GSBC Bergen County in Five Objects-CALL AND TERMS

The Genealogical Society of Bergen County, NJ

A NON-PROFIT CORPORATION

A 2016 Special Project by the Genealogical Society of Bergen County, NJ

Bergen County in Five Objects Call for Nominations

What wonderful, overlooked treasures await in Bergen County's attics and archives?

Bergen County in Five Objects--Project Overview

Genealogists rely on what others have left behind. Official records such as vital records can help researchers establish that a person existed--but items such as journals, letters, religious records, ephemera, gravestones, and diaries can aid research and reveal how a person lived, what their thoughts were, and the values of his or her community. Companies like excel at digitizing and indexing large collections of government records--providing the broadest base of records that are of interest to the largest number of researchers. But what about local history? Bergen County history? The history of your family members and friends, your neighbors, your community? How do these records come to light? What is their value to the community? Have all the important artifacts been found?

Discovering, collecting, and documenting local records has long been the work of local Societies--and is part of the founding mission of The Genealogical Society of Bergen County (GSBC), NJ.

With this project, we propose to discover, at minimum, five artifacts from Bergen County that have never been documented, studied, or widely shared before. The GSBC will photograph, digitize, and share them--and the information contained within--with the wider historical and genealogical research community.

And, after the artifacts in this project are photographed, the members of the GSBC will transcribe, index, and publish them--so that the information they contain will not be lost to future generations of researchers. Additionally, we will write original research about the document or artifact, placing it into the wider context of Bergen County history.

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The Genealogical Society of Bergen County, NJ

A NON-PROFIT CORPORATION

How You Can Help

In the first half of 2016, the GSBC will be actively looking for artifacts to include in this project--and we need your nominations.

We're looking for records or artifacts now in private hands, records from communities that are under-documented, and from small communities that are easily overlooked. Some examples under consideration are: ? Membership Records from the First Holland Reformed Church of Wortendyke,

Midland Park, NJ, which contain family and biographical information about many members who immigrated from the Netherlands in the 1800s. ? Documenting soldiers who moved through Camp Merritt, and the monument erected to those who died while stationed at the Camp. ? Transcribing tombstone information from an overgrown Jewish cemetery. ? Documenting the information contained in a 19c store account book. ? Recording family information of Native Americans in Bergen County. ? We will include as many qualified objects in this project as we can--including some found in the collections of the NJ State Archives and local Societies and Museums!

Project Timeline

? February to June 2016--Individuals, societies, and organizations are encouraged to submit nominations to the Special Project Chair; nominations reviewed and selected; contracts reviewed and signed by artifact owners.

? June to August 2016--Photography of artifacts and background research. ? November 2016--Kick-off event at the Ridgewood Public Library, a special

presentation and celebration about the objects; publish artifact overviews in the GSBC's quarterly newsletter, The Archivist. ? November 2016 and Ongoing--Continued transcription, indexing, and publishing.

How Do I Get Started?

If you think you can offer forward a nomination, please do so as soon as possible. Complete the form on the following page and email it to fiveobjects@

Funding has been made possible in part through grant funds administered by the Bergen County Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs, Department of Parks, through a General Operating Support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State.

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The Genealogical Society of Bergen County, NJ

A NON-PROFIT CORPORATION

Bergen County in Five Objects--Artifact Nomination Form

Contact Information

Name

Mailing Address

Phone Number

Email

Artifact Information

Name or Description of Artifact

Who is the Owner of the Artifact?

Location of Artifact Repository--If Physical Artifact (i.e., monument), Please List Address and/or GPS Coordinates

If Physical Artifact, is the Artifact on Private Property?

Please describe the significance of the artifact for this project:

Complete and email to fiveobjects@

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The Genealogical Society of Bergen County, NJ

A NON-PROFIT CORPORATION

The following is for your information and does NOT need to be completed at this time. If your artifact is selected for this project, this section will need to be completed before photography can begin. Thank you.

Bergen County in Five Objects--Letter of Agreement

The following will define the terms of the digitization and rights and usage of the digitized images and subsequent data and transcriptions made from the artifact.

Parties ? "Artifact Owner" = The entity who owns the manuscript, journal, diary, document,

book, object, or artifact to be documented ? "GSBC" = The Genealogical Society of Bergen County, NJ, a non-profit corporation

in the State of New Jersey ? "GSBC Genealogy Consultants" = The GSBC organizes volunteer Genealogy

Consultants who conduct research in the GSBC's collection at the Ridgewood Public Library for those researchers who cannot make it to the Library, either through disability or distance. The GSBC sometimes charges a nominal lookup fee (currently $5 per record, see ) to cover copying, materials, and mailing costs. ? "RPL" = The Bolger Heritage Center for Genealogy and Local History at the Ridgewood Public Library

Organizing Mission The organizing mission of this project is to discover and publish materials that will assist Bergen County researchers. We will achieve this by:

1) Artifact Discovery: ? Identifying five (at minimum) previously undocumented, uncirculated, or overlooked Bergen County artifacts that contribute to the genealogical and/or historical narrative of the County. ? Note that artifacts submitted for potential inclusion in the project will be reviewed by the GSBC Special Project Committee--submission does not automatically guarantee inclusion in the project.

2) Artifact Photography: ? Documenting these artifacts with high-resolution professional color photography. ? Providing artifact owners with: ? the full set of high-resolution images on DVD and/or USB Flash Drive; ? two bound copies of a high-quality set of black and white laser prints made from the original images and enhanced to provide better readability; and ? providing, when possible and/or needed, archival materials to help protect the original materials; and ? a copy of the transcribed data, as it becomes available and if applicable.

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The Genealogical Society of Bergen County, NJ

A NON-PROFIT CORPORATION

? The GSBC will retain a set of: ? high-resolution images and up to two sets of black and white laser prints. Both will be housed in the GSBC collection at the RPL.

? Note that any records deemed "private" by the artifact owner will not be photographed, transcribed, or otherwise published or disseminated.

? If private information appears on a page with non-private information, the private information will be obscured, via slips of paper or otherwise non-damaging technique, during photography.

? If, after photography, information is deemed private, the GSBC will digitally obscure or blacken-out the private information.

3) Transcription: ? The GSBC will use the images to create a faithful, digital transcription of the original content. ? Please note that transcription may take some months to complete and may extend into 2017 and beyond.

4) Publishing: ? The Archivist--The GSBC will publish a description of the artifact, the history of the artifact, a short narrative history of the Artifact Owner (if applicable), select images, and partial transcription of the contents in the November 2016 issue of the GSBC's quarterly publication Archivist. The GSBC will provide a draft to each Artifact Owner for review before publishing and extra printed copies of the issue to each Artifact Owner for their use and distribution. ? GSBC Website--The GSBC will publish a full set of transcribed materials to the GSBC's website on the public site or membership-only site (to be determined with Artifact Owner's input). ? With both the above, records less than 100 years old, that may affect living persons (e.g., baptismal records less than 100 years old), will be omitted from online publishing--unless otherwise instructed by the Artifact Owner. These records will be contained in the printed version only--for use on-site at the Ridgewood Public Library and by the GSBC Genealogy Consultants for lookup requests. As records age out of the 100 year timeframe, they may be published. ? The GSBC does not intend, nor has the copyrights or permissions to, sell the collection of images or data to another entity (e.g., ). The GSBC may use the images and data for its use, use by Membership, those using the GSBC collection at the RPL, and for those who contact the GSBC Genealogy Consultants with research queries. In short, publishing is intended for the benefit of the research community. ? Those looking for officiated records, closed records, or for more information will be directed to contact the Artifact Owner.

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