ARLINGTON, VA; MAY 9, 2013 – PBS announced today that it will add the new series GENEALOGY ROADSHOW to its fall lineup. Part detective story, part emotional journey, GENEALOGY ROADSHOW will combine history and science to uncover the fascinating stories of diverse Americans. Each individual’s past will link to a larger COMMUNITY history, revealing the rich cultural tapestry of America. GENEALOGY ROADSHOW will air Mondays, September 23-October 14, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET.

Same Floor, Bigger Department

While not in the way of a cosmetic change, there has been an improvement made in the department. Upon arriving on 3rd floor of the Main Library now, patrons are now entering what is called 'Special Collections' Department. The merge occurred as of the first of December and your blog host is now the Manager. This combined the old departments of Archives and Heritage Room which includes local history, genealogy and archives.

We're excited about the change and are moving forward to bring more and improved services to our patrons. If you've never been to the 3rd floor of the Main Library, we invite you to visit and see what we have available in our Special Collections. For those that just haven't been in a while, we invite you back and be sure to tell your friends about us. The Main Library is located at 915 Monroe Street, Huntsville, AL. Our operating hours are Monday thru Thursday 9 AM to 9 PM, Friday and Saturday 9 AM to 5 PM and Sunday 1 PM to 5 PM.

British Columbia Releases About 700,000 Birth, Death, and Marriage Documents Online

Full digital images of the original records of births, deaths and marriages in British Columbia are now available for FREE OF CHARGE through the Royal B.C. Museum and B.C. Archives websites. The move is a result of a partnership involving the British Columbia Archives, the Vital Statistics Agency, and FamilySearch International. Indexes previously accessible could provide only the brides' and grooms' names, along with the dates and places of marriage. The new release offers full images of the original documents that can provide extra information. For example, the original record of a marriage reveals names of the bride and groom, their ages and occupations, and parents' names. Even the witnesses are listed. About 700,000 images have been scanned, including births from 1854 to 1903, deaths from 1872 to 1991, and marriages from 1872 to 1936. Phase 2, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, will add more images and information, including pre-1872 records and deaths overseas during the Second World War. You can read more in an article by Richard Watts in the Victoria Sun at http://goo.gl/iLdR5.

ScanPro800

Big News in the Heritage Room and Archives Patrons now have access to a new micro form machine for their research pursuits. Through a LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act) grant administered by the Alabama Public Library Service, there is a modern ScanPro800 micro form machine to handle processing of microfilm or fiche copies. From the web site ~ 'Built for public use applications. Easy to use software. Combination carriers for all microform applications. Optical/Digital zoom range 7x to 54x. Works with all microfilm types. Scan to print, scan to a flash drive or hard drive in less than a second. Tool tips and on-screen help for all controls.' - E-ImageData No longer will hard copies (paper) be necessary with the added feature of downloading to a flash drive! Come by when/if you're in the area and 'test drive' the new model! Another recent accomplishment came with the help of A Special Projects Grant from the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR). This grant was awarded to the Huntsville Library Foundation for the digitization of selected local history records in the Huntsville Madison County Public Library. The grant was matched by a $4,000 contribution from the local Hunt’s Spring DAR Chapter as part of a generous bequest received from a member who was a long-time volunteer at a branch of the Library. The Huntsville-Madison County Public Library is grateful to the Hunt’s Spring chapter of the NSDAR for their contribution in helping make these historical records available to the public on the HMCPL Digital Archives. Researchers can now take advantage of these newest additions to the library's services by either visiting the Heritage Room on the 3rd floor of the Main Library, or, go online to: (http://digitalarchives.hmcpl.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16458coll2/id/1/rec/31) to view the newly created digital images.

Ship Research

A new web site is now online that allows research on vessels with over 142,000 current entries in the free area and over 2 million in the pay-to-view area. From their 'About Us' page is this brief description of the collection ~

'ShipIndex.org is a site created to make researching a vessel easier and more effective than it has ever been. We find valuable resources that serve as quality reference material for ships and put every mention of a vessel in that resource into our database.

Search hundreds of resources at once
Over a million ship citations indexed
Once you know where your vessel is mentioned, we'll help you find that resource
Purchase access just for yourself, or gain access for your institution'

We have indexes from books, journals, websites and other resources included in our database. One search here and you are searching all those resources for your vessel, all at once. And when you find citations for the vessel you are looking for, we will help you find the resource they are mentioned in — either though a library or by locating it in stores.'

Norway's Digital Archives

"The National Archives Central Office in Oslo is responsible for the records created by the government's central administration, i.e. ministries and directorates, etc., as well as the archives of the Supreme Court. Important archives left by individuals and private enterprises, such as companies and organisations, are also found in the National Archives in Oslo.". ~ National Archives of Norway

"The Digital Archives offers online access to digital archive material.
Here you can search databases/tables, read transcripts and browse digital images as well as listen to digitised sound from the archives.

Everyone is welcome to use this government service for free." ~ Digital Archives

Hudson's Bay Company Archives

"The Hudson's Bay Company Archives (HBCA), a division of the Archives of Manitoba, is home to one of Canada's national treasures— the records of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC).

"The Hudson's Bay Company's records document the history of the HBC since its inception in 1670 following the history of the fur trade, North American exploration, the development of Canada as a country and the growth of HBC's Canadian retail empire.

The HBCA is dedicated to making our records available and accessible to clients locally, nationally and internationally. Whether you are tracing your family tree, working on a school project, looking for a map or photograph or doing in-depth historical research, we'll do our best to help you find what you need."

You can also contact them by regular mail or email:

HBCA
130-200 Vaughan St.
Winnipeg, MB
Email: hbca@gov.mb.ca