Working as Volunteer in my Family History Center

FamilySearch Center or Family History Center?

     Today I work from 9 am to 1 pm at the Tucson North & West Stake's Family History Center located on the west side of Tucson, 3530 W. Magee, Tucson. I travel from my home in Picture Rocks East out Cortaro Farms Rd. to Thornydale and go south or right to the first light which is Magee.

West Stake Family History 

Center open hours are:

Tues 9AM-5PM

Thu 4PM-8PM

Wed 9AM-5{M

Sat 9AM-1PM

     The Red Cross is holding a blood drive this morning at our West Stake Center on the west side of the building,  and my friends, Jim and Linda Knight stopped by to see their friends, David and LaRein Marx, who have been the Directors for the past two and a half years. Their mission came to an end on January 31, 2013.
     The exterior door to the Family History Center is located on the East side of the building.



East side entrance West Stake Center



Interior Door where
Jim and Linda Knight entered

 

Upon entering everyone must sign in, even the workers.

     You will enter into the main area that they call the classroom. In here there is a desk, file cabinets, two large tables, chalkboard and a wall of reference books. However, the real work area is where the computers are located to the left of the classroom area. Below David Marx is turning on all of the computers for the patrons to use.

     Two large doors open into the computer area, where seven computer stations and a place to scan, make copies of microfilm pages, as well as paper copies are found. It is overall an open and inviting center for research. The offer free access to Ancestry.com and ArkivDigital, Ancestral Quest, as well as other genealogy programs such as Legtacy 7.5, PAF 5, and RootsMagic 4. 
Other premium websites available to patrons for free are: 
19th Century British Library Newspaper Digital Archive
Access Newspaper Archive
Alexander Street Press - The American Civil War
Find My Past
Fold3
The Genealogist
Godfrey Memorial Library
Heritage Quest Online
Historic Map Works Library Edition
Paper Trail
World Vital Records

    All of the patrons are urged to bring their own stick drives in case they find documents they would like to take home with them. This morning one patron found a newspaper article but to just print it would make the size of the print so small as to not be readable. So by saving it as a PDF file to her stick drive, she transferred it to her laptop and when she goes home, can print the part of it that is pertinent in a much larger format.

     There is also a room full of microfilm and microfiche readers that can be darkened so that it is easier to read the films that people order.
     Films are now ordered online at familysearch.org. You must be signed in and create a FamilySearch account to order films.  When you find a film number in the catalogue via Place name or location and time period, it will then give you the film number, and when you click on this number it will take you via  link to the place to order your film.
Films are shipped to the Family History Center and are available  for 60 days for $7.50. Most people can find everything you can extract within that 60 days. However, for another $7.50 you can extend an order for another 60 days. You can extend as many times as you like, paying the extension fee. But if you know up front that you will want the film indefinitely, then you can order it for $18.75.
     Microfiche are $4.75 each. Online methods of payment include Visa, Master Card, Pre-paid cards, and Pay Pal. There is an online interactive tutorial under Ordering Help at the FamilySearch website.
     My friend Ann Bodmer just came in after donating blood, what fun!!! It's her first time visiting the FamilySearch Center .... or is it the Family History Center?
On the FamilySearch.org/locations website they say they are FamilySearch Centers, but when individually listed they are still Family History Centers. This is a transition period of what advertising people call re-signing or introducing the public to a new image or name. The Family History Library in Salt Lake City now has FamilySearch in very large letters on it's building entranceway. You really have to look for the old sign outdoors that says Family History Library.
It is a time for change both for me and for Family History. Hope you will join the fun new changes that I'll be talking about over the next two months.