Branch News

These are general announcements about Ottawa Branch.

The Ottawa Branch members’ only web site hosted by OGS has been updated. Now you can access the last four editions of The Ottawa Genealogist and an index to Carleton County Copy Book 5.

The pages on this website are exclusively available for current members of Ottawa Branch. You can become a member by going to OGS website. Click here.

On line copies of our electronic newsletter collection are available for reading on both our computers at the Branch’s library. Located in the City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood. Click here for location details.

The collection contains over 225 publications from 27 organizations and is growing. Click here for a complete list.

The electronic newsletters page has been updated to include all newsletters on our website. There are currently over 225 titles from 27 different organizations. This list will continue to grow.

There will NOT be a Gene-O-Rama in 2012 as Ottawa Branch will be co-hosting the annual OGS Conference 2012 in Kingston on 1-3 June 2012.  We do not have the volunteers to handle both events. Conference information can be found here.

Ottawa Branch will also be hosting the 2012 Region VIII Genealogy Day on 21 Apr 2012 at the City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive, Ottawa. Speakers will include Rick Roberts of Global Genealogy, Robert Serré of the Gloucester Historical Society and Paulk Henry, the City of Ottawa Archivist. See here for more details .

2012 is an election year for Officers for Region VIII.  Do you wish to assist OGS and the Branches in Region VIII?  As well as the genealogy community in Region VIII?  Consider standing for Director of Region VIII or Secretary.  Region VIII consists of Ottawa Branch, Kingston Branch and Leeds & Grenville Branch, as well as Lanark County Genealogy Group, British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa and the Upper Ottawa Valley Genealogy Group.  You will need ten OGS members in good standing to sign your Nomination Form (front) & Nomination Form (back) and submit it to chair@ogsottawa.on.ca for election at the upcoming Region VIII Meeting on Saturday, April 21, 2012.

 

REGION VIII DIRECTOR (two year term) JOB DESCRIPTION

Summary of OGS Directors Duties

  1. As a member of the OGS Board, is responsible for guiding the Society towards its objectives.
  2. Communicates regularly with the branches and members in the Region.
  3. Attends all meetings of the Board of Directors (usually in Toronto, 3-5 meetings each year). Live Meeting and conference call reduces the physical meetings in Toronto.
  4. Prepares a written report on Regional affairs for circulation at each Board meeting on the successes, needs and concerns of the Region.
  5. Prepares an annual report and submits it for inclusion in the Spring issue of Newsleaf.
  6. Attends the Annual General Meeting of the Society (usually at Conference).
  7. Represents the region at meetings of the Board, ensures that branch chairs within the region are informed of activities of the Board and the Society which may affect them.
  8. Attends at least one general and one executive meeting of each Branch within the Region each year.
  9. Organizes a minimum of one Regional and Council meetings each year.
  10. Puts into motion Regional elections every second year.
  11. Sets up and operates, or appoints an individual to operate, the OGS sales table at Regional events.

 

REGION VIII SECRETARY (two year term)  JOB DESCRIPTION

Summary of OGS Regional Secretary Duties

  1. The regional secretary shall be familiar with the interests of branches within the region.
  2. Undertake the duties of the regional director in the director’s absence,
  3. Maintain the files and financial records of the region.
  4. Take the minutes at regional meetings.
  5. Undertake other duties as assigned by the regional director.

3 March 2012 1pm to 4 pm

City of Ottawa Central Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive

Presented by Kyla Ubbink and sponsored by Ottawa Branch OGS

How do I store my family documents? How do I save newspaper clippings? Why are my photographs going ‘silvery’? What kind of albums and sleeves should I use? How do I get rid of that musty smell in my books? Help! I have mould, now what?

The answer to all of these questions is applying archival preservation techniques in your own home. Learn how to avoid the potential damage caused by pollutants, poor climate, light, pests, mould, handling and use. Consider the ramifications of disposing or keeping photograph old albums, explore options for digitization, learn what professional treatment can do to save your collections and observe live demonstrations of cleaning books and paper, removing paper clips and staples with minimal damage, removing photographs from ‘magnetic’ or ‘sticky’ album pages, and how to make simple book jackets. Take the opportunity to try some of the methods discussed and get answers to your specific preservation problems.

Accredited with the Canadian Association for Professional Conservators, Kyla Ubbink has over ten years experience specializing in the treatment of book and paper artefacts and the preservation of archival collections. Graduating from Museum Studies in 2001, Mrs. Ubbink began her career fulfilling contracts in the Library and Archives Canada’s Conservation Laboratories where she worked until establishing her own business in 2005. Ubbink Book & Paper Conservation provides services to institutions, galleries, antiquities dealers, collectors, researchers and genealogists. Mrs. Ubbink is also a part time preservation instructor for Algonquin College’s Archives and Records Management Program, provides workshops and lectures for community groups, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Association for the Conservation of Cultural Property.

Cost: $20.00 per person

Registration is limited and the Deadline for Registration: 24 February 2012

                               Please make cheques payable to “OTTAWA BRANCH, OGS”

Payment must accompany RegFormv1.

Registration Form available at  http://ogsottawa.on.ca/

 

For more information: pastchair@ogsottawa.on.ca


Region VIII Ontario Genealogical Society

AGM and Genealogy Day

hosted by Ottawa Branch OGS

 

Saturday, April 21, 2012

City of Ottawa Central Archives

100 Tallwood Drive, Ottawa, Ontario

All Registrants will be eligible for a draw for $50 off the cost of registration at OGS Conference 2012

 Join us at the new City of Ottawa Archives at 100 Tallwood Drive, located on the southwest corner of Woodroffe Avenue and Tallwood Drive. Tallwood Drive is the western extension of Meadowlands Drive, from Woodroffe Ave to Centrepointe Drive. The entrance to the parking lot is from eastbound Tallwood Drive. Free parking is available in the lot.

9:30-10:00       Check-in.  Coffee and tea will be available on arrival.

Speakers include Robert Serré, Rick Roberts and  staff from the City Archives. Lunch is included in the price of admission. The City Archives will be open 10am to 5pm for research as well.

See the Flyer and Registration Form for more details.

Marketplace will feature Global Genealogy as well as the member organizations of Region VIII and some of the local heritage organizations.

Cost: $25 including lunch.

The building is a scent-free environment. Some staff have a severe allergic reaction to scents and fragrances. We urge people to use unscented products and to avoid perfumes, body spray and other fragrances.

Free parking is available in the lot but spaces are limited. There is three- hour parking on Avenshire Street. OC Transpo buses number 94, 95, 156, 172, 174, 178 stop at the corner of Tallwood and Woodroffe.   For more information about parking arrangements, please contact the security desk at 613-580-2424 extension 39731. All participants need to register at the security desk when they enter and sign out when they leave.

The building is only equipped with hydration station, not water fountains. Participants need to bring their own water bottle to refill. 

We continue to seek volunteers to work on your Board or on other tasks for the Branch. The descriptions of the Board positions are listed at http://ogsottawa.on.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/OB-Job-Descriptions-2010web.pdf. Most of these jobs will require 5-6 hours of work per month.

For those of you willing to do something less onerous, there are a number of other tasks:

 

1. Program Committee: We hold ten general meetings per year, which require a speaker. The committee is responsible to solicit suggestions for speakers and then arrange their attendance. Much of this can be done from a distance with other members filling in with the local requirements. The more volunteers for the committee, the less work for each

2. Library Volunteer Coordinator: We have about 24 volunteers who spend a few hours in the City Archives each month to help visitors to our library. The schedule has been established but there are often changes needed to meet personal needs. Most changes are handled between the volunteers. There are also a couple of empty slots on the schedule that are filled on an ad hoc basis by the volunteers. We need somebody who can keep track of the changes, make sure that the volunteers are reminded of the changes, nag the volunteers to fill the empty slots, advise Archives staff of the changes, etc. This can all be handled by e-mail. If there is a need to meet with staff, I or another local members will be able to do that.

3. TONI Coordinator. The Ontario Name Index is a project of the Society and each branch needs to have a Coordinator.

4. Assistant webmaster: Our webmaster has set up the website to allow Board members and other volunteers to amend the parts that pertain to them. However, not all the volunteers have the requisite computer skills and the webmaster does not have the time to do it all himself. If you are familiar with WordPress, or would like to learn, you could be brought up to speed and given the access to allow you to handle the changes needed. This includes such items as posting meeting details, updating the list of volunteers, etc.

5. Cemetery Committee: Although the winter weather limits the seasons for this work, our new Coordinator will need volunteers to transcribe and  to help prepare the transcriptions for the publisher. This is not a priority task at this time but we can keep your name until needed.

6. TONI Indexers. The Ontario Name Index (TONI) shows where information about a particular name can be found.  The project has barely started and we are looking for individuals: You will take information from a document (the source) and enter it into a spreadsheet, preferably Microsoft Excel.

7 Other projects. Do you have another idea for a project that will help genealogists? We will be willing to help you make it possible.

 

We are also looking into some other ideas that will encourage attendance at meetings. I still need to sort them out but you may have some ideas of your won. Even a simple task such as bringing the juice and cookies to the meetings would free me from one task. Let me know if you have any questions or any other ideas. Thanks very much

 

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Starting in September, Ottawa Branch will be holding its meetings at the new City of Ottawa Central Archives at 100 Tallwood Drive. The exception will be the annual Ryan Taylor memorial Lecture which will remain at Library and Archives Canada for the foreseeable future.

Tallwood Drive is just south of the Peter D. Clark Long-Term Care Home, just west of Woodroffe Avenue and not far from the Nepean Centrepointe Library. There is free parking to the south of the building, accessed from Tallwood Drive. Transitway routes 94 Woodroffe / Millennium, and 95 Barrhaven / Orleans stop at the building. Local bus routes 156, 172, 174, and 178 are also available.

Juice and cookies will be served at 7:00pm with the formal meeting beginning at 7:30pm.