Overseas Birth Certificate

Question: My son was born in 1966 in the Netherlands while his father was serving in the USAF in that country. I need to obtain a duplicate birth certificate of his birth. I would like to know how I go about doing this. His birth certificate was issued by the Department of State Foreign Service of the USA.

Answer: The U.S. Department of State page at http://www.state.gov/m/dghr/flo/c25862.htm indicates that "in the case of a child born overseas, the parents should apply at the American Citizens Services Unit in the country where the baby was born for a 'Consular Report of Birth Abroad,' which is the record of the birth abroad of a U.S. citizen. Under U.S. law, the document is full proof of U.S. citizenship and although not a birth certificate, may serve as a birth certificate in the U.S."

The Consulate General of the United States in Amsterdam/The Netherlands addresses "Consular Reports of Birth Abroad" on their vital statistics page at http://amsterdam.usconsulate.gov/vital_records.html. Click on the http://www.usbirthcertificate.net link to purchase a copy of the document. The tab at the top titled "US Citizens Born Abroad" will take you to the appropriate page for overseas birth records. The company provides guidance as to which form to use.

Fix a book

Question: Do you have Artemis BonaDea's book, "Conservation Book Repair: A training manual," which was published by the Alaska State Library, available for purchase?

Answer: The State Library no longer has paper copies of this title available for sale. However, the entire book is available online at http://library.alaska.gov/hist/conman.html, and the introduction specifically allows some copying:

The contents of this manual may be reprinted in whole or in part, with proper credit, to accommodate users, library board members, and personnel of libraries. Reproduction of this manual in whole or in part, for resale, except to recover actual costs, is not authorized.