John Bye retiring

It's been a few years since I visited the The Institute for Regional Studies and University Archives at the North Dakota State University in Fargo. Researching there was always a pleasure. I just read that the Director, John Bye, has retired. John was helpful to me on my research visits, made suggestions, and was rightfully proud of the collection. Over the years I ran into John at history events.

At NDSU I researched distant cousins of my own and also worked on client requests. One outcome of the research there that included advice from John was the short history Helendale Farm and the James. B. Power Family that I co-authored in 1998. Helendale Farm was one of the renowned Bonanza farms in North Dakota.

Read more about John and see links to further info at http://library.ndsu.edu/archives/whats-new. I wish John a relaxing time in retirement. I know that somehow he will remain an active historian.

Miscellaneous Serendipity!

Some of my favorite records are those labeled as “miscellaneous” or “loose.” Others are data in the back of a totally unrelated record book or on the back of a note or index card.
                               
Miscellaneous
These may be a collection of related or unrelated papers and the dates of coverage may not be clear. The Family History Library Catalog www.familysearch.org does include some miscellaneous court and vital records. Do a keyword search for "miscellaneous" in the catalog or that of any record repository. A state or other archive online catalog or in-house inventory may show a couple of volumes of “Miscellaneous Records” for a town or county. A check of the catalog of the Missouri State Archives http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/ using only the word miscellaneous yields “Miscellaneous Court Records.” The subject tracings include

Research in original records

Yesterday when I was at the Minnesota Historical Society I noticed something that made me smile. I saw more than a dozen people sitting at tables researching in original records. Most of them stayed at it for many hours, going through file folders of records or multiple volumes of records. Others arrived later in the day to stay through the evening hours. I have no way of knowing exactly what they were working on, but it was exciting to see so many boxes of original records being used.

So often today, researchers including genealogists, historians, editors, writers, and others turn to online resources. I do that too. But the gems in those millions of files and record volumes at historical societies, archives, courthouses, and libraries are also waiting for us. I have no official statistics, but I would venture a guess that only a smidgen of those items have been microfilmed and/or digitized.

Even better is that this is a great time of year to do this type of research. Others are busy being in the holiday mood and that opens up lots of space and staff assistance time for dedicated researchers. Keep this in mind for 2011. From Thanksgiving week through New Year's Day is a great time to research. Many of these places have an online presence that includes a catalog, other finding aids, and some other clues to the records they hold.