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CALLING ALL NATIONALITIES!
EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT ICELANDIC, WE CAN HELP YOU.
Genealogy Center Reflections
By:George Freeman
2007
Again we find ourselves reflecting on the last Genealogy Center and planning for our fourth year. We have matured in our methods and I would like to share the changes with you. The first 2 years we were in the Legion Hall. This year we were in the Fire Hall. We appreciate the use of both places. We are hoping to be in the new Community Center which is currently in the planning stage. We don’t know when or even if it will be built yet.
Our searching capabilities have evolved. We promoted the use of the Hófsos database which we had been given access to. We found it to be a very cumbersome DOS program and difficut to use. The data is good but because it was a DOS program it took over the whole computer and nothing else could run while it was running. We did not use it this year. We also promoted the “Islendingabok” database of Iceland. We found that you must be an Iceland citizen to use it and then it only gives family information for the person that has signed on. It did not help us very much and we didn´t use it this year..
This last year we gained access to Hálfdan Helgason´s database that is online. It has over 500,000 people on it and has proved to be quite an asset. Also we have cemetery records, the Pembina County Pioneer daughter biographies, many books, and Ancestry.com access. We have internet access and can use our own files too. Each year we are more able to help people.
We will need some volunteers to help with the center. We are in the process of defining the organization of workers needed. Even if you are traveling from a distance and can only work for a few hours we would appreciate the help. We are looking for more ideas too. You can contact me at gfreeman@gra.midco.net or 701-772-3397 or contact Shirley Olgeirson (Genealogy Committee Chair) at shirleyo@polarcomm.com . Gary Olson of Fargo has volunteered to bring his laptop and books of NE Iceland. Thanks Gary.
After reflecting on what has been written here I realize that the most important thing about the Genealogy Center is you. Since we are all related and when all of you come to the Genealogy Center we are family. Our Genealogy Center became a family gathering about our Icelandic Heritage and that is why it was successful.
We hope to see you there.
Shirley Olgeirson, Pam Furstenau, Gary Olson, and myself are planning for next year. We hope to get Nelson Gerrard to come back for a visit next year. Our next issue will explain some of our ideas for next year.
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