Most genealogists historically have spent their research time investigating leads obtained from libraries and archives, courthouses, churches, cemeteries, and other such places. They've stared at microfilmed census and newspaper records until our eyes glazed; combed through probate and tax records in strange rooms with little or no climate control; written letters to government agencies and archives for copies of birth, marriage, and death records; sat for hours reading e-mail from mailing lists to which we've subscribed; and searched Web pages for fresh research leads.

Unfortunately, many genealogists miss more than 30 percent of the published material that could open doors for them. How? By not researching periodicals.

This week in "Along Those Lines . . ." I want to discuss the PERiodical Source Index, also known as PERSI, to quickly locate information about the vast body of periodical articles, both past and present, published in the United States and Canada, and others published around the world.

Preliminaries
The Allen County Public Library in Ft Wayne, IN, has become one of the finest genealogical libraries in the world. Its collection has made Ft. Wayne one of the most visited travel destinations for genealogists, probably second only to Salt Lake City in the United States. Among its superior holdings is one of the finest collections of periodicals relating to genealogy and family history in the world. Michael Clegg led the effort to gather and index as many periodicals as possible, and the result is PERSI—the PERiodical Source Index.

PERSI is a massive index of articles written about genealogy and local history. It cites U.S. and Canadian materials written in English and French since 1800, with some additional materials going back into the 1700s and additional foreign materials. PERSI includes articles from almost 5,000 different periodicals, and is arranged in several index arrangements: locality, surname, and record type (or research area).

PERSI has been around for some time, and has been most commonly found in larger public, academic, and genealogical libraries whose budget accommodated the purchase of the massive printed volumes (32 at last report) or microfilmed version. In 1997, the Allen County Public Library Foundation and Ancestry.com, Inc., joined together to produce PERSI in a database format, available on a single CD-ROM. Finally, PERSI was available in a fully searchable database at a price that smaller libraries and individuals could afford. In addition, the commitment was made that PERSI would be updated annually.

Practical Periodical
The PERSI database is contained on a single CD-ROM. It is presented and searchable using a product called Folio Bound VIEWS, a powerful database management tool. As mentioned before, PERSI is searchable in a variety of ways. Let me give you three examples of how I quickly located information for several of my own ancestors using these various index arrangements and adding keywords.

First, I performed a simple search for the surname, Alexander. By clicking on the Search button on the tool bar, and selecting the "Search the Surname Section by Surname," I was presented with a window in which I entered "alexander" and a search was performed as I was entering the letters. There were 562 matches. I could have clicked OK to go to the search results list and use the Next and Previous and Backtrack navigation buttons to move quickly through the records. The 562 records were, though, far too many to review.

Since I knew the location I wished to search, I started a new search for "alexander" and this time entered the words "north carolina." By the time I finished typing, the search had narrowed the total records to 56, a much easier group to review. I clicked OK and was taken to the search results list. Next, knowing I was seeking information about John McKnitt Alexander, I revised my search to the surname "alexander" and used a keyword "mcknit" hoping to find an article citation. Sure enough, there were two: one titled "James Alexander-Marg. Mcknitt Fam., Maryland" from the periodical Maryland Connections Queries, Volume: 7 Number: 5 (July 1997), and another titled "John Mcknitt Alexander, North Carolina" in the Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, Volume: 86 Number: 5 (May 1952). It was the second article that was of most interest to me, so I clicked on the hotlink to the DAR magazine, and it gave me a complete bibliographic/library citation for the article AND a list of all the libraries holding this periodical. (A click on the library hotlink provides a pop-up window with the address of the library.)

With the information I gathered, which is printable or can be copied and pasted into a word processor document, I can now contact a library to request a copy of the article in question.

In another instance, I wanted to see all the articles indexed relating to Floyd County, GA. This time, I clicked on the Search button on the tool bar, and selected "Search for U.S. & Canadian Articles by Location and Keyword." I entered "georgia" in the State or Province box and "floyd" in the County box and clicked OK. This search produced 303 hits, grouped in record type sequence—biography, cemeteries, church, court, directories, history, institutions, maps, military, naturalization, obituaries, other, school, vital records, and voter. Whew! To narrow the search again, I initiated the same search and added the title keyword "myrtle" in order to locate records about the Myrtle Hill Cemetery in Floyd County, GA. This search resulted in 11 matches. I clicked on OK and began reviewing the search results, using the navigation buttons. Again, when I located a record I was interested in, I could print that record, look at the list of libraries holding a copy, highlight the record, or add a bookmark so I can return to it later.

Finally, I was aware of a specific article about my great-great-grandfather, Dr. Isaac Wilson. Therefore, my next search was made using the "Search Article Titles By Keyword." Here, I entered "wilson isaac" and there were 19 matches. When I added "dr" to the other two keywords, there was only one match. I clicked OK and there was the title:

Surname: Wilson
Article Title: Isaac Wilson (Dr.), North Carolina
Periodical: Kinfolk
Volume: 7
Number: 1 (June 1989)

Purchasing Photocopies?
You can order copies from the libraries listed. The Allen County Public Library handles a huge number of these inquiries. It has an online order form at its Web site. You can print it, and fill in the title of the article, the title of the periodical, the code (from the citation page), the volume, number, month and year. The form provides an address for the Allen County Public Library Foundation and ordering and payment instructions. Turnaround time is stated as 6-8 weeks. Other libraries will have other rates, ordering instructions, and turnaround times, so you should check with each one.

Persevere with Periodicals
With more and more resources becoming available electronically, our research opportunities continue to expand. Having PERSI available on CD-ROM makes periodicals research a snap, and the price for such a vast electronic reference work now puts it within the reach of many libraries and individuals.

If you haven't investigated the magazines, journals, and other genealogical periodicals indexed by PERSI, you may just be missing the most important clues available for some of your family history research. They may provide you with new leads to help you break through some dead ends. I've located articles through PERSI that helped my research. I'm sure you will too.

Happy volunteering!

George

George Morgan would like to hear from you at atl@ahaseminars.com, but because of the volume of e-mail, he is unable to personally respond to each letter individually. He also regrets that he cannot assist you with your personal genealogical research. George is also the author of The Genealogy Forum on America Online, which is available in the Ancestry Online Store.

© Copyright 1999 George G. Morgan. All rights reserved.

"Along Those Lines . . ." is a weekly feature of the Genealogy Forum on America Online (Keyword: ROOTS). This article originally appeared there.