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Five Places to Find a Published Genealogy
By Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
Finding a family history book that covers part of your family tree starts with knowing where to look. Here are five likely sources to locate a published genealogy about your family—if one exists.
1. The Family History Library
Located in Salt Lake City, the massive Family History Library has more than 70,000 biography and family history volumes. You can search its holdings by several different categories, including by surname. The results will be a list of books that focus specifically on your family of interest as well as books that might contain your surname as an "allied" branch. At www.familysearch.org, follow the links to the Family History Library System, then the Catalog, then Surname Search. You can also search the catalog at your local Family History Center.
If you find a published genealogy at the Family History Library and it's been microfilmed, you can order a copy of the film through your local Family History Center. If it hasn't been microfilmed, then you need to visit the library or have someone check the book for you.
2. Public libraries with genealogy and local history departments
Many public libraries with genealogy and local history collections now make their catalogs available online. (For a guide to finding family history resources in online library catalogs, see the April 2000 Family Tree Magazine or check out Your Virtual Library Card. Also, at www.publiclibraries.com you'll find links to libraries listed by state.) For the locality where your ancestors lived, look for an online library catalog, then check to see if it has any published genealogies on your family. One major genealogy department with more than 38,000 published family histories is the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Ind. at www.acpl.lib.in.us/genealogy/.
3. Genealogical and Local History Books in Print
A great resource for determining if there's a genealogy on your family is the four-volume set Genealogical and Local History Books in Print, 5th edition, edited by Marian Hoffman (Genealogical Publishing Co., $25 per volume), which should be available at most libraries with genealogical collections. The four volumes cover family histories, general reference books, US sources Alabama through New York and US sources North Carolina through Wyoming. The family history volume is currently out of print, but a new edition is planned for release later this year. (If you've published a family history that's currently in print and would like it included at no cost in this new edition, contact Marian Hoffman at 1001 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21202 or e-mail her at hoffman@genealogical.com by June 15 for a listing form.) Each listing in GLHBIP gives a brief description of the book, price and ordering information.
Remember, if a family history you seek is out of print, it won't be listed here. To find a genealogy that's out of print, check online used and rare book search services such as alibris at www.alibris.com, Bibliofind at www.bibliofind.com, BookFinder at www.bookfinder.com, Powell's Books at www.powells.com and Amazon.com's rare and used books at www.amazon.com. Cyndi's List provides many links to online used bookstores at www.cyndislist.com/books.htm#used.
4. Library of Congress
Theoretically, once someone has written a genealogy, the author should register it with the Library of Congress Copyright Office. To register, a writer must send two copies of the work with an application and fee. Once the copyright is approved, the book is donated to the library's genealogical section. Genealogies in the Library of Congress: A Bibliography and its supplements, by Marion Kaminkow, consists of five massive volumes (Genealogical Publishing Co., $395). In these volumes (also available at libraries), you'll find details on more than 50,000 family histories, published and unpublished, held by the Library of Congress. You can also check the library's online catalog at catalog.loc.gov for published family histories.
5. Directory of Family Associations
You might also check Elizabeth P. Bentley's Directory of Family Associations, 4th edition, due out this spring (Genealogical Publishing Co., $35). This directory will tell you if the family association has any publications. Even if you don't discover a family history book, you could uncover an association newsletter or journal containing genealogies of different branches of your family.
For more expert advice on how to find and use published genealogies to quickly grow your family tree, see the June 2001 issue of Family Tree Magazine.
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