Just another Voices of Migration site

Librarians are the Best.

My partner and I had a really helpful meeting with the archivist/special collections librarian on our campus. I wasn’t expecting much because Farmington, Maine is not known for its vast populations of migrants. However, librarians always have another trick up their sleeves so we weren’t left in the dark; she pointed us in the direction of how to get a good start on our search.

Firstly she suggested that we could start off with census data for the state of Maine to get some broad unspecific data. As we narrow it down we could look into info that county or city governments have available online, because it would be much more specific. She said that local libraries are also a great way to get our finger on the pulse of a community.  We also looked at a tool called the Maine Memory Network which is a place that contributors all across the state can upload information and images about the history of Maine and its residences. This tuned up some really interesting information about immigration going back 400 years. As we clicked on exhibits and pages more and more useful links were suggested, such as some information about the Somali populations there is in the Lewiston/Auburn area of our state. The best part of using the Maine Memory Network is that the contributors are all people we can find within Maine and talk to for more information.

Now that we had some basic information and a few directions to head in, the next big question came up. Once we identify a community we want to focus on, how do we go about contacting individuals? Our lovely librarian did not let us down! To meet and speak to individuals within an immigrant community we can contact organizations and charities that provide them with support and services. This would be a good first step that would allow us to be sensitive to people’s privacy.

Cali and I started this class with really no specific connections, so we have a lot of work ahead of us, but our local librarian was an invaluable piece of getting us started in the right direction. The lesson to be learned from this, is librarians are the greatest and helpful in any sort of research capacity. I am excited for the challenge ahead of us, and how it will unfold.

2 Comments

  1. kraus

    You are totally right; librarians are the best!

    The thing that stood out most to me in this post was the ¨Maine Memory Network.¨ It seems like a really cool tool, not just for this project, but really for anyone interested in family and local history. Do you know how it got started? Have you tried to use it yet?

    • grohoski

      It was created by the Maine Historical Society, I don’t know much more than that. I have briefly looked at it for a few different things. It is neat because there are ways to be a contributor as well as researching on it.

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