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| Archival Jurisdictions |
Our Polish ancestral projects
are broad in scope. The last project was for an Israel-based American who
wanted EU status, through his Polish ancestor. That was a fun
project! We must note that many of our Polish ancestral projects require us to start
right in America, so our top Polish resources include Poland research, online research, and American research. Here are four of our favorites:
If you haven't visited the Central Archives of Historical Records Warsaw or one of the other national Poland archives, well, you are missing a treat. The Central Archives of Historical Records Warsaw or Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych w Warszawie, AGAD, holds a wealth
of genealogical information (AGAD). Visit the AGAD link to read about it in Polish, or have your page
translated (right click mouse and choose translate).
Although our current Polish ancestral research
project does not include a Polish American component, we must sneak in an
underutilized American collection. We love the Polish Institute of Arts and
Sciences of America PIASA
Archives. Yes, this collection can be a
bit academic, but so worth the time. Here's information based on their
website: The
archival manuscripts are included in seventy-five collections.
"The archival collections include manuscripts,
correspondence, diaries, maps and sound recordings."
A quick look at The
Head Office of the State Archives Sezam and Zosia Databases is a
great place to begin your research. We often use this as a finding aid,
and send the "Nerd Team" to the site to ferret out information. Yes,
we affectionately call a few of our researchers the "Nerd
Team." They consider it a a badge of honor. Here is information on
the various databases and Poland
Holdings of the Polish State Archives.
If your research lands you on
needed State Archival collections, the a3Genealogy team relies on the Family History Library
for their microfilmed/digitized Polish State Archives
collection. Since not all of the State Archives records were microfilm, you may need to make a written request for document retrieval. Here's
more information on the Poland State Archives records.
Teaming with Document Retriever
The a3Genealogy researchers follow
basic protocols, dare we say Standard Operating Procedures, to work with the
document retrievers around the world. Our clients taking on this role also
follow the basic procedures. We know when researchers are in a
"genealogical research zone", there are two things often
forgotten: 1) Giving distinguishing file names to each document; 2)
Citing sources. Now that can be a problem, when we need to go back to the
repository or archive for further research! So for anyone retrieving
documents, here are things to consider as you pull those precious nuggets of
ancestral leads:
Shared
Documents
Where will shared documents
be stored? At a3Genealogy we
use Box.com, Dropbox, and Google Drive, based on the retriever's
experience. Our retrievers may send us documents in any legible form
(scanned, phone cameras, by snail mail, email, messaging, etc). We ask
for full pages to include margins. Then we file the documents in the
appropriate folders.
Files Folders and Identification System
The biggest issue is that a
project may have multiple "Stephanus" in each generation
(cousins, direct line, uncles, etc). So your files and folders must
clearly determine which "Stephanus". Researchers want an at a glance
filing system! That's a major time saver.
Citing
Sources
So this is where we have
broad guideline for clients, but professional document retrievers for hire
should know to follow GPS standards for citations. Ok, our overseas retrievers
often use a different citation format, but it usually meets our needs. Just
remember to cite! For clients we have them jot down everything they can about
the collection: name, folder number from archives, collection name, etc.
This can be given to the a3Genealogy team via handwritten notes, phone pics, etc. and we sort it
out for proper citation.
Just a few Polish repository and research tips and tricks.
Kathleen Brandt
a3Genealogy@gmail.com
Accurate, accessible answers
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