Tuesday's Tip, Don't Be Too Proud to Ask for H*E*L*P

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

The other night I was trying to chase down an actual copy of an article I first found on GoogleBooks, in the snippet form. We love GoogleBooks, and even love the snippet form, but, it can be frustrating, so close, but so far! LOL  Here is the snippet I was interested in.

From this page I clicked on "Find in a library" and it took me directly to WorldCat.   There were pages of hits.  I looked at about the first 5 pages (there are about 6 different institutions or libraries listed on each page).  I spent some time investigating these 30 or so listings.  Some of the listings were fairly easy to follow, and I was able to determine that a particular library did not hold my 1927 issue.  Other listings, when I clicked on them, left me confused.  My thought was, there really ought to be more detail here, but, I could not figure out why there was none.  (In hind sight, I think, maybe ?? you need to be students or have library cards at some of these institutions to gain full access to their catalogs.)

So, I snooped around, actually did so on a couple of different occasions.  Finally, one evening when I was just a bit overwhelmed and frankly, tired, I posted a query on Google + and on Facebook, almost identically worded, begging for help.  Then, I sat back and waited.  Actually, I went to bed and slept!

By noon the next day fellow blogger and friend Ginger Smith of Genealogy by Ginger's Blog had spotted my cry for help, checked out her university catalogs, found what she believed to be the correct volume and year, and ordered a copy of the article.  A few days later, ta da, the article in all it's wonder arrived in my email.

Here is a snippet of the article (ya, I know, snippets, sighhh) that shows the main entrance to the hospital as it appeared in that 1927 article.  Then you can compare it to the photos I took and posted here.

Moral of the story, err, tip, do not be afraid to ask for help.  It this HUGE fast moving world of research and the world, there is no way a single solitary individual can have understanding and knowledge of all the resources available.  Heavens, if I don't use a resource for a few weeks or months, they change stuff and I have to re-learn the resource all over again.  Your friends will use different resources than you will, they will have understanding you may not. Your friends may have access to resources you do not, just by virtue of who they are and where they work or study.

Ask, and ye may receive.  Genealogists and family researchers are a helpful bunch.

Ginger was not my only helper, I received lots of hints, suggestions, offers of assistance and a few URLs too.  Thanks go to everyone, as I posted on Facebook:

"BTW, thanks to ALL for your participation in this exercise, you have given me some good ideas, reminded me of sources I have not used in a LONG time, and been good friends. WOOT!!"

Yep, don't be too proud to ask for help, it cannot hurt and it may be a big help.

Research on - - Ask - - Just sayin' - -



* The disclosures, I have no interest in, nor have been given any gifts or cash to mention, GoogleBooks, Facebook, Google+ or WorldCat.  Sometimes I use em, sometimes with great results, other times with mixed results, other times I bomb out.  It is that way with research and the internet.

** On the other hand, Ginger Smith is a good genie buddy and friend.  But, she did not pay me either to mention her.  She did get me that copy of that article, for which I am very thankful.

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