Clearinghouse of Professional Information

Genealogy Resources

This section includes links to support our EXCEL courses, especially the collection development course and the on-line  "Electronic Sources of Information". Students can use this selection of links to complete their assignments. See also the Digital Collections page

Topics include

General Resources | Canada and Ontario |  Collection Policies

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General Resources

• Ancestors on Board A site where you can search for details of passengers who sailed from Great Britain to ports around the world from 1890 onwards
• Ancestry.ca: invaluable for genealogy researchers, easy-to-use search interface, huge collection of databases - some of which are free but most require a paid membership. Free access at all public library branches in Ontario. See $15M initiative project.
• Everton's Genealogical Helper: resources available for a subscription fee - several available for non-members
• FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (aka Mormon or LDS) genealogical site
• Genealogy.com: Family Finder:
• Genealogy and Family History Internet Web Directory
• The Genealogy Home Page
• JewishGen: The Home of Jewish Genealogy: the primary Internet source connecting researchers of Jewish genealogy worldwide
• Librarians Serving Genealogists LSG web site is maintained by Drew Smith, Instructor, School of Library and Information Science, University of South Florida, Tampa.
• RootsWeb.com The Internet's Oldest and Largest FREE Genealogy Site.
• Surname Helper is a surname engine for queries and surname registrations posted on various genealogy sites.
  Participating sites include many USGenWeb and WorldGenWeb sites.
• The U.S. Genealogy Web Project.
• The WorldGenWeb Project. The WorldGenWeb Project is a not-for-profit volunteer genealogical organization dedicated to the free access of genealogical information by anyone in the world.

Canada and Ontario

• Archives of Ontario: Genealogical Research.
• Census Finder. Canada Census Records Online. 8,083 links to free census records online. growing directory of census links to help you locate free census records online.  More census records are added weekly.
• Canadian Genealogical and History Links  
• Canadian Genealogy Centre (Library and Archives Canada) "A single window providing electronic access to all the genealogical resources in Canada." / Le Centre canadien de généalogie "est un guichet unique qui a pour but de donner un accès électronique à toutes les ressources généalogiques au Canada."
• Canadian Genealogy Made Easy! Beginners Guides and Techniques
• The Canadian Military Heritage Project. How to find a military ancestor.
• FREE Obituaries On-Line  All these links lead to obituaries, mostly from newspapers, but all are free.
• InGeneas. Miscellaneous Immigration Index. Free database.
• Library and  Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
• The Olive Tree Genealogy: Ontario Resources
• Mary's Genealogy Treasures. Resources for genealogical research in Ontario/Upper Canada
• Mailing Lists:
  • Genealogy Resources on the Internet
  • Roots-L Resources Page
• Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid (OCFA) A pointer database with surnames, cemetery names and location of over 1.1 million interments in Ontario, Canada.
• Ontario Genealogical Society Home Page  - Please note - while the Ontario Genealogical Society does not participate in interlibrary loans at this time, many of their publications are available at public libraries in Ontario. They also sell a number of popular microfilm census reels.
• OntarioGenWeb: devoted to Genealogy Information & Resources for Ontario, Canada.
• Selected Ontario Public Library Initiatives. See  Digital Collections in Canadian Libraries List of links compiled by SOLS on this topic.
• Sources for Genealogical Research in Canada - Print, Electronic & Other Resources
• United Church of Canada Archives (Victoria University, UofT)

Collection Development and Collection Policies

• Collection Development and Management 6: Local History and Genealogy  and  SAMPLES  From the Sourcebook for Small Public Libraries, originally published by the Ontario Library Service.  Discusses collection guidelines, organization and public access to the collection. Information regarding organizations which may be helpful to anyone undertaking genealogical.
• "Creating a Collection Development Policy for Local Historical Records in Public Libraries", April 1998, Wisconsin Historical Records Advisory Board, Wisconsin Council for Local History
• Genealogy for Librarians Outline of a course assignment from the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, The University of British Columbia. Sections with very good questions to ask oneself when considering a Genealogy collection

Samples

• City of  Pasadena. (US)  Collection Development Policy. Genealogy Collection
• Mid-Continent Public Library. About the Genealogy and Local History Branch  An example of a public library with an exceptionally high commitment to genealogy.

  (as of March 6, 2008)