Your Local Library Is a Research Tool

“Genealogy requires some of the most sophisticated forms of research; yet, because it is considered a hobby, most people underestimate the research know-how required to reconstruct a family tree,” says Lois Horowitz, a reference librarian and author of “Knowing Where to Look: the Ultimate Guide to Research” (Writer’s Digest Books, 1984).

If you are going to be successful in tracing your roots, you must learn how to use libraries--all kinds of libraries. Many readers ask questions that could easily be answered if they would consult their local public library’s sources.

Expand your research vision. Much of the material that is invaluable to your search for ancestors is not going to be labeled and filed under “genealogy.” For example, if you become stumped on some obscure term in an old document and you can’t find a definition in any of your dictionaries, try the Oxford English Dictionary at your library. Or ask your librarian to suggest a source.

Can’t find anything about your family in the sources you’ve consulted, yet you know they lived in Marion County, Ind., in the early 1900s? Have you tried to locate newspapers? Did you know the New York Times is available on microfilm from 1851 to present, or that the London Times is available from 1790 to present? Also on microfilm are Canadian newspapers and “Civil War Newspapers,” and “Early American Newspapers, 1704-1820,” is available on Readex Microprint.

“Newspapers of Ireland” is a set that includes 25 Irish newspapers from the 19th and early 20th centuries, and is probably overlooked by most researchers hunting their Irish roots. Few newspapers are indexed, so you are in for long hours on microfilm readers, but the rewards can be worth the effort.

Obituaries can help you complete your genealogical research and old newspapers are exciting to read--even the ads are fascinating. Read some Missouri newspapers published during the Civil War if you have ancestors who were living in that locale at that time. You may not find your ancestor mentioned, but it will help place your family in historical context.

If your library does not have the microfilmed newspaper collection you want, you can borrow individual issues in microform through interlibrary loan. Your librarian probably will use the library’s computer to locate copies of it for you. For your first adventure in locating old newspapers, ask the reference librarian to show you how to locate historical newspaper collections available.

Family historians spend valuable time trying to learn the address of some place. For this type of research you need to learn how to use directories. No matter who or what organization you’re tracking, directories exist for most categories of people and organizations.

“Directory of Directories” is an easy source to use for identifying more than 5,000 directories. From it you will discover there is an “International Cemetery Directory” which lists geographically more than 8,000 cemeteries and their addresses.

Telephone books can sometimes be helpful, and many libraries carry a selection of nationwide telephone books. You may even be able to get this information via their telephone reference service. Your library may have what is called Phonefiche--a set of thousands of nationwide telephone books.

Almost all libraries will have what is called vertical files. These collections vary, but often contain genealogical information, especially if your family was active in business or the social activities in a community. Ask about these files, and make friends of librarians--they are priceless allies.