The May program is the first in our Online Library Series.  This month, Susan Dechant, NeWGS founder and former president, will walk us through the Allen County Public Library.  Located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, this library is a unique resource for the entire genealogical community.  Their  dedicated staff specializes in genealogy and has assembled one of the largest research collections available, incorporating records from around the globe.  They also hold the largest English-language genealogy and local history periodical collection in the world with more than 6,200 current subscriptions and more than 10,000 titles. 

 

The NeWGS Online Library Series is aimed at introducing you to the enormous cache of records available on websites that were created to collect all they can and make it freely available to the public.  Please join us as Susan teaches the group to navigate and explore the Allen County Public Library website and online databases.  You will definitely come away with a taste of what’s available at this fantastic library.  Prepare to be amazed at just how much you can access from the comfort of your own home.

 

Have you ever gone to a website you've used before only to be greeted with the dreaded "Error 404" message?  This month Lora Rose, NeWGS Evergreen Cemetery Chairman, has a solution.  Continuing our Online Library Series, Lora will introduce us to the Internet Archive.  This non-profit project is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, they provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, the print disabled, and the general public.  The project began in 1996 by archiving the Internet itself, a medium that was just beginning to grow in use. Like newspapers, the content published on the web was ephemeral - but unlike newspapers, no one was saving it. 

 

Today the Internet Digital Archive  has 20-plus years of web history accessible through the "Wayback Machine".  This amazing search tool detects those pesky error codes and checks for archived versions of requested URLs.  Online visitors can explore more than 310 billion web pages that have been saved over time.  The "Save Page Now" feature even allows you to capture a current web page as it appears today and save it to the archive for use as a trusted citation in the future.  In addition, the Internet Archive contains 11 million books and texts, 4 million audio recordings, 3 million videos, 1 million images, and 100,000 software programs.  Don't miss the chance to learn about this truly unique digital archive.

In the second of our Online Library Series, NeWGS Vice President, Norma Yost, will delve into the wealth of knowledge found at the Digital Public Library of America.  This online library connects researchers to the riches held within many of America’s libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions. All materials found through DPLA—photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents, and so much more—are free and immediately available in digital format. Participating cultural institutions represent the richness and diversity of America itself, from the smallest local history museum to our nation’s largest cultural institutions.

 

During this program, Norma will lead us on a journey through DPLAs massive holdings where we will barely touch the surface of the 20,845,365 items available from libraries, archives, and museums.  We will learn how to explore the website ourselves by item, place or date and how to view the many available maps and timelines.  The Digital Public Library of America is undoubtedly a priceless online resource at your fingertips.