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Genealogy and Family History: For Librarians & Faculty

A guide to assist those interested in starting a family history project.

College, Career & Civic Life (NCSS 2013)

Using primary sources to teach students about the past helps them to improve crucial analytical skills and gives them an opportunity to evaluate a variety of sources and to construct evidence-based narratives. These are skills that all students need for success throughout their educational process, career, and civic life (National Council for the Social Studies 2013).

https://www.socialstudies.org/sites/default/files/c3/C3-Framework-for-Social-Studies.pdf

Showing Students How to do Research and Create a Research Plan

Open Access Genealogy Journals

American Library Association (ALA)

Reference Sources for Librarians/How to Integrate Genealogy into the Curriculum

Genealogy? In the Academic World? Seriously? A Discussion

Enroll in a Canvas Genealogy MOOC

What is a MOOC? A massive open online course is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. In addition to traditional course materials such as filmed lectures, readings, and problem sets, many MOOCs provide interactive courses with user forums to support community interactions among students, professors, and teaching assistants (TAs) as well as immediate feedback to quick quizzes and assignments. MOOCs are a recent and widely researched development in distance education which were first introduced in 2006 and emerged as a popular mode of learning in 2012.

MOOC's start and stop throughout the year. Check online to see the next starting date for a genealogy MOOC. The pictures below are samples of online MOOCs that might be of interest to the beginning genealogist.

University Academic Libraries: Genealogy LibGuides

The Genealogy Reference Interview

Genealogy Basics for Library Staff

OCLC Sites and Tools

Great Reads about Genealogy Librarians

National Archives: Proglogue Magazine

Prologue magazine brings readers stories based on the rich holdings and programs of the National Archives across the nation—from Washington, DC, to the regional archives and the Presidential libraries. 

Prologue was published quarterly by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for nearly 50 years. The Winter 2017–18 issue was the last printed edition.

 

TMCC Library Databases

Did you know that the TMCC LIbrary Ebsco Master File Complete subscription allows you full text access to the following 12 genealogy publications?

1) Familia (2007 - present)

2) New England Ancestors (2008 - present)

3) Argyll Colony Plus (2009 - 2012)

4) Hidden Valley Journal (2012 - Present)

5) New England Ancestors - Formerly titled American Ancestors (2008 - Present)

6) North Dakota State Genealogical Society Newsletter (2010 - Present)

7) Tree Searcher (2009 - Present)

8) Prospector Clark County Nevada Genealogical Society (2009 - Present)

9) Arkansas Family Historian (2010 - Present)

10) Genealogy Magazine (Jan 1, 2011 - Feb 28, 2012)

11) Illinois Mennonite Heritage Quarterly (Dec 1, 2007 - Present)

12) Ancestor Hunt, Quarterly Publications of the Ashtabula Genealogical Society of Ohio (Feb 1, 2013 - Present)

13) Family Tree Magazine (8/1/21 - Present)

Our Gale Primary Sources Collection gives you access to:

American Antiquarian Society 

Across our database collection you can also access the New England Historical and Genealogical Register in our JSTOR Early Journal content, Ebsco's American Antiquarian Society Historical periodicals collection, and Gale Primary Sources American Historical Periodicals Collection. Below are some suggestions of publications to look for in this collection:

Chronotype. American College of Heraldry & Genealogical Registry (01/01/1873 to 04/01/1874)

Davis Family Record: A Monthly Journal Devoted to the History and Genealogy of the Davis Family (1867-1868)

New England Historical & Genealogical Register: Published Quarterly Under the Direction of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (01/01/1847 to 10/01/1852)

Maine Genealogist & Biographer: A Quarterly Journal (09/01/1875 to 12/01/1877)

New York Genealogical & Biographical Record (12/01/1869 to 10/01/1877)

 

 

WorldCat Focus on: Genealogy

Food for Thought

"Genealogy is an auxiliary branch of history that was first recognized as a professional field of study in 1964 with the formation of the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG)."

Source Citation 

Tolley-Stokes, Rebecca. "Genealogy." Dictionary of American History, edited by Stanley I. Kutler, 3rd ed., vol. 3, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003, pp. 521-523. Gale Virtual Reference Libraryhttp://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3401801665/GVRL?u=tmcc_main&sid=GVRL&xid=c4a259fd. Accessed 21 Oct. 2018.

Educational Standards

Ebsco Articles on How Genealogy Can be Incorporated into the Curriculum

Genealogy Libraries in the U.S.

Genealogy Research at the Library of Congress

Kanopy Film Subscription

Does your library subscribe to Kanopy Films? If it does, they offer an excellent series of videos titled Discovering your Roots: An Introduction to Genealogy by Dr. John Phillip Colletta. It is part of their Great Courses series and is cataloged under Social Sciences: Anthropology.

Another great suggestion is How to Trace Your Native American Heritage. 

Suggestions for Library Database Subscriptions

Collaborations between Community College Libraries and other State Offices

Schools: Integrating Genealogy into the English Curriculum

Community College Libraries Who Offer Credit Classes in Genealogy

College And University Genealogy Clubs

Genealogy and DNA Companies Working with Educators

Did you know that many genealogical service companies work with educators to incorporate family history and DNA testing into the curriculum?

Index Systems Used in Genealogy Research

When helping patrons do their family history research, you will encounter many different types of indexing systems. Below are links to explain some of the more common ones that you might come across.

Genealogy Education: Colleges Working With K-12

Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Penn State Anthropology professor Nina Jablonski created Finding Your Roots: the Seedlings to introduce genealogy into the K-12 curriculum. Want to know more about this new program? See below.

Explaining the Difference: Subject vs Keyword Search

Genealogy Poetry

Genealogy as an English Class Assignment

BYU Family History Technology Lab

Enabling the Genealogy Citizen Scientist: Inclusion, Discovery and Meaning, with Dr. Lee Martinez, School of Information, University of Arizona