WAPL 2007: Genealogical Resources for Library Support Staff

Genealogical Resources for Library Support Staff
a presentation by Lori Bessler, Microforms Librarian and Outreach Coordinator, Wisconsin Historical Society

The Wisconsin Historical Society's newspaper microfilm collection is 2nd in size only to that of the Library of Congress.

Area Research Center network:

• The Society's Area Research Center network holds original records from the area near to the ARC's location
• each of the ARC locations have web sites, accessible from http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/libraryarchives/arcnet/
• items can be couriered from one ARC to another for use by your patrons
  

Use the MadCat catalog to find items owned by the library at WHS.
Use the ArCat catalog to find items owned by the archives at WHS.

Other services offered by WHS:

• photocopying services
• research services
• www.wisconsinhistory.org web site provides lots & lots of resources, including access to over 20,000 images & photos

The WHS Research Portal points to databases such as...

• Wisconsin Name Index
• Wisconsin Historical Images
• Turning Points in Wisconsin History
• Civil War Roster of Volunteers
• Wisconsin Corporations Index

Tips for beginning genealogical research:

• start with yourself & go backwards
• talk to your living relatives & get an oral history
  
• cite sources thoroughly so you can find the information later
• photocopy everything, instead of transcribing what you find
  
• use pedigree charts & family group sheets
• find reviews of genealogical software at Cyndi's List
  

Genealogical resources:

• census
• vital records
• newspapers

other good web sites for genealogical research:

• Online Searchable Death Indexes & Records -- a directory of online death indexes listed by state and county
• Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness -- volunteers have agreed to do a free genealogy research task at least once per month in their local area
• FamilySearch
• RootsWeb
• The USGenWeb Project