"Do What You Can, With What You've Got, Where You Are:" Coping with Circumstances Inside the BDC Research Room, Part Two

A few weeks ago, I outlined my management plan for the BDC going forward. There has been some necessary adjustments made that are likely to continue for some time. What can a person interested in Beaufort District's long and storied history do to help him/herself to educational materials about that tale in light of those necessary adjustments? Perhaps more than you might think.  

The BDC delivers local history information about the geographical area called "Beaufort District" along three distinct pathways: 1) To Researchers physically present in the Research Room; 2) At the Branch Libraries through local history programs and the local history sections of materials you can borrow; and 3) In virtual form via reference questions arriving by email or over the telephone or through the blogs or via digital collections we share through the Lowcountry Digital Library or one of the other 5 buttons you find towards the bottom of the BDC's home webpage on the Beaufort County Library website.

Through the years, I have posted a lot of content on the Library's website through the BDC's homepage. This content is available at no charge to anyone with access to the internet 24 hours a day/7 days a week/365 days a year. I would recommend that you explore what's hiding behind the buttons first. When the SunCity Carolinians came last month, I walked them through the the BDC's homepage. I'm going to do the same for you. 

Starting from the very top: If there's a notice that everyone needs to see, it is usually in a red bar with white letters just under the address bar. In this case, I'm writing this post on 30 June so the notice refers to the upcoming July 4th closure of the Library system. 

The next section contains the Library's logo on the left and three linked items on the right: the Contact Us button in teal - which allows you to send an email to the system; a blue outlined box that lets you "Search for an item" that links you to the page from which you can read magazines on Flipster; borrow items through the Library's streaming service, Hoopla, or see what's in the Library's SCLENDS based catalog. 

Proceeding towards the bottom of the page, for the time being there is a link to the Library's Strategic Plan survey document, here indicated with the words "Tell us what you think about the library." 

The next line of tabs is permanent and looks like this: 

If you hover over "Locations", you'll see a drop-down box of all the Library's service units: Beaufort Branch, BDC/Local History, Bluffton Branch, Bookmobiles, Hilton Head Island Branch, Lobeco Branch, and St. Helena Branch and their respective homepages. 

If you hover over "Books & Downloadables", you'll get access to the Library's SCLENDS catalog, Hoopla service, and the Flipster magazines. 

"Events" contains Book Club information and the Library system's calendar of upcoming programs and events. 

"Summer Reading" tends to appear in the late Spring and goes away in August or September. 

The "Research & Learn" tab has an extensive array of digital materials so many that I am including a picture of that drop-down box for you: 

Newest among them is access to the New York Times! The relevant ones for the BDC virtual services  are: Ancestry.com; Library History; Local History - which really just gives you another way to get to the BDC's homepage and buttons; and Obituary Index. The other resources in the dropdown box are important, too - just not as relevant to the BDC's mission. 

The "Services" tab has sections  "For Children," "For Teens," "Curbside," "Get a Library card," "Meeting Rooms," "Scan, Print, Fax, Copy" services, "State Park Pass," "Subscribe" to library e-newsletters, and the seasonally populated "Tax Help." 

The "About Us" tab has the most buttons. Hence this image: 

 

You could also think of it as the policies and partnerships tab. If you haven't yet completed the Survey, please do. The data gathered will inform the Strategic Plan now being created. 

Now we're going to get to the meat of the BDC's Homepage. On the left under the tab line is "Beaufort District Collection There is now limited access to the Research Room. Contact gracec@bcgov.net or call 843-255-6446 for details" and then the BDC's address. I'm here to tell you that while I am away, Ileana Herrick, the Library's Administrative Assistant is the person to contact. Her email address is iherrick@bcgov.net; her telephone number is 843-255-6452.                                                                                                      I want to draw your attention to the About the BDC section under the logo. This describes in broad terms the types of materials the Research Room has and the basic outline of services this unit provides. Researchers will want to pay particular attention to the details about the parking situation.                                                                                    Under the About the BDC is two lines of buttons: Digital Collections link to the 8 collections we have posted to the Lowcountry Digital Library; Connections Blog is actually this format; BDC on Facebook page, Local History Materials is the Library's Marketing director's term for the BDC's Lists, Links, and Finding Aids Blog on the WordPress platform; Beaufort County Moments is a short video series consisting of 17 topics  that the County Channel produced in 2010-2011; Ancestry.com Library Edition provides access to this venerable genealogical database on the Library's computers inside our buildings; and the Local Obituary Index.

  

There's a duplicate "Contact Us" button in the big teal box along the bottom of the BDC's webpage that is repeated on every webpage on the Library system's website. You'll also see a "Subscribe" button, the Facebook icon that will take you to the Library system's Facebook page; and the YouTube icon that will take you to the Beaufort County Library's YouTube Channel. 

On the Library's YouTube Channel you will currently find 4 BDC produced local history programs: "The Means of Grace" with Dr. Eric Plaag;  "Duels in Beaufort District" with Neil Baxley; my "Tide of Death"; and "The Hidden Senator" with Anne Christensen Pollitzer. 

There is an alternate way to get to all these features on the BDC's homepage. Using the "Research & Learn" tab, select "Local History" from the drop-down box to get this array of the same material: 

I encourage you to thoroughly explore and search all the content made available through the Library's website about local history.