TUESDAY, September 24
Co-sponsored with the Humanities and Social Sciences Department at the Toronto Reference Library
The Toronto Reference Library contains many excellent genealogy resources. This hands-on class will demonstrate how to use the Toronto Public Library’s online catalog to find items on the open shelves such as how-to guides, directories, and maps as well as “hidden” collections in the closed stacks. Discover what treasures may be available for your specific region of interest by country, province, state or county.
Level: Intermediate
This Course is now full. Please contact torontocourses@ogs.on.ca to be put on the waiting list.
Course Instructor: Librarian
HOW TO GET TO THE COURSE LOCATION
The Toronto Reference Library building is on the east side of Yonge Street, one block north of Bloor Street.
By public transit:
The closest TTC subway station is Bloor/Yonge.
Driving to the Library is not recommended. Parking in the immediate area is limited.
Accessibility:
The Toronto Reference Library building is wheelchair accessible. For more information about our policies on accessibility, visit our policies page.
For assistance with a specific accommodation request, please send an email message to torontocourses@ogs.on.ca.
Hands-On Criminal Justice Records of 19th Century Ontario
Family historians are always seeking records that will help us tell the story of our ancestors’ lives. We want more than just names, dates and places. But few of us make use of the rich trove of stories found in justice system records. Were your ancestors criminals? Were they victims of crime? Did they sit on a jury or testify at a trial? Maybe they couldn’t pay their debts and got sent to debtors’ prison. Come learn about the criminal justice system in 19th Century Ontario and how to identify, locate and interpret criminal justice records in this three-week hands-on course. Participants will work through a series of assigned case studies in small groups on-site at the Archives of Ontario.
Course runs on three Thursdays: September 26, October 3 and 10, 2019
This course is offered in partnership with the Archives of Ontario.
Course Instructor: Janice Nickerson
Janice Nickerson is a professional genealogist with over 30 years of genealogical research experience. Her expertise includes Upper Canadian history, criminal justice records, fur trade history, turning bare bones genealogies into full-fledged family histories, and finding fun ways to share family history finds. Her book, Crime and Punishment in Upper Canada: A Researcher’s Guide was published by the joint imprint of the Ontario Genealogical Society and Dundurn Press in 2010.
HOW TO GET TO THE COURSE LOCATION
The Archives of Ontario is on the Keele campus of York University.
By public transit: The Archives of Ontario is just steps from the new York University subway station. A number of regional bus services link to the Hwy 407 subway station. For information on transit options and directions, see the University’s webpage.
By car: The York University campus has some visitor parking. To see travel directions for drivers, go to this webpage.
Accessibility:
The Archives of Ontario building is wheelchair accessible. For more information about our policies on accessibility, visit our policies page. For assistance with a specific accommodation request, please send an email message to torontocourses@ogs.on.ca.
A GOLDMINE for FAMILY RESEARCHERS: LIBRARY & ARCHIVES CANADA
Wednesdays, October 9, 16 and 23 (3 week course)
Co-sponsored with the Humanities and Social Sciences Department at the Toronto Reference Library.
Registration is required. Registration is now open.
Library & Archives Canada (LAC) holds multiple millions of highly prized national records. The LAC has curated two repositories of special interest to genealogists and historians, Canadiana and more recently Héritage. This 3-week course will show you how to think like an archivist by searching the LAC website to your best advantage and then applying your results to further your research in Canadiana and Héritage. This hands-on class will be using early 19th century Ontario records as examples. The skills learned can then be applied to your own research.
Course Instructor: Guylaine Pétrin
Guylaine Pétrin, BA, MLS has worked in bank, public and academic libraries. She is an avid genealogist and family historian, and an active member of OGS. She enjoys visiting local archives and discovering the stories hidden in petitions and letters to the governments. She has written stories and presented workshops based on these petitions.
By public transit:
The closest TTC subway station is Bloor/Yonge.
Driving to the Library is not recommended. Parking in the immediate area is extremely limited.
The Toronto Reference Library is wheelchair accessible. For more information about our policies on accessibility, visit our policies page.
For assistance with a specific accommodation request, please send an email message to torontocourses@ogs.on.ca
For our policies regarding registration and refunds, please see our policies page.
TORONTO REFERENCE LIBRARY MAP COLLECTIONS TOUR
Map of London, ON 1856 Samuel Peters (Toronto Public Library Digital Archives)
This tour is co-sponsored with the Humanities and Social Sciences Department at the Toronto Reference Library.
The tour will highlight the various types of maps available for research: from current local, regional, national and international, to topographical and nautical. Not to be missed are fire insurance plans, county atlases, British Isles historic ordnance surveys and so much more that can be explored.
Registration is now open. Register now.
HOW TO GET TO THE COURSE LOCATION
The Toronto Reference Library building is on the east side of Yonge Street, one block north of Bloor Street.
The closest TTC subway station is Bloor/Yonge.
Driving to the Library is not recommended as parking in the immediate area is limited.
Accessibility:
The Toronto Reference Library building is wheelchair accessible. For more information about our policies on accessibility, visit our policies page. For assistance with a specific accommodation request, please send an email message to torontocourses@ogs.on.ca
COURSE RUNS ON THREE WEDNESDAY EVENINGS, NOVEMBER 6, 13 AND 20
Co-sponsored with the Humanities and Social Sciences Department at the Toronto Reference Library.
This course will teach you how to do online research like a pro. Learn how databases and search engines are constructed. Understand how information is stored and retrieved, so that you can increase your odds of finding that elusive record or ancestor. Get tips for using internet search engines and major genealogical databases such as Ancestry, FindMyPast and FamilySearch more effectively. Be introduced to a host of databases that are not aimed at family historians but are full of relevant information and readily available through public and academic libraries. The overarching theme is that the techniques you learn will help you better search all of the many, many online databases available to genealogists.
Level: Intermediate
Registration is required. Register now.
Course Instructor: Marian Press
Marian Press, MLS, MA, is a retired academic librarian, her work life being directly involved with the use of digital resources and the instruction of graduate students on research methodology. She is a frequent speaker at genealogical workshops and conferences and teaches courses for the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. She has been doing her own family history for 30+ years and has 99% Scottish ancestry with one Irish and one Scottish line. She shares her research on two family blogs, through writing for genealogy journals and is working on her second family history book.
HOW TO GET TO THE COURSE LOCATION
The Toronto Reference Library building is on the east side of Yonge Street, one block north of Bloor Street.
By public transit:
The closest TTC subway station is Bloor/Yonge.
Driving to the Library is not recommended. Parking in the immediate area is extremely limited.
Accessibility:
The Toronto Reference Library building is wheelchair accessible. For more information about our policies on accessibility, visit our policies page.
For assistance with a specific accommodation request, please send an email message to torontocourses@ogs.on.ca.
