UPDATE: The custodial information presented in this post may be out of date. Please visit the Civil War Military Records Research page on archives.gov for information on how to order Civil War Pension Files. The following is a guest blog from Diane Dimkoff, director of the Customer Services Division. Most Union Army soldiers, their widows, or minor … Continue reading C and XC Pension Files for the Civil War
Recently on NARAtions we heard from researchers who expressed concerns about the digitized records available on the web sites of NARA’s digitization partners. We shared these concerns with NARA's Access Programs office, NARA's Digital Strategies and Services Staff, and with our digitization partners and we would like to respond to these concerns here on NARAtions. Since 2007 … Continue reading Researcher concerns about the digitized records available on the web sites of NARA’s digitization partners
As the Archives.gov website redesign preparation continues, we're looking for your input on how to refer to NARA's vast collection of records. What would you collectively call all of the documents, photos, and videos that the National Archives stores? For example, would you call them holdings, collections, our catalog, an inventory, records, or something else? … Continue reading What do you call it when….
If you had the opportunity to attend NARA's 6th Annual Genealogy Fair last month, visitors were treated to a variety of lectures on the theme of "The World of Genealogy." The theme highlighted the ethnic diversity that is documented in specific federal records, whether they are newspapers published by Japanese-Americans through the War Relocation Authority during … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Navigating federal records about ethnic groups–come prepared!
We're launching a public wiki that will allow researchers, historians, archivists, and citizen archivists to create pages on records or themes. We need your ideas and enthusiasm to make the wiki a success. Please join us for the first organizing meeting at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, on Friday, May 7th from 1-2 … Continue reading Join us Friday, May 7th for our first Archives wiki planning meeting
The minutes from the Researcher Users' Group meeting on April 23rd (PDF) are now available on the Archives.gov page for the Researcher Users Group at the National Archives in the Washington, DC Area. Please join us for the next meeting on Friday, May 21, 2010 at Archives II in College Park (lecture room C). What topics would … Continue reading Minutes from the April 23rd Researcher Meeting
So have you ever wondered what all the numbers are that NARA associates with its records? If you have checked the Archival Research Catalog recently you might have noticed that one of our numbers has a new name. The former Inventory Identifier has been renamed the Inventory Entry Number. We heard from several researchers who … Continue reading What do all those numbers associated with NARA records mean?
Last week we asked for your help developing an “Archives wiki.” The first order of business is to name the wiki. We have a few names that you have told us you don’t want (like People’s Pedia) and a request not to be too stuffy, but no suggestions for names yet. So tell us what do … Continue reading Name your wiki!
The National Archives is planning to launch a public wiki that will allow users to participate on our website. We need your help in developing an "Archives Wiki." This project will be similar to the UK Archives' "Your Archives." Check out this wiki and let us know what you think you would want in your … Continue reading Calling All Citizen Archivists
My last few posts have explored the compiled military service records (CMSRs) at the National Archives, highlighting in particular the extra information found in the records, especially the personal papers relating to individual soldiers such as enlistment and discharge forms, casualty sheets, or final statements of service. One last point to make is that personal … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: The last word on CMSR personal papers.
