Library Genealogy - Tips For Efficient Research Trips to the Library

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Library Genealogy - Tips For Efficient Research Trips to the Library



If you have been researching your genealogy for any length of time, you have almost certainly made a trip to the local, county or state library hoping to find your ancestors in some dusty books on the shelf. Maybe you were successful - maybe you were not. The library can be hard to navigate if you don't spend a lot of time researching in one. I'm here to give you some tips on how to make the most of your trip to the library.

1. Start your trip to the library at home! Hop on the Internet and search for your library's web page. Chances are that the library's card catalog is available online. Use this to your advantage. You can save a lot of time if you research what books and records are available ahead of time. This is especially true if you plan to travel out of town to the library that is near where your ancestors lived. Make a list of which resources you want to view at the library. Genealogy might also have it's own special collection room, which you can find out on the library's website as well. Don't forget to check out your local library, county library, or state library website. All will have different resources available.

2. Don't try to do too much in one visit. It can be easy to get excited, especially if you are traveling to the state library that has a lot of resources. Make a plan before you go and list out exactly which records you want to find. Maybe for your first trip you will want to concentrate on one specific family or branch. Or perhaps you will want to find just marriage records in the microfilm. Try to stick with your list and not veer off course. You can end up wasting your day in the library and come home without as much information as you wanted because you were off on wild goose chases!

3. Search out unique sources of information: You'll want to use the library mainly to get at those unique genealogy records that you can't find anywhere else online, or can't find for free online. For example, first settlers collections collection may be available. Generally, the local historical society has worked to collect information such as artifacts, photographs, diaries, etc. about the earliest inhabitants of the county. Many times these items are available for you to see in the library or archives.

Also, check out the obituaries in the newspaper collection. There are a lot of obituaries available online, but certainly not all of them. Most people will have to dig through the library's newspaper collection to locate obituaries of their ancestors. You may get lucky and find that someone created an index, too.

Another unique type of resource at the library is a county history book. Nearly all the counties had some sort of history written about them in the late 19th century or early 20th century. This was popular during that time frame. Along with the historical text are usually some photographs, maps, and biographies of local citizens. Often, these books did not have an index created. Sometimes an index has been created since then to assist researchers, so you will have to check. Otherwise, you will have a lot of pages to look through to try to find your ancestors!

City directories are another library genealogy resource and a wonderful way to track those ancestors who seem to be missing from census returns. These are a great resource because often, you can get an actual address for your ancestor as well as their occupation. You can also discover who their neighbors were - perhaps they lived near other relatives.

Kimberly Selma is a self-taught genealogy enthusiast who has been researching her family history for over 20 years! To read great genealogy site reviews [http://www.ancestorsforfree.com/category/genealogy-site-reviews] and check out cool genealogy videos, visit [http://www.ancestorsforfree.com].

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Kimberly_Selma/291945


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2063424




~(By Kimberly Selma).

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