Volunteering in Genealogy

I started a new volunteer project last month. It's actually rather simple -- preparing court records from the 1800s for eventual digitization. It involves removing multiple folded bits of paper that were jammed into tiny little envelopes more than 150 years ago and trying to make them flat enough to scan. Sounds easy, but it isn't.

Aside from the fact that most of the paper doesn't want to be unfolded, many of these items were secured with firm stitiching, odd bits of hardware that have to be pried loose or cut off, or serious glue that has withstood the test of time. So it's a challenge, and each case file takes far longer to process than anyone would imagine.

Still, it's not only interesting to see what's in these old hand-written legal documents, it's worthwhile, in that researchers all over the world will be able to access (via the Internet) these once-hidden gems. Even though I don't have any genealogical ties to these court records, it's nice to know that other genealogists will someday find some of these records and be thrilled to read them online. I'm always excited when I can do the same, courtesy of strangers working in the home towns of my ancestors.

So every week for the next several months I'll find a few hours to do a good deed, learn something new about old documents, and enjoy the company of my fellow volunteers. And if you just happen to be wondering what you can do to help preserve the past, see Volunteering in Genealogy: Opportunities for Giving Back or FamilySearch Indexing: Giving Back to the Genealogical Community.