[Genealib] Genealogy Room Set-up

[Brannan, Joyce]

John misses an important step.  BEFORE you go to a library, find out what the hours are for access to any special collections and if an appointment is needed or recommended.   Call or email and find out.  True, some libraries won't be at all helpful with this step, but many will appreciate it.  We only have two people who can retrieve files from the archives.   When someone walks in without any  previous contact, there is a real good chance that no one here will be able to help them.
Asking for an orientation is good.  However, again, call ahead and make an appointment.  If you just walk in here, you will probably get your orientation from a work study student who doesn't have a clue what the word genealogy even means.  If you make an appointment, we will arrange for our archivist to show you around.
I confess, I love to browse shelves physically.  BUT, with the new online catalogs, you can do a virtual browse of the shelves.   We use Voyager.  Just put in a call number browse search, and scan the titles.
Joyce A. Brannan
Technical Services Librarian
Julia Tutwiler Library
University of West Alabama
Livingston, AL 35470
205.652.3677
jbrannan at uwa.edu


From: genealib-bounces at mailman.acomp.usf.edu [mailto:genealib-bounces at mailman.acomp.usf.edu] On Behalf Of john at johnwylie.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2009 8:12 AM
To: 'Librarians Serving Genealogists'
Subject: RE: [Genealib] Genealogy Room Set-up

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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