GRS Update News 2010

UPDATE is published bimonthly by the Palm Beach County Library System, Government Research Service at 3650 Summit Boulevard, West Palm Beach, FL 33406, as a guide to information resources available for use by county agencies and the public. Palm Beach County staff wishing to receive a copy of the newsletter, please contact Government Research Service.

March/April

January/February

   PBC Genealogical Society Upgrades Web Site

   Using Google’s News Archive for Research Projects

   Library Web Page Links Obituary and Cemetery Sites

   County Library Archives Glades Community Newspapers

March/April

   PBC Genealogical Society Upgrades Web Site

The Genealogical Society of Palm Beach County launched a new web site last month with improved search capabilities and resources for family history researchers in South Florida.

The new information site features a menu-driven library collection bibliography (automated catalog) enhanced with an additional 700 resource titles. A genealogical database, also recently was added to the GSPBC web site, includes a searchable index of “Palm Beach Post Area Deaths” listings from 1960 to 2008.

The Genealogical Society has assisted family history researchers in Palm Beach County since its founding in 1964. Through a joint-use agreement with the Palm Beach County Library System, the GSPBC has operated a special collection in the lower level of the Main Library for the past two years.

The new address for the GSPBC web site is: http://www.gensocofpbc.org . Their information site is cross-linked with the County Library’s “Genealogy Research” web page, under its Local Organizations index. Library System site address: http://www.pbclibrary.org/genealogy-local_organizations.htm

   Library Web Page Links Obituary and Cemetery Sites

The Palm Beach County Library System’s Government Research Service (GRS) section staff has created a digital “Obituaries and Cemetery Records Index” on its “Genealogy Research” web site to assist local family history researchers with their projects.

The index features links to searchable government, nonprofit and commercial information sites found on the Internet. Both the U.S. Veterans Administration’s “South Florida VA National Cemetery” web page and the VA Gravesite Locator, a search engine designed to find veterans buries in designated national and state cemeteries, are menu options on the Library’s specialized web page index.

Other cemetery links include the worldwide Find a Grave information site, and Find a Grave’s “Cemeteries of Palm Beach County” listing of 36 burial sites. Find a Grave records are submitted by volunteers and family members, and currently list about 10,000 deceased persons in Palm Beach County cemeteries.

Death notice sites linked to the Library’s “Obituaries and Cemetery Records Index” include the Palm Beach Post’s digital “Obituaries” web page, the national “Obituary Daily Times” and the searchable “U.S. Obituaries” site from Legacy.com. The digital index also features a “Palm Beach County Funeral Homes” menu option. Address: http://www.pbclibrary.org/genealogy-internet_search_links.htm

January/February

   Using Google’s News Archive for Research Projects

The Google “News Archive” search engine is a user-friendly method of exploring the historical records of active and defunct newspapers from across the nation. Researchers may search for full-test articles or citations about people, events or subjects found in the database.

The advanced “News Archive” search option allows searching by name or keyword. Searches also may be limited by date or source (name of a specific newspaper). While many of the digital articles require fees to obtain downloaded copies, online searching and viewing of historical articles and citations is free.

The Google News Archive Partner Program offers news publishers and repositories a way to make their historical newspaper microfilm more accessible online. The Palm Beach Post (archived back to 1916), Palm Beach Daily News (dating back to 1912), and three former publications, the Miami News/Metropolis, Tropical Sun and Palm Beach Independent, are examples of Google “News Archive” partnerships.

The microfilmed content of these historical publications soon will be searchable via the Palm Beach Post’s Home Page, as well as through Google. The Google “News Archive” search engine also is indexed as a menu option on the County Library’s electronic “E-Newspaper” web page. Address: http://www.pbclibrary.org/grs-enewsandtv.htm .  

   County Library Archives Glades Community Newspapers

“The Sun” newspaper of Belle Glade is a recent addition to Newsbank’s “Access World News” database service provided to the public through a contractual agreement with the Palm Beach County Library System. The database allows access to full-text electronic news records dating from Jan. 4, 2007 to the current edition.

The weekly newspaper is published by the Independent Newspapers, Inc. ownership group. The “Sun’s” official Internet site is indexed and linked to the Library System’s “E-Newspapers” web page. Address: http://www.pbclibrary.org/grs-enewsandtv.htm .

Several former Glades-area newspapers, archived on microfilm format, are located in the Serials Collection of the Main Library. They include the Pahokee News (1932 – 1953), Everglades News (1924 – 1967), Belle Glade News (1939 – 1941), Belle Glade Herald (1941 – 1949), Glades Observer (1954 – 1965), Glades Observer/Everglades Observer (1996 – 1967),  Everglades Observer (1968 – 1978), and the Everglades Observer/Herald Observer (1979).

More information about archival newspapers located in the Main Library is available online at: http://www.pbclibrary.org/genealogy-newspapers_magazines.htm

Updated: March 2, 2010   

Related Pages: Genealogy Research - Legal Research - Government Research