Two hours in the library

AMHERST HOSPITAL FETE, 1871. (1871, December 4). Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers (Melbourne, Vic. : 1867 - 1875), p. 219. Retrieved December 21, 2011, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60448591

I had today off work and was without my children for most of the day. This close to Christmas there’s a lot I could or should have been doing…. but instead I made a flying visit to the National Library of Australia. I try to keep note of things I want to check or refer to at the library for when I have a chance to go there. I reviewed my notes and did a little preparation the night before. Although I only had two hours there I think I made good use of my limited time.

Last night I pre-ordered Amherst District Hospital 1859 to 1933 : the outcome of compassion by Bea. Brewster. It was waiting for me when I got to the library this morning. I wanted to find out more about conditions in the hospital where my ancestors had been treated. The sort of information I hoped to find was included in the book, although I haven’t had a chance to digest the material yet. 

One thing I did notice was that the publication included a drawing of the annual Amherst Hospital fete (1871) – a quick search of Trove turned up the cited article. The article claimed that the procession included almost 1,000 men, 300 of them mounted, dressed up in what sounds like a quite astonishing array of costumes. My great-grandfather (then aged 7) was treated in the hospital for an injury earlier that year – I wonder if he was at the fete?

I also checked my research plan* for finding James Bennett’s (1831-???) death. My last firm sighting of him was in 1883 – being checked out “cured” from Amherst Hospital, as it happens. I’ve also got a newspaper mention of him in 1896 when his wife died that I think indicates he was alive. She was referred to as “wife of” rather than “widow of”. I checked:

• Victorian probate indexes beyond 1925 (up to 1925 is available online)
• Victorian inquest indexes

No luck there, but at least now I know that I’ve looked. I was going to make my way through some local directories to see if I could find him and when he dropped out. I decided against attempting that this morning, as there was at least one other James Bennett living nearby and I wanted to collect more information to distinguish between them first.

I then turned my attention to two of my great-great grandparents whose burial place I knew from death records but I hadn’t ever checked for cemetery records. I found that the cemetery has a database online but I wondered if the microfiche at the library had more information. It didn’t, the information was exactly the same. Another case of well now I know.

The vast majority of my known relatives came to Victoria, but I was aware that early church records for New South Wales were available on microfilm at the library. Last night I checked my database for any early New South Wales birth deaths or marriages and found two that looked like good candidates. I’m not used to microfilm (on rolls). For some reason most of the records I’ve looked at have been on microfiche (flat sheets). I’m not sure if I could have kept going with genealogy if it was the other way around as the microfilm whizzing by made me feel quite nauseous! I worked out how the records were arranged and managed to find my target before I started feeling too woozy.

A little advance planning paid off. I think I got good value from my flying visit!

 

* “Research plan” is a bit glorified for a page with a few dot points but it did have the heading “Research plan” and (and this is important) I was able to find it when I wanted it.

52 Weeks - Challenge 4 - Inter Library Loan

I am participating in 52 weeks to better genealogy. This week's challenge is:

Learn about your local public library’s inter-library loan (ILL) policy. Pick a genealogy-related book that you want to read that is not in your library’s collection. Ask the librarian how to request the book from another library. Find the different library systems from which you can request books through your own library, as this can dramatically increase the number of genealogy books to which you have access. If you have a genealogy blog, write about your experience with requesting items through your library’s ILL service.

Once again I am finding it difficult to get out of the house. Fortunately, the local library describes the Interlibrary loan service on their website. According to the website, it's possible to request an interlibrary loan for a fee of $13.20 per item, or per 30 photocopied pages. Books may take weeks to arrive. If you are in the library, you can access Libraries Australia to search for the book. If not, you can search Trove, which is a relatively new consolidated search facility from the National Library of Australia.

I also looked at the interlibrary loan service from the National Library. Like the local library service, the NLA charges $13.20 however, you can only read the book onsite. Photocopied pages are a little cheaper than the local library service at $13.20 for 50 consecutive pages. I'm sure I also saw somewhere on the site (but can't find it now!) mention that the NLA can look for books overseas. It's not clear if the local library service will do that.

It would have been better to complete this challenge by visiting the library and talking to a real live librarian.
I will certainly keep interlibrary loans in mind, and talk to a librarian if there's something I want to find.

52 Weeks - Challenge 1 - Local library

I'm not sure how many weeks I will manage, but I will at least make a start on Amy Coffin's '52 Weeks to Better Genealogy'. The first challenge was posted on facebook here. It is:

Week 1: Go to your local public library branch. Make a note of the genealogy books in the collection that may help you gain research knowledge. Don’t forget to check the shelves in both the non-fiction section and the reference section. If you do not already have a library card, take the time to get one. If you have a genealogy blog, write about what you find in your library’s genealogy collection.

Unfortunately this week I'm finding it hard to get to the library. I will do the challenge in a virtual sense using the library catalog, which is online. I often use the local library service that way, as I am able to request items from any branch and collect them from my local library. It's very convenient.

I started with a broad search of the catalog, entering the general keyword "genealogy". 512 titles were returned. Among the results were:

• general guidebooks - with "for dummies" and "on the internet" titles featuring prominently;
• more guidebooks - particularly those published by the local family history society;
  
• a few country guides, eg Scotland and Ireland. I will have to keep these in mind when my research next leads me there;
• "how to write" type guides;
• even more guidebooks again, focusing on specific subjects such as female ancestors, soldiers;
• some local family histories;
• newsletters and magazines from the local and some other Australian family history societies;
• local transcriptions and indexes;
• old copies of the Genealogy Research Directory;
• DVDs - "Who do you think you are?";
• DVD - "A video guide to handling and preserving records";
• Some of the "digger" CDs (early Victoria, Australia, BMD indexes). They appeared to be available to borrow, which was surprising;
• fiction titles.

There were a few books that I would like to borrow sometime. I must remember to take a closer look at some of the more specialised guides, in particular. The library provides Ancestry Library Edition onsite, but they have such a painfully slow internet connection that I would rather pay for a month subscription at home every so often as the need arises.

I also tried searching on some of the place names where my family lived hoping for some histories, with no luck. I didn't really expect to find anything as my family don't come from this area. For that sort of search I would normally go to the National Library of Australia (NLA). Publishers in Australia are legally obliged to provide both the NLA and the relevant State library with a copy of each book they publish. 

This challenge was a little nostalgic for me... when I first became interested in family history more than 20(!) years ago the first place I went was the local library, where I found a basic how-to book for Australia.