genealogy

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Help! Genealogy Questions @ Your Reference Desk Presented by: Tina Beaird

Where do I begin?: 

Where do I begin? Ge·ne·al·o·gy: is the study or investigation of ancestry and family histories Who are Genealogists? What are they looking for? Where can you find it? Genealogists are: researchers, historians and detectives in one. What are they looking for? EVERYTHING! Where can you find it? Reference Books, Maps, the Internet, Phone Books, City Directories, Newspapers etc…

Materials you have in your Library: 

Materials you have in your Library Most genealogy requests come from people looking for ancestors previously living in your area Assess your collections. If you do not already have a finding aid in place for locating genealogical/historical information, start one as soon as possible. Is there a Historical or Genealogical Society in your area you can rely on for additional information? Use Interlibrary Loan! The University of Chicago www.uchicago.edu has an outstanding collection of City Directories and County Histories available for ILL and the Wisconsin Historical Society http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/ in Madison, has the largest collection of historic newspaper in the US on Microfilm and they also are available through ILL.

Internet Research and Paid Databases: 

Internet Research and Paid Databases There are numerous paid databases on the Internet that can be used to research a family’s lineage Ancestry Library Edition: http://www.il.proquest.com/products_pq/descriptions/ale.shtml HeritageQuest: http://www.il.proquest.com/products_pq/descriptions/heritagequest.shtml Chicago tribune Historical Archive: http://www.newsbank.com/public/public.html Digital Sanborn Maps: http://www.il.proquest.com/products_pq/descriptions/sanborn.shtml ProQuest Historic Newspapers: http://www.il.proquest.com/products_pq/descriptions/pq-hist-news.shtml Marquis Who’s Who: http://www.marquiswhoswho.com/ Newsbank:http://www.newsbank.com/public/public.html

Ancestry Library Edition : 

Ancestry Library Edition Features Surname searching of multiple databases in one location Access to hundreds more individually indexed databases Ability to search by soundex or exact surname spellings Every-name index to many census years Digital images available for some original documents Downloadable charts and forms Newly added US Map Collection Databases are added or updated frequently http://trials.proquest.com/ptc?userid=1825937 Password: “WELCOME”

HeritageQuest Online : 

HeritageQuest Online Features Searchable index for 11 Federal Censuses from 1790 to 1930(partial) Browse Census pages for all Federal Censuses Ability to download and edit census images Over 20,000 publications digitized and fully searchable Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land-Warrant Records Freedman’s Bank Records

Chicago Tribune Historical Archive: 

Chicago Tribune Historical Archive Features America’s Obituaries and Death Notices (nationwide coverage of newspapers from 1990’s-present) Searchable by name, date and text from 1860-1984 Search for original articles by era, decade or presidency Access to Chicago Tribune Front Pages

Illinois Digital Sanborn Maps: 

Illinois Digital Sanborn Maps Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps cover various years from 1867-1970 Detailed descriptions of individual properties including size, shape, location of windows and doors, construction materials etc… Street level descriptions of towns and cities including location of streets, sidewalks, trolley lines, railroad tracks, wells, etc… Locations and descriptions of businesses and industry Include block and (often) house numbers Maps can be saved and/or printed

Evaluating Free Web Sites: 

Evaluating Free Web Sites Not all genealogy web sites are created equal! Patrons must evaluate web sites for: ►Authority ►Accuracy ►Objectivity ►Coverage

Authority: 

Authority Does the website have an easily identifiable author, creator, webmaster, sponsor etc… Are they an expert or specialist in the field they are representing? Does the author provide information about their background and qualifications? Look for headers or footers that may show affiliation Look at the URL; http://www.ancestry.com Look at the domain; edu, com, net, gov, org, etc… Look for links such as : about us, philosophy, biography

Accuracy: 

Accuracy Is the information reliable? Is the information cited authentic? Is the information relatively error-free? How is the information checked for accuracy? How is the information provided? Are they abstracts and indexes to records or are they original records? Even the most reliable web sites occasionally have errors. Is there a way to contact the webmaster? There are not standards for accuracy in place on the Internet. Does the information provided sound plausible or have links to verifiable web sites?

Objectivity: 

Objectivity Does the web site have advertising pop-ups or banners? Does the web site show bias against a particular race, religion or culture? Are the goals or the objectives of the web site clearly stated? How detailed is the information? Is the web site limited in scope: focusing on one family, region, nationality or topic?

Coverage: 

Coverage What is the purpose of this site? Does the web site require a fee to view the information? Can this information be found anywhere else? How in-depth is the information provided? Does the web site require special software or downloads? Do links compliment the theme of the web site? Does the web site include images and text? Is the information provided cited correctly?

“GOOGLE”ING Ancestors: 

“GOOGLE”ING Ancestors For many people Google is the first place they begin Google is only as good as the search terms that are inputted If I found it on the Internet it must be true. Right? This seems to be the first place people head to on the Internet. Many novice genealogists aren’t aware that genealogy databases and governmental websites exist on the Internet. Google is only as good as the computers ability to decipher what you’re looking for. For novice genealogists this can be detrimental. Why? If you input “Genealogy” and not “ancestry” or “Family Tree” you are missing all of the web sites that include one of these variations! Patrons need to be aware of the dangers of misinformation on the Internet and how they can evaluate good VS. bad web sites.

The Good…(More like GREAT!): 

The Good…(More like GREAT!)  http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/archives.html Wisconsin Historical Society: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/ Digital Past: http://www.digitalpast.org/site-templates/client_nsls000/index.html?CISOROOT=/nsls000 Chicago Genealogical Society: http://www.chgogs.org/index2.html National Archives of Ireland: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ Washington State Archives: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/search_notice.aspx Jewish Genealogy: http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/ http://www.ellisisland.org/ http://www.castlegarden.org/ Cook County Coroner’s Inquest Records: http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/cookinqt.html Latter-Day Saints: http://www.familysearch.org/

The Bad…(More like OK): 

The Bad…(More like OK) Roots Web: http://www.rootsweb.com/ US Genealogy Web: http://www.usgenweb.com/ Obituary Links Page: http://www.obitlinkspage.com/ Internment.net: http://www.interment.net/ Illinois Historical Library: http://www.illinoishistory.gov/lib/ishlgen.htm Polish Genealogical Society of America: http://www.pgsa.org/ Allen County Public Library: http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/genealogy/index.html Cyndi’s List: http://www.cyndislist.com/database.htm Newberry Library: http://www.newberry.org/genealogy/collections.html The Genealogy Directory: http://www.gendir.com

The Downright Ugly…(yep really ugly!): 

The Downright Ugly…(yep really ugly!) Family Genealogy: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cabyers/index.html Clarke Family Genealogy: http://www.clarkefamilytree.com/surnames.htm Will County Clerk’s Genealogy: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilwill/gov.htm http://www.daddezio.com/ My Genealogy Nitemare: http://www1.tribalpages.com/tribe/browse?userid=cmartin&view=9&rand=955762331 Polish Roots: http://www.polishroots.com/ Diane’s Genealogy: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~dlddvm/index.html

Additional Web Sites: 

Additional Web Sites Cook County: www.deathindexes.com/illinois/cook.html California Death Index: http://vitals.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi NY State Vital Records: http://www.health.state.ny.us/vital_records/genealogy.htm Vital Check Network: http://www.vitalchek.com/?clicked=1 Minnesota Death Certificates Index: http://people.mnhs.org/dci/Search.cfm Arizona Dept. of Health Services: http://genealogy.az.gov/ US Railroad Retirement Board: http://www.rrb.gov/default.asp Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild: http://www.immigrantships.net African-American Genealogy: http://www.afrigeneas.com/ Finding Passenger Lists: http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/passengers.html Web Pages by Stephen P. Morse: http://www.stephenmorse.org/ Origins Network (UK Genealogy): http://www.originsnetwork.com