[Genealib] French/English speaking researchers?

[Devine, Kathryn]

I'm looking for anyone who could possibly help a long-distance patron of
ours. There seem to be two basic problems. 1) His first language is
French and he lives in Quebec, 2) He doesn't seem to be an experienced
genealogist. 

 

He is doing research on people who settled in the state of Washington,
specifically around Tacoma. He has emailed the librarians here at the
Washington State Library probably a dozen times and the language barrier
has been extreme. He has been asking for resources that we do not have,
or for sources that do not have the information he wants. For example he
seems to think a marriage index will tell him where a person was born
and who his parents were...

 

Several librarians on staff here have tried to help him with his
questions, but most of the time we just don't have the resources
(marriage records, county level records, etc-which are located in the
state archives).  Or he doesn't understand the types of information that
our resources will give him. We have referred him several times to the
Archives, but something seems to get lost in the translation because he
keeps writing back to us. 

 

I have even tried using online translation tools-limited as those are-to
respond to him in both English and French. But it doesn't seem to be
working all that well. I am going to suggest that he try to find a
volunteer or hire a professional researcher who speaks both English and
French who can better explain what's available, where it's available,
and what kind of information is available. 

 

Does anyone on the list know of a researcher or volunteer who is fluent
in both French and English, preferably with research experience in the
Pacific Northwest? I tried a search on APG but have not had much luck.

 

Thanks,

Kathryn Devine

Genealogy Reference Librarian

Washington State Library 

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