C is for Constitution, Collections, Cataloguers and ....#AtoZChallenge

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Welcome to Day 3 of the  #AtoZChallenge.  Don't know what the AtoZChallenge is? Find out more here.

My theme is about Family History Societies.  What they are, How they work, Who is in them, Why they exist. 

Today's letter C covers a wide range of topics from the Constitution, to the Collection and Cataloguers to well, let's see how many Societies begin with the letter C, shall we?

A family history society usually has a constitution and maybe some by laws too.  It's best described as the rule book and sets up the purpose of the organisation and how it should be run.  I won't go into any more detail here at the risk of boring you, but it is a very important document and if you want to see some more constitutions you might like to check out the Society of Australian Genealogist's constitution here.

 

Who remembers using a card catalogue? Legacy technology huh?

 

If your society has a library or a collection of items, then you will need someone or several people to catalogue the items as they come in.  QFHS  has several cataloguers who work their way through acquisitions and donations and all sorts of item types, not just books.  They might need to catalogue journals or CDs or photos or maps or microfiche.  All so you can find it easily on the Catalogue.  Ideally your Catalogue should be online so people can prepare their research trips from home.  You can search QFHS catalogue here.  Looking for a cheap and cheerful way to catalogue your collection?  You might consider Librarything's Tinycat.

But let's see how many Societies we can find beginning with the letter C.  Who knew there were so many???

The Family Search Wiki has these great pages

Czech Republic Societies

Croatia Societies

Chile Societies 

Canada Societies 

Chinese Societies 

Excited ? I am!

What about these family organizations beginning with C?

The Federation of Family History Societies in the UK lists all their members here. 

Here in Australia we have the:

Heraldry and Genealogical Society of Canberra

Cape Banks Family History Society Inc.

Campbelltown District Family History Society

Casino and District Family History Group Inc. 

Central Coast Family History Society

Colo Shire Family History Group 

Cowra Family History Group Inc. 

and in Queensland, my home state, societies beginning with C are:

Caboolture Family History Research Group Inc.

Caloundra Family History Research Inc. 

Central Queensland Family History Association Inc.

Crikey!  That's a lot isn't it?

How's your A-Z challenge going? Are you Crumbling? Connecting? Crying? 

What did I forget to list under the letter C for family history societies?

Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.

 

Comments

Molly of Molly's Canopy said…
Like you, I now favor all things digital. But I am still nostalgic for the traditional card catalog -- which I came across in a Pennsylvania historical society a couple of years ago when researching my ancestors. I had to negotiate a fee for photographing my finds with an iPad :-) Fortunately, their staff will look through the cards for you and send copies of what they find for a small fee. But it was still fund to see the place that once.
April 3, 2021 at 9:07 AM
crgalvin said…
Here we are at Cooroy-Noosa Genealogical & Historical Research Group https://www.genealogy-noosa.org.au/ and Cairns at https://cdfhs.org/, I was glad to see the end of card catalogues, so dense and required all that endless filing, a card out of place was often a lost cause, a crisis, just to add another C. :)
April 3, 2021 at 10:11 AM
Alex Daw said…
Hello the lovely Molly and the lovely Carmel. Thank you both for popping by. It's lovely to have comments on my blog. Yes, Molly, I am kind of nostalgic too - if only to be able to show kids today what we used to have to do but those card catalogues take up too much real estate for my liking ! Carmel! How could I forget Cooroy-Noosa GHRG???? Thank you for reminding me :)
April 3, 2021 at 10:50 AM
Cassmob (Pauleen) said…
I still like to have the odd sleuth through card indexes...where they survive. I agree with Carmel that a mis-filed card can cause a crisis but I’m not 100% convinced that all have made it onto digital systems.
April 3, 2021 at 6:34 PM
ScotSue said…
What a familiar sight - the card catalogue. I worked for 7 years in my library headquarters and there was a Newspaper card catalogue of 58 drawers of handwritten index cards recording articles in the local newspapers. Filing the cards was one of the least favourite tasks. Thank goodness when computerization came in. I liked your question on how we were finding the A-Z challenge - crumbling etc? Having already drafted A-H, I was having second thoughts about my theme “Life in Lockdown” - were readers going to be put off by yet more information on boring Lockdown? I did amend my title to “The Scottish Borders in Lockdown” hoping the emphasis on Scotland might have more appeal! I will wait and see!
April 4, 2021 at 4:14 AM
Dara said…
Hi Alex, love your blog! And this is a great theme. Makes me think I should get more involved with the societies I’m in. Looking forward to following your posts.
April 4, 2021 at 4:24 AM
Alex Daw said…
Dear Pauleen - yes, what you say is true. We are, after all, human. And even though computers are wonderful, it's still humans that are inputting. A good genea-buddy wisely told me years ago that it was always worth checking the Qld BDM microfiche at the Society AS WELL AS the online QLD BDM index. There are discrepancies. I was helping a friend's mother look for her grandmother's birth. She knew absolutely she was born in Queensland and the birthday. Online index - zip/nada. Microfiche? Bingo!!So sometimes hanging onto legacy technology is a good thing. Not sure how we solve the space problem though. Luckily microfiche don't take up that much room.
Hi Sue - yes I think we all go through that - Why oh why did I choose this topic??? How can I write 26 times about it in an interesting/appealing fashion? But I think all the readers just love seeing how we all deal with it and of course the readers are equally important for filling in the gaps or creating a dialogue which is what we want isn't it ultimately ? :)
Hi Dara - your comment is balm to the worried soul :)
April 4, 2021 at 9:20 AM
GeniAus said…
I'm with Carmel, when I started in Libraryland we had card catalogues that only gave you limited access points to a collection. In 1984 when I first worked with an automated catalogue I immediately embraced the opportunities this new technology provided.

I just wish more family history societies would move into the 21st century and publish a properly catalogued online OPAC (Online public access catalogue) like the societies at Cooroy-Noosa, Lake Macquarie and QFHS.
April 6, 2021 at 4:56 PM
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