Learn To Use Published Genealogies And Genealogical Journals
Many libraries have published genealogies. Some may prove helpful for a description of the times, while others may actually contain information on your family members. One way to find out is to use the many indexes of printed genealogies. They will let you know if the genealogy of the family you are searching for has been published in either periodical or book form. You simply look up the family name to find any genealogies published on that name, including publication date, publisher name, and other details.
Once you find a reference to a published genealogy, you can search for a copy of the genealogy in the library where you found the reference in the index or contact other libraries to see whether they have it in their collections.
If you are fortunate enough to find a copy of a genealogy of a family in which you are interested, and go on to discover that it indeed contains your line of descent, copy the information you need and create an ancestral chart. When working on the chart, write down the page number where you find the information on each name you are jotting down. That way, if you ever need to go back for a fact, you won't have to search through pages and pages to find the information.
However, just because you find a volume containing the genealogy of one of your descent lines, this does not guarantee that the data is accurate. The person who compiled the genealogy could have based the information on hearsay, inaccurate memories, and then printed it in a way that makes it look professional.
Many times, in fact, a few scraps of faded paper can contain a genealogy that are much more accurate than one that has been printed and bound. Never take any pre-published genealogy as gospel; always compare dates, facts, and relationships against either the original or other type of official records.
Genealogical journals and newsletters have been published throughout the history, which means you have a huge amount of published material from which to sort. More than a thousand magazines publish information on societies and genealogical libraries. Some even invite you to write in with questions, in the hope that other readers may help you in your information search.
Besides the many regional and state genealogical periodicals, there are general periodicals pertaining to genealogy that offer current topics, top-notch research techniques, ads, and means for genealogists to contact each other. Most towns and counties have published local histories about their founding and historical events.
A great many of these local histories were written at the end of the 19th century when commercial publishers packaged information with subscriptions from businesses and people that are willing to pay to be included in the history. Often, it was a situation where the bigger the payment, the larger the entry. Also, when cities and towns celebrated landmark anniversaries, town histories were also produced. Often, these entries contain information about other family members and their original homeland.
