Last weekend, my local genealogical society held their annual seminar with the main presenter being D. Johsua Taylor. Josh mentioned 3 resources that I had never used so I'm passing the information along as they may be helpful in your researching.
Warning - the first and last isn't readily available so it might take you some time to find them in your locale.
Early American Imprints is a collection in two series of single page documents, such as advertisements, pamphlets and sermons, from 1690-1800 and 1801-1819. There is a searchable database produced by Readex. Unfortunately for me, there is no facility in my county that has access but I did email a library at my closest state university and discovered they do have it and allow the general public to view it. I can't wait to check it out!
Archive Grid, owned by OCLC, is like WorldCat and this free resource is available to you from home. The beauty of Archive Grid is that you can obtain catalog descriptions from collections housed around the world, not just the U.S. Through a key word search or by browsing a selected topic, who knows what genealogical gems you may uncover. I'm thinking this might be a wonderful way to shed light on some of my brick wall ancestors who left little records behind.
ArchiveFinder is similar to Archive Grid but is available only through libraries. I haven't found a local source yet and will ask my library consortium if they could fund it in the future. Why I would like to check it out is because the database includes manuscript collections that I wouldn't know are available without this resource. Josh recommended asking your library if they are a part of C19 - libraryspeak for an index that libraries often subscribe to. ArchiveFinder is available with a subscription to C19.
GenealogyAtHeart Hint - keep a Word doc or spreadsheet on your computer of resources you want to search for at various archives so when you're headed out the door on an errand, you have a list of what to check while you're passing by that library. Sure, I call or email the library if it's urgent but often I come across a book I'd like to review for a possible connection to an ancestor I'm researching but the facility is closed at the time I discover it or I just don't want to make the drive to the next county for just a look. I actually print the lists and keep them in my car so if I happen to be going that way, I can stop in. I record the call number (from WorldCat), the book title, the author, the publication year, and most importantly - the name of the ancestor I think it pertains to. I can always look up the call number or title in the library but if I can't remember who I'm looking up, it's a waste of my time. Don't forget to remove the resource from the list on your computer when you get home. Happy Hunting!
No comments:
Post a Comment