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Digging up your family tree

Paul Amberg, Library Assistant

I have been interested in genealogy since I was probably about 8 years old. Of course, back then I had never heard of that term, it was just our “family tree.” My first memory of family tree research is sitting at my Grandma’s kitchen table and writing down our family tree as best as she could relate it, all while she was cooking supper no less. After this, I attended several family reunions for different lines of my family and then I ran out of resources. All sources that were easily available had been exhausted.

Over the years, there really wasn’t much I could expound upon from what I had learned from relatives. Due to the restraints of time, distance and finances I wasn’t in a position to travel to different locations to look at the local records. This is a challenge to anyone trying to trace their family tree and years ago you really had to go places and spend hours, or even days, digging in order to find even the smallest nugget of information.

Then a massive tool was unleashed which changed the way research would be done forever: the internet. The internet provided a venue for all sorts of documents to be uploaded for easier access. Sites like Ancestry.com, Familysearch.com and Myheritage.com were created to pool many resources in one easy-to-find place. Suddenly the floodgates had opened and former brick walls in research had begun to fall. However, as the information flooded in, it became more and more necessary to find experts to help navigate through this influx and determine the most reliable resources.

Whether you are just getting started or have been researching for a while, the Minot Public Library can help you navigate through this information. MPL has library editions of Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest which allow for more in-depth research. For instance, with the library edition of Ancestry you can search through all the resources Ancestry.com has to offer without being required to pay for a monthly membership.

If your family history is local, the library has a lot of information on local history including virtually all of the issues of the Minot Daily News on microfilm. MPL’s Great Plains room is a one-of-a-kind collection of regional histories that includes biographies, atlases, yearbooks and more. The library also has numerous books on genealogy and a subscription to Family Tree magazine to help you in your research.

Perhaps the best resources the Minot Public Library has are the librarians. MPL staff have experience with and training in genealogy and can help you in your research. Staff may even be able to come up with an idea you hadn’t thought of, or a site you didn’t know about. Though our hundreds of rolls of microfilm and shelves of books may emphasize Minot and North Dakota, your search doesn’t have to be local for us to help you either.

When you begin your family research you will usually find that your family history began beyond the North Dakota borders. While many people think of North Dakotans being of Norwegian, German and Swedish heritage there is a much greater expanse of culture than one might expect. Our community includes those from Polish, Greek, Native American, Irish, Jewish, Russian, Mexican, Somalian and Vietnamese cultures (among others). Not only can resources at the Minot Public Library help you research your own family history, it can help you learn about your own culture and the culture and customs of others.

On Tuesday, March 9, at 5 p.m. the Minot Public Library will showcase some of our cultural resources as well as our staff’s cooking talents. The World Culture Cook-Off will allow you to sample foods from around the globe made by MPL staff based on recipes found on the A to Z World Culture database, which can be found under “Digital Resources” at minotlibrary.org. In addition, staff will be on-hand to demonstrate our language resource, Pronunciator, which will help you if you decide to make international travel a part of your family history research.

Whether you are just getting started or looking for the next step in your detailed genealogy research, the Minot Public Library can assist you. One-on-one Tech Tutor sessions are even available and staff are always willing to help point you in the right direction. So, head on over to the Library and let us help you find out where you came from.

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