The beginning genealogist should
first sit down and read a basic introduction to genealogical research to
get an idea of how to start. Since there are many routes a person can take
in tracing family history, the researcher should also read one or more
books that describe the various types of materials available.
Methods Books
These “how-to-do-it” manuals introduce genealogy
generally or by geographic area or by ethnic group. Other manuals assist
in doing research in specific fields of interest such as census records,
naturalization papers, passenger lists, military records. Books on using
the computer, recording interviews with audio or video equipment, organizing
materials, and writing it all down are also available.
A bibliography, or list of books, often with critical notes
which has become standard in genealogy is P.W. Filby’s American
and British Genealogy and Heraldry. Filby is
an editor to a bibliography of printed passenger lists, derived from his
monumental
yet unfinished Passenger
and Immigration Lists Index,
a personal name index to 16th through mid-20th century printed lists, now
containing over three million names. The majority of this information is
also available on CD-ROM.
The Library of Congress and the National Archives have a series of bibliographies
of their extensive holdings.
Subject Catalog of the Library of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
The collection contains a large number of family histories,
some donated by the Milwaukee County Genealogical Society, others by their
authors, many of whom have used the collection in their research. The library
does not purchase family genealogies, but will accept donations of histories
of Wisconsin families.
Genealogy involves much more than trying to find a “ready-made” family
history. Only by extracting family-related information from sources generated
for non-genealogical purposes - censuses, newspapers, vital records,
local, county, state and national histories, atlases and a number of
others - can the researcher complete the family picture as fully as possible.
Church histories, histories of ethnic groups, maps (especially ones showing
land divisions), books of wills, tax lists, lineage books of hereditary
societies, and military records also should be read.
Additional genealogical material includes the local family files of
the Milwaukee County Genealogical Society housed in the Frank P. Zeidler
Humanities Room, a collection of Milwaukee (1847) and Wisconsin city
directories, and name indexes to selected federal and state censuses.
Periodicals/Indexes
Readers should be aware that genealogical periodicals vary
widely as to purpose and quality of content. Genealogical societies publish
most of them, holding themselves responsible for a geographic area, such
as a county. Others deal with one family or a historical theme such as
immigration from Pomerania. Contents vary as to type, but the society’s
news, interpretive articles on a family or person, and printed primary
sources are a typical mix.
Some of the library’s periodicals are classified and are shelved
with the books; most, however, do not have call numbers and are arranged
by title alphabetically in a separate location. Many of the library’s
genealogical magazines are gifts of the Milwaukee County Genealogical
Society and the Wisconsin State Genealogical Society. All periodicals
are listed in CountyCat. Most genealogical periodicals are located in
the Frank P. Zeidler Humanities Room.
Periodical Indexes
Most of the genealogical periodicals do not show up in standard periodical
indexes. There are two major periodical indexes to search for articles.
The
Genealogical Periodical Annual Index (GPAI) covers the years1962
- 2001. It is no longer being published. The
Periodical Source Index (PERSI) is an index of genealogical periodicals in the Allen County Public
Library
and has two separate parts: a retrospective name and place index covering
periodicals published from 1847-1985, and annual indexes starting in
1986. PERSI is available in paper through 1997, on CD-ROM through 2002
and on HeritageQuest (electronic resource).
Newspapers
The Business, Technology and Periodicals Room
has all of the library’s newspapers, both historical and current,
and most of its microfilmed materials, which include census records, vital
records and cemetery records.
The library has a good collection of local newspapers such as the Milwaukee
Sentinel (1837-1995), the Milwaukee Journal (1890-1995), the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel (1995-present), Evening Wisconsin (1847-1937), Milwaukee
Leader (1911-1938) and Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle (1955-present), plus
much of the local ethnic press no longer published. A detailed local
and state news index to the Milwaukee Sentinel covering 1837-1890 is
available in the Periodicals Department.
The Periodicals Room has machines for making paper copies from microforms.
Both the Humanities and Periodicals Rooms have photocopiers. Some restrictions
due to concern for preservation and copyright apply to photocopying.
