www.facesfromthewall.com - Faces From the Wall - Vietnam/Washington