Genealogy Tech Talk
Lora Cokolat, Electronic Resources
Librarian
lora.cokolat@library.sccgov.org
408-293-2326 x 3017
newspapers, and user-contributed
data.
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RESOURCE OVERVIEW
Subscription Databases Available at
SCCL:
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Ancestry.com is one of the oldest
and most popular genealogy
products. It offers a version to
home subscribers and a slightly
different product (Ancestry
Library Edition) for libraries. The
most popular databases in
Ancestry are the U.S. Federal
Census from 1790 forward. But
Ancestry has a wide variety of
other databases (e.g. Canadian and
UK Census, Social Security Death
Index (SSDI)), digitized books and

Dictionary of American Family
Names
Contains more than 70,000 of the
most commonly occurring
surnames in the United States,
giving their comparative
frequencies, linguistic and
historical explanations, selected
associated forenames, and
occasional genealogical notes.
HeritageQuest is another
established database that is very
popular in libraries. Like Ancestry,
it has digitized U.S. Federal
Census records from 1790-1930,
selected Revolutionary War
information, Vital AfricanAmerican records, and a collection
of digitized genealogy books and
serials primarily from the early
1900’s.
The New York Times (18502006)
A unique full-image archive that
brings you the entire historical run
of The New York Times since
1850. It offers complete coverage
from 1850-2006, delivering every
page of every issue from cover to
cover, with full-page and article
images in downloadable PDF.
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
San Jose Mercury News
(Current and Historical)
Search this local daily newspaper
for full text articles. Find articles
from 1985 to current or 18861922. Newspaper issues provide
unique coverage of local and
regional news, including
companies, politics, sports,
industries, cultural activities, and
people in the community.

WorldCat
A unique database that shows the
holdings of books, videos, audio,
maps, and other materials held by
libraries in California and the
world.
Not Available at SCCL

Footnotes.com has digitized the
original service records from the
National Archive. If a researcher
doesn’t have access to Footnote,
they can check the index to the
records and then request copies of
the original from the National
Archives.

NewEnglandAncestors.org
Makes available Atlases, Bible
Records, Cemeteries, Tax Lists,
Church Records, Courts Records,
Diaries, Heraldry, Immigration,
Land Records, Local Histories,
Military, Probate Records, the
NEHGR 1847-1994, Town
Records and Vital Records.
Regions covered include Canada,
Connecticut, England, Ireland,
Maine, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, New York, Rhode
Island, Vermont.
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ProQuest Obituaries offers more
than 10.5 million obituaries and
death notices in full-image format
from uninterrupted
historical archives of top
newspapers.

Guide to Naturalization Records of
the United States by Christina K.
Schaefer, Genealogical Publishing
1997. (R 929.373 SCHAEFE)

The Handybook for Genealogists,
Everton Publishers, 2006.
(929.1072 HANDYBO 2006)
Black Roots: A Beginner's Guide
to Tracing the African American
Family Tree by Tony Burroughs,
Fireside Book 2001. (929.1089
BURROUG)
Loretta Dennis Szuch, Ancestry
2006. (R 929.1072 SOURCE
2006)

U.S. Military Records: A Guide to
Federal and State Sources,
Colonial America to the Present
by James Neagle, Ancestry, 1994.
(929.373 NEAGLES)
Not Available at SCCL

Avotaynu Guide to Jewish
Genealogy edited by Sallyann
Amdur Sack and Gary Mokotoff,
Avotaynu 2004. (929.1072
AVOTAYN)
Finding Italian Roots: The
Complete Guide for Americans by
John Phillip Colletta, Genealogical
Publishing 2003. (929.1089
COLLETT 2003)
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San Francisco Chronicle
Historical Database
Offers full page and article images
with searchable full text for 18651922.
Books Available at SCCL:
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How to Locate Anyone Who Is Or
Has Been in the Military: Armed
Forces Locator Guide by Richard
S. Johnson and Debra Knox, MIE
Publishing, 1999. (355.0025
JOHNSON 1999)
Red Book: American State,
County, and Town Sources by
Alice Eichholz, Ancestry 2004. (R
929.1072 RED 2004)
The Researcher's Guide to
American Genealogy by Val D.
Greenwood, Genealogical
Publishing 1990. (929.1
GREENWO 2000)
The Source: A Guidebook to
American Genealogy edited by
Sandra Hargreaves Luebking and
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
Beider, A. 1996. A Dictionary of
Jewish Surnames from the
Kingdom of Poland. Teaneck, NJ:
Avotaynu.

Beider, A. 1995. Jewish Surnames
from Prague (15th-18th centuries).
Teaneck, NJ: Avotaynu.
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Beider, A. 1993, 2008. A
Dictionary of Jewish Surnames
from the Russian Empire. Teaneck,
NJ: Avotaynu.
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Beider, A. 2004. A Dictionary of
Jewish Surnames from Galicia.
Bergenfield, NJ: Avotaynu.

Byers, Paula K. 1995. African
American Genealogical
Sourcebook. Genealogy
Sourcebook Series. NY: Gale
Research.
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Cole, Trafford R. 1995. Italian
Genealogical Records: How to
Use Italian Civil, ecclesiastical &
Other Records in Family History
Research. Ancestry.
Glazier, Ira. 2002-. Germans to
America. Wilmington, Delaware:
Scholarly Resources.
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Glazier, Ira. 1995-. Italians to
America. Wilmington, Delaware:
Scholarly Resources.

Glazier, Ira. 1995-. Migration from
the Russian Empire. Baltimore,
Maryland: Genealogical
Publishing.
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Glazier, Ira. 1983-. The Famine
Immigrants. Baltimore, Maryland:
Genealogical Publishing.
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Prologue (published by National
Archives)
Free Websites:

The PBS series African-American
Lives, hosted by Henry Louis
Gates. (DVD 973.0496
AFRICAN)
Journals: (Not Available at SCCL)
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NGS News Magazine (published
by National Genealogical Society)
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Videos:
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National Genealogical Society
Quarterly (published by National
Genealogical Society)
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Afrigeneas:
http://www.afrigeneas.com/
Is a site devoted to African
American genealogy, to
researching African Ancestry in
the Americas in particular and to
genealogical research and
resources in general. It is also an
African Ancestry research
community featuring the
AfriGeneas mail list, the
AfriGeneas message boards and
daily and weekly genealogy chats.
California Room Database:
http://www.sjlibrary.org/research/s
pecial/ca/caroom_intro.htm
Index to historical information on
San Jose, Santa Clara County, and
California located in the San Jose
Public Library’s California Room.
Castle Garden:
http://www.castlegarden.org/
This free site offers access on 11
million immigrants from 1820
through 1892, the year Ellis Island
opened.
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
Census Finder
http://www.censusfinder.com/
Lists the questions for the 17901930 schedules. Also makes
available selected census and vital
records for free.

Center for Disease Control and
Prevention – Where to Write for
Vital Records:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w.htm
This site contains information
about where to write for birth,
death, marriage, and divorce
certificates from each state,
territory, and county of the United
States.

The Central Database of Shoah
Victims' Names – Yad Vashem:
http://www.yadvashem.org/wps/po
rtal/IY_HON_Welcome
Makes available a collection of
names and biographical details of
half of the six million Jews
murdered by the Nazis and their
accomplices.

Chronicling America:
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
Maintained by the Library of
Congress as a work in progress this
digital resource provides historical
newspapers from all the states and
U.S. territories published from
1880-1910. Includes a directory or
profile of American newspapers
published between 1690-present.
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Cyndi’s List:
http://www.cyndislist.com/
Cindy’s List is a directory of
genealogy resources on the Web,
arranged by topic. It’s a great way
to locate online sources on a
particular genealogical subject.
The Civil War Archive:
http://www.civilwararchive.com/
Includes regimental histories,
union corps histories, soldier's
letters, diaries, and a variety of
other information.

Civil War Soldiers and Sailors
System:
http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/
Offers very basic facts about
servicemen who served on both
sides during the Civil.

DeathIndexes.com:
http://www.deathindexes.com/
DeathIndexes.com is a compilation
of links to vital records databases.
It’s very well organized and
maintained, and helpful with the
difficult task of locating vital
records on the internet.
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Ellis Island:
http://www.ellisisland.org/
Makes available millions of
passenger records between the
years 1892-1924.
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Family History Library:
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/d
efault.asp
The Church of Jesus Christ of the
Latter-Day Saints has put its
extensive family history database
online. There is access to the
Ancestral File, the International
Genealogical Index, and the
Family History Catalog. Visit this
site to find and share family
history information.
Family Search Labs:
http://labs.familysearch.org/
Currently, the FHL is in the
process of digitizing its massive
microfilm library and indexing the
digitized records. These projects
and other digital initiatives are
available at FamilySearch labs, the
FHL page for beta-testing its
digital initiatives. Although the
FHL does not consider these
projects complete, they are already
very useful.
Find A Grave:
http://www.findagrave.com/
Find A Grave is a resource for
finding the final resting place of
family, friends, and 'famous'
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individuals. With millions of
names and photos, it is an
invaluable tool for the genealogist
and family history buff. Find A
Grave memorials can contain rich
content including photos,
biographies and dates.
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Genealogy Roots Blog:
http://genrootsblog.blogspot.com/
The Genealogy Roots Blog is for
finding online genealogy
databases, records and resources.
The focus is on vital records (birth,
marriage, divorce & death
records), obituaries, census
records, naturalization records,
military records and ship passenger
lists. The Genealogy Roots Blog is
based in the USA, but online
European, Canadian, and other
records sources are sometimes
included. Mixed in with all this
you will occasionally find a fun
post, a book review or genealogy
news.
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Google Books:
http://books.google.com/
Search and preview millions of
books and magazines from
libraries and publishers worldwide.
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IPUMS USA
http://usa.ipums.org/usa/voliii/tEnu
mForm.shtml
Lists the census questions from
1850-present.
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JewishGen:
http://www.jewishgen.org/
Features thousands of databases,
research tools, and other resources
to help those with Jewish ancestry
research.
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JewishGen ShtetlSeeker:
http://www.jewishgen.org/commu
nities/
A geographic tool to search current
and historical places in Europe,
North Africa, Central Asia and the
Middle East.
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Linkpendium:
http://www.linkpendium.com/
Linkpendium is another genealogy
web directory, with a great library
of categorized links.
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Open Content Alliance/Internet
Archive:
http://www.archive.org/
An online archive of multilingual
digitized text and multimedia
content.
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Rootsweb:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com
Rootsweb is a long-standing
networking resource for
genealogists. It includes listservs,
submitted family trees,, and much
more. I find one of the most useful
resources on the site is the
Rootsweb Surname List, a list of
researchers, arranged by the
surname they are studying.
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Santa Clara County Historical
and Genealogical Society:
http://www.scchgs.org/
Includes information about the
society and a surname index to
their files on early settlers of Santa
Clara County.
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Santa Clara County Library
Local History Collection:
http://www.santaclaracountylib.org
/history/index.html
Information to local history
collection at Santa Clara County
Library as well as links to selected
online resources.
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USGenWeb:
http://usgenweb.org/
USGenWeb is a network of
geographically-specific websites
run by volunteers. There’s a page
for every state and county. The
county pages typically have useful
information about local records,
research institutions, and help
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researches share information. In
recent years, many of these pages
seem to be abandoned or out of
date, but they are still worth a
look.
Mailing Lists:

Genealib Mailing List:
http://mailman.acomp.usf.edu/
mailman/listinfo/genealib
Excellent resource to connect
with other professionals in the
field of genealogy.
Other Institutions:

The Family History Library
(FHL) & Family History
Center Near You
http://www.familysearch.org
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National Archives at San
Francisco, 1000 Commodore
Drive, San Bruno, California
94066-2350
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Sutro Library
480 Winston Drive
San Francisco, CA 94132
(415) 731-4477
FAX (415) 557-9325
Email: sutro@library.ca.gov
Capitol Branch
State Capitol, Room 5210
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 445-3551
FAX (916) 324-0454
Email: crb@library.ca.gov
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