The Alert Collector: Genealogy Resources in Print

Abstract

Anyone who has worked at a public service desk in a library has probably had at least one encounter with a genealogy researcher avidly regaling them with some new fact they learned about their ancestors. Genealogy researchers bring a passion to their efforts that is unmatched, so it behooves libraries to have the best resources on hand. While a lot of the genealogy legwork is done online these days via Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org, there is still a need for high-quality print resources. At the time of the column’s writing, many libraries were shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, rendering print resources inaccessible. By the time this column appears, libraries will be again serving these passionate researchers with a range of the best print resources to go along with online tools. Author Katherine Pennavaria is Library Director at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She is the author of Genealogy for Beginners (2020) and Genealogy: A Practical Guide for Librarians (2015) as well as numerous columns on genealogy in Kentucky Libraries. Katherine has done numerous national and state presentations related to genealogy; topics include genealogy record types, search strategies, and resources the beginning researcher needs to know about.—Editor