Family Tree Friday: Land records – knowing Public from Private

In a previous blog post I mentioned how veterans could acquire homesteads via bounty land warrants they received as a benefit for military service.  Since then, I've been thinking it would be worthwhile to offer some general advice about land records at the National Archives, and more importantly to explain the distinction between public and private … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Land records – knowing Public from Private

Tag It Tuesday!

We’re excited to kick off Tag It Tuesday! In this new weekly feature we’ll be highlighting content from our online catalog that we invite you to tag. Curious about what tagging means and how you can get involved? Check out our previous blog post, in which we introduced the Online Public Access catalog's new feature … Continue reading Tag It Tuesday!

National Archives Digitization Tools Now on GitHub

As part of our open government initiatives, the National Archives has begun to share applications developed in-house on GitHub, a social coding platform.  GitHub is a service used by software developers to share and collaborate on software development projects and many open source development projects. Over the last year and a half, our Digitization Services … Continue reading National Archives Digitization Tools Now on GitHub

The Scanners are Coming! The Scanners are Coming!

Today’s guest blog post comes from Rebecca Crawford of Research Services. The National Archives and Records Administration is pleased to announce the upcoming arrival of 12 ScanPro 2000s for the Microfilm Research Room in the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. The scanners will be in place by the end of October 2011. The ScanPro … Continue reading The Scanners are Coming! The Scanners are Coming!

Warner Research Center Reconfiguration News: A New Wall is Coming to the Microfilm Research Room

Today's guest blog post comes from Rebecca Crawford for Research Services We know many of you still use the Microfilm Research Room in Washington, DC. We see evidence of this every day, so we want to keep you up to date on construction activities that will affect the Microfilm Research Room as work proceeds on … Continue reading Warner Research Center Reconfiguration News: A New Wall is Coming to the Microfilm Research Room

No Laugh-In Matter

Today's post is written by Katie Dishman, of the National Archives at Chicago. “Sock it to me!”  That is, in a way, what happened to Richard Havilland.  And he never got to utter that phrase on the television show that made it famous, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.  He did, however, fight back and socked Playboy … Continue reading No Laugh-In Matter

Tech Tuesday: Making the Right Connections

Many of us have met long-time computer types who began working with computers long before PCs began appearing in the late 1970s. We recently interviewed a fascinating man who celebrates 50 years of working with computers. He loves explaining how computers moved from being complex, monstrous beasts run by certain “intelligentsia” into practical, analytical tools for everyday people; to how computers today help us communicate and work with each other, within different, newer social frameworks. His career led him to some fascinating developments in computer science, including early contributions to the beginnings of the Internet, where he now sits at the helm of a strategic team that is braving the most challenging tasks of dealing with Government information in the clouds. Dr. George O. Strawn is not just another computer/IT official who rose from the ranks – he is one of the most important thought leaders within Federal Government IT circles today. Plus, he loves the National Archives, because he says, “we bring to the table some of the toughest IT problems for all of the federal government that need to be solved in our time.” Read the first in our series of Applied Research interviews called “At the top of our List: Thought Leaders You Should Know”

Family Tree Friday: Were you at work? The 1940 Census employment status (Part 1)

This week's post comes from guest blogger Diane Petro, who is an Archives Technician in the Archives I Research Support Branch (RD-DC), Research Services, Archival Operations - Washington, DC.  Diane helps staff the research rooms at the National Archives Building and has also been working on reference activities relating to the upcoming 1940 Census release. … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Were you at work? The 1940 Census employment status (Part 1)

Update on Temporary Move of the Finding Aids Room at the National Archives Building

In late September 2011, the first phase of construction began on the ground floor research area of the National Archives Building.  On Friday, September 23, the Finding Aids Room closed at 3:30 PM to begin the move to the temporary location. The bulk of the move took place over that weekend. On Monday, September 26, … Continue reading Update on Temporary Move of the Finding Aids Room at the National Archives Building