Pathfinder: Resources for Librarians Assisting Genealogists

Genealogy is a fast growing hobby in the United States. The first place a new researcher may look for information is their local library. If your library does not have a significant genealogy collection or the reference librarians have not received formal training in genealogy research, this pathfinder will direct you to some basic American genealogy resources. Though intended for librarians serving genealogists, this pathfinder may also be of interest to library science students and genealogists.

Subject Headings

The following Library of Congress Subject Headings will be useful in finding genealogy materials in your library. These can be modified to expand the search to individual states or countries (i.e. Genealogy -- Wisconsin or Germany -- Genealogy)

Genealogy United States -- Genealogy Archives -- United States Local history

Books:

The following are a list of books that will be useful to learn the basics of American Genealogy. If you do not have copies in your library, consider borrowing copies through Interlibrary Loan or allocate some of your book-buying budget for at least of these resources. The starred (*) are recommended by the Librarians Serving Genealogists (see below) because they are highly used by genealogists.

Bentley, Elizabeth Petty. The Genealogist's Address Book. 4th ed. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1998.

DesJardins, Dawn Conzett, ed. Gale's Guide To Genealogical & Historical Research: A Gale Ready Reference Handbook. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000.

Dollarhide, William. The Census Book: A Genealogist's Guide To Federal Census Facts, Schedules And Indexes: With Master Extraction Forms For Federal Census Schedules, 1790 - 1930. Bountiful, Utah: Heritage Quest, 2000. (Includes bibliographical references.)

* Everton, George B., ed. The Handybook for Genealogists. 9th ed. Logan, UT: Everton, 1999.

* Greenwood, Val D. The Researcher's Guide To American Genealogy. 3rd ed. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2000. (Includes bibliographical references and index.) * Howells, Cyndi. Netting Your Ancestors: Genealogical Research on the Internet. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

* Kemp, Thomas Jay. International Vital Records Handbook. 4th ed. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Comapny, 2000.

Mills, Elizabeth S., ed. Professional Genealogy: A Manual For Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, And Librarians. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2001. (Includes bibliographical references and index.)

* Renick, Barbara, and Richard S. Wilson. The Internet for Genealogists: A Beginner's Guide. 4th ed. La Habra, CA: Compuology, 1999.

* Szucs, Loretto Dennis, and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, eds. The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy. Rev. ed. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997.

Periodicals and Newsletters:

The following periodicals and newsletters are very useful to researchers of genealogy.

Everton’s Genealogical Publisher. Logan, UT: Everton Publishers. Family Tree Magazine. Cincinnati, OH: F&W Publications. Local History & Genealogy Librarian. North Salt Lake, Utah: Heritage Quest.

Websites specifically for librarians:

Librarians Serving Genealogists http://www.cas.usf.edu/lis/genealib This is an excellent resource for librarians containing information regarding circulation and interlibrary loan, collection development and preservation, information literacy, professional development and education, and reference and referral services. Last updated: 30 August 2001, maintained by Drew Smith, Instructor, School of Library and Information Science, University of South Florida, Tampa.

Librarian's Guide to Helping Patrons with Genealogical Research http://home.tampabay.rr.com/centans/libguide.html This is a good instructional site with information regarding basic genealogy research, genealogy resources, and genealogy societies. It has not been updated since December 1999 and has a few broken links, but is included because of the research methods which do not need to be updated often. Written by Sharon Marie Centanne, Information Specialist, School Librarian, Genealogical Research Instructor, Internet Trainer, Webpage Designer, Civil War Re-enactor, and Local Historian.

The Librarian's Guide to Genealogical Research http://www.ckls.org/~jswan/Helping0.htm This website is an outline of a workshop James Swan presents to librarians who provide reference service to genealogists. It includes 30 suggestions for librarians to learn more about genealogy or provide services for their patrons. The website does not mention his background, last updated August 2000.

Other Internet Resources:

Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet http://www.cyndislist.com/ According to her website, Cyndi Howells started this as a list of bookmarks for her local genealogy society. It now contains over 100,000 links to genealogy related sites and Cyndi calls it a "card catalog". This is a free site and is updated almost daily.

RootsWeb.com http://www.rootsweb.com According to their website, this is the oldest and largest free online community for genealogists. The site contains extensive interactive guides and numerous research tools for tracing family histories including family trees, surname lists, mailings lists and message boards. Content varies because it is a volunteer project, but it is updated daily.

The USGenWeb Project http://www.usgenweb.org/ This website is maintained by a group of volunteers working together to provide Internet websites for genealogical research in every county and every state of the United States. This Project is non-commercial and fully committed to free access for everyone. Content varies, but it is a good starting point for resources in each state.

Internet Mailing lists and Newsletters:

GENEALIB http://www.cas.usf.edu/lis/genealib/list.html LSG sponsors an electronic mailing list, known as GENEALIB, for announcements, discussion, and question-and-answer of interest to genealogy librarians. GENEALIB is administered using Lyris software on a list server provided by Academic Computing at the University of South Florida in Tampa. The list administrator is Drew Smith ([email protected]).

Everton's Family History Newsline http://everton.com/FHN/ This newletter is published six times a week, available online or through a free subscription. It is produced by Everton's Genealogical Helper magazine, a leading genealogical magazine published for over fifty years. Topics all relate to genealogy, highlights websites or offers tips.