By Hayley Morgan, Particular to the Dorchester Banner
CAMBRIDGE – Should you’ve visited the Dorchester County Public Library, you may know we’ve extra than simply books – we provide DVDs, music CDs, audiobooks, e-books and rather more. However you might not learn about our many personal teams.
This week, we’re highlighting our very personal family tree assortment. Whether or not you are simply starting to delve into your loved ones historical past or are a family tree professional, the library has many assets to assist you–and they’re all free.
The gold normal for genealogical analysis is Ancestry.com and you may entry it on any library laptop. Customers can search census, immigration, navy and very important data, metropolis and district directories, faculty yearbooks, church historical past, land data, and rather more.
Ancestry’s on-line training middle is especially useful, with recommendations on getting began and recommendation on the census, immigration, navy and ethnic analysis. Customers can even obtain clean copies of family tree charts and varieties, learn message boards, and consider public household timber of Ancestry members. Many customers have found distant family members via Ancestry!
Heritage Quest gives lots of the identical instruments and options as Ancestry.com however has fewer data; Nonetheless, Heritage Quest gives distant entry, so you may entry the positioning from the library and from dwelling, so long as you’ve a present library card.
With an emphasis on the “,” Gale Family tree Join is a wonderful on-line useful resource for each newbie and superior researchers of household historical past, that includes a totally searchable on-line assortment of genealogical historical past and reference e-books.
Household historical past researchers with ties to the Japanese Shore will wish to spend time within the M. Virginia Webb Memorial Maryland Room at our Cambridge campus. Maryland Chamber supplies include major and secondary sources, together with microfilm data, yearbooks, household histories, native historical past paperwork, and archives of chosen newspapers.
A smaller choice from Maryland is stored at our Hurlock department. Supplies within the Maryland Room are meant to be used throughout the Library solely. The Maryland assortment at each branches is out there to be used at any time when the library is open, however we suggest making an appointment should you want to use the microfilm reader (Cambridge department).
For individuals who desire extra formal instruction, there may be Family tree Fundamentals, one of many many on-line courses provided via Gale Programs. Contributors discover ways to conduct analysis, interpret their findings, and entry numerous genealogical databases.
One other Gale course which may be of curiosity to household historians is Writing Your Life Story. Gale programs final six weeks, begin every month, are free to library customers, and might be accessed from any laptop with an web connection. Contact the library for help with registering for Gale programs.
Extra assets embody the Maryland Higher Shore Genealogical Society, the Decrease Delmarva Genealogical Society, the Dorchester County Historic Society, the Maryland State Archives, and the Maryland Historical past and Tradition Middle. All of those organizations have web sites which might be accessible to the general public or you may schedule a go to in particular person.
Researching household historical past generally is a enjoyable and rewarding exercise throughout the colder months, and the Dorchester County Public Library is an ideal place to start out your journey!