A. City directories can be terrific resources when you're tracing ancestors between censuses, census records are missing or you're looking for post-1930 relatives. (The 1930 enumeration is the latest available for public research.) Fortunately, many larger libraries have shelves of old city directories for their own locales and for places across the country. Ask at the reference desk or search the library's online catalog to see what's available.

You also can borrow microfilmed copies of many city directories at your local Family History Center, a branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Family History Library <www.familysearch.org> in Salt Lake City. For Los Angeles, microfilm numbers 1611705 to 1611714 contain the city directories between 1930 and 1935, which is the latest year available on film. Large cities discontinued their directories as the books grew unwieldy, so 1942 is the last one for Los Angeles.

Another option is to find a researcher in California who can look up information for you, either as a volunteer or for a small fee. Try the listings at <www.rootsweb.com/~bwo/california.html> or <www.cagenweb.com/re/losangeles/langelok.htm> for starters.