Fostering Family History Services: A Guide for Librarians, Archivists, and Volunteers

(Paperback)

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Description

Here is everything you need to promote your library as a center for genealogical study by leveraging your collection to help patrons conduct research on ancestors, document family stories, and archive family heirlooms. Websites, social media, and the Internet have made research on family history accessible. Your library can tap into the popularity of the do-it-yourself genealogy movement by promoting your role as both a preserver of local community history as well as a source for helping your patrons archive what's important to their family. This professional guide will teach you how to integrate family history programming into your educational outreach tools and services to the community. The book is divided into three sections: the first introduces methods for creating a program to help your clients trace their roots; the second provides library science instruction in reference and planning for local collections; and the third part focuses on the use of specific types of resources in local collections. Additional information features methods for preserving photographs, letters, diaries, documents, memorabilia, and ephemera. The text also includes bibliographies, appendices, checklists, and links to online aids to further assist with valuating and organizing important family mementos.

Reviews

Readers will appreciate the plethora of programming ideas presented throughout the work as well as the tips for creating a guide of other local organizations supporting family history research. . . . Anyone who wishes to develop or expand a family history program will turn to this resource again and again. * Library Journal, Starred Review *
Offers practical advice, with bibliographical notes, on how to establish a family history service within the framework of existing programming and outreach. * American Libraries *
When libraries face budget concerns and changes in technology and consumerism, embracing family history offers a significant opportunity. Some hesitate, uncertain of how to help researchers in an unfamiliar field. Fostering Family History Services aims to help these professionals and volunteers. . . . Fostering Family History Services is a welcome addition to a subject that receives little notice in library science education. It shows libraries paying more attention to the value of local history and genealogy collections. * National Genealogical Society Quarterly *
Fostering Family History Services lays important groundwork for helping information providers understand how best to serve the needs of their patrons. . . . Chapters are meticulously documented with citations from the professional literature, and include lists of other print and electronic resources for further reference. The book also includes program ideas that librarians and archivists may utilize to enhance the services they provide. While Fostering Family History Services is intended for information service providers, it is suited to anyone seeking to understand how librarians, archivists, and volunteers serve the needs of local history researchers. * History News *

Author Bio

Rhonda L. Clark, PhD, is associate professor of information and library science at Clarion University of Pennsylvania. Nicole Wedemeyer Miller, MA, MLS, teaches a course on genealogy and library service at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign.