Reference & Finding Aids  TOP^

The Reference & Finding Aids Collection contains reference materials including dictionaries, maps, and gazetteers that will help family historians find and understand genealogical records.

In addition to general family history resources, the collection includes country studies for numerous countries outside of the U.S. and U.K. These studies can provide invaluable information about the native lands of your non-Anglican ancestors. Some of the more unique countries included in these studies are Egypt, Belarus, Cyprus, Hungary, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea and many others.

• The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy. (online version) This guidebook is an immeasurable help to researchers in the United States who want to find their ancestors. Covering all the important aspects of genealogical research -censuses, land records, military records, and church records just to name a few-this work points the researcher in those areas where ancestors can be found.
• The Genealogical Library Master Catalog™ Volume 1. This catalog gives bibliographic references to over 200,000 family histories, genealogies, town and county histories, and other records held by libraries across the United States. Maintained by OneLibrary.com and provided as a resource for Ancestry users, it is the largest bibliographic database of its kind and includes microfilm, manuscripts, and printed books. Each entry in this database includes the title of the work, subjects included in it, library that holds the item, expanded information on each library, and other helpful information.
• Map Center. Family history research can be compared to real estate-success depends on location. Most genealogists will tell you that without at least a general idea of where your ancestors came from, it is very difficult to find even basic vital records for them. Historical maps show the town, county, and state boundaries for the time period they depict. Since boundaries are constantly changing, dated historical maps can help genealogists determine where their ancestors actually lived. Location sources like maps, atlases, gazetteers, postal guides, city directories, aerial photographs, and U.S. geological surveys can be indispensable aids for finding your ancestors.

Types of Resources  TOP^
The Reference & Finding Aids Collection contains a variety of resources. This section explains some of the reference materials you will find:

Online Books
You can browse or search two of the premiere works at Ancestry: The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy and Red Book: American, State, County and Town Sources. The Source teaches you what to look for in records and how to access them. It also includes comprehensive coverage on topics such as finding your immigrant origins, and finding military service records. Red Book is intended to be a guide to the most useful resources in genealogy research. It lists the names of documents, archives, and addresses which are grouped by each of the fifty states and the District of Columbia.

Country Studies
Although these resources do not include a searchable list of names, these studies contain interesting and compelling facts about specific countries. You can learn more about the history, politics, culture, and economy of a country and gain an understanding of the broader culture in which your ancestors lived.

Dictionaries
A variety of dictionaries are in the collection; you will find everything from a dictionary of surnames to topographical dictionaries that explain historical and statistical descriptions of specific areas.

Research Guides
You will find a variety of guides that offer you step-by-step instruction in genealogical research.

Gazetteers
A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary that lists the names of places (for example, towns, counties, states, and territories). You can use this information to help you locate places on maps.

View original image from The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland

• More than 100,000 copies of The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy have been sold.
• The Genealogical Library Master Catalog™ (GLMC)™ gives bibliographic references to more than 200,000 family histories, genealogies, town and county histories, and other records held by libraries across the United States.
• Noah Webster published his first dictionary in 1806-you can search an index of this version of the dictionary in Reference & Finding Aids Collection.

FAQ  TOP^

How do I use the free Reference and Finding Aids on Ancestry?
Ancestry provides a broad variety of tools and reference aids to increase the effectiveness of your family history research. Among these are online references, information on how to find additional sources, family trees, message boards, the Learning Center, and information on how to resolve technical issues. Additionally, there is a great deal of information available to assist you to find data more effectively on our Resource tabs:

Resource Tabs
Usually overlooked, the Resource tabs provide further information that may prove very helpful in your research. To access the tabs, click the Search Records tab at the top of most pages on Ancestry. Below the search template, several small, maps are shown. You can click on a location (state, province, county, nation, etc.) to view databases for that specific area. You are taken to a page where multiple tabs may be available:

Database Tab
The Database tab is selected by default and shows the available databases for your chosen area. The databases listed include not only those from the specified location (state, province, etc.), but also those reporting residence there. For example, clicking on the map of Europe and then clicking on Russia on the larger map shows immigration records from the United States where Russian immigrants were reported. Also shown are records from Germany where Russians were reported as leaving there.

• Vital records: The addresses for sending inquiries to order copies of original records and for what period of time these may exist.
• Census records: The years and locations where there will or will not be records from local and national censuses.
• Land records: Where certain kinds of land records can be found.
• Court records: Where to look for what kinds of court records.
• Military records: What kinds of records may be archived at a local, state, or national level.
• Additional sources: A variety of further types of aids for your research ways to contact an office or department by direct mail, phone, email, or online for important record locations for the state or country.
• Historical and genealogy associations, libraries to visit, other websites with helpful information.

How Tos Tab
The How Tos tab provides useful information, which differs by region. For the United Kingdom and Ireland, instructions on how to research in the databases and other research areas at Ancestry are provided. For the United States, there are direct links relative to state research and records to sections of the primary research works at Ancestry (The Source, Red Book) and other national records.

• Message Boards specific to that region (for example, the Alberta Message Board)
• Articles and columns in the Learning Center that deal with that region
• CDs and books in the Ancestry online store that deal with that region
• Maps in the Map Center that deal with that region.

Beyond free resources, what advanced Reference and Finding Aids are available on Ancestry?
Ancestry offers a wide selection of references and finding aids to help members and visitors be more successful in family history research. We seek to help our users improve their own research skills and have access to the references they require. We have text documents like The Source, indexes like the Genealogical Library Master Catalog, and image documents that are digitized copies of books like the Bury St. Edmunds Abbey Archives.

How can I view and print the maps on Ancestry?

You can access our Map Center by clicking on the Search Records tab and then selecting the Ancestry Map Center link below the Reference & Finding Aids heading (located on the Browse Records column on the right of your screen).

Printing a map using the Enhanced Image Viewer is easy. First, use the zoom feature to display the image that you want to print (you can also choose to print the entire image). Then, simply click the print button on the top right-hand side of your screen. A dialog box will open that lets you choose different printing options such as the number of copies, image quality, and current image vs. entire image. Simply choose the options you want and click OK.

Within the Print dialog box, you should be able to see a Properties button for your printer. If you click the Properties button, you will most likely have an option to print the image with Landscape orientation rather than Portrait orientation. This will sometimes provide the largest possible print of the image.

NOTE: If you are experiencing errors printing the online images, you might want to update the drivers for your printer. This can typically be done for free by going to the website for your printer manufacturer. If you are using an HP printer, for example, you can download the newest drivers for free from the HP website.

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