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.

GSNOCC - Save the Date - 13 July 2013

APG Code of Ethics - Part 7

7.  Promote the welfare of the genealogical community.

This seems to be a good code for all of us to live by. But, first, what is the “genealogical community”? Is it just those who make a living finding dead people (and the related activities involved)? Can it include amateurs who climb the branches of their family trees in their spare time? Does it include those who operate websites and blogs? And would that also include on-line as well as hard-copy magazines and journals on the subject?

Yes. And more.

It includes the staff and patrons of the Family History Centers, National Archives, Museums, Libraries, etc. And the community of people who serve us in Court Houses, Land Records Repositories, Historical Societies, etc. In fact, anyone who in anyway touches the work of us, as professional (and budding professional) genealogists is part of the “genealogical community).

Now that we know who they are, how do we “promote their welfare”? I can think of a number of things.

Donate to the continuance of their services. This would include helping webmasters who are providing their services free to the public with donations to keep those services free and, more importantly, available. And when you get copies at a library or other repository, give a big bill and refuse change (or write out a check to help cover some of those expenses you know aren’t included in the copy costs). Join societies in the areas where you do research, even if you never get to attend a meeting: your donation of membership fees might just make the difference between a society that keeps going another year and one that has to close its doors.

Offer your services: Volunteer to “man” a table at a conference or seminar; offer to give an hour of your time for an “Ask the Expert” program; do some free classes for the local library, Family History Center, or senior center; run for an office for your local society, a regional organization, or APG!

Be courteous: Let people know that you are a professional genealogist and then show, by conduct and attitude, that you are a person others would like to know. We are all examples of the genealogy community: are we making our fellow community members look good? Rudeness, inappropriate language, condescending communication all make us appear to be someone to steer clear of. Help give all genealogists a good name by being an emissary to everyone in the genealogy community and those who have not yet entered our gates (we don’t want them to stay away because we appear to be snobs or worse).

Research Location - Sherman Foundation Library

Sherman Library & Gardens located at 614 Dahlia Avenue in Corona del Mar is open Tuesday through Thursday,  9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (closed 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. for lunch).  I spoke with Jill Thrasher, Head Librarian, who showed me through the collection and explained the protocol for using the materials.  When one first visits, you are asked to fill out a FREE registration and show your photo I.D.  Then (and every time thereafter), you are asked to sign in at the register.

According to the website (http://www.slgardens.org/the_library/default.asp), the Library acquires, organizes, and preserves all kinds of materials pertaining to the history of the Pacific Southwest.  It contains approximately 25,000 books, pamphlets and other printed items, a very sizable number of maps and photographs, several hundred thousand papers and documents, and more than 2,000 reels of microfilmed material, including the Los Angeles Times from its beginnings in 1881.

The collections include City Directories from all over California, as well as some from Arizona, Nevada, and Hawaii.  The Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, and San Diego directories begin in approximately 1886-1888.  There are also local histories of Orange and Los Angeles Counties, including information about transportation, waterways, etc.

Only pencils are allowed in the library and there is no photocopying of directories; however, transcriptions and/or digital photos are allowed.  There are a couple of microfilm and microfiche readers available.

Downstairs, there is an archives which includes maps, letters, scrapbooks, photos, newspapers, magazines, loose papers, oversized materials, and other miscellaneous files.  The staff works with you to determine what you need and will pull the specific materials requested.

To maximize your time at the Library, it is suggested that you call ahead (949-673-1880) to determine the availability of materials helpful to your search as well as receiving suggestions from the staff.  I have found that everyone is most helpful when I have called.