Family History Research
The Christopher Center has many resources to support the family historian's quest for historical, ethnic and geographical information. Although we do not collect genealogical materials (family histories, tombstone transcriptions, compilations of vital records) as a primary focus of our collection, some of our resources will support genealogists in their quest for family data. This pathfinder has been compiled to help Valpo students and staff who wish to begin their genealogical and family history quest, and for members of the northwest Indiana community who may find our collection useful.
Please Note: Library hours change with the academic year; check for current hours before visiting. More information is also available online for our call number system and Affiliated Borrowers' Lending Policy.
Getting Started || Finding Books || Finding Articles || Other Resources
GETTING STARTED
Reference Books
Family ties in England, Scotland, Wales, & Ireland: sources for genealogical research.
Ref. CS 414 .R454 1998.
The Librarian's guide to public records: the complete state, county, & courthouse locator.
Ref. JK 468.P76 L53 2000.
The Source: a guidebook of American genealogy. Ref. CS 49 .S65 1997.Circulating Books
Genealogy handbook: the complete guide to tracing your family tree. CS 47 .G35 2001.
The Source: a guidebook of American genealogy. CS 49 .S65 1984
Unpuzzling your past: the best-selling basic guide to genealogy. CS 47 .C76 2001.Useful Government Publications
User Guide: Finding Government Publications at Christopher Center
Research in the land entry files of the General Land Office : Record Group 49. AE 1.113:67/998.
Using maps in genealogy. I 19.2:G 29/28.
Using records in the National Archives for genealogical research. AE 1.113:5/990.
Using the census soundex. AE 1.113:55/007
FINDING BOOKS
Bibliographical Tools
The incomplete citation is the bane of the librarian. Modern genealogists are much better about citing their sources than were the genealogists of twenty years ago. Online library catalogs allow you to search for items with less information than card catalogs, but sometimes you need a complete citation to locate an item in another library or request it on interlibrary loan. Various bibliographic tools can help you round out incomplete citations.
Sometimes bibliographies are focused on a single subject. In these cases, the bibliography serves as guide to sources on a topic. Both general and specific bibliographical tools are represented below.Ethnic Resources in Northwest Indiana http://www.valpo.edu/library/ethnic/index.html
Genealogies cataloged by the Library of Congress since 1986. Ref. Z 5313.U5 L53 1991.
National union catalog, pre-1956 imprints. ASRS. Z 881.A1 U518
This 754 volume set is a cumulative author list representing Library of Congress
printed cards and titles reported by other American libraries. Although more and
more libraries have put their holdings in the online, some older books can only be
identified and located through this source.
WorldCat
LibWeb LibDex Other local library catalogs
Finding Books in Christopher Center
GALILEO LC Call Numbers (CS-F on third floor, Z on fourth floor)
User Guide: Call Numbers: How to Find Library Materials
CS : Genealogy
CT : BiographyE : American History
F 1-970 : Local American historyZ : Bibliography Subject headings
Galileo indexes subject headings in straight and rotated order. A search under the subject heading "Genealogy" yields books with assigned headings that begin with the word "Genealogy" as well as those subdivided by the word "Genealogy" (e.g. "Asia-Genealogy")Biographical Sources
Christopher Center owns many of the major biographical reference sets, in addition to a number of specialized biographical sources. Many of these are listed on our User Guide: Biographical Information Sources
http://www.valpo.edu/library/user/biog-info.html
To find more biographical sources, search GALILEO:
--by the heading "Biography" or
--by the name of a country and "Biography" (e.g. Canada Biography) or
--by the heading for an occupational group and "Biography" (e.g. Mathematicians Biography)
A title search using the words "Who's who" or "Who was who" or "Notable" will yield a list of titles beginning with those words. Not all biographical tools are classed in CT. See the following examples below.Something about the author. Ref. PN 451 .S6
Who was who in American art, 1564-1975. Ref. N 6512 .W56 1999.
Women in science: antiquity through the nineteenth century. Ref. Q 141 .O34 1986Biography & Genealogy Master Index serves as an index to many biographical resources. If this database is not available in your public library, you may use it in Christopher Center with a guest login.
Historical, Geographical and Ethnic Encyclopedias
A great strength of Christopher Center is our vast collection of specialized encyclopedias. These are very useful for researching the time periods in which your family lived, their county of origin, or aspects of their ethnic culture. Some examples of each time are listed below. Many of these encyclopedias include biographical information.Encyclopedia of Eastern Europe. Ref. DJK 6 .E53 2000
Encyclopedia of the North American colonies. Ref. E 45 .E53 1993
Gale encyclopedia of multicultural America. Ref. E 184.A1 G14 1995
Historical dictionary of the New Deal. Ref. E 806 .H58 1985
Peopling Indiana: the ethnic experience. Ref. F 535.A1 P46 1996
FINDING ARTICLES
Many Christopher Center online periodical indexes are restricted by our license agreements to VU students, faculty and staff, or to use within the library. Please ask at the reference desk to be logged in as a guest if you are not a member of the University community. Outside users are requested to vacate their use of library computers if VU students are waiting. The indexes below are good ones for family history research.
Academic Search Premier America History & Life Historical Abstracts JSTOR
OTHER RESOURCES
Microform collections
American Bibliography (The Evans Collection). CLR-Microform Room-2nd FL
An index to the Early American Imprints Collection.
Early American Imprints. CLR-Microform Room-2nd FL
All the books, pamphlets, and periodicals printed in the United States 1639-1800.
Hillsdale College Library catalog -- search Early American Imprints electronically
http://library.hillsdale.edu/search/
Microbook library of American civilization. CLR-Microfiche-2nd Floor
A collection of materials relating to all aspects of American life and literature from
the beginning to the outbreak of World War I.
Microbook library of American civilization: biblioguide index. CLR-Microfiche-2nd Floor Z 1236 .L5 1971
Microbook library of American civilization, [1] Author catalog -- [2] Title catalog -- [3] Subject catalog.
CLR-Microfiche-2nd Floor Z 1236 .L5 1971
The New York Times, 1851 to date. CLR-Microfiche-2nd Floor .
The New York Times index, 1913 to date. ASRS, Reference Area AI21 .N45Databases
Accessible Archives American Memory If a family member attended or worked at Valparaiso University, the following might be useful:
Alumni Directory. Ref. LD 5565 .V43 A56 1991, 1997, 2001
The Beacon, 1911 to date. Ref. LD 5565.V45 A3
Issued as The Record from 1911-1933
Issued as Uhlan from 1934-1940
Issued as The Beacon from 1941-to date
The Catalog: Bulletin of Valparaiso University. Ref. LD 5565 .V4 1951-1974; Ask at Circulation Desk
for 1975 - to date issues
The Torch, Valparaiso University's weekly newspaper, 1943 to date. CLR-Periodicals-1st Floor AP2 .T65Flame of faith, lamp of learning: a history of Valparaiso University. LD 5565 .V42 B34 2001.
From centennial to golden anniversary: the history of Valparaiso University, 1959-1975. LD 5565 .V42 A4
Valparaiso's first century; a centennial history of Valparaiso University. LD 5565 .V42 S83If a family member attended or worked at Valparaiso University, additional information may be available in the University Archives.
