I present this article from Ancestry's Daily News, as
it's a great article.
Danielle Brown
List Admin
dtxn(a)yahoo.com
Happy Holidays, y'all!
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ALONG THOSE LINES...
"GIVING BACK TO YOUR GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY," by George
G. Morgan
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Genealogical societies are a great value for the
money. If you belong
to a local society, you already know how much fun it
is to get
together with other members. After all, your family
probably isn't as
receptive to your chattering away about Aunt Penelope,
Cousin Elmer,
and all the cemeteries that you've visited. Your
friends and
acquaintances at the local society are all open to
listening to you
and helping bring down your brick walls.
Distant genealogy societies are valuable too. If
you're researching
ancestors in other states or countries, it's rewarding
to receive
their journals and newsletters, visit their websites,
learn about
their publications, and maybe even ask for some
look-up assistance.
It takes time and money to run a genealogy society, as
well as the
talents of people who are willing to give of
themselves to take on
some tasks. Your society dues are minimal when you
consider all you
get for your money. You can help your society by
volunteering a
little time and energy to help give back some of what
you receive. I
stay pretty busy myself, but I make time to volunteer
to serve as
president of the International Society of Family
History Writers and
Editors (ISFHWE), as a director on the board of the
Genealogical
Speakers Guild (GSG), and on the board of the Florida
Genealogical
Society (which is local to the Tampa area). It takes a
little time,
but the rewards are priceless! And so, in "Along Those
Lines..." this
week, I'd like to make some suggestions for how YOU
can give back to
your own society or societies to which you belong.
VOLUNTEER AT MEETINGS
While it would be great if you offered to serve as an
officer or as a
member of the board of a society, you don't have to
make that kind of
commitment in order to help. I attend scores of
society meetings each
year and see individuals doing specific tasks, all of
which add to
the camaraderie and the functionality of the group.
These include:
--- Setting up and taking down chairs and tables for
the meeting
--- Bringing cookies, chips, snacks, soft drinks, and
other
refreshments
--- Staffing the welcome table at the door, asking
people to sign in,
and distributing name badges
--- Distributing agendas and handout copies
--- Helping a presenter get set up
--- Setting out free literature and books or gift
items for sale, and
acting as a cashier
--- Organizing the society's library materials and
other holdings
--- Doing look-ups for out-of-town members
--- Applying mailing labels and postage to envelopes
and newsletters
--- Making copies at the local office supply store
--- Taking mailings to the post office and picking up
mail
--- Taking copies of materials distributed at meetings
to people who
are ill or shut-in and cannot attend
--- Spreading the word about the society and what it
has to offer
VOLUNTEERING ON PROJECTS
Being a genealogist often means being an archivist and
preservationist. There are plenty of projects that
cannot be done
without the help of volunteers, and even a few hours'
help can be
very beneficial. Here are some projects you might
consider.
--- Canvassing a cemetery and transcribing tombstones
--- Typing and/or indexing results of a cemetery
canvass
--- Proofing someone else's typing
--- Making photocopies or doing some binding
--- Clipping obituaries and helping maintain a file
for the society
or the library
--- Organize the society's library, create an index,
and label the
materials
--- Volunteer at the local public library to help
organize
genealogical or historical materials in the vertical
file cabinets
--- Offer to photocopy newsprint materials and other
non-archival
safe records
--- Transcribe records at a courthouse or produce a
much-needed index
to them
--- Offer to speak to civic groups about the society
--- Offer to carpool for a group trip to a library in
another town
with a genealogical collection
PRESENTING A PROGRAM
You are probably an expert in some aspect of genealogy
by now. That
may include how to effectively organize your
genealogical materials,
how to work with a particular type of record, or how
to use a
particular genealogy database program. Everyone has
something to
share.
You can contribute to your society and to the members'
knowledge by
offering to present some short program at a meeting.
At one society
to which I belong, one member always talks about a
different library
in the state and the types of materials it holds. She
also talks
about her own research experiences in these places,
such as a recent
talk she gave about using Revolutionary War pension
file microfilm.
You don't need slides or a PowerPoint presentation.
All you need is a
few notes, a few minutes, and the desire to share
something that
others may not know.
DONATING MATERIALS
Few genealogical societies that I know about are
endowed with the
financial means to expand their library and
collections of other
materials. Membership dues also don't provide a great
deal of
funding. You can help your own genealogical society by
donating any
number of items.
--- Bookshelves and filing cabinets
--- Tables and chairs
--- Microfilm and microfiche reader/printer units
--- Microfilm and microfiche
--- Older computer equipment and printers may be
upgradeable
--- Copies of genealogical magazines, journals, and
newsletters
--- Maps, atlases, gazetteers, and almanacs
--- Previous editions of reference books you have
replaced
--- Foreign language dictionaries
--- New books donated in memory of a deceased member
--- Magnifiers
--- Empty binders
--- Office supplies such as printer paper, envelopes,
stapler and
staples, paper clips, mailing labels, and postage
stamps
SUMMARY
We all have a vested interest in the success and
continued operation
of our genealogical and historical societies. You
don't have to
commit to being elected to a long-term position on the
board of
directors. An occasional stint as a volunteer will
make you feel good
about being involved and may inspire others to join in
too. It can be
an enjoyable experience unequalled anywhere else.
In this season of giving, I hope you will consider
volunteering some
time, energy, and materials to YOUR society or
societies in the
coming year.
Happy Volunteering!
George
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