Research Location - Torrance Public Library

The Torrance Public Library has several locations in the City of Torrance. The main library, also known as the Katy Geissert Civic Center Library, is located at 3301 Torrance Boulevard.  Hours are Monday-Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. During the school year (September to June), the library is also open most Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Their telephone number is (310) 618-5959; click here for their website.

The Torrance Public Library has microfilm for the following newspapers:

·        Daily Breeze (the local paper) – 1976 to present

·        Los Angeles Times – 1966 to present

·        New York  Times – 1961-1999

·        Washington Post – 1988-1999

In addition, you can search the Historical Newspapers Index of the Torrance Herald and the Torrance Press (1913-1969) and Historic City and Phone Directories (1922-1975) here.

The library also offers an obituary request service through their website. Click here for additional information.

Of particular interest to genealogists is the collection of the South Bay Cities Genealogical Society which is housed in a dedicated area on the lower level of the library. The collection contains many books of interest and there is an extensive periodical collection representing almost every state and some foreign countries as well. The society has volunteers on hand in the library on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the third Wednesday of the month from 5:30 to 7 p.m. A partial list of the periodicals held can be found on the society’s website. The society holds its general membership meetings in the library’s community room on the third Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Research Location - Georgina Cole Library - Part 2

If you personally visit the library you must sign in at the Genealogy Reference desk to use research collection. 

The Library has a circulating collection of genealogy books. The Genealogy collection has an extensive local history collection from all over the United States.  They also have some specific family histories, see  online catalog for details.  The library provides researchers with a call number guide which lists the call numbers for each state.  Do not overlook the microfiche and microforms collection. 

To find non-circulating items in the collection, search the Carlsbad City Library catalog. The online catalog allows you to save catalog items: the “saved” list section option includes, sorting, viewing catalog selections in brief or full,  print formatted, and email. You can save your choice items  in the catalog and email the list to yourself or print them. Also, within the search results screen you can choose “limit search” where you can type the desired search term in the “search for” box, under “library” choose “Carlsbad City Library-Cole” and under the collections drop down menu choose “Genealogy” . The “type” box signifies the type of item you are looking for like a book or a database.

GENEALOGICAL PERIODICALS  (763 TITLES) A SAMPLE OF THE TYPES OF PERIODICALS.

Family Newsletters (limited years and volumes, see card catalog online)

Genealogy Society Newsletters (limited years and volumes, see card catalog online)

General Interest Genealogy

Internet Genealogy (from publishers of Family Chronicle)

Family Tree Magazine (Beginning to Intermediate Genealogy researcher)

Family Chronicle (Intermediate to Advanced level; Printed in Canada)

GENEALOGY JOURNALS

The Genealogist

Ancestral News 1976-1985 microform

American Ancestors (NEGHS)

NGS News Magazine

The New England historical and genealogical register : index of persons, volumes 51-148

GEORGINA COLE LIBRARY ONLINE RESEARCH DATABASES WITH A LIBRARY CARD

If you are a California resident you can get a library card: present a valid photo I.D. and proof of mailing address from an envelope or bill. http://www.carlsbadca.gov/services/departments/library/about-us/Pages/library-card.aspx

The Genealogy library offers remote access to Heritage Quest with a Carlsbad Library card. They also offer in library access to Newspaper Archive, American Ancestors, Ancestry Library Edition and Fold3.  

E-BOOK BORROWING

 Your library card also entitles you to use the e-book borrowing system (Overdrive).  Before you use this system you must have an e-book reader program like Adobe Digital Editions. [Download a borrowed  ebook into the ebook-reader program, synch with an ebook reader like Kindle or Nook and transfer the ebook to your mobile device]

NEWSPAPERS AVAILABLE THROUGH E-RESEARCH  DATABASES  THROUGH THE LIBRARY CARD:

 General Reference Center Gold Magazine and Newspaper Articles
Articles from nearly 6,000 magazines, newspapers, and reference books.

ProQuest Newspapers  full text articles:
Los Angeles Times (1985-current)
The New York Times (June 1980-present)
New York Times Magazine (1986-present)
The Wall Street Journal (1984-present)

User Guides for Carlsbad Georgina Cole Genealogy Collection

Genealogy staff have created user guides to assist patrons in using some of the more complex or difficult sources in the collection. (.PDF format) 

  

Alabama Records, Barbour Collection of Connecticut Records, Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, Corbin Manuscript Collection, Draper Manuscript Collection, Hale Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Hollingsworth Genealogical Card File, New Jersey Archives, New York Archives, Pennsylvania Archives, Province and Court Records of Maine, Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, Texas First Families, Turner Genealogical Collection, Vosburgh NY Church Records

City Directories User Guides

  

City Directories: Foreign Online, City Directories: U.S. Online, Regional , Minnesota, Alabama, Mississippi,Alaska, Missouri, Arizona, Montana, Arkansas,Nebraska, California, New Hampshire, Colorado, New Jersey, New Mexico, Delaware, New York, District of Columbia, North Carolina, Florida , Ohio , Georgia ,Oregon, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Idaho , Rhode Island, Illinois, South Carolina, Indiana, Tennessee, Iowa,Texas, Kansas , Utah, Kentucky, Vermont , Louisiana,Virginia, Maine, Washington, Maryland, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Michigan, Wyoming

 State Census User Guides

State Census Introduction, State Census Alabama, State Census California, State Census Colorado, State Census Florida, State Census Georgia, State Census Illinois, State Census Indiana, State Census Iowa, State Census Kansas, State Census Louisiana, State Census Maine, State Census Massachusetts, State Census Michigan, State Census Minnesota, State Census Mississippi, State Census Missouri, State Census Nebraska, State Census Nevada, State Census New Jersey, State Census New York, State Census North Dakota, State Census Oregon, State Census Rhode Island, State Census South Carolina, State Census South Dakota, State Census Tennessee, State Census Washington, State Census Wisconsin

Research Location - Fallbrook Historical Society

The Fallbrook Historical Society is located at 260 Rocky Crest Rd., Fallbrook, CA (at the corner of Rocky Crest and Hill St., entrance on Hill St.).  It is open on Thursday and Sunday from 1 to 4 PM and by appointment.  Phone 760-723-4125.  Their website is www.fallbrookhistoricalsociety.com  The museum is free but they love donations.

There are three buildings on the grounds: the main museum with includes a research area, the Pittenger House, and the Barn.  These buildings hold an amazing collection of artifacts, mostly from the Fallbrook area.  They are arranged in collections and include such things as the organ from the old original Baptist Church, miniature replicas of early Fallbrook buildings, housewares, farm implements, antique cars, Native American artifacts, and the Pittenger House which is an old Victorian house that has period furnishings.  It was once the home of William Pittenger, a Methodist Minister and Civil War soldier.  And much more!

Of even more interest to genealogists are the research materials.  There are history books of Fallbrook, San Diego Co., and California.  There is a nice collection of Fallbrook High School yearbooks.  There are cemetery records and records of clubs that have met in Fallbrook.  And more.  In addition to the book collection, there are files of information on various early Fallbrook families.  And they have a nice collection of pictures of early Fallbrook and early Fallbrook settlers.  A very interesting place!

Submitted by Sue Roe

Research Location - Georgina Cole Library, Part 1

1250 Carlsbad Village Drive Carlsbad, CA 92008 

Genealogy Desk: (760) 434-2931 

Genealogy hours Monday – Thursday 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.

 Friday – Saturday 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Sunday 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Parking is free and is usually not a problem except for the first and third Tuesdays of each month when the North County Genealogical Society has meetings at 10am.

The library has one high speed scanner which uses a flash drive, microfilm machines, microfiche machines, photocopiers, computers for genealogical use only and wireless internet access inside of the library.

Photocopies are 20 cents per copy and color copies are $1.00 each. No food or drink is allowed inside the library although there are picnic tables and seating outside. There are two collections at this location: The Carlsbad History Room (first floor) Georgina Cole Library Genealogy Collection (second floor).

Overview of the Carlsbad History room:

Video: City at Your Service,History Room: Amy Davis, History Room Librarian

The Carlsbad History room is located on the bottom floor, behind the magazines in the Carlsbad Georgina Cole Library.

CARLSBAD ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION CARLSBAD NEWSPAPER COLLECTION

CARLSBAD YEARBOOKS

CARLSBAD PRINT/VIDEO COLLECTION FOR LOCAL HISTORY

PHOTOS

SCRAPBOOKS

LETTERS

Carlsbad Champion, January 1926 – December 1927

Carlsbad Journal, January 1928 – December 1992

Carlsbad Sun, January 1993 – December 1995

North Coast Advertiser, March 5, 1975 – February 1981

Oceanside Blade, October 1892 – April 1930

Additionally, a microfilm collection of the short-lived weekly newspaper Carlsbad Sea Lion is available (December 10, 1887 – June 23, 1888).

Excerpts from the Plain Truth/Spirit of Love newspaper are available (June 1884 – December 1922). These were compiled by Robert Baird.

Examples are on the website:

http://www.carlsbadca.gov/services/departments/library/research/Pages/history-room.aspx

More than 4,700 photos are available for historical research. Some photos are available via patron provided portable storage device. Historical photos can be viewed by appointment.

Zahniser Family 1882 – 1906, 1930; Shipley and Magee 1886 – 1954; Roberts 1942

APG Code of Ethics - Part 8

8.   Give proper credit to those who supply information and provide assistance; refrain from (or avoid) knowingly soliciting established clients of another researcher; encourage applicable education, accreditation, and certification; and refrain from public behavior, oral remarks or written communications that defame the profession, individual genealogists, or the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Do you see some overlap here? I know I do. For example, isn’t “Give proper credit to those who supply information and provide assistance” a close cousin of “. . . fully and accurately cite references; and refrain from withholding, suppressing, or knowingly misquoting or misinterpreting sources or data” (#2)? And isn’t “. . . refrain from (or avoid) knowingly soliciting established clients of another researcher . . .” an element of #7: “Promote the welfare of the genealogical community”? And the last part of the sentence – “. . . refrain from public behavior, oral remarks or written communications that defame the profession, individual genealogists, or the Association of Professional Genealogists” also seems to be part of #7 (see previous blog post on this topic).

Maybe this falls under the category of repetition being an excellent teacher. Maybe we don’t need to say it again, but perhaps saying it with these different words can help in bringing home a point: we have a responsibility to be honest, trustworthy, competent, kind (call us the APG Scouts).

Then there is the phrase “encourage applicable education, accreditation, and certification . . .” What does that mean? We are often heard at the APG booth saying, “No, you don’t need to be Certified to be a member of APG”; “No, you do not need a college degree to be a member . . .”; etc. So why is it in the Code of Ethics that we should “encourage” such things? I certainly would agree that we should not discourage anyone from getting an advanced degree or pursue accreditation, etc., but is encouraging this (presumably among our members, but that’s not clear here) actually an issue of ethics? I had a friend who read voraciously. He also flunked out of college three times. But, before cancer took over his body and brain, he was one of the smartest men I knew – he had knowledge in a variety of fields and a wife who had a doctorate. At no point did he feel inferior to her because of his lack of degree and he could hold his own in almost any academic-level conversation. For some, a formal education just is not practical or even possible (price, time, and distance often being roadblocks); yet furthering knowledge is far more affordable and feasible. While I don’t see this as an ethical issue, I do believe that to attempt to discourage someone from adding to his/her education or certification areas would be unethical.

So there you have it: my perspective on the Code of Ethics. I have had many revelations while putting this together and the biggest is that we need to revamp this cornerstone of our organization. So that is the project for the next few months: with some of my APG colleagues (we have already connected, had a preliminary meeting, and hope to have a workable document before RootsTech in March 2013), we are going to update this document (written back in the 1970s and re-written in the 1980s, as I understand it) and bring it into the 21^st Century.

Research Location - Long Beach Public Library

Long Beach Public Library

Address:

101 Pacific Ave.

Long Beach, CA 90822

Located at the corner of Ocean Blvd.  There is a parking for a fee structure behind the library on Broadway.  There is also metered street parking, limit 2 hours.

Phone:

562-570-7500

Website:

www.lbpl.org

Hours:

Sunday, Monday – closed

Tuesday – 10 AM to 8 PM

Wednesday, Thursday – 10 AM to 6 PM

Friday, Saturday – 10 AM to 5 PM

The Genealogy Collection at the Long Beach Public Library is under the oversight of the Questing Heirs Genealogy Society and is open to the public whenever the library is open.  They have a small but nice collection of books.  One of the things I found to be somewhat unique in this library was the fairly large collection of military registers.  There are long runs of: US Bureau of Naval Personnel Commissioned and Warrant Officers, US Coast Guard Registers, US Department of the Air Force Registers, Official Army Registers, and more.  They also have periodicals, books on Black research, general genealogy books, books on Cherokee research, references grouped by state, published genealogies, and even a small collection of books that can be checked out.

Some of the things I spotted that were specific to California research were Los Angeles Co. Marriages from 1851-1877, the 1890 Great Registers for Los Angeles and Orange Cos., a northern CA marriage index for 1850-1860, the 1850 Census of LA City and Co., Old Santa Ana Cemetery Records, and Spanish/Mexican Families of Early California, 1769-1850.

The Genealogy Collection just happens to be located next to the History Collection of the main library.  Here’s what I found for California counties in that collection  – at least the following county histories:  Mendocino, Humboldt, Lake, Napa, Tuolumne, San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Marin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, Fresno, Kern, Santa Barbara and Ventura.  There were lots of books on Los Angeles City and County and on San Francisco.  There were various regional topics, such as: Lake Tahoe, Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, Sacramento, Death Valley,  Anza-Borrego.  Among the many general California histories were The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, a number of his volumes on California history.  Also, adjacent to the Genealogy and History sections is the Travel section with lots of books on California.

This library also has the several newspapers in its collection: The Long Beach Press Telegram, The Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times.  They also have Long Beach city directories and old high school yearbooks.  There is a history of Long Beach Special Collection.

Submitted by Susan M. Hillier Roe

ArchiveGrid

ArchiveGrid connects researchers with catalog records and finding aids for unique or rare materials (such as diaries, letters, photographs, scrapbooks, and bible records) from the collections of historical societies, museums, public libraries, universities, and other archives around the world. This database, developed by OCLC Research, was formerly available by paid subscription only, but now is offered as a free site.