Sally Pellegrini's blog

There is increased interest in researching old newspapers as they become digitized.This eliminates those blackened fingers, crumbly pages and musty smellsl! The time saved by keyword searching has also enhanced researchers' finding.

At the February meeting of the Genealogy Society of Rockland, two members discussed digital newspaper web sites that were very helpful to them. The first is offered by the Northern New York Historical Newspapers and the address is nnyln.net. Through this you can look at many of the newspapers in north western and central New York. The articles appear and you can reduce the full page to the article. The member speaking mentioned that he was looking for information on a relative and could never find anything about her. Voila!! He found a bunch of social notes that described tea and other social meetings at her house.

Researching your family genealogy online and want to share your findings with your family? Go to a fast-growing online genealogy site known as Genoom. This new site focuses on the "social" aspect of family research, building networks and gathering information from relatives, friends and others. Begun in 2007 in Spain, Genoom is offered in free and premium versions (subscription). When you go to the home page you will be offered several links including photos, forum, messages, calendar and videos. Once logged on, you can choose to network with friends and relatives via messaging and e-mail, or communicate via your own customized family forum. There is much more available on this site so log onto www.genoom.com.

Wednesday's adult programs for Wednesday, February 2 are cancelled due to weather conditions. The movie, Out of Towners will be shown Wednesday, February 23 @ 1:30PM. The Grief Counselling talk will be postponed until June. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Are you one of those who has decided to make a January resolution to research your family? You are not alone! The library is offering several genealogy how-to workshops during the cold months of January and February. The first was held January 8 and was a general overview to genealogy. But it's not too late to attend the others. Lecturer and genealogist, Tony Laurino will take the reins for the next three. On January 22 at 10AM ,Tony will review the use of primary records such as surnames. There are many issues using surname records, and Tony will help to clear up some of the misconceptions. During the next class, February 19, he will review secondary records such as military and census. The series ends February 26 with a look at the best web genealogy sites. If you are new to genealogy, mark these dates and attend. It will be a good investment at a good price! To register, call 634-4997 ext 139.

The New City and West Nyack budgets passed Thursday, December 9 with a wide margin. Voter turnout was large showing  670 yes and 295 no. The staff and Board of Trustees would like to thank the voters for their support.  Happy Holidays and New Year to all.