Genealogy Connect Archives | Gale Blog: Library & Educator News

Missing Ancestors? Check the Feeder States!

May 23, 2018October 26, 2015

Posted on October 26, 2015
By Jena Crable

Here’s a familiar genealogical conundrum: A researcher has traced his/her ancestors from present-day California back to the Dust Bowl-era in Nebraska, into Missouri just as it was achieving statehood, and finally to Indiana in the 1830s. At that point, the trail has grown cold even though legend has it that the family patriarch was a Pennsylvania patriot during the Revolution. So, how does the genealogist pick up the scent of the missing ancestor at this point?

Unrivaled Source for Note Taking

May 23, 2018October 11, 2015

Chapter 16 in Professional Genealogy. A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians, edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills, covers the topic of Note-Taking. Entitled “Transcripts and Abstracts,” and written by Mary McCampbell Bell, this chapter offers rock-solid guidance on the taking of genealogical notes. It’s sorely needed by every researcher—professional or not—because everyone takes research notes.

Identifying Your Canadian Roots

May 23, 2018October 5, 2015

By Jena Crable

For many U.S. genealogy wayfarers, their journey usually includes a stop in Canada. Surprisingly, this is true for persons with and without French-Canadian roots. Not surprisingly, living along the 3,000-mile border that separates the U.S. from its northern neighbor are innumerable families who share common ancestries as a result of their desire for greater economic, religious, or political freedom–in one country or the other.

Retirees: Learning, Rediscovering…Living the Dream

May 29, 2015May 28, 2015

They’ve worked hard. They’ve raised kids, saved, and made sacrifices. Now, with long-awaited free time, they want to pursue new interests and rediscover old ones. Today’s retirees are keen to make the most of their non-working years.

But the more than 13% of the US population aged 65 or older (and that percentage expected to balloon in the next five years)¹ is the group least likely to have visited the library in the last year.² Public libraries have their work cut out to serve the needs of this age group. Luckily, Gale has resources that can attract and support seniors’ thirst for discovery.

Summer Reading Programs and Your Gale Resources

April 16, 2019May 18, 2015

By Anne Nagrant and Vanessa Craig

Summer and reading go hand in hand. From books for the beach to bestselling paperbacks, adults take advantage of longer days and vacation time. Children are encouraged to read for fun and to combat the “summer slide.” Public library summer reading programs provide fun motivation for both adults and young people to read, read, read.

Tracing Native American Genealogy in Federal Records of Five Civilized Tribes

August 17, 2015April 22, 2015

By Rachal Mills Lennon

Excerpted from the book, Tracing Ancestors Among the Five Civilized Tribes

The history and culture of the American South are unique, owing chiefly to the intermingling of the races and the diverse ethnic

backgrounds of countless families. Modern Southerners proudly boast traditions–real or not–of Native American ancestry. Odds are, these traditions lead directly back to the so-called Five Civilized Tribes. The Chickasaw, Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole Indians dominated a broad swath of territory from North Carolina to Mississippi before their forced removal westward. Long hailed for their adaptability to “white” ways (hence the designation “civilized”), these nations have gained near honorific status among Southeastern genealogists.

Responsive Design (and more) Coming to Gale Products

March 6, 2015February 5, 2015

Have you ever muttered disparagingly about a website or app that doesn’t look or behave the way you expect it to? Does it frustrate you when icons don’t make sense to you, or when you can’t find navigation aids?

We hear you. And that’s why we’ve initiated a whole range of improvements that make a huge difference in user experience in GVRL, InfoTrac, and In Context* resources, including the PowerSearch platform as well as Genealogy Connect, Twayne’s Authors Online and Scribner Writers Online. The enhancements are coming April 2^nd.

Virginia Genealogists Need SWEM

May 23, 2018October 26, 2014

By Joe Garonzik

The two-volume Virginia Historical Index (aka “Swem’s Index” or “Swem”), originally published in 1934, encompasses the contents of the following seven serial publications: “The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography” (VMHB),Vols. 1-38; the “William and Mary College Quarterly” ( aka the “William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine” W&MCQ), Series I, Vols. 1-27 and Series II, Vols. 1-10; “Tyler’s Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine” (TQ), Vols. 1-10; the “Virginia Historical Register and Literary Advertiser,” Vols. 1-6; the “Lower Norfolk County Virginia Antiquary,” Vols. 1-5; “Hening’s Statutes at Large,” Vols. 1-13; and the “Calendar of Virginia State Papers,” Vols. 1-11.

Val Greenwood on Military Records

May 23, 2018October 22, 2014

By Joe Garonzik

After 30 years and three editions, why is Val Greenwood’s Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy still the most respected genealogy textbook? It is clear, to the point, and authoritative, to be sure, but Greenwood is also extremely resourceful. The following illustration from one of its two chapters on Military Records is a good example.

Who was Donald Lines Jacobus, and why should you care?

May 23, 2018October 14, 2014

By Joe Garonzik

The Connecticut genealogist, Donald Lines Jacobus (pronounced ja cob’ us), was the founder of the modern school of scientific genealogy and the greatest American genealogist of the 20th century. Jacobus and his protégés taught us how to research and write family histories, how to solve genealogical problems, what sources should be used, how to interpret them, and why we must abandon unsupported findings which, in many instances, were built upon flights of imagination as much as on facts.