History Section Report

Carla Rickerson, head of Manuscripts, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Washington Libraries, Seattle, is the 2008 recipient of the Genealogical Publishing Co./History Section Award presented by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The award consists of $1,500 and a citation donated by The Genealogical Publishing Company and is given to encourage, recognize and commend professional achievement in historical reference and research librarianship.

There was a 40th anniversary reception Friday evening, June 27, 2008, at the ALA annual meeting in Anaheim, with an interesting talk by Ray Wright, former director of the Family History Library, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.  He shared his memories of the Geneaological and Local History Section.

The program for the 2009 ALA annual conference in Chicago, July 9-15, 2009, is being planned by the Instruction and Research Services committee. It will have the title: "Unleashing the Undigitized: Promoting and Accessing Traditional Historical Resources in the Age of Google."

The Local History committee will offer a free workshop on the Thursday before the ALA midwinter conference in 2009 on managing a local history collection.  It would be held the day before the Genealogy Pre-conference. The training will explain the Guidelines for Establishing a Local History Collection. This committee plans to support the Veterans History Project and ALA's oral history program of retiring librarians.

Join the new History Section listserv at http://lists.ala.org/sympa/subscribe/history-l to hear about and promote activities and interests of the History Section and its members.