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CGS member Lorna Wallace helped staff the Alameda County Fair Genealogy Booth again this year and sent this report:

The Livermore-Amador Valley Genealogical Society (L-AGS) has sponsored a genealogy booth at the Alameda County Fair for the last few years. It is located in the large, air-conditioned (very important on hot summer days) “Technology Building”, where other computer-related attractions are going on. The booth features three computer stations with connections to several subscription databases (Ancestry, VitalRecords-CA and Footnote) for demonstrating the powerful search products that are now available. There is also a helpful handout listing many of the big, free sites, like Cyndislist.

There are two types of volunteers staffing the booth: “greeters” encourage visitors to mark their places of birth on large mounted maps of the U.S. and the world, and to fill out pedigree charts. “Researchers” then try to find an ancestors using the computer resources. Some visitors sit down at the computer and think their family history is just sitting in there, waiting to pop up on the screen. Some have been trying to use the Internet, but have not discovered basic sites such as Rootsweb or FamilySearch. Then there were those who actually brought notes so they could use their time well. Several used their cell phones to call relatives, right on the spot, to get a piece of missing information.

I think the biggest challenge for us, the volunteers, is the fact that we are presented with a whole segment of our community that are not well represented in the usual population of genealogical society membership. We come face-to-face with people from all over the world, especially Latin America and Asia, who want to know how to research their ancestry in their home county. The L-AGS is doing a good job of trying to find and provide resources.

Genealogists have so much to share. I encourage all of the members of the California Genealogical Society to volunteer next year when the Fair returns in late June of 2009.

Lorna Wallace is an active volunteer on the CGS Book Repair and Desk Duty Committees. She also handles book mailings for the society. Thanks for the report, Lorna, and for representing the society so well.

Photographs courtesy of Duncan Tanner.

If you missed the “Breaking Down Brick Walls” panel discussion last Saturday, July 12, 2008, be sure to read Steve Danko’s report at Steve’s Genealogy Blog.

Steve posted a great photo of panelists Jane Hufft, Nancy Peterson and Lavinia Schwarz who presented their three techniques for dissolving research barriers: Review, Reach Out, and Reframe.

Be sure to leave a comment and tell Steve how much you appreciate his accounts of the CGS meetings and events he attends – bloggers love feedback.

If you haven’t attended a membership meeting in awhile, plan to attend the next meeting on Saturday, September 13, 2008, when genealogist and author Ron Arons will present Best Bet Web Sites for Genealogical Research.

Bay Area genealogists have been given an incredible last-minute opportunity. Jeremy Frankel, CGS member and president of the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society, just announced that Schelly Talalay Dardashti has agreed to present Gen-blogging: How to Do Effective Blogging Focusing on Genealogy this Sunday, July 20, 2008. Their scheduled speaker, Carol Baird, had to cancel due to a family emergency.

I had the opportunity to hear Schelly’s talk at Jamboree and it is a treat to hear one of the pioneers in the field.

Knowledge and resources in the field of genealogy are increasing at such a fast rate that it is difficult to read everything of interest and distill it down to usable information. That’s where the gen-bloggers come in. They are the eccentric ones who spend days and nights searching myriad sources, reading, distilling, writing and supplying information to the genealogy community. Some are generalists, others specialists, but all are colleagues, and do work together on major issues.

Schelly Talaly Dardashti is a renowned genealogist, journalist, blogger, online instructor and international speaker. A native New Yorker based in Tel Aviv, she has tracked her family history through Belarus, Russia, Lithuania, Spain, Iran and other countries. Her articles about genealogy have been widely published in the Jewish media. Her blog, Tracing the Tribe: The Jewish Genealogy Blog, was recently named one of Family Tree Magazine’s top 101 genealogy sites for 2008.

Time and Place:
Jewish Community High School
1835 Ellis Street
San Francisco, California
Doors open at 12:30 p.m. Lecture begins promply at 1:00. Admission free.
Free parking: enter parking garage from Pierce Street.

The San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society (SFBAJGS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the development, preservation and distribution of Jewish genealogical knowledge and material, and the sharing of techniques and tools with others who may be searching their Jewish Roots. The SFBAJGS functions through the voluntary efforts of its members, all of whom are encouraged to participate. The Society is governed by a Board of Directors, according to a set of published bylaws. The SFBAJGS is a member of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) and Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS).