Using Periodicals to Find Your Ancestors

Digitized, shelved, and some in obscure places. Online indexes and searchable images. Genealogical and historical society periodicals remain as important tools. This session illustrates the kind of treasures in those periodicals that might not be found anywhere else. Decades upon decades of articles have covered culture, migration, ethnicity, military, churches, cemeteries, family connections, queries, and other aspects of town, city, county, and state ancestral research. Indexes and record explanations with hundreds of names that are not on major genealogy websites. The webinar demonstrates how those periodicals are useful and vital for research, how to access them, and special considerations for using them to benefit your research.

You may be missing 30% of genealogy discoveries if you’re not digging into issues of old periodicals for biographical profiles, stories about ancestral churches or schools, how-to tips for researching a locale, indexes and transcripts of local records. Learn to find and access this content using PERSI, the Periodical Source Index, NOW AVAILABLE FOR FREE on the Allen County Public Library website, and hear success stories that can inspire your own searches.

Need local history from colonial New England or Virginia? Need information about Scottish settlements in North Carolina? Need history of mining in Wales? Find remarkable research in JSTOR to place your family story in historical context. With 2,000+ scholarly journals, JSTOR is one of the most comprehensive and trusted research...

If your family has origins in the British Isles, Findmypast is a resource you should be utilizing! Learn about our incredible British and Irish collections, the advantages of using global newspapers, and get a glimpse of the new PERiodical Source Index (PERSI).

Genealogists LOVE cemeteries but we don’t always know the history behind them. When we know the history, types, and traditions of cemeteries we can do better research that helps us understand our ancestor’s final resting place. In this presentation we will take a look at the history of US cemeteries, what you would expect to find depending on time and place, and where you can find records beyond the usual places.

Genealogists use gravestone information to document death information, but oftentimes, a burial marker provides more than biographical information. Gravestones, like any record, should be analyzed but to do so requires one to think beyond genealogical research. In this presentation, we will explore types of cemeteries, the anatomy of a marker, and the “hidden” information the marker provides.

Gena comes back with an additional 50 websites you should know for your genealogy. She will explore websites with genealogy databases, technology how-to, images, finding aids, and more. No matter where your genealogy takes you, you’ll hear about a website that can be helpful. And don’t forget about the handout. The handout is a compilation of all the websites Gena’s previously talked about in her 50 Websites presentations.

The Internet is one of the best things to happen to genealogy and holds great discoveries for our family history. Previously Gena explored 50 websites and then she presented 50 more so why not take a look at yet another 50! Part of being a good researcher is knowing where…

Family historians know that newspapers are vital to research but it’s not always easy to find them. We’ll explore finding aids for historical newspapers around the globe to help you find what you need.