Finding Dead People: Genealogy and Local History Resources for the ILL Pracitioner

Finding Dead PeopleGenealogy and Local History Resources for the ILL Practitioner

©2014 Amber Case & Cherie' Weible

● The rising popularity of genealogy ● Why are genealogy ILL request so difficult? ● Indexes to Print Genealogies● Online Resources ● Genealogy Repositories ● Difficult Requests (and how we solved

them…)● Top Tips For Filling Your Genealogy Requests● Q & A

Outline


“Genealogy is hot. The same hobby that once was the preferred pastime of shutins, spinsters and confirmed bachelors has become widely popular...There's a broad, mainstream interest in family history” – ABC News

“Visitors to online genealogy sites are mostly white women, 55 and older, who browse the Internet from home...It’s a demographic projected to grow 36 percent by 2020, three times as fast as any other group.” – Bloomberg Businessweek

Rising Popularity


http://abcnews.go.com/Business/genealogy-hot-hobby-worth-16b-mormons/story?id=17544242

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-20/ancestry-dot-coms-genealogical-juggernaut



Power of the Internet

Power of the Internet

Genealogy in Popular Media

Popular TV Shows


Why are genealogy requests so difficult?

Unshelved. December 2, 2002

http://www.unshelved.com/2002-12-2

● Material not widely published or collected○ May only be held by small

historical/genealogical societies● Non-circulating due to age or rarity ● Difficult citations

○ Obituaries (top tips later!) ○ Newspaper articles○ Biographical sketches in books

Why so difficult?


Indexes to Print Genealogies


MEYERINK, K. L. (1998). Printed sources: a guide to published genealogical records. Salt Lake City, Ancestry.

Print Indexes

American Genealogical Biographical Index• Every name index to 800

printed genealogies and other compiled sources housed at the Godfrey Memorial Library

• Over 5.5 million entries

• Found in print (200+ volumes) and electronically on HathiTrust (select volumes), Ancestry Library Edition, and WorldVitalRecords

Print Indexes


Genealogical Index of the Newberry Library

• Surname index to 3,000 volumes including genealogies, local histories, and periodicals published prior to 1917

• Digital version available on HathiTrust

Print Indexes


Periodical Source Index PERSI

● Created by Allen County Public Library● 2.3 million records from genealogy and local

history periodicals published in U.S. and Canada back to 1800

● Available in Allen County Public Library OR through HeritageQuest.

● Coming Soon? - FindMyPast.com working with ACPL to link index to full text of article. FindMyPast is a subscription site but does have a Pay-Per-View model.

Print Indexes



Print Indexes


Print Indexes


National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC)

● Operated by the Library of Congress● Mission: “catalog describing archival and

manuscript collections held by eligible repositories located throughout the United States and its territories”

● Project began in 1959● ‘Over 114,000 collections in nearly 1,800

repositories cataloged over the course of the program.’

Print Indexes


● Records from 1959-1985 available in print volumes; 1986-present available on OCLC WorldCat

● Index to Personal Names in the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections, 1959-1984

● Index to Subjects and Corporate Names in the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections, 1959-1984

Print Indexes



Online Sources

● 30+ million volumes● Full View, Limited Preview, Snippet, No View● Great for county histories, legal proceedings,

state and federal government publications, and out of copyright periodicals.

● ILLiad Add-On

Online Sources


Full View

Snippet View

Romelia

Internet Archive• Over 6 million public domain ebooks, 1.6 million

videos, 2 million audio recordings, and 129,000 concerts.

• Genealogy collections features texts from Allen County Public Library, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Brigham Young, National Library of Scotland, and Boston Public Libraries

• Encourages libraries, content holders and the reading community at large, to have their printed materials non-destructively digitized and put online for the benefit of all at one of their 33 global scanning centers.


Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)

● Launched in April 2013● Mission: “to establish a national network out of

the over forty state/regional digital libraries and myriad large digital libraries in the US...into a single access point for users”

Online Sources

DPLA Partners

Online Sources

Family History Books

● 80,000 genealogy and family history publications

Online Sources


Online Sources

HeritageQuest

• Paid Subscription through Proquest

• 7 million digitized page images from over 28,000 family histories, local histories, and other books

• University of California – San Diego loaded 22,176 records into OCLC from items found in HeritageQuest. • OCLC symbol – HQSTO

Online Sources


Online Sources

Chronicling America – Newspaper Directory

● Includes ‘library catalog records created by state institutions during the NEH-sponsored United States Newspaper Program’

● Covers 1690-present ● 140,000 bibliographic

title entries and 900,000 separate library holdings records. Records are updated annually.

Online Sources


Online Sources

Chronicling America - Digital Newspapers

Online Sources

Basic SearchAdvanced SearchBrowse for Titles

Online Sources

Other Newspaper Databases

Online Sources

Online ResourceWikipedia: List of Digital Newspaper

Online Sources

Online Sources


Genealogy Repositories

● Allen County Public Library● Mid-Continent Public Library● National Genealogical Society’s

Collection● Family History Library● Local collections

○ Use the geographic location of the request to identify local libraries, archives, and genealogical societies

○ Champaign County Historical Archives is housed within the Urbana Free Library



● 350,000 printed volumes and 513,000 microfilm/microfiche representing

● 55,000 volumes of compiled genealogies● 48,000 city directories● 6,200 current periodical subscriptions

● Services offered include photocopies from sources including periodicals, family histories and direct records sources such as the military pension indexes:

● Does not use OCLC for genealogical requests; the OCLC symbol is for Public Library collection



Mid-Continent Public Library● Midwest Genealogy Center (OCLC: CMI)● Genealogy from the Heartland

collection offers over 17,000 genealogy and local history books available through ILL to researchers nationwide FREE OF CHARGE



NGS Library Collection● National Genealogical Society Book

Loan Collection (OCLC: ZAE)● Housed at St. Louis County Library

(SLCL)● More than 20,000 circulating volumes ● All items may be checked out or

borrowed through ILL● Policy restricts two books loaned at a

time to a patron. ● Will copy up to 30 pages from one item



Family History Library● Does not use traditional ILL;

still a valuable resource● ‘The collection includes over

2.4 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical records; 727,000 microfiche; 356,000 books, serials, and other formats; over 4,500 periodicals and 3,725 electronic resources.’

● Microfilm loans to Family History Centers around the world for a nominal fee.

● Free document delivery servicefor individuals




Difficult Requests

And how we solved them….

Book Title: History of King County Washington. Volume 1.

Author: Clarence B. Bagley Pub. Date: 1929 Notes: Most interested in information

on Robbins family including a photo of Robbins family homestead that is supposedly featured in this book.

Difficult Request 1


First Step ● Submitted request to several libraries

to try to borrow book

● Unfilled as non-circulating

Difficult Request 1


Next Step

● Submitted new request for photocopy of index.

● No entries for Robbins

Difficult Request 1


Additional Formats● Is it available in other formats?● Print OCLC record:

Difficult Request 1


Google Books

Difficult Request 1

New Photocopy Request ● Submitted a request for title page and

pages 288, 709, and 734.

Difficult Request 1


• Richard Smith

• Death date unknown;suspected 1900-1910 Livingston Co., IL

• Patron searched source Find-A-Grave

• Located date 17 May 1902

• ILL staff used newspaperIndex at ALPL (Springfield, IL)

• Located Fairbury Blade nearest community

Difficult Request 2


• Obituary for Robinson Smith

• Died in California between 1910 and 1920

• Last known residence Tulare County in 1910

• Search engine: Tulare County Obituary Index• Leads to CA Genweb and Tulare County

Obituary Index

• Date of obit 17 Aug 1910 in Tulare Advance Register

• Librarian did additional work to provide cemetery where he was buried and also provided spouse’s name and death date

Difficult Request 3


Difficult Request 3

• Obituary for Alexander Smith

• Died in Springhill Township, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania between 1910 and 1920

• Patron asked to narrow down date• Located possible cemetery listing for December

1910

• WorldCat• Keyword search Fayette and Pennsylvania and limit

to serial• 147 results

• Chose Daily News Standard and The Morning Herald both published in Uniontown, PA; county seat, nearest community

Difficult Request 4



Top Tips for Filling Your Requests

● Be sure the date of death is known and correct.

● Check for local obituary indexes.● Search entire newspaper. ● Be creative with names.

● Look for variants of the name.● Look for married woman under Mrs.

[husband’s name].● Check newspapers for both last known

residence and home town. ● Don’t forget to check ethnic or religious

newspapers.

Tips for Obituaries


● Ask for a loan of the newspaper film if possible; many libraries are not staffed to spend time locating obituaries.

● Although loans usually cost the patron more it allows the chance to find additional information before and after the death such as:○ notice of illness before death○ visits from family before death○ time to find obituary that can be printed up to a

month or more afterward in a newspaper○ cards of thanks from family○ notice of filing of probate or estate

Tips for Obituaries


Top Tips for Filling Requests● Choose who you send requests to strategically

○ What type of library?○ How does the material fit into the

collection?● Think outside OCLC.

● Genealogical Societies ● Historical Societies● Museums

● Check for alternate format.● Check for locally created indexes. ● If material is non-circulating

○ Check if photocopy if possibility○ If too long to copy, ask for copy of index

● If needed, go back to the patron for more information!

Top Tips


It’s okay to cancel!● "Interlibrary loan is the process by which a

library requests material from, or supplies material to, another library.” - ALA

● If user is not looking for a specific source, evaluate if you have the staffing, time, and other resources to do beyond this. It is OKAY to cancel!

● Create a cancellation email template that helps point these patrons to reference librarians and/or other local genealogical research help.

One More Tip


Thanks!

Questions? Additional resources or tips?

Amber Case - [email protected]é Weible - [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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Finding Dead People: Genealogy and Local History Resources for the ILL Pracitioner

Education