We have a range of volunteer opportunities available

Volunteers are the life-blood of LitvakSIG! In fact, LitvakSIG is staffed entirely by volunteers from around the globe. We need your language skills (Russian/Lithuanian/Yiddish/Hebrew/English/Polish/German and others in any combination), Litvak genealogy and research expertise, writing skills, fundraising abilities, finance and accounting skills, project management skills, website content, development and leadership skills. We can tailor your responsibilities to accommodate your availability.

Positions currently available:

Website Team:

Several people are needed to manage our public website www.litvaksig.org. Contact our webmaster Barry Halpern

Content Team:

People to write, edit, proofread and manage the information on the pages of our website using plain text. No HTML coding experience is required.

Outreach Team:

We need people generally familiar with Litvak genealogy research – and willing to learn how LitvakSIG works -- to field incoming inquiries from researchers, direct them to the proper individuals within LitvakSIG and to provide general Getting Started direction. We estimate this to be a role that can take as much or as little time as you have available - up to just a few hours a week. All correspondence is in English at this time. If you possess foreign language skills to help correspond with researchers in Israel, France, South America or other countries, please let us know.

District Research Group Coordinators:

Research Group Coordinators have several responsibilities:

1.  DCs are responsible for posting new data/spreadsheets to the LitvakSIG website as they are completed.  The various District Research Group websites on LitvakSIG are managed by each DC, who is coached and assisted throughout the process.  DCs publicize the posting of new data via email blasts to group donors and messages to the LitvakSIG digest.  Each DC will have the ability to send out email blasts to their group members either using the LitvakSIG website or their own personal emails, as they prefer. 

2.  Although DCs do not carry out research for others, they do receive and answer records-related inquiries such as whether certain records exist, whether they been translated, where are they located on the website, whether they have gone to the ALD, and so on. DCs can get assistance with more complex inquiries.

3.  DCs raise funds to support translations for their district, through communications, emails, and general encouragement and information.  They do not handle any money, as all transactions happen via the website or directly with the Treasurer.  DCs are notified of all transactions affecting their group, which allows them to maintain awareness of the financial status of their group. They answer donation-related inquiries from DRG donors or prospective donors. 

4.  The number of hours per week depends upon the specific research group and time of year.  On average the time required is between one and four hours per week.

5.  LitvakSIG provides the website for each district research group, which makes it easy to manage data distributions.  LitvakSIG will train DCs on using the website.

6.  Optional duties could include running the BOF meetings at the IAJGS conferences.  They also could include maintaining a district account record, though this is already handled by the LitvakSIG Treasurer.

Translators:

Proficiency in languages other than English, such as Russian, Lithuanian, Polish, German, Hebrew and Yiddish is necessary.

The time commitment is flexible - it can be as little as a few hours per week to as much as you can provide. There are still many thousands of records to be translated.:

With the addition of the Klaipeda (Memel) District Research Group in summer of 2011, we are in a position to acquire and translate records written in German. Please offer to help if you are able to read German. The data will also have to be typed into Excel files.

Online Journal Editor/Coordinator and Writers:

Our Online Journal consists of many types of articles (travelogues, memoirs, methodology, scholarly) all which can assist you in putting the "flesh on the bones" of your ancestors. We seek individuals to be a team to solicit and manage new articles for addition to the journal. Good English language skills are integral. Proofreading, formatting and direct interaction with the authors is required. Contact us if this position fits within your skill set.

If you are interested in volunteering for LitvakSIG, please fill out the short form and we will get back to you shortly.

If you are interested in a position on the LitvakSIG Board, please see this page.