I had an opportunity to attend an event, Genealogy for Night Owls, at the Indiana State Library on August 15th. My plan was to try out some databases, to look up some obituaries during the open research time, and to learn more about preserving documents and photographs.
I didn't go on the tour of the building because I had just done so at the Midwestern Root Pre-Conference Librarians' Day.
While I was in the Genealogy Division, I tried out two of the subscription databases, Genealogist's Newspaper Search and American Ancestors. The Genealogist's Newspaper Search seems to be a good resource for both older and newer newspaper citations. I found a citation for the November 15th, 1912, Indianapolis Star, page 15, for my granduncle's birth. They don't just index obituaries, but also include births and marriages. It still requires tracking down the original on microfilm to read the entire entry. American Ancestors should prove to be useful to me once I've been able to find an ancestor who lived in New England. So far, I haven't found one.
I went upstairs to the Indiana Division to use the newspapers on microfilm. I was looking for more information on one set of great-great grandparents, and I knew that I would need to start with the Indianapolis Star and Indianapolis News on microfilm. My search was successful, and I am determined to use the digital microfilm reader on my next visit.
The conservation session with Stephanie Gowler was informative. I learned about the differences between buffered and non-buffered paper and folders, the ideal ways to store documents, how to handle and preserve photographs, and which plastic sleeves are archivally safe.
Overall, I was pleased with my evening at the Indiana State Library. Based on the number of people that attended, it appeared to be a successful event, and I hope that they have similar events in the future.
