Genealogy Resources
Libraries and Archives
Libraries
- Allen County
Public Library - Ft. Wayne, Indiana. One of the best
genealogy libraries. From online databases, tutorials
and outbound links to on-site programs, catalogs and
other resources for family researchers, this is one
location and site you need to include in your research.
- The British Library.
The British Public Library in the UK.
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California State Library, Sutro Library (San
Francisco, California). The most extensive genealogy
collection west of Salt Lake City.
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Center for Jewish
History. The Center for Jewish History is one of the
foremost Jewish research and cultural institutions in
the world, having served over one million people in more
than 100 countries. It is home to five partner
organizations—American Jewish Historical Society,
American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute,
Yeshiva University Museum and YIVO Institute for Jewish
Research—whose collections total more than 500,000
volumes and 100 million documents and include thousands
of pieces of artwork, textiles, ritual objects,
recordings, films and photographs. Taken as a whole, the
collections span more than 600 years of history and
comprise the largest repository of the modern Jewish
experience outside of Israel. At the Center, the history
of the Jewish people is illuminated through scholarship
and cultural programming, exhibitions and symposia,
lectures and performances.
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Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research
(Houston, Texas).
- Columbus
Memory. Columbus Memory is a collaborative project
between the Columbus Metropolitan Library and the
Columbus Historical Society providing access to
thousands of images, primary documents, maps and
artifacts about Columbus, Ohio.
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Cyndi's List - Libraries, Archives, and Museums.
- Daughters of the
American Revolution - Learn about it's excellent
library in Washington, D.C. One of the largest
genealogical research centers in the U.S. A specialized
collection of American genealogical and historical
manuscripts and publications. Over 18,000 volumes of
unpublished source records.
-
Denver Public Library. The West Made Digital. This
renowned online collection contains a selection of
photographs, maps, broadsides, architectural drawings
and other documents from the collections of the Western
History/Genealogy Department chronicling the people,
places, and events that shaped the settlement and growth
of the Western United States.
- Direct Me NYC:
1940. This experimental website features freshly
digitized 1940 telephone directories from the five
boroughs of New York City, which, combined with powerful
search tools (built atop Stephen Morse and Joel
Weintraub's
One-Step data service), enable patrons to convert
residential street addresses of 1940s New Yorkers into
precise census
enumeration districts, permitting informed
navigation of the Census records.
- Family History
Library (Salt Lake City, Utah)
-
FamilySearch -- Family History Books.
Family History Books is a collection of
more than 40,000 digitized genealogy and
family history publications from the
archives of some of the most important
family history libraries in the world. The
collection includes family histories, county
and local histories, genealogy magazines and
how-to books, gazetteers, and medieval
histories and pedigrees. The valuable
resources included in Family History Books
come from the following partner
institutions:
-
Federal Library and Information Network. The current
directory is comprised of approximately 1,111 entries.
FEDLINK hopes this directory will raise the awareness of
federal libraries and information resource centers and
contribute to the more effective use of the resources
these organizations maintain.
- Haithi Trust
Digital Library. Is a partnership of major research
institutions and libraries working to ensure that the
cultural record is preserved and accessible long into
the future. There are more than
sixty partners in HathiTrust, and membership is open
to institutions worldwide. The HathiTrust Digital
Library brings together the immense collections of
partner institutions in digital form, preserving them
securely to be accessed and used today, and in future
generations.
-
History, Genealogy and Education. This site,
maintained by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Service (USCIS) gives information about the
Immigration and Naturalization (I&N) Historical
Reference Library collection and services.
- Immigration
History Research Center. Offers resources focusing
on eastern, central, and southern European and Near
Eastern ethnic groups.
- Internet Archive.
The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was
founded to build an Internet library. Its purposes
include offering permanent access for researchers,
historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the
general public to historical collections that exist in
digital format. Founded in 1996 and located in San
Francisco, the Archive has been receiving data donations
from Alexa Internet and others. In late 1999, the
organization started to grow to include more
well-rounded collections. Now the Internet Archive
includes
texts,
audio,
moving images, and
software
as well as
archived web pages in the collections, and provides
specialized services for adaptive reading and
information access for the blind and other persons with
disabilities.
- Librarian's Index to the
Index
-
Libraries and Museums -- Reference Shelf for The Genealogist and Family Historian.
Information for the
amateur to professional researcher, including Harvard,
the U. S. Library of Congress, public, private, college,
local, university,
international, worldwide library links and
classification systems.
-
Libraries in the
United States. Organized by state and then type of
library.
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LibrarySpot - Libraries Online
- Library Index
-
Libweb - Library servers via WWW.
- Local
History and Genealogy Reading Room. This Library of
Congress (LC) site offers information on conducting
genealogical research at the LC.
- Midwest
Genealogy Center (Independence, Missouri). The
Midwest Genealogy Center (MGC) is one of the nation's
preeminent resources for family history, providing
access to almost three-quarter of a million on-site
materials. The Genealogy Center features 52,000 square
feet of space to house all the resources and technology
genealogists need to research. The Midwest Genealogy
Center is part of the Mid-Continent Public Library
(MCPL) system. MCPL has a long history of providing
outstanding genealogy resources, and the Genealogy
Center has been a major step in the growth of the
system.
-
National Genealogical Society Book Collection (St.
Louis, Missouri).
Special
Collections contains library holdings of the
St. Louis Genealogical
Society
and the
National
Genealogical Society
in addition to the genealogical and local history
materials of the St. Louis County Library.
-
National Genealogical Society. This web site for a
national genealogical association provides "How to get
started" guidance and a virtual library.
-
National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution.
Provides resources for genealogists including an online
catalog.
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New York Public Library (New York, NY).
The Irma and Paul Milstein Division of
United States History, Local History and Genealogy.
As one of the nation's largest publicly accessible and
non-membership genealogical collections, the Milstein
Division is a national resource.
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Newberry Library
(Chicago, Illinois). Genealogy at the Newberry.
- CARRIE - Full
Text Electronic Library
-
San Antonio Public Library - Texana/Genealogy.
Information on preserving family photographs, personal
papers, and other precious materials.
-
State Archives. Contact information for NARA state
archives and historical societies
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WWW-Virtual History Library
Library Catalogs
- Access to
Archival Databases (AAD). NARA's searchable database
containing electronic records. The following topics have
specific genealogical sources in AAD: Passenger lists of
immigrants to the Port of New York 1846-1851, WWII POWs
and casualties, Korean War POWs and casualties,
Japanese-American internees, Vietnam War casualties, and
more.
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Archival Research Catalog (ARC). ARC is a NARA
database and contains online copies of some records that
can be useful in genealogical research. The following
topics have specific genealogical sources in ARC:
African American history, court records, Federal
employees, immigration, military records, and Native
Americans records.
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ArchiveGrid. Thousands of libraries, museums, and
archives have contributed nearly a million collection
descriptions to ArchiveGrid. Researchers searching
ArchiveGrid can learn about the many items in each of
these collections, contact archives to arrange a visit
to examine materials, and order copies.
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Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
FamilySearch. Family History Library Catalog.
Online catalog of the LDS Family History Library. The
LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City has a large
collection of family histories, county histories, and
other published material. These materials are listed in
the library’s catalog, which is available on microfiche
or CD-ROM at LDS Family History Centers and other
libraries throughout the United States. Some books have
been microfilmed, and the microfilm can be borrowed from
the Salt Lake City library at a Family History Center.
To find a Family History Center near you, enter your
city, county, state, and country on the site. You can
search the
Family History Library Catalog. The catalog can be
searched for surnames and places. Under “All Searches,”
you can also search by author, microfilm/microfiche
number, and call number.
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Daughters of the American Revolution, National Society.
DAR Library Catalog. DAR Library online catalog.
Books in this library do not circulate, but the Library
does have a
Search Service through which information in a book
can be located and photocopied.
-
LibDex: The
Library Index. You can search for a library
to see if it has an online catalog.
- Library of
Congress. Library of Congress Online Catalog. The
new Library of Congress Online Catalog.
-
Library of Congress. Z39.50 Gateway. List of
libraries whose catalogs can be accessed through the
Z39.50 Gateway.
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National Genealogical Society Library Special Collection
at the St. Louis County Public Library NGS
Library Special Collection online catalog. All NGS books
located in St. Louis are available through standard
interlibrary loan channels, usually through your local
library.
- webCATS:
Library Catalogues on the World Wide Web. List by
state of U.S. libraries with online catalogs.
- WorldCat.org.
OCLC, a worldwide library cooperative.
Other Resources
-
Carmack, Sharon DeBartolo. The Family Tree Guide to
Finding Your Ellis Island Ancestors. Cincinnati:
Family Tree Books, 2005.
- Carson, Dina C., editor. Directory of
Genealogical and Historical Societies, Libraries and
Periodicals in the US and Canada: 2006. Niwot,
Colorado: Iron Gate, 2006.
- Dollarhide, William and Ronald A. Bremer.
America's Best Genealogy Resource Centers. North
Salk Lake, Utah: Heritage Quest, 1998.
- Genealogy
of the UK - A guide to finding online genealogy
resources for the UK, including archives, libraries,
surname lists, parish registers, cemeteries,
directories, war memorials, electoral rolls, censuses.
- Kaminkow, Jack, editor. United States Local
Histories in the Library of Congress, a Bibliography.
Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company,
1976.
- Kaminkow, Marion J. Genealogies in the Library of
Congress, A Bibliography. 1972, 1977, 1981, 1986.
Reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing
Company, 2001.
- Library of Congress. Genealogies Cataloged by the
Library of Congress Since 1986. Washington, D.C.:
Library of Congress, 1992.
- Neagles, James C. and Mark C. Neagles. The
Library of Congress; A Guide to Genealogical and
Historical Research. Ancestry, 1990. This guide
names and describes the library's genealogically
important published works and other materials, not only
in the Local History and Genealogy Reading Room but also
in the other divisions and reading rooms. This book
provides a straightforward and informal description of
the genealogical sources in the library and how to
locate them.