Registrants have been eager to add an extra day of research to their Conference 2010 experience by signing up for the Hands-on Research Excursion on Thursday, May 13. “Excursionists” selected from a choice of four wonderful archives and libraries.

One of the four venues—the Archives of Ontario—is now at capacity.

But don’t let that discourage you from joining the Excursion!

The City of Toronto Archives is a great choice if your ancestors lived in Toronto or the former municipalities of Scarborough, East York, North York, York or Etobicoke. The two reference libraries are some of the finest in North America for genealogy. The Toronto Reference Library has a collection of books and maps built over the past 115 years and an extensive manuscript collection only accessible on site. The North York Library’s Canadiana Department has an emphasis on Canadian genealogical resources in print and microform, and provides a home for unique deposit collections from genealogical partners.

To register for the Hands-on Research Excursion, select that option on the online registration form, and then e-mail us to choose your venue.

Marketplace and Sponsors pages updated

If you haven’t explored the Conference 2010 website lately, be sure to check the Marketplace and Sponsors pages to see the treats that lie ahead for attendees at Conference 2010. Most Marketplace exhibitors include a link to a website, so you can do some “window shopping” in advance.

Doubletree restaurant praised

Restaurant reviewer Joanne Kates in The Globe and Mail has named the Chinese restaurant (Grand Chinese Cuisine) at the Conference hotel as one of the best in the city. Mmmm…

Patricia M. Van Skaik, keynote speaker at the OLA Pre-Conference

You don’t have to be a librarian to sign up for the
“Libraries and Genealogy” workshop offered by the Ontario Library Association as a pre-conference event on Thursday, May 13.

While the program has been designed with a view to providers of family history services, it should also appeal to those who want to get the most out of their local collections, such as those who sit on library advisory boards across the province… or even just everyday researchers.

Here’s your opportunity to discover:

• how contemporary technology can reveal unseen detail in historic photo collections
• how the Family History Library (in Salt Lake City) can be used by Ontarians, and how its catalogue can be used to find resources in Ontario libraries
• how you can perform basic and advanced searches on ARCHEION, Ontario’s Archival Information Network, a public gateway to collections across the province
• why RAD (Rules for Archival Description) will become increasingly important for genealogists
• how you can use OurOntario.ca, an innovative and unique discovery portal, to search thousands of digital resources available from a range of diverse cultural organizations
• what’s included in Ancestry Library Edition, which is freely available for your use at many libraries across the province
• how to use “tricks of the trade” when searching cataloging systems that do not organize information the same way that genealogists conduct research

The first and last of the above must-see insights come from Patricia Van Skaik, MA, MLS, the Manager of the Genealogy and Local History Collection, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Patricia was educated at the University of Kentucky and the University of Cincinnati and serves on the Board of the other OGS, the Ohio Genealogical Society. She is also the Director of Librarianship Studies for the National Institute for Genealogical Studies.

For full details of program and other speakers at this wonderful accompaniment to Conference 2010, just click here.