Maple Valley Washington FamilySearch Center

Center Contacts and Hours
Location Map:


 * Location on Map

Address:


 * 26800 236th Pl SE Maple Valley WA 98038 United States
 * Our Center is right off the Four Corners interchange on Maple Valley Highway heading north toward Black Diamond and Enemclaw.
 * At the Four Corners intersection turn right onto Kent Kangley Road toward Covington and right onto the first residental street (approx. 1000 feet)
 * Large LDS church enter via the west entrance.


 * Language:English

Phone:


 * 1-425-413-7566

E-mail:


 * [mailto:WA_MapleValley@ldsmail.net WA_MapleValley@ldsmail.net]

Open Hours:


 * Wednesday:10:00am-4:00pm and 6:00pm-9:00pm
 * Thursday:10:00am-4:00pm and 7:00pm-9:00pm
 * Saturday:10:00am-1:00pm

Holiday Schedule:

Closed the Wednesday before Christmas til Tuesday after New Years, but you can call for special appointments:

Upcoming Events 2014
March (second Tuesday) Staff Training

April (second Tuesday) Staff Training

May (second Tuesday) Staff Training

Staff Training Meetings Second Tuesday of each month at Center 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
March staff training of 2014   Primarly we will be discussing family history classes and schedule for this year and the upcomming visit to the Maple Valley Senior Citizen Center


 * Visiting the Wiki web site for our Center how to get to it and see upcoming events - you can also edit so dive in.
 * Using the LDS Blog found on the FamilySearch website. Register if you have not and log on - will give some quick remedial training in using it. It is not self intuitive.
 * What is our role as Family History Center Consultants ? Do we just staff, or train and in what catagory do we actively participate in the Patron learning experience.
 * Continuing to look for more staff to support a growing interest in Family History.

Center Resources
Ordering Microfilm

The FamilySearch Catalog is available online @ familysearch.org, and can be searched by place name, family surname, resource title, author, subject, call number, film number or key word. GET NUMBERS Click the down arrow at the end of the Search field to select the category of information you wish to search. If you find a film you’d like to view, you can order that film using the on-line film ordering right from your browser at home.

There is a fee ($7.50) for film rental for a two (2) month period and ($.50) for microfiche - which are not returned but stay at the Center. This helps defray the handling and cost of shipping. There is no charge to view films from the Center’s “ Resident Film Collection .” We offer access to printers and digital scanners for printing and copying of your data to CD or ZIP drive.

Microfilms are typically available at the center for 60 days. Films can become “extended” status films and will be available at ths Center indefinitely. For more specific information about film ordering, ask a staff member at the Family History Center. You need to log onto familysearch.org and designate your home "Family History Center" before ordering.

All microfilm and microfiche must be viewed at the Family History Center where they are located. They cannot be transferred to another Family History Center or viewed at another location.

Currently looking foreward to all FHC PC's being upgraded to Windows 7 and we will soon be geting a digital camera to replace the Canon 300 which is no longer supported for matenance by the supplier.

Collections

 * FamilySearch Catalog:; This center has the ability to order any of the films and fiche available through the FamilySearch Catalog (approx 2.5 million films and an untold number of microfiche).


 * We have approximatly 500 microfilms in our cabinet and about 21 inches of microfiche including the 1881 Scotland, England and Wales Census. Some of our patrons are doing active research in Italy, Germany and the Baltic area. Lot of bi-lingual conversations going on - I listen (but do not participate - wcr)  We welcome your presence and participation in the activity.
 * We have gone cash-less with the advent of on-line film ordering.

Databases and Software

 * FHC Portal Portal page which gives free access at the Center to premium family history software and websites that generally charge for subscriptions.
 * Subscriptions available through the LDS FHC Portal


 * 1) Ancestry.com
 * 2) FOLD3 (previously Footnotes)
 * 3) The Genealogist
 * 4) Heritage Quest
 * 5) Alexander Street Press The American Civil War
 * 6) Arkiv Digital On-line
 * 7) World Vital Records
 * 8) Paper Trail
 * 9) Historical Maps


 * Software Available on Center PC's  If you want to bring your genealogy program on a zip drive and load and use in the Center or get further training you can do that.. But remember to take your updated copy (GEDCOM) home with you to your PC. Most popular genealogy software programs are available at the Center:


 * 1) Ancestral Quest 14.5
 * 2) Family Insight
 * 3) GenLines
 * 4) Get My Ancestors
 * 5) Magic Key Family Tree
 * 6) Rootsmagic 6.0
 * 7) Legacy 7.5
 * 8) PAF 5.0

Hardware and Equipment

 * We currently have six computers connected to the internet and WIFI is available for lap top or CAT5 connection. We are connected via COMCAST. We have five microfilm readers, two microfiche readers and a Canon 300 film scanner attached to a PC for saving film images. It gets a lot of use, bring a zip drive for off line storage though CD's can be burned. at no cost.

Staff Research Specialties
(Include sections for any other services your center provides. Add additional sections for those services. 

Resources in the Local Area
Local Resources for that you should also consider if doing personal research inSouth King County'''.


 * South King County Library. (Located in Auburn Wa) http://www.kcls.org
 * Bellevue City Library http://www.kcls.org/bellevue/
 * Seattle Public Library http://www.spl.org/
 * Tacoma Public LIbrary (Pierce County) http://www.tpl.lib.wa.us/Default.aspx
 * Tahoma National Cemetery (located in Covington) http://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/tahoma.asp
 * Fiske LIbrary (Seattle)  http://www.fiskelibrary.org
 * South King County Genealogical LIbrary http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~waskcgs/
 * Eastside Genealogical Library (meets at Bellevue Library) http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wakcegs/

Links
Web based Family History Training.

As you may not be aware most of the major Family History Genealogy programs have embrased Webinar as a training medium. The Center does not approve any given genealogy program. but the training provided by these sites can be invaluable.

Family Search Free on line courses literally hundreds from FamilySearch.org https://www.familysearch.org/learningcenter

Rootsmagic http://www.rootsmagic.com/webinars/

Legacy http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/webinars.asp

Family Insight http://www.ohanasoftware.com/?sec=webinars

Volunteer at the Center
We are always looking for new volenteers to support our patron needs, regardless of skills and talents - we can use you and will give you invaluable time to become trained in what our center provides. Give me a call Carl Rigtrup 425 271-1614 or carlrigtrup@gmail.com or our center website.