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The GFO is pleased to announce the Bring Your Own Bible project, our 2022 GivingTuesday initiative to image, transcribe, and index hundreds of family Bible records in the GFO's possession.

Family Bible records are an often-overlooked resource that may be the only existing record of births and deaths, and they can be valuable tools for clarifying family relationships. GFO has collected many records since the last family Bible project in 1994.  Now, it's time to put them together into a single, digital collection researchers can easily access.

The collection will be published on the GFO website and in the online library catalog. Some Bibles may also be published in The Bulletin.

You do not need to have a family Bible to participate, there are ways everyone can help. You may participate in person at the GFO or in the virtual event on Zoom.

Save the date!  November 29, 2022

What you can do now if you have a family Bible or images:

 

Dust off your family Bible and create images (scan or photo) using our guidelines or locate images you or family members already have.

Submit images and information using this Google form. If you prefer to submit your images in another way, please contact us so we can provide alternatives.

If you are local, and you need help obtaining images, you can bring the Bible to the GFO, and we can create the images while you wait! A volunteer is available every Sunday, 1:00 – 5:00 p.m., or you can email us to arrange another time.

If you would like to see a copy of "the end product", please see a completed Bible collection here.

What you can do now if you don't have a family Bible:

  • Become familiar with the guidelines for transcribing Bibles.
  • Read the guidelines for indexing the transcribed Bible records.

At the GFO - Tuesday, November 29th (9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.):

  • Volunteers will do many of the same activities as the online participants. 
  • Others will help to archive the family pages from donated Bibles.
  • If you plan on joining us in person at the GFO Library, drop us a quick email so we know to expect you.

On Zoom - Tuesday, November 29th (9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.):

  • Attendees will work in teams to transcribe the data in the images. Other volunteers will create indexes of the transcribed information. Typists are needed!
  • Fill in the Zoom registration information so we can send you a link to the event.  Please let us know if you can assist with Zoom moderation, transcription, and/or indexing.

If you participated in GFO’s GivingTuesday 2021, you know how much fun it was!  Click here for a Zoom registration page. 

Questions?  Please see our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page or contact us at byob@gfo.org.