Equipping and staffing a local genealogical center.
Hi, I am the secretary of a local genealogical society. We may have an opportunity to relocate our books, vertical files and other resources to a newer, more modern facility. As part of the arrangement, funding would come from the old facility to assist with purchasing new/newer equipment and even some staffing at times. Our monthly meetings would take place there, and it would be the location for interested researchers to access the many books and manuscripts relating to our area, and to have more weekly hours to research. Currently we share a printer and we have a microfilm reader in poor condition. With the new location, I would hope there is increased visitation, but realistic expectations would anticipate not more than several a day tops.
Thinking out loud, I could see needing a new microfilm reader, two computers, and a dedicated printer - all networked. We would benefit from a library Ancestry subscription. And it would be great to have a part time person (the facility always has a staff person on site to handle other functions of the facility) to assist researchers - with some background in genealogy and/or library science? We need a way to protect the books from theft - so some alarm system is needed as well.
I would appreciate any help - in terms of who or where to more properly direct this thread of questions or to suggest a model facility I could contact.
Best Answers
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Do you have a LDS Family HIstory Center in your area?
no matter what your decisions are - working alongside people at a well functioning LDS family history center can be a good thing - and you may get some ideas from the people staffing such centers.
here is a faciltiy to list of LDS Family History Centers in your area:
https://www.familysearch.org/help/fhcenters/locations/
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yes - but as you ask questions to others - things like this will impact their advice and or your reliance on such advice . there are just so many factors and you know your own factors better than anyone else.
but I do think talking to an LDS family history leader / director - would be good advice from someone with a similar sized faciltty.
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Answers
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Where is this genealogical society located?
How many members/users do you have?
a "model facility' could really drastically change based on location/size of membership/focus/affiliations and various other factors.
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We are in North Carolina. Our active members number in the 20's, but it is not uncommon to have people from other states visit & research. The new site has a very good meeting room with excellent audio visual capabilities, It also is on a well trafficked highway so more drop ins could take advantage of it. It is the research component and the part of assisting visitors researching - even if only part of the week that I have trouble putting into a concrete plan.
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does active number mean an average of 20 simultaenous users?
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No, those are members who are active and could attend the monthly meetings. Simultaneous users would not exceed 5 I suspect and would likely be 2.
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I can check with them - thanks
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the other interesting thing to consider is how COVID 19 would impact your decisions.
even with the vaccines - it will be quite a while before things in a small facility would get back to any normal usage.
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yes, that is true. But this opportunity for us solves some issues and provides a quality environment for preservation of materials and to better meet. We could ramp up both materials and a staff person as social conditions improve.
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