Bus Excursion to Archives of Ontario in Toronto

Date: Thursday, September 20, 2018

Time: Bus departs Guelph at 9:00 am and will leave the Archives of Ontario to return to Guelph at 3:30 pm

Pick-up/Drop-off Place: Stone Road Mall parking lot (use the entrance to the mall off Edinburgh Road South, the bus will be to the right near the apartment buildings)

Excursion: Field trip to the Archives in Toronto, Ontario

Cost: $30 for Wellington County Branch OGS members; $35.00 for all others

Things You Should Know:

Registration Forms are available by emailing wellington@ogs.on.ca

To get the most out of your visit to the Archives of Ontario (AO) it is important
to read the article Prepare For Your Visit found on the AO main page. It details some key things to note when planning for research. It is important to know whether the material you want is available onsite or whether you need to put in a request to have it brought in from offsite for the day of our trip.

When we arrive, we will be required to show our AO Researchers card to the Receptionist. If you do not have an AO Researcher card, you will need to pre-register online. This will allow AO to have your card ready and waiting for you at the Reception desk. Please note that the AO requires a government issued photo ID card (Driver’s License, or Passport, not Health card) to been shown. If you don’t have access to a computer, please let us know and we will arrange to have a branch member assist you.

Lockers for personal belongings (coats, purses, bags, food and drink) are available as these items are not permitted in the Reading Room. We may have to share lockers or AO may allow us a room in which items can be locked securely.

Be sure to indicate on the Registration form if you wish to take part in either or both of these orientations.

Option #1:  45 minute classroom orientation with an Archivist regarding Conducting Research at the Archives.

Option #2: 20 to 25 minute tour of the AO Reading Room highlighting the various research areas and resources related to genealogical research and helping to acquaint you with accessing these records onsite and how to access microfilm (the majority of the geological records are on microfilm).

Once the tour is over, you are free to embark on research in the Reading Room for the remainder of the visit.

As for lunch, they have a client lounge where participants can eat their lunch. In addition, there are plenty of fast food type restaurants available on the campus for those who wish to purchase their lunch on campus.

As well as reviewing the Tracing Your Family History section Tracing Your Family History  section of the AO website, you can also start your research from home by consulting the Accessing our Collection section of the website. Here you can access the main databases (these will be reviewed in the orientation session):

- Archives Descriptive Database: includes descriptions of archival records in our holdings and how you can order them for viewing.

Note: The majority of AO original records are stored offsite, so if you are looking to access archival materials you should consult the database to determine what records you would like to view and order them at least 3 business days before you come. You can order them by emailing the order information (from the database) to the Retrieval Unit at reference@ontario.ca. Microfilmed records do not need to be ordered in advance.

- BiBlion Library Catalogue: our library is closed stacks (i.e. all items have to be         retrieved fortheir viewing). This can be done on the day of the visit or in advance.