[Genealib] Genealogy Room Set-up

[john at johnwylie.com]

Like Trevia, I too am a professional genealogist. I use many libraries in my
traveling research. For what it's worth here's how I use your wonderful
collections: 

First: Before I travel, I visit you online to refine my task list for your
locality. Perhaps it's my limited 19 year experience doing this full time,
but most library websites and online catalogs are of marginal help.  

Second: When I arrive and before I start working my task list, I ask you for
a brief orientation, especially what you have that no one else has. You're
almost always thrilled to show it off. And I'm grateful. This step has
revealed answers I would otherwise have missed, sometimes to questions I
didn't know to ask. Most of your unique stuff is not in the catalog or
impossible to find on your website if I don't already know your collection
well, which I never will. 

Third: I work my task list.

Fourth: I browse the shelves. If the collection isn't well organized by
locality, I skip this step. As others have observed better than I could,
even with good cataloging, the Dewey system is not responsive to my needs. 

John Wylie

Member, APG  

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