1. What is a Village Coordinator?

2. Getting Started AHSGR VC Research Kit

3. Resources for Information

• AHSGR library

• Local Chapters

• Internet

• Village Night

• VC Meeting at AHSGR Convention

• GRVC Mailing list on the Internet

• GER-RUS & GER-RUS2 on the Internet

• Odessa Digital Library

• To Do Ideas

4. Organizing the Data

• Genealogy Databases

5. Disseminating the Data

• Members vs. Non-Members

• Charging vs. Giving It Away

6. Village Newsletter

• Content

• Desktop Publishing Programs

7. Web Site

• Web Site Contents

• Putting It All Together

8. Jump-Starting Your Village

• Village Night Ideas

• Surveys to Villagers

9. Village Coordinators & Web Sites

1. What is a Village Coordinator?

From the AHSGR Village Coordinator Page comes the following definition of a Village Coordinator:

They coordinate, aid, and assist those individuals attempting to bring families  and villages together through village research. They are doing this work on a volunteer basis and spend many hours gathering and organizing information. Some villages are large and some small.

Each coordinator desires to communicate with all persons who share the same village heritage. This would include sharing of family group records, maps, individual and family histories, video and audio tapes of memories, trip experiences, and other village information. Coordinators oversee the Village Night as part of the annual convention. It is always a highlight to find tables with persons sharing the same village.

Some of the villages now have newsletters. Some have "home pages on the World Wide Web (WWW). Some have printed books, articles, and other publications often appearing in the Journals. Some are creating GEDCOM format databases to be of help to families. Your input is needed. "

Every Village Coordinator is as unique as the village and people they serve.   In general though, they share some characteristics.  They are:

• an Historian

• a Researcher

• a Collector

• a Preservationist

They are genealogists, but they are more.  They are dedicated individuals who volunteer to go the extra mile and collect data about a village(s) so future generations will be able to learn about this foreign land which was called home by our people for more than a hundred years.

A Village Coordinator is whatever you make it.  Through your efforts, you honor the memory of your ancestors, and preserve the history of our people so future generations will know and honor them, too.

Village Coordinator Contract

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2. Getting Started

AHSGR
An obvious place to start is to find out what is available at AHSGR Headquarters.  If you can spend some time there, you will discover the breadth of the collections.  If you can't go to Lincoln, you can use the AHSGR Resource Kit as a guide to the collections. The AHSGR Resource Kit is available through the AHSGR Member Store.

AHSGR Resource Kit
This is a resource intended to be a guide to the variety of resources available through the AHSGR.   It is very important that you understand that the editor/publisher created about 5% of the material.  Miscellaneous other created 5%.  Fully 90% is the hard, professional work of AHSGR staff.  Without their professionalism and insight, there would be no kit.  This is not a collection of original information.  In most cases, it is not even a list of original information.  It is mostly a "list of lists".  It is 160 pages of lists showing you where/how to get other lists/records  that in turn show you where the original data are.  Cost is $15.00 for members (in either paper or diskette format).

The contents include:

• Frequently Asked Questions (60% of the AHSGR Web Page, 40% new material, all edited to eliminate web-speak)

• Family Ancestor Charts (Trees) What charts are available, under order, and where

• Bibliography Indexed by Surname   (This is neat!  HQ staff, Tracy et al, went through all  Work Papers, Clues, GRHS, Volhynian, Journals, Bessarabia, Gluckstahl papers  and created a massive index, organized by Surname.)

• Bibliography Indexed by Village (same as above, but indexed by village)

• Bibliography Indexed by Immigration Ship (same but indexed by immigration ship)

• Inventory of the Village Research Files  (Staff has recently organized all "village" materials into one folder per "village")

•  Church Records (Bessarabian Church Records, Budingen, Germany and Volga  Russia Church Records, United States Church Records)   This is a compilation  of these records stored at HQ

•  Miscellaneous Compilations and Databases (mostly having to do with computer databases).

•  Newspapers, Boy do we have a lot of old newspapers!

•  Public Records, Census Lists and several other things your normal "courthouse" records.

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3. Resources for Information

AHSGR Resources

• Work Papers/Journals  - Workpapers were the early Journals.   Workpapers/Journals are comprised of fiction/non-fiction pertaining to G/R's.

• Clues - Clues is a genealogical resource publication which contains self-help information on researching your ancestors, the surname exchange which provides other