Learn about the library's collection before you arrive.
Many libraries have made their catalog available via the Internet, either in a Web-based format or through the use of Telnet. Searching the library's card catalog before you go can allow you to have a listing of books, bibliographic information, and call numbers with you when you enter the door. And there's no fighting over catalog drawers or terminal space.

If you cannot remotely access the card catalog, write to the facility and see if any research guides or pamphlets are available. Even a general summary will provide some direction. A Web page for the library may also provide similar information. Is there an Internet listserve for the county or state in which the library is located? Posting a question to an appropriate listserve about the library may allow you to learn more about its collection and research policies from users of the facility. This is also a great way to learn things that pamphlets and Web sites don't tell you.

Determine the hours the facility is open and whether or not there are any expected closures due to construction or remodeling. Some smaller facilities may have reduced hours at certain times of the year, and some libraries are only open selected days of the week. Learn this information before you leave home.

If you're fortunate enough to have access to the card catalog beforehand, take full advantage of it.
Make a master list of all the books you would like to access, including a full bibliographic citation. All these details are not necessary to get the book, but having them can save time if you need to locate the book later at a different facility. Highlight or circle the items necessary to obtain the book-most likely title, author, and call number. Make a separate sheet for each book, including the full bibliographic citation on the sheet. Include on each sheet the surnames and first names of the individuals you will look for in that source. Take research notes on the sheets themselves, attaching additional sheets as necessary. This way the complete bibliographic citation is on your research notes before you get to the library. And, more importantly, it's on your notes when you get home.

Even if you cannot access the card catalog before you go, determine what you would like to research, based on pamphlets and other information. Determine when individuals lived in what locations so that you can search for all the people who might appear in a given source. A sheet of "Dawson County, Nebraska residents" with their names and dates of residence in the county will assist you when you locate a history of that county. A sheet listing "Individuals to locate in the 1860 Missouri census," along with their probable residences and approximate ages, will minimize the chance of overlooking someone. A list of "Individuals probably buried in Howard County, Missouri" will prove useful if the research facility has published cemetery lists. In libraries where you request books from the stacks, you want to minimize the number of times you have to request the same book on the same day (early in my research I was known as the "Chariton County, Missouri history book person" at a certain library because I asked for the book so much). As you research further, it may be necessary to refer to a book again. This is normal. But if your files indicated before you left home that there were five individuals who could have appeared in a given county history, you should have looked for them all when you had the book.

These lists serve another purpose, perhaps more important than making your library time more efficient. That purpose is documentation. How many individuals sit at a library and fill out their research logs as they research? Using these sheets of whom to look for in what makes the completion of research logs at home easier. If your "Dawson County, Nebraska residents" sheet contains notations that clearly indicate who you searched for in the 1881 history, you can easily enter that information in your research log at home. Just don't neglect to do it.

Prepare an alphabetical list of all the individuals you are researching, with some genealogical data attached to it.
I frequently see people at libraries flipping through books of charts and forms, attempting to locate a name or a date. Taking pedigree charts and family group charts is a good idea. However, they are not always the most efficient way to locate someone quickly.

If an entire list of your research subjects is not practical, create a list of just those individuals you wish to research during this particular library visit. It can be difficult to remember who is on what family group or pedigree chart. This list can include the individual's parent or spouse so that they can easily be located on the appropriate family group chart.

Take chronologies on each ancestor.
These will make it easier to see when a certain ancestor lived in a certain location. This information is not always readily apparent on a pedigree chart or family group chart.

Create research summaries on each ancestor.
These helpful working summaries contain typed extracts of what has been located in various other records on a given ancestor. This way your originals are left at home and you aren't at the library thinking, "If only I could remember what that 1807 will said . . . ."

Take copies of appropriate maps.
The library may have them, but perhaps not exactly the one you need, and this saves time spent locating a map, waiting to get to look at it, and waiting for the copy machine. State, county, and township maps of the relevant areas are especially helpful. Mark the places your ancestors lived for easy location during your trip. Indicate townships, wards, and other political jurisdictions that are not on the map and might be necessary to locate certain records.

Create specific reports for any records or sources you will be using.
A list of individuals who had an event taking place in the same area can be particularly useful. If I have access to newspapers for a given county, there might be fifty people for whom I would like to locate an obituary. Nothing is more frustrating than to have to load the same microfilm several times. For this reason, I created a list of individuals who died in that county, sorted by death date.

There is one limit to a report of this type: Individuals living in the county might not have died there. For this reason, this report should also include individuals who are buried in the county (there might be a few buried in my files who did not die there!) and who died in adjacent counties. Spouses' names are also included, since they're necessary for locating married females. Researchers should always think about how the records are filed, indexed, and maintained when creating customized reports so that all information needed to search the record thoroughly is included.

Put pages you won't be writing on in plastic sheets.
This makes the pages easy to keep in your notebook and prevents them from becoming dog-eared. Bring extra sheets for your new copies. If nothing else, it will temporarily protect them until you get home (and spilled coffee in your motel room is less of a problem!). Remember that most of the cheaper sheets are not archival quality.

Some of these reports can be stored on a laptop computer instead of on paper, but if your machine crashes, you're out of luck. Also, alternating between several different reports might be problematic if your screen isn't large or your machine does not have much memory. Computer users should seriously consider taking paper copies with them in case of computer malfunction or failure. There is an advantage to being able to open three notebooks at once.

If you will be researching or using any materials that are totally new to you, learn about them before you leave.
There are many research guides, pamphlets, and other materials to help you learn more about the records and sources. It takes longer to use a record the first time you use it-that's natural. However, if you have read about the record or source before you try to use it, you're one step ahead.

Michael John Neill is the Web columnist for the FGS FORUM and is on the editorial board of the Illinois State Genealogical Society Quarterly. He conducts seminars and lectures on a wide variety of genealogical and computer topics and contributes to several genealogical publications, including Ancestry and Genealogical Computing. You can e-mail him at: mneill@asc.csc.cc.il.us or visit his website at: http://www.rootdig.com/