Tag it! Introducing the National Archives Facebook Chatbot

Cathi The National Archives

What do you get when you have an bold strategic goal to have one million records enhanced by citizen archivists in the National Archives Catalog and an idea to try something new on a social site? You create a Facebook Messenger Chatbot, of course!

You’ve already tagged records in the Catalog, now here is a fun new way to help make records more accessible. And it’s easy to participate. From your phone or desktop, navigate to the National Archives Facebook page. (Give us a follow! We post about lots of cool finds and interesting events!) To start chatting with the bot, tap on the Send Message button, and type “hi” in the text box.

The chatbot will open, and give you the option to tag a document or ask a question. When you choose tag a document, the bot will serve you a record from the Catalog, and you can tag the document as typed, handwritten, or both. This helps us sort the documents by difficulty, which can then help citizen archivists transcribe the records in the Catalog.

You can keep tagging and sorting documents, but you can also use the bot to answer your questions about visiting the National Archives and starting your research, learn some archives trivia, or see an interesting photo from our Catalog (like these awesome track workers in 1943!).

Our chatbot makes participating in citizen archivist activities easy and available on a platform you might already be using. So stop by our Facebook page, say “hi” and let’s get tagging!

Learn more on our NARAtions blog.  And review other National Archives Catalog Newsletters by clicking HERE.

Polish Heritage Survey being conducted by the Dept of Communication and the Polish Studies Program at Central Connecticut State University.

Cathi General Information
The Department of Communication and the Polish Studies Program at Central Connecticut State University are conducting an important survey. They really need your help – they cannot complete the survey without your help. The survey is being done to help various Polish Heritage Organizations better understand what determines the degree that a person identifies with their Polish heritage.

We need to hear back from people who were either a) born in the U.S to either a parent or parents born in Poland -or- b) those having a grandparent or grandparents born in Poland. If this describes you, we need you to complete the online survey that is found at:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7VQRKLS
You can either click on the above ink or copy/paste it into your browser window.
PLEASE NOTE: If you were born in Poland you are NOT eligible to take the survey.
The survey should take 15 to 20 minutes to complete.  The survey is anonymous.   Your name will never be connected to your answers.
If you know anyone that fits this description, please share this information with them. Your help in doing this would be greatly appreciated. We need to hear back from several hundred people to make the survey valid and your help in identifying these people is crucial.
Thank you in advance for your help. It is very much appreciated. If you have any questions about the survey – please contact Renata Czubak Vickrey at 860-832-2085 (vickreyr@ccsu.edu) .

 

Webinar: Database Volunteer Opportunities at AmericanAncestors.org

Cathi NEHGS ,

Thursday, October 24, 3:00–4:00 PM

Presented by Molly Rogers and Rachel Adams

FREE and open to the public

Volunteers are essential to the creation of databases at AmericanAncestors.org—from scanning and indexing parish records for the Historic Catholic Records Project to assisting in the creation of the Mayflower Families Fifth Generation Descendants, 1700-1880 database and other important collections. Learn about opportunities for helping the Database Team that you can participate in from home!

Click Here to Register

NEHGS – Online Conference: Researching Upstate New York

Cathi Conference, NEHGS

Saturday, October 20, 12:00–6:00 PM EDT

Presented by Genealogists at NEHGS

Cost: $125

Finding information about New York ancestors can be tricky. A fire in 1911 at the State Library and the fact that statewide registration of vital records did not start until 1880 only add to the difficulty. The presentations within this Online Conference will guide you through the maze of genealogical pitfalls, and to the bright spots in New York research. Our New York experts will discuss the settlement of New York and early migrations, vital records and substitutes, land and probate records, the state census, and more.

Click Here to Register