Getting Books - 3 Parts and Counting

  

FamilySearch Library
Link is here

Titled another way, this post might have been "identify it, find it, and bring it home." Carrie Cartwright Bergquist says "I'm a paper person." Personally, I'm more of a "download bits person." Either way, a lot of what happens is the same. This is part of a continuing series on finding that "special book or document."

In the meantime, here's a "hot tip." Any documents found from this series can also be searched for from our local Ocean Shores FamilySearch Center. It's got many online databases that are simply not available within a two-day trip from Western Washington.

Part 1 - Finding Books about a Small Town History

 

Many of us have roots in what are, or were small towns, this is a story about finding books in one such place.

In previous posts, various Internet sources of old genealogical books have been noted here. The use of Worldcat and other sources to find old paper books has also been discussed here.

Part 2 - Checking the Top Genealogy Library Catalogs

A while back, a post, here, discussed the best genealogical repositories beyond our nearby libraries. Now, we're going to investigate what you can get from "the nation's best." To come up with this list, FamilyTree Magazine's ranking was considered, along with that from FamilySearch. In addition to this post, the "Genealogy's Star" blog has a good post on the subject which emphasizes actually GETTING the relevant item.

• Anyway, the list below has the following characteristics considered
• They are part of worldcat dot org. One worldcat trick that is handy for genealogical searching on worldcat is to make the "best libraries" also your "favorites." 
• They have an online catalog
• There is a way for a nonresident to borrow materials without going there in person

Mayflower Families Vol. 1,2,3,12,17 &18 Silver Books

 GENS - Family History Research, Library and Archives at 897 Minard Ave NW Ocean Shores, WA

We just received a donation of six silver books - Mayflower Families Vol. 1,2,312,17 and 18 from Carol-Lee Perkins. Please visit us to explore your families that arrived on the Mayflower!

Finding that Oddball Family History Book

In previous posts, various Internet sources of old genealogical books have been noted here. The use of Worldcat and other sources to find old paper books has also been discussed here. Sometimes these appear by simple luck, as discovering a previously unknown relative in one of those cheesy family history books.

A major resource exists that was touched upon in the review of Cradled in Sweden. That post was here. However, Amazon has far more power to uncover those oddball family history books than you might imagine.

Serendipity in Genealogy Research

One of those many "Family Tree" Books that my mother and father
filled out a little bit - this one turned out to have a surprise inside

Even in Genealogical research, serendipity occurs when we least expect it. In my case (Steve Averill), it led me to discover a fairly close relative I'd never even imagined. The discovery did not come after extensive research, but rather it simply fell upon my lap. The research that I did simply verified the relative was real and that her relationship was known and verifiable.

Book Review - an "Obsolete" Swedish Genealogy Book

 

Some genealogy books age quickly and poorly. Others become a gift that keeps on giving. "Cradled in Sweden" is one of the latter category. Conveniently for people in Ocean Shores that have Swedish ancestors, the Ocean Shores Library has a copy, though that fact is omitted by Worldcat.

Seattle's Special

Seattle Public Library
Wikipedia Photo by Ɱ

Seattle Public Library (SPL)

The SPL is one public library in a different league than any other in this series. Not only is its main branch also a FamilySearch Affiliate library, but it has America’s Genealogy, the Seattle Times going back to 1895, and Sanborn Fire Maps that I have not found anywhere else. Most libraries only have Sanborn maps of the State the library is in. The Library of Congress has many maps from locations around the US, but none after about 1920. Seattle has newer and more Sanborn maps. Some of this material is not available even on the big “pay” genealogy sites. And we haven't even mentioned that SPL also has a large genealogy collection if you visit them in person. Seattle has done a lot of stuff wrong, but the library is done right. There are some advantages to living in the region's largest city.

Using Worldcat for Genealogy Research

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.