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Vital Resources, Vital Records Sarah Meisels, Carolyn DeAre and Donna Freymark "Build on your strengths" is a business adage the Wheaton Public Library applied in its 1999 LSTA Grant project Vital Resources, Vital Records. The Wheaton Public Library is known throughout northern Illinois as a library with a strong family history research collection. The collection, numbering some 3,000 volumes has been built up over the 107-year history of the library using a combination of local funds, grant funds, cooperative partnerships with the DuPage County Genealogical Society (hereinafter referred to as The Society), and donations from users of the collection. The library has also acquired microfiche holdings and FamilySearch, the well-known CD-ROM product for genealogists based on the records of the Mormon Church. Through the grant, the library enhanced its already strong Family History collection with additional print and CD-ROM resources and greatly increased access to its unique collection of local newspaper microfilm with the creation of an electronic index to birth, death, and marriage records appearing there. Preplanning and Ground Work The Wheaton Public Library is known throughout northern Illinois as a library with a strong family history research collection. The collection, numbering some 3,000 volumes has been built up over the 107-year history of the library using a combination of local funds, grant funds, cooperative partnerships with the DuPage County Genealogical Society (hereinafter referred to as The Society), and donations from users of the collection. The library has also acquired microfiche holdings and FamilySearch, the well-known CD-ROM product for genealogists based on the records of the Mormon Church. We collaborate with the Society in offering genealogy classes for beginners; one of our reference staff has become a specialist and works extensively with family researchers. She conducts classes, gives talks, publicizes our holdings, and serves as our liaison with the Society. Society members also provide volunteers in the library one evening a week to help people who want to get started or who are stuck. The DuPage County Historical Museum and the Wheaton History Center also make use of our collection, especially when searching for biographical material about early Wheaton and DuPage County settlers and notables. In a four-week headcount conducted prior to the grant application, we determined that more than 120 researchers use our Family History collection each week and these researchers are demanding ever more specialized and expensive resources, additional computerized databases, and easier access to our local newspaper microfilm. To continue to serve family researchers from throughout the area, we propose to enlarge our book and CD-ROM family history collection and begin production of an electronic index of birth, marriage, and death records appearing in local newspapers dating back to 1885. Survey of potential users Wheaton Public Library receives constant feedback from the users of its Family History collection. Many of the users of the collection are members of the DuPage County Genealogical Society. Over the years we have collaboratively built our collection based on the research needs of the members of the Society. A library staff member meets regularly with the society Librarian to evaluate possible purchases both by The Society and the library. This collaborative approach is greatly influenced by frequently conducted surveys of the research needs of the Society members. Results of the most recent survey, completed in 1995, indicate strong interest in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Virginia, Kentucky and Illinois. Foreign countries of interest are Germany, Great Britain and Ireland. This fall, a library initiated survey of the membership indicated strong interest in CD-ROM marriage indexes for states east of the Mississippi River; census indexes for Rhode Island, South Carolina, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Vermont, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Missouri, Mississippi, Minnesota, Maryland, Maine, Iowa, Georgia, Florida, * Sarah Meisels, Library Director; Carolyn DeAre, Head of Reference; and Donna Freymark, Reference and Genealogy Librarian, Wheaton Public Library, Illinois. 191 Delaware, California, and Alabama; and rosters of Civil War soldiers. Potential Partners Our most involved partner in this grant project is the DuPage County (IL) Genealogical Society. The Society, which has a membership of 398 meets regularly in the Library and also co-sponsors classes for beginners with Wheaton Public Library. Our staff specialist belongs to the Society, helps teach the classes and serves as our liaison to the Society. The Society donates money annually to enlarge the genealogy collections, and members are very eager to participate in this grant initiative, since they have identified it as a high priority project. They know our services to family researchers got a tremendous boost because of a 1985 grant. They use everything we provide, and 22 of their members have signed on to help extract records for the proposed indexing project. In addition to this long-standing line of communication, the library's staff specialist met this fall with the Society's Publications committee to discuss this proposed project. The committee's enthusiastic response encouraged us to pursue the project. The library also maintains close ties with the Wheaton History Center and the DuPage County Historical Museum. Both of these institutions are located near the library and rely on us to provide research support to staff and researchers. The proposed project was discussed with staff from both institutions, and they were especially excited about the proposed index of marriage, birth, and death records appearing in local papers. The lack of such an index makes researching early history of DuPage County very time-consuming and laborious. Since the Library Director and other library staff hold memberships in one or more of these organizations, there is constant library contact with them, and we have partnered with them on their community projects, formally and informally, as well as our own.On this basis, their assistance with this grant project is easy to obtain and easily monitored. We are dealing with a mature, educated, stable, and highly motivated volunteer pool, most of whom are long-time residents and library users. Another area organization eager to see this project go forward is the Salt Creek Civil War Round Table. This group of Civil War researchers and collectors draws members from throughout northern Illinois and the western suburbs. An active Wheaton member is Don Sender, husband of the Director of the Itasca Community Library. Our discussions with Don and others from this organization indicate great enthusiasm for the purchase of the Civil War rosters we are proposing. This vital information is just becoming available and the need and interest is strong. Appropriateness of Grant Funding vs Local Funding When it comes to our family research collection, the Wheaton Public Library is really a regional resource. A recent analysis of users of our computerized FamilySearch program indicated that more than 50% of users were from outside of Wheaton. Of 2,621 users, 1,001 were from other cities in DuPage County, 301 from Cook, Lake, or Kane County, 69 from downstate Illinois and 39 from out-of-state. These percentages are a reasonably accurate breakdown of all users of our collection. We are serving more than our local residents. The potential users of our electronic index available on the Web will be from around the world! Wheaton Public Library continues to use local funds every year to build our Family History collection. The resources earmarked for purchase in this grant are, however, beyond the funding capabilities of our local library and are especially appropriate for grant funding because of our extended clientele. Need Genealogy, or family research, is one of America's most popular hobbies. It is not a new hobby, but it has only been in the recent past that a great number of people now have the means and time to pursue this interest. Many more books, conferences and meetings providing the know-how exist than were available to previous generations. New transcription projects are being undertaken. For example, volunteers go to the county courthouse to record brief information about each marriage record on file. This information is then organized to form an index to otherwise unknown and inaccessible records. The Internet is yet another factor in the recent rise of interest in genealogy. Many libraries' catalogs are available through the Internet, including Wheaton's. It is now possible for the family researcher to determine 192 if a visit to use a particular collection is warranted. Family researchers also use the Internet to find others through lists and newsgroups working on the same family lines. Additionally, more and more genealogical societies and historical organizations are beginning to offer marriage, death, church, and land records pertaining to their geographic areas on the Internet. In short, the Internet has played a big part in recently providing genealogists with a wealth of information more easily and quickly compared to yesterday's standards. At our reference desk, the reference librarians have noticed a higher level of expectation by the patron in what he can find readily available either through the Internet or other sources available in the library. While increased ease of availability and quantity of information bring a higher level of expectation, they also serve to increase the level of interest in genealogy in general as a hobby worth pursuing. DuPage County Genealogical Society with Wheaton Public Library offers a five part beginning genealogy class twice a year. These classes attract many new family researchers looking for basic genealogical records such as marriage records, death records, and census information. Additionally, many junior high and high school students come to the Library with homework assignments requiring them to fill out a pedigree chart. At any given time. The Society members, as well as other community members, are beginning research on new family lines. Also, Wheaton Library serves out-of-town users who make visits from all over the United States looking for specialized information and indexes pertaining to DuPage County, Illinois. Two years ago, we did an inventory of the U.S. Federal Census materials held by Wheaton Public Library. We found that we have census and index materials representing most of the states east of the Mississippi River. However, the representation of materials for any given state and census year is uneven and not complete. Wheaton Public Library holds indexes to marriage records as well. Our online catalog shows we have marriage indexes for the states of Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri before 1840, Ohio prior to 1820, South Carolina, Georgia and limited records for Virginia and Pennsylvania. Our users are looking for indexes for other states, as well. Useful also to family researchers and historians are land records, which can give clues to the identity of family members not found in birth, marriage, or death records. Wheaton Public Library holds a very limited amount of land record information pertaining to states other than Illinois. This type of record has recently become widely available for certain states. Military records are yet another document genealogists pursue. Wheaton Public Library owns the Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois. It is a roster of regiments of the officers and enlisted men in the Civil War. It is a great source for this particular war as it pertains to Illinois. There are now sources available listing rosters of both the Union and Confederate soldiers from all states participating in the Civil War. Sources such as these would greatly facilitate and augment our users' search for military records. Our active Civil War Round Table is eager for us to add these resources. Specialized indexes pertaining to a small geographic area such as a town or county are especially valuable to the family researcher. Examples are transcriptions of naturalization records or an index to the marriage records held at the county courthouse. Wheaton Public Library helps users from many states outside of Illinois who are looking for information on ancestors who lived in DuPage County, Illinois. To their credit, volunteers from the DuPage County Genealogical Society have been very active in making cemetery, naturalization, and marriage records of DuPage County available and accessible in published index format to these researchers. Old newspapers from any local area have lots of genealogical information contained in marriage announcements, obituaries, and birth announcements. Wheaton Public Library holds local newspapers back to 1885. However, these papers have not yet been indexed. We see a need to make this very specialized local information available in a usable format. Project Activities Our grant project has two distinct components: acquiring Vital Resources and creating an index of local Vital Records. This report of our project activities is divided into these two components. Vital Resources Our grant proposal identified a variety of CD-ROM's and print resources to be added to our Family History collection. Marriage records, census indexes, research aids, locality collections, family histories, 193 land records, and military records on CD ROM were selected by our Family History specialist and ordered from several genealogy publishers. Print resources focusing on the Civil War were ordered from the Broadfoot Publishing Company, known for its high quality and authority. As the resources were received, they were cataloged using OCLC, processed, and made available to the public. Technical Services staff provided a sleeve and label for each CD to facilitate access to users. Two additional desktop computers were added to the genealogy room to handle anticipated demand for computer access. To publicize the additions to our collection, we prepared bibliographies of the CD-ROM's and another of the Civil War Resources available in our library. Response to the new items came immediately with interloan requests for information from the Civil War sets and in-house users anxious to search the new CD-ROM's. Vital Records The index creation component of our project was much more challenging and time consuming. The family history specialist, technical librarian and head of reference met initially to examine and analyze the finished project of another newspaper indexing project, Births, Marriages, and Deaths as Published in Paddock Publications, Arlington Heights, Illinois, prepared by Northwest Suburban Council of Genealogists. Using the Arlington Heights project as our guide, it was decided that a maximum of ten fields of information would be gathered for each birth, death or marriage item found in the Wheaton newspapers. Fields selected included name of newspaper (Wheaton has had several in the past 104 years), date of issue of newspaper, page and column number, and item length. Two other fields: place where event happened and date of event, were included because they give immediate specific information that a researcher needs to request an actual marriage, death or birth record from a county office or courthouse. A note field was also included to provide a space for additional names, places and dates associated with the person and event. Remaining fields include name of person, title of person (if distinctive) and event. With our data fields identified, staff went to the microfilm to test the selected fields for practicability. It was soon discovered that not all birth, marriage and death items were going to fit our neatly planned fields. The newspaper pages were not numbered. Not all people were identified with first names. The date of the event was not always clearly stated and the news items we were looking for appeared anywhere and everywhere in these older newspapers. Some news items appeared twice in the same issue of the newspaper. Our oldest newspaper, the Wheaton Illinoian contained national as well as local and regional Illinois news. To accommodate the newspaper irregularities we developed several additional guidelines. The transcriber would have to count and assign page numbers and columns to each news item. In news items where no first name was given for a newborn, the child would be identified in the index as an unnamed female or unnamed male or unnamed child if the gender was not specified. Date of events would have to be calculated using the newspaper issue date. Definitions were found for antiquated terms describing dates such as ult. and inst. Because vital record items appeared anywhere in the paper, it was clear that every column of every page would have to be read. It was decided that the scope of the index would be limited to people with a connection to DuPage and surrounding present-day collar counties. Database creation
From conversations with those in charge of that Northwest Suburban Council of Genealogists index mentioned earlier, we knew that much time and labor would be saved if the transcribed information from the newspaper items was immediately entered into the computer rather than put on paper to be entered later. MS Access was the program selected to initially collect and manage the data. Knowing that the MS Access program was not familiar to all of our volunteers, we set up the forms feature of the program for data entry. The data entry screen was prepared with the ten fields previously mentioned. To minimize typing and lessen typographical errors, data lists were provided in the newspaper title, item length and event fields, since the data in each of these fields would come from a finite group of choices. For example, the titles of all the Wheaton newspaper holdings were determined and included in the data lists in the newspaper field. The data list for the event field includes the three event names that are being indexed, which are birth, death and marriage. In the item length data list, the three terms used to describe item length are listed in order from shortest item to longest item. 194 To insure index accuracy, we decided that each newspaper would be read by two different people. The second reader would hopefully catch a news item that the first reader missed. The results from each of two separate readings would then be compared for similarities or lack of. Any discrepancies would be resolved by going back to the newspaper microfilm. Two computers, one laptop and one desktop were programmed with shortcuts from the desktop to the MS Access forms for the volunteers. One shortcut was labeled "Blue Tiles," a descriptionof the background work form, the other "Jigsaw." The two computers were placed on dedicated library trucks, easily movable to aposition near a microfilm reader. The final index database was titled Index to the Vital Records in Wheaton, Illinois Newspapers Beginning 1885, and is referred to as the Vital Records Index. Design and Acquisition of the Local Database The grant called for the mounting of our index on the World Wide Web through our online catalog. To achieve this goal, we purchased the Local Database Module from Innovative Interfaces, our library automation system provider. The Local Database Module would allow us to create MARC records from the indexed items. The technical librarian consulted with the cataloger to come up with an appropriate MARC record design for these records that described people and events rather than print or audio-visual material. Using OCLC's Bibliographic Formats and Standards, second edition, suitable MARC tags were associated with the fields agreed upon earlier. The technical librarian then consulted with a database implementation specialist at Innovative Interfaces to determine the basic setup of the database. The technical librarian filled out worksheets that specified the type of information that would be included in the database, the total number of records, the MARC fields, the fixed-field codes, and the criteria used to limit a search. A number of test records were typed into the database and checked in the OPAC display. Changes were made to the field names and to the order in which the fields appeared in the records to make them easier to understand. While the MS Access program is used to initially collect, edit and manage the transcripts information, it is the Innovative Interfaces Local Database Module that houses the final Vital Records Index which is used to search and view all of the data collected. In order to get the data from the MS Access database into the Vital Records Index, the library purchased a Text-to-MARC program which was written specifically for our situation. The technical librarian worked with the implementation specialist at Innovative Interfaces to identify the MS Access fields that correspond to the MARC fields and subfields. A program was then written to convert the text-based data into true MARC records. While the initial data was being collected, the technical librarian worked to design the search screens for the text-based OPAC and the Web based WebCat Catalog where the information would be made available for searching. Call for volunteers With the technical aspect of the project established and the computers programmed, it was time to call for help. Signs announcing the indexing project and the need for volunteers were created in house using the Broderbund product, Print Shop. They were displayed at prominent locations in Wheaton Public Library. Several signs with a cover letter were sent to each of our partners and supporters in this project asking that they display the information in their respective institutions. Letters describing the project with the same signs were sent to the history departments of four local area high schools with the hope that interested students would see this as an opportunity to earn volunteer hours satisfying National Honor Society eligibility requirements. The family history specialist twice attended meetings of the DuPage County Genealogical Society to make announcements of the project. A press release was produced and faxed to four area newspapers and an announcement was placed on the library's Web page. Sign up forms for prospective volunteers were made to record name, address, availability, and keyboarding skills of interested individuals and collected at the reference desk. While we continue to recruit volunteers for this ongoing project, to date we have 54 volunteer indexers. Training From the analysis of the data fields and subsequent database construction, it was obvious to us that uniform data entry was essential. We wanted the dates of the newspaper issues and events recorded in a specific format. After figuring out the features and searching 195 capabilities of the final database to house the index, it was clear that the name of the person from a news item would have to be entered into the first database, MS Access, in a set way. The uniformity of data entry would save much time and work in preparing the information for export to the Innovative Interfaces module, the final database of the index from the working database, MS Access. Additionally, exacting data entry requirements would give the volunteers a definite framework from which to view and analyze the news item. With such exacting data entry requirements, it was clear that more than a few minutes would be needed to explain all this to a new volunteer. The family history specialist developed an orientation and training session, running for about an hour and one half for all new volunteers, that would introduce and outline the specifics of the project. In part of the session, each of the ten fields is discussed as well as the proper format for each field. The training sessions are held in the computer training room, allowing the volunteers to practice using the MS Access database. Also as part of the training session, six selected samples from the actual microfilm are analyzed and entered into the computer. A handout was produced showing correct data entry format, calendars for the years of microfilm currently being read and a computer tip sheet. Also included are procedures for signing in, where to find the computer truck, the "reading" assignment and the roll of microfilm, and reservation of the microfilm reader. While learning to navigate the MS Access program is one focus of the training session, the emphasis is data transcription and entry in a specified way. While indexing directly to the computer is the preferred method of transcription, we also developed printed forms that include all ten fields for data entry, so those who are not comfortable using a computer can do the indexing by completing the form by hand. By June our first group of 31 volunteers and staff were trained and ready to begin. The project was underway! Making the index publicly accessible As volunteers complete two readings of a day's newspaper, our family history specialist oversees the verifying phase of the project. The indexing is copied into a third MS Access database and sorted and compared for similarities. In many instances, each reader has found the same news item, and information in all fields matches. These citations are ready for export to yet another copy of the MS Access database. In some cases, after two readings there is only one reference to a particular news item. Only one reader found the item. In this case, the newspaper microfilm is checked for accuracy. Many times, both readers have found and recorded the newspaper item, but one or more fields are different. These are also checked against the film. More than once after citations were sorted according to newspaper date, the family history specialist noticed a dearth of entries for particular dates. The microfilm is read again for these dates to make certain nothing was missed. After the family history specialist is satisfied with the quality of information, she notifies the cataloger that records are ready to be transferred into the Vitay Records Database. The cataloger transfers the approved MS Access records from her PC to the INNOPAC server. She then runs those records through the Text-to-MARC program which makes them immediately available for searching in the Vital Recoir Index either on our OPAC or from our WebCat on the World Wide Web. The cataloger creates a MARC field for each name listed in the notes field and assignsaSoundex code to each name in the record so that they can all be searched. She also adds additional fields place names if necessary. One of the features of the final database is that information can be easily locate from a number of different access points. Ongoing Activities The indexing project is ongoing and we continue to recruit and train volunteers in the library and through periodic announcements at the DuPage County Genealogical Society meetings and in newspaper and newsletter items. Information also appears on our Web site. Training sessions are held as needed to prepare new volunteers for the project. The family history specialist continues to oversee the project, check the data-bases for accuracy, and solve any discrepancies that arise. The library cataloger will continue to assign Soundex codes and add to the name and place indexes so that the information is available via both the library's text-based OPAC and the WebCat Internet catalog. Program Deviation No changes in the program direction occurred. 196 Accomplishments Through this grant project we increased resources available to family history researchers throughout northern Illinois, the state, and even the world. Researchers using the Family History collection have access to timesaving and valuable CD-ROM databases and books that are not readily available elsewhere. The project added millions of genealogical records in 72 CD-ROM databases to our Family History research collection and 5 multivolume print sets. The following items were added to our collection:
CD Number: #1.
CD Number: #2.
CD Number: #3.
CD Number: #4.
CD Number: #5.
CD Number: #6.
CD Number: #7.
CD Number: #8.
CD Number: #9.
CD Number: #10.
CD Number: #12.
CD Number: F#l.
CD Number: F#2.
CD Number: F#3.
CD Number: F#4.
CD Number: F#5.
CD Number: F#6.
CD Number: F#20.
CD Number: F#l16.
CD Number: F#l18.
CD Number: F#145.
CD Number: F#163.
CD Number: F#164.
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CD Number: F#165.
CD Number: F#167.
CD Number: F#178.
CD Number: F#179.
CD Number: F#183.
CD Number: F#185.
CD Number: F#201.
CD Number: F#203.
CD Number: F#206.
CD Number: F#208.
CD Number: F#209.
CD Number: F#210.
CD Number: F#213.
CD Number: F#224.
CD Number: F#226.
CD Number: F#227.
CD Number: F#228.
CD Number: F#229.
CD Number: F#231.
CD Number: F#233.
CD Number: F#234.
CD Number: F#235.
CD Number: F#236.
CD Number: F#237.
CD Number: F#239.
CD Number: F#240.
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CD Number: F#242.
CD Number: F#243.
CD Number: F#248.
CD Number: F#255.
CD Number: F#257.
CD Number: F#284.
CD Number: F#289.
CD Number: F#290.
CD Number: F#291.
CD Number: F#301.
CD Number: F#302.
CD Number: F#303.
CD Number: F#304.
CD Number: F#305.
CD Number: F#306.
CD Number: F#307.
CD Number: F#308.
CD Number: F#309.
CD Number: F#310-320.
CD Number: F#400.
CD Number: F#401.
CD Number: F#402.
CD Number: F#450.
Print sets:
The index to vital records found in local newspapers is launched and up and running, providing much needed access to the vital information contained in the early local papers. The Vital Records Database is available through our text-based online catalog and on the World Wide Web at http://wpl.wheaton.lib.il.us: 81. The site was submitted as a link October 8, 1999, on the well- 199 known genealogy web site Cyndi's List. The address for that site is http://www.cyndislist.com. We are confident that we have developed procedures that insure the ongoing accuracy and completeness of the index. To date, there are 436 items in the index. It covers the period January 1885 through May 1886. Readers have read papers through August 1888. Entries from June 1886 through August 1888 are waiting to be checked and verified by the family history specialist. Development of the digital index has spawned even more information than we envisioned. Access via the World Wide Web extends the potential usefulness of this index beyond the library's walls to family researchers around the globe. The Internet has a variety of resources for genealogists which we were able to include on the Web version of the Vital Records Index. For example, the Soundex search index includes links to Web sites that convert names into Soundex codes. The Main Menu includes links to Web pages that describe the records, offer search tips, and link to other genealogy Web sites. Our family history specialist identified old towns listed in the newspaper vital records and linked them to their present names. This file of old names is accessible on the Web from the main menu also. Strengths and Weaknesses This project continues the development of a special collection of materials that Wheaton Public Library started, nurtured, supported and promoted for many years. Building on our reputation as a regional source for genealogical materials, the materials selected and added complement existing materials very well in terms of content and format. While the collection had many census indexes prior to the project, representation of materials for any given state and census year was uneven and not complete. Adding additional census material in the CD-ROM format makes sense. More and more genealogical material is becoming available, especially in the CD-ROM format. The cost per title in this format has become reasonable in recent years and space requirements for information in this format is minimal. Additionally, many library users are experienced in searching for information in this format. In terms of content, our collection prior to the project held indexes to marriages, but again the coverage was not uniform. Marriage records are much sought-after records for a genealogist. The project has allowed us to add a massive amount of marriage records in most of the states east of Mississippi, which are the states we collect the heaviest in. In another example, prior to the project, our collection held a good amount of Civil War materials, with perhaps the Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois being the most detailed resource on the shelf for Civil War family history researchers. The project has allowed us to broaden our sources available by adding Civil War rosters that include all states participating in the Civil War. The Vital Records Index is something we have needed for years. The project has been designed to produce an accurate and complete index. The weaknesses we have identified were anticipated. The project is very time-consuming and relying on volunteers, no matter how committed they are, limits the work accomplished. We had hoped to complete 15 years of indexing by this time. We are behind that goal mainly because the man-power is not available. We are committed to continuing this project through to completion. Paid staff supplement our volunteers and we foresee working on this time-consuming project for the next several years. Needs The impetus for this grant was a recognition of the burgeoning interest in family history research. User surveys, feedback from our users of the Family Histord Collection, and our own experience had identified areas needing development in our collection. The CD-ROM format offered a chance to add millions of records without taking up valuable shelf space. Two years ago, we did an inventory of the U.S. Federal Census materials held by Wheaton Public Library. We found that we have census and index materials representing most of the states east of the Mississippi River. However, the representation of materials for any given state and census year is uneven and not complete. Wheaton Public Library held indexes to marriage records as well. Our online catalog shows we have marriage indexes for the states of Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri before 1840, Ohio prior to 1820, South Carolina, Georgia and limited records for Virginia and Pennsylvania. Our users are looking for indexes for other states, as well. Useful also to family researchers and historians are land records, which can give clues to the identity of 200 family members not found in birth, marriage, or death records. Wheaton Public Library holds a very limited amount of land record information pertaining to states other than Illinois. This type of record has recently become widely available for certain states. Military records are yet another document genealogists pursue. Wheaton Public Library owns the Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois. It is a roster of regiments of the officers and enlisted men in the Civil War. It was a great source for this particular war as it pertains to Illinois. There are now sources available listing rosters of both the Union and Confederate soldiers from all states participating in the Civil War. Sources such as these would greatly facilitate and augment our users' search for military records. Specialized indexes pertaining to a small geographic area such as a town or county are especially valuable to the family researcher. Examples are transcriptions of naturalization records or an index to the marriage records held at the county courthouse. The grant allowed us to purchase CD-ROM databases in these areas. Researchers in Illinois can now find a vast array of family history research material at the local level. Wheaton Public Library helps users from many states outside of Illinois who are looking for information on ancestors who lived in DuPage County, Illinois. To their credit, volunteers from the DuPage County Genealogical Society have been very active in making cemetery, naturalization, and marriage records of DuPage County available and accessible in published index format to these researchers. Old newspapers from any local area have lots of genealogical information contained in marriage announcements, obituaries, and birth announcements. Wheaton Public Library holds local newspapers back to 1885. However, these papers had never been indexed. The grant allowed us to begin this indexing project and meet the need to make this very specialized local information available in the usable format. Illinois State Library Goals This project addresses LSTA goal 2: "To ensure that Illinois libraries have access to all sources and formats of information." This project builds on previously successful initiatives and a well-established and well-recognized collection to ensure that the research materials needed are available in Illinois. By providing access to CD-ROM databases and print resources that are not widely available, users are able to carry-on their research at the local level. The project continues the development of a special collection of information usable by persons with special needs—in this case, family history researchers. The creation of a Web-accessible index to the vital record information reported in the local newspapers allows researchers throughout the state and beyond access to information in a new and more efficient format convenient for remote users, as well. Acknowledgments The assistance of the staff in the Technical Services Department at the Wheaton Public Library, including the collaboration of Dawn Kovack and Amy Achammer, is gratefully acknowledged as a major contribution to the project. 201 |
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