A guide to basic research methods and the best general resources in and guides to family research. This guide does not include detailed record sources (books or CD-ROMs), family histories or directories of lineages, periodicals from specific localities, professional genealogy, or genealogical writing -- although the library's genealogy collection includes many books in all those subjects.
     * = Reference only (most other titles are both circulating & reference).

Basic Methodology

The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy. 3d ed. 2000.

Call number 929.1 G816r3

Updated & expanded edition of the standard and authoritative text. Clearly written and comprehensive treatment of research methods and techniques, as well as basic sources of information, with many examples.

Unpuzzling Your Past: The Best-Selling Basic Guide to Genealogy. 4th ed. 2001.

Call number 929.1 C948n4

Excellent how-to guide, especially for the complete novice. Practical, logically organized, and not too technical.

Ancestry's Guide to Research: Case Studies in American Research. 1985.

Call number 929.1 C415a

Excellent guide to the principles of genealogical research using the case study approach. Also excellent chapters on getting starting, planning and managing a research project, organizing your files, and other practicalities.

The Sleuth Book for Genealogists: Strategies for More Successful Family History Research. 2000.

Call number 929.107 C948s

How-to book for the "advanced beginner" and intermediate genealogist. Her carefully planned strategies are solid research techniques.

The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy. 1997.

Call number 929.1 S719e2

Large, heavily detailed guide to every category of genealogical information, with emphasis on "original" sources. Each chapter is written by a recognized specialist in the field.

Printed Sources: A Guide to Published Genealogical Records. Rev. ed. 1998.

Call number *016.929 P957m

Companion volume to The Source, covering all categories of published, secondary information sources. Again, each of the twenty chapters is written by an acknowledged specialist.

Hidden Sources: Family History in Unlikely Places. 2000.

Call number *929.107 P526h

Second additional volume modeled on The Source, covering more than 100 types of little-used and often overlooked records.

Standards, Evidence, Analysis, & Source Citation

The BCG Genealogical Standards Manual. 2000.

Call number *929.1 B364b

Published by the body that certifies professional (and other very serious) genealogists, this volume clarifies and codifies the most reliable methods for genealogical research and standards for evaluation of evidence.

Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian. 1997.

Call number 929.1 M657e

In genealogical research, analysis of the evidence is the most important issue, and citation of sources is the second-most important. A "core" title by one of the country's best known specialists in genealogical analysis.

Cite Your Sources: A Manual for Documenting Family Histories and Genealogical Records. 1980.

Call number 929.1 L141c

Before Mills, there was Lackey. This is still an excellent source in documenting pre-Internet research.

Genealogical Evidence: A Guide to the Standard of Proof Relating to Pedigrees, Ancestry, Heirship, and Family History. 1979.

Call number *929.1 S848ge

Sometimes heavy in its legalese, this is nevertheless a classic in the analysis of genealogical evidence, with many examples and case studies.

Basic Reference Sources

The Handybook for Genealogists. 10th ed. 2002.

Call number *929.107 H236e10

Completely revised and greatly expanded over previous editions, which for more than forty years have been the standard resource for types of records available in each state and county, and for what periods of time, with full contact information.

Bibliography of American County Histories. 1987.

Call number *016.973 F479b

Standard and comprehensive (through 1984) bibliography of U.S. state, county, and local histories.

Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives. 3d ed. 2000.

Call number 929.1 U58g3

Most federal documents and information sources of interest to genealogists are in the care of the National Archives. This is a detailed guide to NARA's collections, both microfilmed and unfilmed.

Basic Research Guides in Special Subjects

A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Female Ancestors. 1998.

Call number 929.1 C287ge

Researching women is much more difficult than researching men. This volume presents well thought-out research techniques, analyzes the types of sources and records available, and presents a detailed case study.

A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your African-American Ancestors. 2003.

Call number 929.108 S647g

African-American genealogy presents special challenges and situations, which are discussed here in detail, and courses of research and under-used records are recommended.

Black Roots: A Beginner's Guide to Tracing the African American Family Tree. 2001.

Call number 929.108 B972b

An excellent book for the novice by a highly-regarded genealogical instructor, speaker, and author. Makes heavy use of his own research experiences, with emphasis on practical solutions to problems.

Land and Property Research in the United States. 1997.

Call number *929.1 H772L

Land records are among the oldest and best preserved sources of information available, but are often overlooked by researchers. This encyclopedic volume will tell you where to find and how to interpret federal, state, and local land use records.

Your Guide to Cemetery Research. 2002.

Call number 929.5 C287y

A grave marker is often the only tangible evidence an ancestor leaves behind -- but you have to know where to find it, how to interpret it, and how to place it in context. Carmack, an expert in this subject, covers not only burial grounds themselves, but all the public and private records a death creates.

They Came in Ships: A Guide to Finding Your Immigrant Ancestor's Ship. 2d ed. 1993.

Call number 929.107 C698t2

Expanded and revised edition of a classic in making the "immigrant connection" to the country and town of origin. Colletta is one of the clearest and most motivating genealogists writing today.

A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Immigrant & Ethnic Ancestors. 2000.

Call number 929.107 C287g

Unless you're 100% Native American, you descend from immigrants. This thorough but easy to read guide covers forty-two distinct ethnic groups (including Native Americans), with recommendations on focusing your research, interviewing recent immigrant relatives, and information resources for specific groups.

Locating Lost Family Members & Friends: Modern Genealogical Research Techniques for Locating the People of Your Past and Present. 1999.

Call number 929.107 H659L

20th century research is a field daunting to many family historians, but Hinckley is both a recognized expert genealogist and a professional private investigator. Here she discusses the many new types of records created in the Information Age, where to locate them, and how to use and interpret them.

Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Census, 1790-1920. 1987.

Call number *973 T498m

The federal census is one of the first information sources a novice genealogist discovers -- but where to look? On each of the nearly 400 maps in this comprehensive volume, the old county lines are superimposed over the modern ones to highlight the boundary changes at ten-year intervals.

Reading Early American Handwriting. 1998.

Call number *427.973 S751r

Our ancestors' penmanship was very different from ours, and Sperry provides many examples with clear, well-informed explanations of the variations, as well as cogent discussions and recommendations for transcribing original documents.

U.S. Military Records: A Guide to Federal and State Sources, Colonial America to the Present. 1994.

Call number *929.373 N338u

The best single volume available on U.S. military records of all types and from all historical periods -- how to know what to look for, where to find them, and what they mean.

General Louisiana Research

French and Spanish Records of Louisiana: A Bibliographical Guide to Archive and Manuscript Sources. 1989

Call number La 016.976 B415f

Beers provides a detailed guide to French & Spanish primary source materials in the five-state south central region of the U.S., with full description, evaluation, analysis, and context.

A Guide to Printed Sources for Genealogy and Historical Research in the Louisiana Parishes. 1992.

Call number La *976.3 B689gu

Parish-by-parish inventory of periodical literature on history, civil and church records, cemetaries, and available census records, with added coverage of selected Louisiana families.

Historical Atlas of Louisiana. 1995.

Call number La 911.763 G615h

A genealogist must also understand historical geography. This is one of the best historical atlases available for any state, with 100 pages of maps, each accompanied by a descriptive and contextual essay.

A Guide to Church Records in Louisiana. 1975.

Call number La *929.376 H446g

Based on the work of the WPA in the 1930s, this provides parish-by-parish descriptions and contact addresses of Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish houses of worship with dates of their establishment, and also of denominational archives and records repositories.

Acadian-Cajun Genealogy Step-by-Step. 1993.

Call number La 976.3 H446.5ac

A detailed guide to research, 1636 to the present, in a specialty peculiar to south Louisiana. An outline (with a complete new chapter on Internet research) also is available online at Acadian-Cajun Genealogy.

An Atlas of Louisiana Surnames of French and Spanish Origin. 1986.

Call number La 976.3 W519a

A study of the distribution of colonial Louisiana surnames, based on present-day data but relating to original settlement patterns, with an essay and bibliography accompanying each map.

Genealogical research has changed dramatically in the past decade with the appearance of an astonishing number of resources on the World Wide Web, both commercial and nonprofit, and including many thousands of amateur websites established by family researchers themselves. The following listings represent only a sampling of the most broadly useful resources on the Web.

But keep in mind that the old warning about information published in books applies even more forcefully to data found online: "Just because it's in print doesn't mean it's valid!"

Recommended Online Jumping-Off Points

Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet

The most important starting point for online genealogy. More than 180,000 cross-referenced links in 150 categories to resources on the Internet.

Helm's Genealogy Toolbox

Omnibus site with how-to articles, digitized images, news stories, queries, search engines, profiles of genealogical software, and thousands of categorized links, run by Matt Helm.

General Information & Data Sources

RootsWeb

The largest omnibus genealogy site on the Internet, with locality & surname message boards (132,000+) and mailing lists (25,000+), the World Connect Project (more than 270 million ancestor names), and scores of volunteer projects.

RootsWeb Freepages

They provide free space for personal genealogy sites - more than 9,600 pages so far, in a browsable list.

U.S. GenWeb Project

The world's largest volunteer genealogy project, with home pages for every county in every state (with varying amounts of useful information).

World GenWeb Project

An attempt to provide the same access to "volunteer power" in the rest of the world.

Access Genealogy

One of the largest compilations of genealogy data online, and growing continually.

About.com: Genealogy

Large umbrella site, part of a network in which each section is run by a human guide. Many articles, newsletters, and links.

Family Search

Access point to the LDS (Mormon) Family History Library's catalog, a search engine for information on your ancestors, and links to many other LDS guides, maps, forms, and research tips.

Louisiana, Acadian, & French

State Library of Louisiana: Louisiana Section

The State Library has a large collection of Louisiana Genealogy materials, plus a downloadable guide (in .pdf format) on "Searching for Your Louisiana Ancestors," and many useful links to other resources.

Colonial Louisiana History & Genealogy

Portal site with sections on archaeology, African-American history, Creole culture, military history, and many others.

Acadian-Cajun Genealogy & History

Comprehensive portal site to everything Cajun online, run by Tim Hébert.

The Cajuns.com -- Cajun, Acadian, & Louisiana Genealogy, History, and Culture

Numerous articles, documents, lists, and links to other online resources.

The Louisiana Genealogy Ring

Webring of 70+ sites, mostly personal web pages, dealing with Louisiana ancestry.

Genealogy.com: Louisiana Genealogy Forum

Very active discussion group/bulletin board on all aspects of Louisiana family research.

New Orleans Public Library's Genealogy Links

Extensive list of annotated links for Louisiana (and especially New Orleans) researchers.

Louisiana Ancestors

Archive of Damon Veach's columns from the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

FrancoGene: Gateway to Franco-American & French-Canadian Genealogy on the Internet

Covers France, Belgium, Switzerland, Quebec, Acadia, Louisiana, and Haiti, with guides, research tips, and links to other resources. (In French & English)

Habitant's Home Page

Personal page dedicated to French genealogical research, especially Acadian and Quebecois, with numerous semi-scholarly articles, guides, bibliographies, and other resources, run by John P. DuLong.

Acadie: Centre d'études acadiennes (Université de Moncton)

Web site of the principal academic center for New World French genealogy & history. (In French)

Louisiana Genealogical & Historical Society

Web site of the state-wide membership organization and publisher of the Louisiana Genealogical Register.

Cajun Clickers Genealogy SIG

The Clickers are a very active Baton Rouge computer society - with an active genealogy Special Interest Group.

German-Acadian Coast Historical & Genealogical Society

Web page of the most active society researching the families of St. Charles, St. James, & St. John the Baptist Parishes.

African-American Genealogy

Christine's Genealogy Website

Active and regularly updated omnibus site focusing on African-American research, with preservation and other news, transcribed documents, and links to other online resources.

AfriGeneas: African Ancestored Genealogy

Portal & mailing list focusing on genealogical research into African origins.

Other Useful Web Sites

Gen-Newbie

Home page of a mailing list designed for the absolute genealogical beginner, the novice - the Newbie! Also basic lessons!

Board for Certification of Genealogists

The principal professional certifying (not membership) organization for genealogists, promoting high standards of research and ethics. Also lists of certified genealogists and some very useful skill-building articles. A site for serious researchers.

National Genealogical Society

One of the largest genealogical organizations in the world, and the principal one in the U.S., with news, research tips, conference information, a bookstore, and links to other resources.

Where to Obtain Vital Records

Contact information & mailing addresses for state vital records offices & county clerks, nationwide. Frequently updated.

Census Links

Links to free images and transcriptions of national censuses, both U.S. and in other countries.

Find-a-Grave

Information on the burial location of thousands of famous people, and 4.3 million of the rest of us, with a search engine.

Directory of Genealogy Libraries in the U.S.

Mailing addresses of public, private, academic, religious, and state libraries containing genealogy collections, nationwide.

Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness

A gathering of nearly 4,300 volunteers who will do genealogical leg-work for others at cost. Use their services and contribute your own.