Folks Huxford and Elmer Spear Genealogical Library

The Folks Huxford and Elmer Spear Genealogical Library will result from the merger of Elmer's Genealogy Library previously located in Madison, Florida with the Huxford Genealogical Library located in Homerville, Georgia. The merger will be completed sometime in 2010 and the combined library will be housed in Homerville (a small town located between Waycross and Valdosta, Georgia on U.S. Highway. 84).

When the merger is completed, the combined library may be the largest and finest private genealogical library in the southeastern United States. The library will be managed by The Huxford Genealogical Society.

Library officials do not know when the transfer of materials from Elmer’s Genealogy Library will occur. The building in Homerville has to be remodeled before receiving anything from Florida. Elmer’s Genealogy Library closed December 31, 2009 and its genealogy collection is packed and ready to ship to Homerville when the building is ready.

The decision to merge libraries was made to ensure the survival of Elmer's Genealogy Library into the future. The merger will involve the transfer of over 30,000 books, nearly 4,000 rolls of microfilm and over 10,000 sheets of microfiche from Elmer’s Library to the library in Georgia.

The Huxford Library currently has more than 4,000 genealogical and reference books and 1,300 family surname files as well as donated genealogical collections, microfilm, microfiche and CD-ROM material covering a good portion of the eastern United States.

To get an general idea of what is being transferred from Elmer’s Library, copy and paste the following URL into your web browser:

http://www.elmerslibrary.com/index.php

Review the “Recap of Books By State” which appears at the bottom of the web page.

To get a better idea of what might be applicable to your specific genealogical interests, (1) click on the “Search Our Books” button which is located at the upper left of the web page. (2) Under "Search Our Database," enter both a county and state or a state only and (3) click on “Search Now!” to see a list of publications.

To visit the website for The Huxford Genealogical Society, Inc./Huxford Genealogical Library, copy and paste the following URL into your web browser:

http://www.huxford.com/

Note: As new information is learned about the transfer of genealogy materials to Homerville, an update will be posted here.

Looking for an old web page; try “Wayback Machine”

The following tip is from a GSGC member.

“I just found out about using the above website to retrieve information from long gone websites. I am researching a “-----” line and there used to be a website with gedcoms dedicated to this family. The website has been defunct for a few years but I was able to find an archived (backed-up) copy of it and many of the pages and more importantly the downloads and pdf’s were still available!”

To reach the referenced website, copy and paste the following URL into your web browser:

http://web.archive.org/collections/web/advanced.html

Note: Internet Archives’ Wayback Machine allows the viewing of archived web pages from the past. While the archive doesn't contain every web page ever published, the current inventory of old web pages includes over 150 billion web pages beginning in 1996.

“The Generations Project”

RootsMagic is sponsoring The Generations Project, a new television series that explores family histories of ordinary people. Advertised as “...a new reality series that helps those who have questions about their family history investigate their own identities by walking in the shoes of their ancestors,” it premiered Monday, January 4, 2010 on BYU Television. New episodes will air each Monday and be repeated several times during the week.

BYU Television is available on Dish Network channel 9403, DirecTV channel 374 and many local cable systems.

Additionally, the episodes can be viewed online by copying and pasting the following URL into your web browser:

http://www.byu.tv/

Broadcast times for episodes airing January 9 through 18 can be found by copying and pasting the following URL into your web browser:

http://www.byub.org/programaz/program.asp?id=1791

Note: programming times are shown in Mountain Standard Time (add 2 hours for Eastern Standard Time).

Genealogy Research and Organization

GSGC member Kathryn Walizer has written an article on “Genealogy Research and Organization” for WorldVitalRecords.com’s newsletter, Family History Bulletin. You can read Kathryn’s informative article by copy and pasting the following URL into your web browser:

<http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/news/Volume3Issue63//?page=share&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=right%2Bbanner&utm_campaign=Wvr%2BNewsletter&offer=1>