Worldcat, at https://www.worldcat.org/ is a resource you can use to find WHERE books you've run across in your research are stored. Many libraries (including Ocean Shores), are worldcat members that publish their collections to the worldcat database. People who search for items in those collections, can find out which member libraries have those collection items. While you aren't going to find exotic genealogy books in our Ocean Shores library, you might find very useful books nearby. For a small fee, Ocean Shores might be able to get them here via inter-library loan. TRL has free inter-library loans and if you are a UW Alumni Association, you can access the UW library's extensive collection.
Let's try an example, so you can see how it works. One of the PRIME resources for those looking for my own Averill family is a book, entitled "The Averell-Averill-Avery family : a record of the descendants of William and Abigail Averell of Ipswich, Mass," by Clara Arlette Avery. Entering "Averell-Averill-Avery family by Clara Avery" brings up a results list such as that shown below.
If I then pick one with "all editions," it'll bring up a number of choices. Clicking on any of those will tell me libraries near my selected zip code. In this case, I entered "98569" as the zip for Ocean Shores. Sure enough, I quickly found an edition with copies residing as below:
It is probably no surprise that the Seattle Public Library has a copy, as does the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
However, I could also look for more exotic stuff. Searching for "Windham County, Connecticut genealogy" brings up the result shown below.
If I then click on a few of the links, I quickly discover that "Cemetery records of Windham County, Connecticut" is available at the Seattle Public Library, and that most of the others are in Salt Lake City.
You can also establish a free account at Worldcat, but it isn't necessary. The account allows you to save searches and do a few other things. However, I think the site uses cookies to remember what zip code you told it in your most recent session.
Worldcat is good at finding PAPER versions of stuff you want to look at. Some of this material is available directly from your own computer at home, however. The Averill family history, for example, is electronically available through archive.org and through Google Books. There really IS more than one way to skin the proverbial cat...
Let's try an example, so you can see how it works. One of the PRIME resources for those looking for my own Averill family is a book, entitled "The Averell-Averill-Avery family : a record of the descendants of William and Abigail Averell of Ipswich, Mass," by Clara Arlette Avery. Entering "Averell-Averill-Avery family by Clara Avery" brings up a results list such as that shown below.
If I then pick one with "all editions," it'll bring up a number of choices. Clicking on any of those will tell me libraries near my selected zip code. In this case, I entered "98569" as the zip for Ocean Shores. Sure enough, I quickly found an edition with copies residing as below:
However, I could also look for more exotic stuff. Searching for "Windham County, Connecticut genealogy" brings up the result shown below.
If I then click on a few of the links, I quickly discover that "Cemetery records of Windham County, Connecticut" is available at the Seattle Public Library, and that most of the others are in Salt Lake City.
You can also establish a free account at Worldcat, but it isn't necessary. The account allows you to save searches and do a few other things. However, I think the site uses cookies to remember what zip code you told it in your most recent session.
Worldcat is good at finding PAPER versions of stuff you want to look at. Some of this material is available directly from your own computer at home, however. The Averill family history, for example, is electronically available through archive.org and through Google Books. There really IS more than one way to skin the proverbial cat...
