So You Want to Learn How to Do Swedish Research?

We are lucky at the Oakland (California) FamilySearch Library to have very strong support for Swedish family research.  Along with some subscription databases not available at most FamilySearch Centers, two members of our staff have a dedicated day each week for Swedish research.  One or both of them are available all day to assist beginning and experienced researchers with their Swedish family history.

Last year our library was part of the tour the SwedGen team made through the U.S.  That was for an advanced research seminar.  This year we are hosting a beginning Swedish research class on Saturday, October 18, 2014, from 10:30 a.m.–12:00 noon.  If you have wanted to start your Swedish research but weren't sure what to do, this class is for you.  It is designed not only to help you find your ancestors, but also to get in touch with living relatives.

The class is free, but preregistration is required.  Send a message to wolofson@yahoo.com.

The Oakland FamilySearch Library is at 4766 Lincoln Avenue, Oakland, CA 94602.  There is a large parking lot available.  Public transportation is more difficult, but AC Transit has one line that goes up Lincoln from the Fruitvale BART station.  Information on how to make that connection is in my post on using BART to get to East Bay genealogy research locations.

Advanced Swedish Genealogy Seminar at the Oakland FamilySearch Library

There's a strong Swedish research contingent at the Oakland FamilySearch Library.  Thursday mornings they even take over an entire computer bank near the windows overlooking San Francisco Bay.  (We have great views in the library!)  And now our local Swedish researchers have organized a Swedish Genealogy Day for Saturday, October 12, from 9:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Topics will include:
• Swedish church records online at ArkivDigital (for which the library has a subscription), taught by Kathy Meade, the North American representative for ArkivDigital
• DIS (Computer Genealogy Society of Sweden) family tree database and EmiWeb (Web archive covering migration to and from Scandinavia), taught by Charlotte Börjesson, DIS board member
• Swedish emigration history and Lantmäteriet (Swedish mapping, cadastral, and land registration authority), taught by Anna-Lena Hultman, emigration expert who helped develop the Emibas CD (predecessor of EmiWeb)
• other Swedish online resources and CD's, taught by Anneli Andersson, from the Melleruds Museum and Genealogy Archive

The speakers are part of SwedGen, a group that does genealogy presentations in the U.S. to Swedish Americans researching family history.

The library computers and subscription databases will be available during a lunch break.  There is no charge for the seminar, but preregistration is required, and there is still room.  To register, send a message to fhcoakland@gmail.com with "SwedGen" as the subject.

The seminar will be held at the Oakland FamilySearch Library, 4766 Lincoln Avenue, Oakland, California.  A flyer for the seminar is available.

Warning:  This seminar is intended for experienced Swedish genealogists, not beginners.  You will have problems keeping up if you have not done much Swedish research before.

Do you have Swedish ancestry?

I wish I were part Swedish!  If you have any Swedish ancestry at all, you could be picked to participate in a new Swedish reality television series, The Great Swedish Adventure.  Meter Television, the producers of the Swedish versions of American Idol and Minute to Win It, are casting throughout the U.S.  They are looking for "fun, outgoing" people with even a drop of Swedish ancestry.  Chosen participants will travel to Sweden and compete in cultural challenges while they learn about their heritage.  The winner of the grand prize gets to meet his Swedish relatives.  Meter will pay for travel and housing during the filming of the series.

An online application form is on the home page of the series' Web site.  I didn't see a deadline, but I would guess that the sooner you send your name in, the better.  A short news item about the series can be found at The Local, an English-language Swedish news site.