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With so many records available online through Ancestry or FamilySearch, we tend to assume that we can find everything we need online, but in reality, so many records are housed in local organizations that do not have the money or staff to make these records digitally available.
Thank you to Melissa Johnson for a wonderful program that highlights the importance that local repositories play in safeguarding records and how genealogists can use these repositories to help in their research.
While you may not find vital records, many local repositories contain other resources that can provide unique insights into a specific family, including the time and place where they lived, contextualizing information we may find in other records. So let’s take the local lane and see how local repositories can help us.
Types of Local Repositories and Their Records
We we talk of local repositories, we are mainly talking about libraries and historical societies. The public library community in New Jersey is varied with both county-wide library systems made up of multiple branches as well as independent libraries for a specific locale. Some libraries will have a local history or genealogy collection, which may not be readily apparent on their websites. Some traditional records you can find at libraries include newspapers, city directories or phone books, and published genealogies or local histories. Libraries may also have greater amounts of local government records as they may be the only repository for them or directed by law to house those records.
On the other side of the coin, most counties have a historical society or genealogy club that actively collects records and artifacts related to the county. Additionally, many towns, townships, cities or other localities will have a historical society that are hyper-focused on their location. Whether through active collecting or donations, collections of historical societies can vary extremely and so can access to those collections. Popular records available at historical societies include maps, photographs, property information, and manuscripts, including family bibles and personal papers. However, since many local historical societies rely on volunteers, it can take longer for staff to respond to inquiries, may have very limited hours for on-site research, or have very little or no online presence or digital collections.
There can also be significant overlap between the types of records at these two repositories, including yearbooks, photographs, family histories, vertical files, and newspapers.
More on Records
When dealing with records at local repositories, keep the following things in mind:
Newspapers – most will be on microfilm as hard copies are rare. Clippings may be found in vertical files and there may be name indexes created to help. Also, don’t be surprised to find incomplete runs or singular issues or a hyper-local paper.
Photographs – can be part of their own collection but also found in vertical files, family papers, scrap books, or yearbooks.
Family Records – be wary of donated family research as some of it may be unsourced. However, you may be find original copies of family records.
Family Histories – can be both published or compilations. While there may be diaries or journals, many family histories were done in the early
Property Histories – some historical societies have house history collections or house plaque programs where much of the research for a specific property is already done. This may include photos, maps, zoning records or building records.
Finding Materials
There are a few ways that we can figure out what records are available at local repositories. First, we can check their website to see what types of digital collections are available or if they have a searchable catalog to determine what is in their physical collection. There may also be finding aids available that describe important details about a specific collection, including dates, names, and record types.
There are also some digital databases that try to capture records available at a wide range of repositories. WorldCat is a fantastic resource for locating manuscripts, books and periodicals and extends beyond the local repository to include academic and research libraries. ArchiveGrid is another great database that is much more focused on archival materials and manuscripts. You can also try the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC) to locate manuscripts related to a specific person or organization.
NJSL is committed to providing our patrons with information services, including NJSL Presents, our series of free, virtual programs, presentations, and trainings on topics of interest to State government, Thomas Edison State University (TESU), and the public.
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