February Collections Update
Read all the latest news from SoG’s Research Collections Coordinator, Christine Worthington.
Finding Library Items Just Got Easier
There are now more than 34,000 catalogue records pointing to items on the library shelves. Plus, an expanded textbooks section to include general resources from other parts of our collections, such as monumental inscriptions, professions, and education.
6,800 Microfiche Items
If a microfiche item that you are interested in is noted as being in the library, you don’t need to include it in your Collections Request form. Instead, take an order slip from the library enquiries desk, complete it, and give it to a staff member or a counter service volunteer. We’ll retrieve the fiche for you and help you view it on a fiche reader.
Resources on SoG Explore
There are now over 2600 datasets in the A-Z list on SoG Explore – 500 more than in our December update! This includes monumental inscriptions for counties B-D, and more than 10,000 pages of digital donations and digitised library typescripts. These include family history digital books, theses, and essays.
You will find a list of items added to SoG Explore in the December Genealogists’ Magazine, listed right after the regular Recent Additions to the Library Catalogue. Information about how to access these items is given in the preamble to the list.
Donate Your Digital Family History
Do you have a digital narrative of your family history that you would like to donate?
Browse Trees from the Past
SoG Explore contains a vast collection of materials donated by generations of genealogists.
Information Provision Review
With our website upgrade, we are looking to make information about collections clearer and easier to find. When the new website launches in the first half of February, please share your feedback at collections@sog.org.uk. Suggestions for improving information about our library, archive, and digital collections on the website are always welcome.
Featured Collection
Our new Featured Collection contains over 400 books from our collection of works on Ancient Schools A-H. If your ancestor attended Eton, Haileybury or Clifton, there may be something of interest to you. See here for a PDF containing a full list of items included in the Featured Collection.
As always, the Featured Collection is located adjacent to the communal area by the library. It will be on-site until the end of April.
Don’t forget to look out for Collections Corner articles by Harry Purvis, available in the Learning Hub (filter on Guides and Stories, or simply search by Keyword: “Collections Corner”) and in the next issue of the Genealogists’ Magazine. The latest article focuses on the remarkable research collection of Sr Frances Agnes Onslow – A Concealed Legacy: Catholic genealogy and resistance in England’s tumultuous centuries.
Helping the Next Generation
The Society of Genealogists is proud to be able to support a new generation of genealogists, historians, archivists and librarians by offering relevant and hands-on work experience to students. During the second half of February we’ll be welcoming a student from Farnborough Sixth Form College to enjoy a week onsite helping out and learning the ropes.
Extended Opening Hours
As part of our continued efforts to make Wharf Road as accessible as possible to those working or studying, we’re extending our opening hours on opening until 7pm on Thursday 5th Feb and 5th March, and on Saturday 7th Feb and 7th March. We’re also open on Saturday 14th March.
These opening hours are in addition to our regular Wednesday to Friday openings.
To find out more about visiting us, including how to order archive items, please see here.
