Monday, January 11, 2010

52 Weeks To Better Genealogy - Challenge #2

I'm choosing to write about Wallace State Community College's genealogy collection rather than my local library(Hanceville branch of Cullman Co. Public Library System). WSCC Genealogy library is one of the best library collections for southeastern US research. I am fortunate to live only 2 minutes away from the library although I don't get to visit nearly as much as I'd like. I first became interested in family history research in the late 1980's. In 1990 after experiencing a personal loss, I decided that researching my family history would be a good way to keep busy. I was correct. A friend took me to the WSCC library, which at that time was mainly on the 5th floor of the library. Today the genealogy collection is housed on the 5th and the 6th floor of the library. The 5th floor contains mainly microfiche, microfilm, indexes and military books as well as computer stations. The 6th floor has many books covering a wide variety of research topics, surnames and areas.

The Genealogy and Family History Department is headed by Bob Davis(genws@hiwaay.net). The department offers a wide range of genealogical classes for college credit however if you wish to take them without college credit you can do so for $30 a semester regardless of how many you take under the Continuing Education Credit. You can also order microfilm from LDS's vast collection through WSCC.

If you have a PDF reader you can read and print outlines for research on a variety of topics by clicking on the links in the left column of the page. If you don't have a PDF reader you may download by clicking on the word ADOBE. Try a search of the WSCC Card Catalog or take a virtual tour of the campus.