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Tracing your family history is a continuous learning experience. In order to find our ancestors, we must learn about many record types—why they were kept, what they contain, and where to find them. We learn history, geography, legal, medical and antiquated terms; and possibly even a foreign language or two. We learn about libraries, archives, courthouses, online resources, and anyplace that may house the slightest clue to our ancestry. Fortunately, the information age has been good to family historians. Collections like those in this category bring a huge variety of reference materials to our computer screen.
Throughout history, boundaries and borders have been redrawn. Knowing where those lines fell during the life of your ancestor is an important part of family history.
Almanacs, Country Studies and Gazetteers can help us become familiar with the places where our ancestors lived, learn more about the environment they lived in, and what civil jurisdiction may hold the records they left behind.
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Search Tips
- Because these records are so diverse, they are best searched on an individual basis. Use the Card Catalog to determine which collections best search your needs and then search them directly using the search form on that page.
- Search for place names alone to locate collections that reference the place where your ancestor lived.