Budget Holdbacks for the CT State Library Databases

Changes to iCONN Databases

Due to recent budget holdbacks, the State Library does not have sufficient funds to support all the iCONN databases that are currently being offered. As a result, effective November 1, we will be discontinuing all ProQuest newspapers except the Hartford Courant and the Historical Hartford Courant. These two newspapers are the most heavily used newspapers in iCONN.

All libraries will continue to have access to the New York Times (1985 – present), Christian Science Monitor (1996 – present), and London Times (7/1985 – present) through Gale. In addition, academic libraries will continue to have access to the Wall Street Journal through ABI Inform. Access to the Boston Globe was previously eliminated due to budget cuts.

On November 1, the Newspaper link on the new iCONN start page will go to a Web page that will present individual links to all newspapers that will continue to be available through iCONN.

We regret having to discontinue access to these resources but the current budget situation makes it necessary.

As of November 1st, Connecticut residents will have access to:

Christian Science Monitor (Gale) (1996 – )*
Hartford Courant (ProQuest) (1992 – )
Hartford Courant Historical (ProQuest) (1764-1922)
London Times (Gale) (1985 – )*
New York Times (Gale) (1985 – )*

* All of this content is also integrated into the federated search.

In addition to the above, academic libraries will continue to have access to the Wall Street Journal because it is part of ABI Inform, which we license separately for academic libraries.

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Source: CSL email.

“Life in the Past Lane V”

The Friends of the National Archives - Pittsfield proudly present their Fifth Full-Day Genealogy Conference “Life in the Past Lane V”
Saturday... September 20, 2008
Location:Williams Inn On the Green
Williamstown, Massachusetts

Program:
8:00AM - 9:00AM
Registration and browse the vendor booths; deposit tickets for our free raffle

9:00AM - 9:15AM
Jan Rogge, Friends’ President — Welcome and conference information

9:15AM - 10:15AM
Gregory Pomicter, NARA College Park, MD: "Electronic Scrapbooking." — The lecture will demonstrate one way to collect, organize, and preserve family history documents and pictures in an electronic format. It also discusses the advantages and challenges in disseminating and preserving electronic media.

10:45AM - 11:45PM
Horace Waters, NARA Waltham: "Finding Your Ancestors in Maritime Federal Records." — Using Customs, Coast Guard, Bureau of Marine Inspection, and Fish and Wildlife records, Horace examines what information on our ancestors is available and, using a case study based on his family research, how to find our ancestors. Examples include 19th and 20th century crew lists, fishing licenses, whalemen’s shipping papers and master mariners’ licenses.

11:45PM - 1:00PM
Luncheon — Vegetarian vegetable soup, rolls & butter with the choice of one entrée: Lemon & Herb Baked Chicken or Poached Salmon with Dill Sauce [each served with fresh seasonal vegetable] or Chef Salad with Italian Dressing (on the side); Hot Apple Crisp with Ice Cream Ball (Special needs can be met with advance notice)

1:00PM - 2:00PM
Linda Blaser, Conservator, National Park Service: "Preserving Your Family Papers." — Linda will give us specific information and techniques for preserving our family documents and photographs.

2:15PM - 3:15PM
Jean Nudd, NARA Pittsfield: "Navigating the Bureaucracy: Using Federal Websites." — This lecture presents five free Federal government websites and tells researchers what types of records and what specific information they can find in these databases. It also examines where additional resources can be found to support the information contained on these websites.

3:30PM - 4:20PM
Roundtable — Bring your questions and ask the experts or feel free to browse the vendor booths

Connecticut Historical Society Library blog

New and exciting additions to the collection at the Connecticut Historical Society Library.

We will be reporting new additions to our collections, mostly manuscript, but some printed material and media as well. We are constantly adding new manuscript and discovering one's already in the collection. Information about these items/collections will appear at the CHS blog before they show up in their online catalog.

Please visit the CHS blog, and if you want to keep updated, please subscribe to the RSS feed. www.manuscripts.wordpress.com
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About CHS:

From award-winning, interactive exhibits to exciting special events and programs, plus a nationally significant library, the Connecticut Historical Society Museum presents family-friendly, educational offerings that explore Connecticut’s diverse, dynamic and changing history. Ongoing exhibits include Tours and Detours Through Early Connecticut exploring rustic life in CT over 200 years ago. Amistad– A True Story of Freedom travels through the Africans’ struggle for freedom following their 1839 revolt aboard the Amistad. Group Tours are available for both children and adults. Located at One Elizabeth Street in Hartford’s historic West End, make the CHS Museum your must-see destination along CT’s Cultural Tourism Trail, easily accessible from I-84, Exit # 46, Sisson Avenue. Exhibition hours: Tuesday - Saturday, Noon to 5 p.m. Library hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last admission: 4:15 p.m.). Admission is $6 (adults), $3 (seniors, students, and youths 6 - 17), FREE for children under six and CHS Museum/Old State House members and FREE the first Saturday of every month. Open year round. Closed major holidays. FREE and ample parking. Web site: www.chs.org. For information call: 860-236-5621.

Forgotten Money – Found!

Have you ever been a Connecticut resident (college counts too), did business in Connecticut, have clients with Connecticut connections, or have relatives from Connecticut?

Check-out this database for “unclaimed funds" at Connecticut State Treasury Unclaimed Property Owners List:” http://www.ctbiglist.com

While I tried to find forgotten money for my immediate family, I could not. However, I did find forgotten money for other relatives! Although there are many types of unclaimed funds, most of my relatives had funds coming to them from past jobs. As you would expect some funds were from jobs of long ago, yet some jobs were fairly recent. It appears that the owners had moved without forwarding addresses. One forgotten fund was nearly $700 while another was as a mere $45.

What was my reward for passing along this discovery to family? I received one big Thank You by email. No one offered to pass along a 10% finder’s fee. Well, what is family for anyway if not to help one another out with the skills we enjoy. All were surprised about the money. You or your relatives may be surprised too.

Other tips: try alternate spellings, search only surname, use surname and first initial of given name, use the % key as a wild-card.

Don’t forget to tell them … Deborah Tajmajer sent you!

Not a Connecticut resident? Check your state for similar database.