Vibrant participation by individuals, libraries and organizations contributes to successful fulfillment of our mission of access • education • preservation. MGC provides ongoing monitoring of state and federal legislation pertinent to records access and preservation and provides exciting educational opportunities. Your support made it possible for MGC to provide innovative genealogy education in 2021 We welcome and need your participation to continue to serve the genealogy community. Each membership is a donation to our future programs.
We implemented MGC: Open Records and Education (M:O.R.E.) in 2021, our quarterly virtual educational opportunity for genealogists. M:O.R.E is designed to happen in the fifth week of a month so that it won’t conflict with events put on by our member organizations. The inaugural year was a great success with 5 programs, and we look forward to continuing the programs in 2022.
We happily announce our plans for the MGC’s 2022 Virtual Seminar: CONNECTIONS, with live events April 2-30. While we would prefer the camaraderie of an in-person conference, the ongoing pandemic prevents that. Our Programming Committee is working hard to make the virtual seminar as interactive as possible. Our keynote speaker will be John D. “Jack” Warner, MLIS, PhD, Archivist for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We will celebrate the census later in the month with a live presenation by Dr. Stephen Morse.
Advocating for records preservation and accessible records is a key mission for MGC. In 2021 MGC:
- worked closely with the Records Preservation and Access Coalition (RPAC) to advocate for the return of an open fact-of-death database for genealogists.
- in conjunction with other genealogical societies and other organizations, urged U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (UCSIS) to implement best-practice records management plans to reduce the time needed to fulfill records requests and to transfer its files (N1-566-04-003 and N1-566-04-004) to NARA as scheduled in 2019.
- Responded to NARA’s request for feedback on its 2022-2026 Draft Strategic Plan, emphasizing the need for online access to records with clear and usable catalogs and finding aids. We advocated for increased funding for NARA and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
During these trying times, MGC continues to work hard to provide MGC members with access to new content and a vital genealogical community. Our creative efforts reflect our wish for our membership and their families to be safe and well during these trying but historic times. It requires a vibrant and active membership to do so!
We’d love to chat with you about the opportunity to volunteer your time and participate. MGC also accepts in-kind or monetary donations from individuals or organizations for educational programs throughout the year, and for the biannual MGC Seminar.
Questions? Contact Lori Lyn Price, Membership Director, membership@massgencouncil.org
