Tom Edlund's Comments on Slovakia Filming by Duncan Gardiner, C.G.

© copyright 1995 by FEEFHS; all rights reserved

Editor's Note: Here is the gist of a thread of three messages your editor recently downloaded from my subscription to the SLOVAK-WORLD mailing list server, centered at the Republic of Slovakia's Forest Research Institute of Slovakia at Zvolen, Slovakia. (Please see the Slovak-World HomePage here on the FEEFHS HomePage within the FEEFHS Resource Guide] for information on how to subscribe free to the Slovak-World E-mail list server.)

These three messages, each were sent to a listserver in Slovakia from AOL accounts in America by Duncan Gardiner, C.G. of Lakewood Ohio and Charles Gersna . This exchange took place between noon Thursday 10 August 1995 and noon Friday 11 August 1995.

We are very glad Slovak-World is a FEEFHS member and we are able to republish this three message thread. It shows that not all list server messages on Slovak-World and other genealogy list server members of FEEFHS (such as Banat) are just run of the mill "surname checks":

From Duncan Gardiner to slovak-world@fris.sk about noon Thursday 10 August 1995:

Tom Edlund's Comments on Slovakia microfilming

by Duncan Gardiner, C.G.

At the FEEFHS 1995 East European Genealogy Conference Banquet in Cleveland Ohio on the evening of 4 August 1995), Thomas Edlund, (Family History library associate librarian and East European microform [i.e. microfilm and microfiche] cataloger for the FHL) talked about the status of filming in Eastern Europe.

I later asked him specifically about Slovakia. What follows is his commentary along with news from Tom Peters C.G.R.S. of New Jersey, a Rusyn specialist who is a Certified Genealogical Record Searcher (CGRS) in northern New Jersey.

First, the latest CD-ROM version of the FHLC (Family History library Catalog)arrived at some Family History Centers about two weeks ago (about mid July 1995).

Presov Archive holding on microform: It contained the Presov archive contents, including parish registers of towns and villages up to the letter H. Tom Edlund says that the fiche version of the catalog should come out within several months and will include all the parish registers held in the Presov archive. That includes all of old Saris county and the northern part of Zemplin.

Kosice archive holdings - Edlund did not say specifically, but I get the idea it will take another year or so to be catalogued, though it may be sooner.

As far as other filming - Banska Bystrica archive is next and apparently Bytca is already completed. Naturally, it will take several years before the recently completed films are actually catalogued.

Bratislava archive is then next, though Nitra fits in there somewhere. Edlund seemed under the impression that the Nitra archive was a branch of Bratislava, but my impression was that it is an independent archive.
Filming elsewhere in Eastern Europe: As the banquet keynote speaker, Edlund spoke about filming going on at almost fifty different locations in Russia, Ukraine, former Yugoslavia, etc.

1996 FEEFHS ConferenceBy the way, the next FEEFHS conference will be in Minneapolis from 9 thru 11 June, 1996. We had over two hundred attendees (at Cleveland) who had high praise for the speakers. Highest attendance: Polish, Slovak, Rusyn. Sessions on the Internet and On-Line services (especially AOL) were well attended also.

Best regards to all from Duncan Gardiner.

From Charles Gersna to slovak-world@fris.sk about 5 a.m. Friday 11 August 1995:

Duncan thanks for the update on filming.

1. Liptov county is split. Where would I inquire to determine if Liptovska Osada would be in the Bytca or Banska Bistrica archives?

2. Are we to understand that the completed film records for Bytca will take two years to reach local FHC's (Family History Centers)?

May I add my thanks and praise for an outstanding conference in Cleveland. Your organizational effort and contributions were first rate as usual.

Regards

C Gersna

From Duncan Gardiner C.G. to Slovak-World@fris.sk about noon Friday 11 August 1995:

(Postscript by Duncan Gardiner C.G. on 25 November 1995: "In the comments shown below, I did not make an important distinction: The Slovak microfilms are cataloged fairly quickly, and are put into the catalog of the main library in Salt Lake City (FHL), thus they are available there quite soon after being microfilmed. However, it takes time for the published version of the catalog to be produced and sent to the local branches, sometimes a year or more.")
1. About Liptov county registers: Liptovska Osada registers are at the Bytca archive. (All the registers are noted in a book by Sarmyanova, *Cirkevne matriky na Slovensku zo 16.-19. storocia [Bratislava 1991]* . The archive is indicated next to the listing of each town name.

2. Yes, I suppose if cataloging goes at the pace it has, we can expect the Bytca archive contents to appear in the catalog in several years. It took at least that long for the Levoca archive holdings. One has to remember that there are rather few people around the U.S. (let alone at the LDS Family History library) who know enough of the requisite languages - Latin, Hungarian, German and Slovak - to analyze the contents of each film.

One additional comment about Edlund's talk to us - he said that the Czechs have not agreed to allow microfilming of their archive contents. I had heard rumors to the contrary.

Best regards,

Duncan

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