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Reaching Out Through Worldwide Presentations

As part of JDC Archives’ outreach initiatives, JDC Archives staff will present to a variety of audiences in the coming months about what the Archives has to offer both academic researchers and genealogists alike. The Archives’ presence at various academic and professional forums across the globe helps draw attention to its vast holdings and encourage ongoing scholarship using its records.

As part of efforts to increase outreach efforts in Israel, in December 2015 Shachar Beer, Director of JDC’s Jerusalem Archives, presented in Tel Aviv at the first conference and official gathering of children born to the Jewish population of the DP camps in the years after World War II. More than 1,000 people attended the conference. Mr. Beer participated in a panel about the activities of JDC in the DP camps. The JDC Archives exhibit demonstrated searches in the JDC Archives Names Index on a large screen. There was great excitement when several attendees found information about their families.

In June, Linda Levi, Director of JDC’s Global Archives, has been invited to present at the Association of Jewish Libraries’ (AJL) Annual Conference in Charleston, South Carolina, on the digital resources available on the JDC Archives website. This is part of the Archives’ outreach efforts to Jewish, Judaica, and academic libraries around the world. The purpose is to increase awareness of the JDC Archives’ searchable collections as a significant historical resource for research by faculty and students.

In August, two JDC presentations will be given at the International Association for Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) Annual Conference in Seattle, Washington. The Archives’ online searchable Names Index is a valuable resource for family history research and is the most heavily used feature of the website. These presentations will expand upon the treasures of the JDC Archives, its diverse holdings of documents, photographs, audio, and film items, and what it has to offer Jewish genealogists.

If you will be at either of the upcoming conferences, we hope you’ll join us.