Transcript Using your public library

Genealogical Research
Bonnie D. Mendes
Library Director, Somerset Public Library
The Librarian is your
best resource
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Contacting libraries
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 Google the town you are looking for (or ask us!)
 Connect to the Library’s webpage
 Look for “Reference” or “Genealogy”
 Email is a good start, but include a lot of information
 Always contact the library first before sending
money for copies
 Remember, staffing levels are different – each library
is unique.
Don’t forget search
engines
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 www.google.com
 www.yahoo.com
 www.bing.com
 http://www.ipl.org/
The Somerset Public
Library
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 http://www.somersetpubliclibrary.org/
 Click on the Reference Tab
 Then select Special Topics
 Select Genealogy
Library edition vs. home
edition
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 Ancestry.com is designed for the individual so there
is a lot of personalized functionality and there are
personalized options available to individual
subscribers that are not available on our institutional
sites.
 The following is a list of the major features and
functionality that Ancestry.com subscribers have
available that are not included in the institutional
versions of Ancestry:
With your own
subscription…
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Family Trees Tab
This section of the site has many great ways to share and manage all the great information you
find at Ancestry.com including the ability to upload photos, documents and add stories about
ancestors into Personal and Public Member Trees.
Collaborate Tab
Browse or search millions of messages on thousands of surname, locality and topic-centric boards
to connect and learn from long lost relatives and newfound friends. Use the Member Directory to
search for other members of the Ancestry community who have common family history interests.
Store Tab
Buy your favorite Ancestry and other genealogical materials including Ancestry.com's The Source,
Redbook, Printed Sources< and more!
Additionally, there are certain databases that are available on Ancestry.com, that are NOT
available on Ancestry Library Edition (ALE):
Family Trees
Historical Newspaper Collection
Family and Local History Collection
Obituary Collection
Periodical Source Index (PERSI)
Filby's Passenger and Immigration Lists Index (PLI)
Biography & Genealogy Master Index (BGMI)
Freedman's Bank Records
Let’s look at Ancestry
(library ed)
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 1940s Census
 Other databases
 Searching
Other Internet sources
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 FamilySearch.org
A free research tool provided by the The Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints.
Genealogy Learning Center
New England Historic Genealogy Society
Providing research tools and assistance
Where to Write for Vital Records
The links on this National Center for Health Statistics site provide you with
direct
access to individual State and territory information. To use this valuable
tool,
you must first determine the State or area where the birth, death, marriage,
or
divorce occurred, then click on that State or area.
Other Internet Resources
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Comprehensive Portals
Family Trees
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Official genealogy portal for the US National
Archives, contains guidance for genealogy research
and diverse archives of American records
http://www.familysearch.org/
FamilySearch provides resources and is tied to realworld family history classes and Family History
Centers around the world
http://www.progenealogists.com/
ProGenealogists offers paid research services but
also provide a useful set of tools and links for
getting started on your own.
http://www.genealogytoday.com/
Genealogy publication with advice on getting
started, links, and more
https://www.worldvitalrecords.com/
One of the more popular paid genealogy database
sites
 http://www.misbach.org/pdfcharts/
Downloadable genealogy charts (pdf)
 http://www.myheritage.com/
http://www.geni.com/
Social network-oriented family tree
sharing sites
 http://www.familytreemaker.com/
Popular genealogy software
associated with ancestry.com
 http://genealogy.lovetoknow.com/D
raw_a_Family_Tree
Suggestions for making your own
family tree
Other Internet
Resources, con’t.
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International Research
 http://www.worldgen
web.org/
Volunteer-based
organization for
international genealogy
 http://www.genealogy
links.net/
50,000 links sorted by
region
Other Internet Resources
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https://www.23andme.com/partner/foa/
Offers DNA testing resources to learn ancestry and personal health information.
http://www.footnote.com/
Access to more documents from the National Archives, with a set of tools for uploading, annotating, and sharing
http://www.digitalgenealogist.com/past.html
Three-volume journal on digital genealogy
http://www.usgennet.org/
Free and advertisement-free hosting of genealogy sites for educational purposes, public research, or study of
national historic heritage
http://www.interment.net/
Cemetery records online
http://www.dnaheritage.com/
Information on DNA genealogy
http://www.genebase.com/
http://www.familytreedna.com/
DNA ancestry testing services
http://www.ellisisland.org/
Search for relatives who may have come through Ellis Island
http://www.progenealogists.com/genealogysleuthi.htm
Pro Genealogist’s guide to sites their genealogists use, with indications of which are free and which are paid
Massachusetts
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 http://www.massdoc.com/mass_research_tools.htm
 http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcgen/genidx.ht
m (State Archives)
 http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcgen/genidx.ht
m
My favorites
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 Ancestry
 Cyndi’s List - http://www.cyndislist.com/us/ma
 New England Genealogy Society
http://library.nehgs.org/
 Yahoo
Somerset Public Library
1464 County Street
Somerset, MA 02726
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Bonnie Mendes, Library Director
[email protected]
Mary Pelletier, Reference Librarian
[email protected]
508-646-2829
Somersetpubliclibrary.org