Thursday, November 29, 2018

Getting into the Holiday Groove!

If you're like me, you'll be doing all of your holiday shopping online this year. But how to replicate that once a year experience of hearing nothing but Christmas music everywhere you go?



The library has you covered with Freegal and Hoopla!


Freegal allows each card holder five downloads a week of DRM free MP3s. Classics as well as new popular hits are available here. From the solemn to the outright raunchy, you will find something for everyone. My personal favorite for an adults only party is A Very Big Freedia Christmazz, but if you want to go a more "traditional" route, Freegal also has jazz (Christmas Dream by Aaron Bing is lovely), country (White Christmas Blue by Loretta Lynn), and even children's music. The best part about Freegal is that you get to keep these MP3s for as long as you'd like. There are no "check outs," just your 5 weekly credits!


New for patrons this year is Hoopla, with its massive collection of Christmas music and movies. While you don't get to keep the movies and music you borrow from Hoopla, you also never have to worry about late fees. Just check out and download the music to your device, and it's yours for 7 days. If you love an album so much, you want to hear it all season long, you can check it out again with another one of your free monthly credits. With Hoopla, you will never have to wait for an item to become available and you will never have a late fee!


Sunday, November 11, 2018

Finding Your Veteran Ancestors with Fold3

100 years ago today, World War I officially ended. Since 1926, the United States has celebrated this day as Veterans Day, a day to honor those who served in the United States military. Service in the military has touched the lives of millions of families and has left a significant paper trail extremely useful to those researching their ancestors. 

The Battles of Saratoga: October 7, 1777

Fold3 Library Edition by Ancestry provides convenient access to US military records, including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served. This continually-growing collection contains millions of records from world-class archives.

WWII Draft Registration Cards. Exclusive access.


Click here to watch the video Finding Your Military Veterans on Fold3 to learn more about searching Fold3's archive, including looking for enlistment records, casualty records, and draft cards. This video explores not only how to find these resources in Fold3, but also how to use them to further your genealogical research.